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REPORT SHOWS MANY VA VET CENTERS CAN'T KEEP UP
WITH CASE LOAD -- "The administration's failure
to increase
staffing for Vet Centers has put their capacity
to meet
the needs of veterans at risk."
Story here...
http://www.mercurynews.com/
mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15791103.htm
Story below:
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Vet Centers see escalating demand for help as
troops return
By David Goldstein
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - A network of community-based walk-in veterans' treatment
centers is under increasing pressure as more and more former troops who
served in Iraq and Afghanistan have come looking for help.
A report to be issued Thursday from the House Veterans Affairs
Committee's Democratic staff says that nearly a third of all Vet Centers
have seen the demand rise for outreach and other services.
The report surveyed 60 of the 207 Vet Centers operated by the Department
of Veterans Affairs. It found that the number of Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans who have sought help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
doubled - from nearly 4,500 to more than 9,000 - from October 2005
through June 2006.
The number of veterans with other types of possible mental health and
readjustment problems also doubled, and in some cases tripled, the
report said.
Half of the Vet Centers sampled reported that their expanding caseloads
have affected their ability to treat their current clientele.
"The administration's failure to increase staffing and other resources
for Vet Centers has put their capacity to meet the needs of veterans and
their families at risk," the report said.
Among the other findings in the report:
_40 percent of the centers have sent veterans with readjustment issues
who should be receiving individualized therapy into group therapy.
_30 percent said they need more staff.
_25 percent could cut services and create waiting lists.
_20 percent said they have either limited or no capability to provide
counseling or therapy for families dealing with veterans suffering from
PTSD or other mental health problems.
"The Vet Centers' staff are dedicated and deeply committed to meeting
the needs of veterans and their families, but without additional
resources, even dedicated staff has limits," said Rep. Michael Michaud,
D-Maine, the House VA Committee member who requested the report.
The study was obtained Wednesday afternoon and efforts to contact the VA
for comment were unsuccessful. It was unclear when the VA received the
report.
The report is the result of a confidential survey of Vet Center staffs.
The committee's Democratic staff contacted a sample of 64 centers in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands. Urban and rural areas were represented. Sixty centers
responded.
The centers, part of the VA's Readjustment Counseling Service, were
created in 1979 under then-VA Administrator Max Cleland, a
triple-amputee Vietnam veteran. He later served one term as a senator
from Georgia.
The centers were designed to be accessible, storefront clinics where
veterans could be seen almost immediately by a staff largely composed of
combat veterans.
Their core mission is to help veterans suffering from mental and
emotional concerns. PTSD, which wasn't even recognized as a medical
condition at the centers' founding, is the most widespread mental health
problem experienced by soldiers in combat. It can cause nightmares,
flashbacks, depression, survivor's guilt and other types of anxiety.
Paul Sullivan, director of programs for Veterans for America, a veterans
advocacy group, said the Vet Center report was disturbing but not
surprising.
"We've been saying that VA is in crisis," he said. "It shows that VA
does not have a plan. This is additional evidence."
The VA vastly underestimated the number of PTSD cases it expected to see
this year, predicting it would see 2,900 cases. As of June 2006, it has
seen more than 34,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans for PTSD.
A recent VA report shows that more than 1 in 3 Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans who've gone to the agency for medical help report that they're
under stress or have mental problems.
A top Walter Reed Army Medical Center official told Congress last month
that 41 percent of National Guard and Army Reservists reported mental
health concerns up to six months after deployment, compared with 32
percent of the active-duty force.
Fifteen percent of the Guard and reservists were at risk for PTSD,
compared with 9 percent of active-duty troops.
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Larry Scott
