80 FR 23073 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 79 (April 24, 2015)

The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552(e) (4)) requires that all agencies publish in the Federal Register a notice of the existence and character of their systems of records. Notice is hereby given that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending the system of records currently entitled ``Suicide Prevention Database-VA'' (158VA11). VA is amending the system by revising the System Name, System Number, System Location, Categories of Records in the System, Purpose, Storage, Safeguard, Retention and Disposal, System Manager and Address, Notification Procedure, and Record Access Procedure.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 79 (Friday, April 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23073-23076]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09567]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION: Notice of amendment to system of records.

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SUMMARY: The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552(e) (4)) requires that 
all agencies publish in the Federal Register a notice of the existence 
and character of their systems of records. Notice is hereby given that 
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending the system of 
records currently entitled ``Suicide Prevention Database-VA'' 
(158VA11). VA is amending the system by revising the System Name, 
System Number, System Location, Categories of Records in the System, 
Purpose, Storage, Safeguard, Retention and Disposal, System Manager and 
Address, Notification Procedure, and Record Access Procedure.

DATES: Comments on this new system of records must be received no later 
than May 26, 2015. If no public comment is received, the new system 
will become effective May 26, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the proposed amended system of 
records may be submitted by: mail or hand-delivery to Director, 
Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; fax to (202) 273-
9026; or email to http://www.Regulations.gov. All comments received 
will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation 
Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 
461-4902 (this is not a toll-free number) for an appointment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Kemp RN, Ph.D., Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 400 Fort Hill Avenue, Canandaigua, NY 14424; 
telephone (585) 393-7939.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The system name is being changed from 
``Suicide Prevention Database-VA'' to ``Veterans Crisis Line Database-
VA.'' The system number is changed from 158VA11 to 158VA10NC5 to 
reflect the current Organizational alignment.
    The System Location section is being amended to include the 
Veterans Crisis Line Database being maintained at the VA Austin 
Information Technology Center (AITC) in Austin, Texas. Also, back-up 
copies of the database are maintained in accordance with VA OIT 
enterprise management policies.
    The Categories of Records in the System is being amended to replace 
the National Suicide Hotline Web Application Program with the VCL 
Application. Data is now collected in the AITC standard query language 
(SQL) database instead of the Statistical Package for the Social 
Sciences (SPSS) statistical package.
    The purpose section is being amended to update the National Suicide 
Hotline to the Veterans Crisis Line. The Storage section is amended to 
reflect that records are maintained on an SQL server at VA AITC in 
Austin, Texas. The Safeguards section is being amended to state that 
access to computer rooms at the VA AITC is limited in accordance with 
VA OIT national security policies.
    The Retention and Disposal section is being amended to remove that 
paper records and information are maintained and disposed of in 
accordance with records disposition authority approved by the Archivist 
of the United States. The new language will state that these records 
are maintained as a permanent record, pending approval of a new records 
schedule by the National Archives and Records Administration.
    The System Manager and Address is being amended from stating ``VISN 
2 Center of Excellence at Canandaigua VA Medical Center (528A5), 400 
Fort Hill Avenue, Canandaigua, NY 14424. Officials responsible for the 
system of records include Craig S. Howard, Director, Canandaigua VA 
Medical Center; Kerry L. Knox, Ph.D., Director, VISN 2 Center of 
Excellence; Janet Kemp, RN, Ph.D., Associate Director

[[Page 23074]]

Education and Training, VISN 2 Center of Excellence.'' This section now 
states that ``the official responsible for policies and procedures; 
Office of Mental Health Operations (10NC5), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20420. Official responsible for the system of records: 
Executive Director, Office of Mental Health Operations (10NC5).''
    The Notification Procedure and Record Access Procedure sections are 
being amended from the Canandaigua VA Medical Center to Office of 
Mental Health Operations (10NC5).
    The Report of Intent to Amend a System of Records Notice and an 
advance copy of the system notice have been sent to the appropriate 
Congressional committees and to the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) as required by 5 U.S.C. Sec.  552a(r) 
(Privacy Act) and guidelines issued by OMB (65 FR 77677), December 12, 
2000.
    Signing Authority: The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, 
approved this document and authorized the undersigned to sign and 
submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs. Jose D. Riojas, Chief of Staff, approved this 
document on April 2, 2015, for publication.

    Dated: April 10, 2015.
Kathleen M. Manwell,
VA Privacy Service, Office of Privacy and Records Management, 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
158VA10NC5

SYSTEM NAME:
    ``Veterans Crisis Line Database-VA''.

