Pilot program on the use of clinically tested digital faith-based platforms to support spiritual fitness and readiness

(a) Pilot program required Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot program to evaluate the use of clinically tested, commercially available digital faith-based platforms to support the modernization and digitization of the chaplaincies of the Armed Forces and to promote spiritual fitness, operational readiness, resilience, and overall mental health among members of the Armed Forces and their dependents. The Secretary shall design the pilot program to determine whether the platforms evaluated are capable of— (1) augmenting the ability of military chaplains to provide spiritual care and counseling using established metrics for effectiveness and performance used by the Chaplain Corps today and included in the modernization efforts of the Secretary; (2) measurably expanding access to voluntary spiritual support resources for geographically dispersed personnel, including deployed members of the Armed Forces; (3) enhancing spiritual readiness consistent with total force fitness and holistic health initiatives and other applicable standards and metrics; (4) improving measurable indicators of resilience, morale, and nonclinical mental health support; and (5) extending access to spiritual wellness resources to military families and dependents, recognizing the integral role of family readiness in overall force resilience. (b) Requirements In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall— (1) evaluate and incorporate commercially available platforms supported by peer-reviewed evidence, specific to the platform under evaluation, demonstrating that engagement in religious or spiritual practice through the platform produces positive spiritual wellbeing, spiritual fitness, resilience, or mental health outcomes; (2) ensure participation is voluntary and consistent with the constitutional protections regarding religious liberty and the prohibition on establishment of religion; (3) ensure platforms meet applicable cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection standards of the Department; (4) prioritize evaluation of platforms that— (A) have a demonstrated record of user engagement and scalability across large and diverse populations; (B) have a demonstrated record of providing tools that enable faith leaders and religious organizations to create, distribute, and measure engagement with digital spiritual care content; and (C) provide engagement reporting and analytics sufficient to support the assessments required under subsection (d), including use by geographically dispersed personnel, deployed personnel, and military dependents; (5) coordinate with the Chiefs of Chaplains of the military departments; (6) conduct the pilot across not fewer than two military departments, including both active and reserve components; and (7) carry out the pilot program using other transaction authority under section 4022 of title 10, United States Code, or procedures for the acquisition of commercial products and commercial services under part 12 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as the Secretary considers appropriate. (c) Duration; commencement The pilot program shall be conducted for a period of not less than 12 months. The Secretary shall commence participant enrollment not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (d) Report and assessment of program of record feasibility Not later than 120 days after completion of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing the results of the program and an assessment of whether digital faith-based platforms should be incorporated into the spiritual readiness and chaplaincy programs of the Department of Defense. The report shall include the following: (1) An assessment of participation rates, user engagement, frequency of use, completion of platform content, and sustained use over the duration of the pilot. (2) An assessment of the extent to which the pilot expanded access to spiritual support resources for members of the Armed Forces and military families who historically under-use traditional chaplain services, including personnel located in geographically dispersed locations and deployed environments, members of the reserve components, and military families. (3) An assessment of changes in participant-reported measures of spiritual fitness, purpose, meaning, connectedness, resilience, and other indicators identified by the Department as relevant to total force fitness and holistic health initiatives. (4) An assessment of whether digital faith-based platforms enhanced the ability of military chaplains to provide care, increased the reach of chaplaincy services, reduced barriers to engagement, or otherwise improved delivery of spiritual support across participating units. (5) To the extent practicable, an assessment of changes in relevant readiness and resilience indicators among participants, including stress management, help-seeking behavior, social connectedness, morale, and other nonclinical indicators identified by the Secretary. (6) A comparison of the costs and outcomes associated with digital delivery of spiritual readiness resources relative to traditional methods of providing comparable support, including an assessment of scalability across the active and reserve components. (7) An assessment of cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, acquisition, contracting, and implementation considerations identified during execution of the pilot program. (8) An assessment of whether digital faith-based platforms demonstrated sufficient effectiveness, user adoption, scalability, affordability, and mission relevance to warrant establishment of a program of record or other permanent capability within the Department. Such assessment shall include— (A) recommended governance and oversight mechanisms; (B) recommended funding levels and appropriations accounts; (C) recommended lead organization or executive agent; (D) recommended performance measures for future implementation; and (E) any legislative authorities required to support Department-wide adoption. (9) Recommendations regarding continuation, expansion, modification, competitive procurement, or termination of the capability. (e) Definition In this section, the term digital faith-based platform — (1) means a commercially available digital platform the primary purpose of which is the creation, delivery, and facilitation of religious and spiritual content and practice; and (2) includes tools for faith leaders and religious organizations.