WASHINGTON – Combat veterans will receive readjustment counseling and other assistance in 39 additional communities across the country where the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will develop Vet Centers by fall 2009.

"Community-based Vet Centers – already in all 50 states – are a key component of VA's mental health program," said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  "I'm pleased we can expand access to bring services closer to even more veterans, including screening and counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder."

The existing 232 centers conduct community outreach to offer counseling on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family members, as well as bereavement counseling for families of service members killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were sexually harassed on active duty. 

Vet Center services are available at no cost to veterans who experienced combat during any war era.  They are staffed by small teams of counselors, outreach workers and other specialists, many of whom are combat veterans.  The Vet Center program was established in 1979 by Congress, recognizing that many Vietnam veterans were still having readjustment problems.

The centers have hired 100 combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as outreach specialists, often placing them near military processing stations, to brief servicemen and women leaving the military about VA benefits.

VA's 2009 budget proposal seeks $20 million more than this year's budget for Vet Centers, to include operating and leasing space for the new centers.  Eighteen of the counties that will have new centers already have one or more; the other 21 do not.

Communities Receiving New VA Vet Centers:

Alabama – Madison; Arizona – Maricopa; California – Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego; Connecticut – Fairfield; Florida – Broward, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Volusia; Georgia – Cobb; Illinois – Cook, DuPage; Maryland – Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Prince George's; Michigan – Macomb, Oakland; Minnesota – Hennepin; Missouri – Greene; North Carolina – Onslow; New Jersey – Ocean; Nevada – Clark; Oklahoma – Comanche; Pennsylvania – Bucks, Montgomery; Texas – Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Tarrant; Virginia – Virginia Beach; Washington – King; Wisconsin – Brown.

SAMHSA Returning Veterans Conference

SAMHSA, along with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is sponsoring a national conference—"Paving the Road Home: The National Behavioral Health Conference and Policy Academy on Returning Veterans and Their Families." The conference, open to the public on August 11, is intended for representatives of veterans and service organizations, service providers, family members, and veterans themselves. A major goal is to strengthen the behavioral health systems on a state level by ensuring that community efforts are coordinated and collaborative, urging peer-to-peer veteran support networks. The conference will focus on issues facing veterans of both genders and all ranks and services and their family members.

Possible topics include:

       - Improving state models and best practices for meeting mental health and substance

         abuse needs

       - Developing appropriate competence in military culture among those working with  

         returning veterans and their families

       - Understanding traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder

       - Increasing awareness about suicide prevention and mental health promotion

       - Addressing substance use, mental and co-occurring conditions, and traumatic stress.

The conference is a followup to the 2006 SAMHSA national conference on veterans (see SAMHSA News online, May/June 2006). Attendance is limited to 500 people. For more information on the conference and how to register, visit SAMHSA's Web site at http://samhsa.gov/vets/conference2008.aspx. 

Summit Brings Renewed VA Drive for Women Veterans

WASHINGTON – An aggressive push to ensure women veterans receive the highest quality of care in VA medical facilities was pledged by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake at a recent VA National Summit on Women Veterans' Issues. Although VA already has services for women patients equal to those men receive, Peake told the audience of more than 400 women-veteran advocates, "We are reinventing ourselves by expanding our women-centric focus to initiate new programs that meet the needs of women veterans."

Citing the demographic shift that brings increasing numbers of women to VA for care and the need for changes, Peake announced formation of a work group to focus on women's needs in prosthetics and rehabilitation, hiring women's advocates in VA medical centers, developing quality measurements specifically for women patients, purchasing more state-of-the-art, specialized women's health care equipment, and expanding medical education in women's health for VA care providers. Summit attendees also learned that VA recently established a work group whose goal is to ensure every female veteran enrolled in VA care has a women's health primary care provider, especially to meet gender-specific needs.

The June 20-22 conference in Washington focused on how to ensure VA meets women-specific health needs and how to inform more women veterans of their VA benefits.  It was the fourth women's summit, which VA holds every four years.

Summit co-sponsors included the American Legion Auxiliary, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Other assisting veterans groups included the Blinded Veterans Association, Military Officers Association of America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America and TriWest.

NCHV Site Visits Still Available

Has your organizations just been awarded a grant and per diem grant or are you thinking of applying in the future for funds under the grant and per diem program? NCHV is currently scheduling site visits to help organizations with grant writing and compliance issues, meeting grant objectives and goals, and a variety of other topics that help organizations in developing and expanding the services offered to homeless veterans.  Please contact Melanie Lilliston at nchv5@nchv.org to receive more details and to schedule a visit.

NCHV to Host Conference Call on Federal Grant Regulations

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans will be hosting a conference call on Federal Grant Regulations, specifically those covered in OMB Circulars A-87, A-122, and A-133. Ryan Weber, of Washington, D.C.'s Stokes & Company, P.C., will give an overview of federal grant regulations, cost principles, and audits. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

When: The conference call will take place on Tuesday, July 22nd at 2 p.m. EDT.

Speaker: Ryan Weber, Stokes & Company, P.C.

To Register: Send an e-mail to audit@nchv.org with your name, organization name, and e-mail address. You will receive the call-in number and access code to confirm your participation.

Grants

The Carl R. Hendrickson Family Foundation gives to various areas including health and human services for underserved populations. Priority is given to organizations that serve basic needs as well as spiritual needs, in line with the Hendrickson family's Christian faith. Organizations that approach their mission from an entrepreneurial perspective are of particular interest. Carl Hendrickson was an entrepreneur who invented the tandem truck, and programs with an entrepreneurial focus will also gain priority. Assets are managed by the Bank of America. For more information contact Kristin Carlson Vogen, Sr. VP, Bank of America, at 312-828-4154, or kristin.c.vogen@bankofamerica.com.

Tuscon Electric Power and UniSource Energy Services, sister companies providing gas and electric throughout Arizona, offer grants to nonprofits that are serving at risk persons, including prevention programs. Funds are given to programs that meet a community need, leverage resources, involve a serious collaboration with another nonprofit organization, are fiscally sound, and can measure success. Application deadline is September 16. For more information visit the TEP website.