SYSTEM LOCATION:
    The Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) Database will be maintained at the 
VA Austin Information Technology Center (AITC) in Austin, Texas. Back-
up copies of the database are maintained in accordance with VA OIT 
enterprise management policies. In addition, information from these 
records or copies of records may be maintained at the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE SYSTEM:
    The records include information concerning Veterans and friends and 
family of Veterans who access the Veterans Crisis Line. In addition, 
records include the name of the Crisis Line call responder and the name 
of the Suicide Prevention Coordinator.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
    The records may include information related to:
    1. The Veterans Crisis Line call logs via the VCL Application 
include the following information:
    a. Identifies, by full name, the Veterans Crisis Line responder;
    b. Identifies, by full name, the Suicide Prevention Coordinator;
    c. Documents information regarding calls to the Veterans Crisis 
Line which may include:
    (1) Calls from an anonymous person with incomplete identification 
information;
    (2) Calls from a Veteran, including Veterans who are not registered 
in VA health care system (non-VA);
    (3) Calls from family and friends of the affected Veteran (In this 
case, the system shall indicate that the call was not made from the 
affected Veteran).
    d. Identifies the VA Medical Center closest to the caller's 
physical location;
    e. Records Crisis Line referrals in the Veteran's electronic 
medical record when the referral is made to a VA Medical Center for 
follow-up care;
    f. Provides a means for Suicide Prevention Coordinators to document 
their follow-up measures;
    g. Provides access to call log data for reporting purposes: 
Provides information related to the number of calls, callers 
demographic information, the types of calls, and follow-up care.
    2. The suicide attempts and completions data is collected in the 
AITC standard query language (SQL) database. The information includes 
attempt or completion, military conflict, VA enrolled, gender, age, 
mental health diagnosis, medical diagnosis, previous attempts, month of 
event, method used, outcome, intent, seen at a VA within 7 days of 
attempt, seen at VA within 30 days of attempt, where seen, had suicide 
been addressed, and last recorded pain score.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
    Title 38, United States Code, section 501.

PURPOSE(S):
    The records and information may be used for ensuring appropriate 
follow-up care is provided to those who telephone the Veterans Crisis 
Line. In addition, the information will be used for statistical reports 
for the purpose of evaluating the need for development of further 
suicide prevention efforts to include education and research. 
Additionally, the statistical reports will be used to provide 
information related to suicide to VA officials, congressional members, 
and the public.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES 
OF USERS AND THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:
    To the extent that records contained in the system include 
information protected by 45 CFR parts 160 and 164, i.e., individually 
identifiable health information, and 38 U.S.C. 7332, i.e., medical 
treatment information related to drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol 
abuse, sickle cell anemia or infection with the human immunodeficiency 
virus (HIV), that information cannot be disclosed under a routine use 
unless there is also specific statutory authority in 38 U.S.C. 7332 and 
regulatory authority in 45 CFR parts 160 and 164 permitting disclosure. 
The Veterans Crisis Line Database-VA system of record will be routinely 
used for the following:
    1. The record of an individual who is covered by a system of 
records may be disclosed to a Member of Congress, or a staff person 
acting for the Member, when the Member or staff person requests the 
record on behalf of and at the written request of the individual.
    2. Disclosure may be made to National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) in 
records management inspections conducted under authority of Title 44, 
Chapter 29, of the United States Code (U.S.C.).
    3. Disclosure may be made to other Government agencies in support 
of data exchanges of electronic medical record information approved by 
the individual.
    4. VA may disclose on its own initiative any information in this 
system, except the names and home addresses of Veterans and their 
dependents, that is relevant to a suspected or reasonably imminent 
violation of law, whether civil, criminal or regulatory in nature and 
whether arising by general or program statute or by regulation, rule or 
order issued pursuant thereto, to a Federal, State, local, tribal, or 
foreign agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting such violation, or charged with enforcing or implementing 
the statute, regulation, rule or order. VA may also disclose on its own 
initiative the names and addresses of Veterans and their dependents to 
a Federal agency charged with the responsibility of investigating or 
prosecuting civil, criminal or regulatory violations of law, or charged 
with enforcing or implementing the statute, regulation, rule or order 
issued pursuant thereto.
    5. VA may disclose information from this system of records to the 
Department of Justice (DoJ), either on VA's initiative or in response 
to DoJ's request for the information, after either VA or DoJ determines 
that such information is

[[Page 23075]]

relevant to DoJ's representation of the United States or any of its 
components in legal proceedings before a court or adjudicative body, 
provided that, in each case, the agency also determines prior to 
disclosure that release of the records to the DoJ is a use of the 
information contained in the records that is compatible with the 
purpose for which VA collected the records. VA, on its own initiative, 
may disclose records in this system of records in legal proceedings 
before a court or administrative body after determining that the 
disclosure of the records to the court or administrative body is a use 
of the information contained in the records that is compatible with the 
purpose for which VA collected the records.
    6. Disclosures of relevant information may be made to individuals, 
organizations, private or public agencies, or other entities with whom 
VA has a contract or agreement or where there is a subcontract to 
perform the services as VA may deem practicable for the purposes of 
laws administered by VA, in order for the contractor or subcontractor 
to perform the services of the contract or agreement. This routine use 
includes disclosures by the individual or entity performing the service 
for VA to any secondary entity or individual to perform an activity 
that is necessary for individuals, organizations, private or public 
agencies, or other entities or individuals with whom VA has a contract 
or agreement to provide the service to VA.
    7. Disclosure to other Federal agencies may be made to assist such 
agencies in preventing and detecting possible fraud or abuse by 
individuals in their operations and programs.
    8. VA may disclose information to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission when requested in connection with investigations of alleged 
or possible discriminatory practices, examination of Federal 
affirmative employment programs, or for other functions of the 
Commission as authorized by law or regulation.
    9. VA may disclose to the Fair Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) 
(including its General Counsel) information related to the 
establishment of jurisdiction, the investigation and resolution of 
allegations of unfair labor practices, or information in connection 
with the resolution of exceptions to arbitration awards when a question 
of material fact is raised; to disclose information in matters properly 
before the Federal Services Impasse Panel, and to investigate 
representation petitions and conduct or supervise representation 
elections.
    10. VA may disclose information to officials of the Merit Systems 
Protection Board (MSPB), or the Office of Special Counsel, when 
requested in connection with appeals, special studies of the civil 
service and other merit systems, review of rules and regulations, 
investigation of alleged or possible prohibited personnel practices, 
and such other functions, promulgated in 5 U.S.C. 1205 and 1206, or as 
authorized by law.
    11. VA may, on its own initiative, disclose any information or 
records to appropriate agencies, entities, and persons when (1) VA 
suspects or has confirmed that the integrity or confidentiality of 
information in the system of records has been compromised; (2) the 
Department has determined that as a result of the suspected or 
confirmed compromise, there is a risk of embarrassment or harm to the 
reputations of the record subjects, harm to economic or property 
interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security, 
confidentiality, or integrity of this system or other systems or 
programs (whether maintained by the Department or another agency or 
disclosure is to agencies, entities, or persons whom VA determines are 
reasonably necessary to assist or carry out the Department's efforts to 
respond to the suspected or confirmed compromise and prevent, minimize, 
or remedy such harm. This routine use permits disclosures by the 
Department to respond to a suspected or confirmed data breach as the 
terms are defined in 38 U.S.C. 5727, including the conduct of any risk 
analysis or provision of credit protection services as provided in 38 
U.S.C. 5724.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORING, RETRIEVING, ACCESSING, RETAINING, 
AND DISPOSING OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
STORAGE:
    Records are maintained on an SQL server at VA AITC in Austin, 
Texas.

RETRIEVABILITY:
    Records are retrieved by name, social security number or other 
assigned identifiers of the individuals on whom they are maintained.

SAFEGUARDS:
    1. VA will maintain the data in compliance with applicable VA 
security policy directives that specify the standards that will be 
applied to protect sensitive personal information. VA's security 
measures comply with applicable Federal Information Processing 
Standards (FIPS) issued by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST). Access to VA working and storage areas is restricted 
to VA employees on a ``need-to-know'' basis; strict control measures 
are enforced to ensure that disclosure to these individuals is also 
based on this same principle. They are required to take annual VA 
mandatory data privacy and security training. Generally, VA file areas 
are locked after normal duty hours and the facilities are protected 
from outside access by the Federal Protective Service or other security 
personnel.
    2. Access to computer rooms at the VA AITC is limited in accordance 
with VA OIT national security policies. Peripheral devices are placed 
in secure areas (areas that are locked or have limited access) or are 
otherwise protected. Information stored on the Veterans Crisis Line 
Database-VA may be accessed by authorized VA employees. Access to file 
information is controlled at two levels; the systems recognize 
authorized employees by series of individually unique passwords/codes 
as a part of each data message, and the employees are limited to only 
that information in the file which is needed in the performance of 
their official duties. Information that is downloaded from the Veterans 
Crisis Line Database-VA and maintained on personal computers is 
afforded similar storage and access protections as the data that is 
maintained in the original files. Access to information stored on 
automated storage media at other VA locations is controlled by 
individually unique passwords/codes.

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL:
    Currently these records are maintained as a permanent record, 
pending approval of a new records schedule by the National Archives and 
Records Administration.

SYSTEM MANAGER(S) AND ADDRESS:
    Official responsible for policies and procedures; Office of Mental 
Health Operations (10NC5), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20420. Official responsible for the system of records: Executive 
Director, Office of Mental Health Operations (10NC5).

[[Page 23076]]

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE:
    Individuals who wish to determine whether this system of records 
contains information about them should contact the Office of Mental 
Health Operations (10NC5). Inquiries should include the person's full 
name, social security number, dates of employment, date(s) of contact, 
and return address.

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURE:
    Individuals seeking information regarding access to and contesting 
of records in this system may write, call or visit the Office of Mental 
Health Operations (10NC5).

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES:
    (See Record Access Procedures above.)

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES:
    Information in this system of records is provided by VHA employees.
[FR Doc. 2015-09567 Filed 4-23-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P