Briefing for:

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Briefing for Advisory Committee on Women
Veterans October 28, 2009
Vet Center Program
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Mission Statement
We are the people in VA who welcome home war
Veterans with honor by providing readjustment
counseling in a caring manner. Vet Centers
understand and appreciate Veterans war
experiences while assisting them and their family
members toward a successful post-war adjustment
in or near their community.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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Services

• Readjustment counseling is a wide range of
  psycho-social services offered to eligible
  Veterans and their families to assist them in
  making a successful transition from military to
  civilian life.
• Services offered at Vet Centers nationwide
  include
• Counseling for Veterans and their families
• Marital and family counseling for
  military-related issues
• Bereavement counseling
• Military sexual trauma counseling and referral
• Demobilization outreach and services
• Substance abuse assessment and referral
• Employment assessment and referral
• Screening and referrals for Veterans Health
  Administration (VHA) and Veterans Benefits
  Administration (VBA) issues
• Veterans community outreach and education

POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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History
Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS), also known
as the Vet Center Program, was established in
1979 to provide readjustment counseling to combat
Veterans in a community-based setting, easy for
Veterans to access. The Vet Center program was
the first program in VA, or anywhere, to
systematically address the psychological traumas
of war in combat Veterans. RCS was established a
full year before the definition of Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) was published in the Third
Edition of the American Psychological Association
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM III) in
1980.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee broadly
defined the purpose of readjustment counseling
provision is to make fully available and to
encourage and facilitate the full use of the
resources of the VAs health-care system to those
Vietnam-era Veterans who feel the need for
counseling to help them in their readjustment to
civilian life. United States Senate Committee
on Veterans Affairs, Report 96-100 Veterans
Health Care Amendments of 1979 The House
Veterans Affairs Committee outlined within the
context of readjustment counseling, each Vet
Center is tasked with three major functions
outreach, direct service delivery, and referral.
United States House Committee on Veterans
Affairs, Report 98-117 Veterans Administration
Health Programs Amendments of 1983 Over the
course of the last 30 years the eligibility for
Vet Center services has expanded to include
combat Veterans of all eras, Veterans sexually
traumatized while on active duty, and families of
service members killed on active duty.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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• Vet Centers are staffed by relatively small teams
  (3-6 staff members) composed of a mix of mental
  health professionals and counselors from other
  disciplines.
• 53 of Vet Center direct counseling staff are
  combat theater Veterans, with an additional 20
  that are non-combat Veterans.
• 30 of all Vet Center staff are Operation
  Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom
  (OEF/OIF) combat Veterans.
• 60 of Vet Center direct counseling staff are VHA
  qualified mental health professionals (Licensed
  Psychologists, Licensed Social Workers, and
  Nurses).
• 42 of all Vet Center staff are women.
• 10 of all Vet Center staff are women combat
  theater Veterans,
• with an additional 8 that are non-combat
  Veterans.

POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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In February 2004 the Under Secretary for Health
authorized the Vet Center program to hire fifty
50 OEF/OIF Veterans to conduct outreach to their
fellow combat Veterans. Due to the success of the
initial 50 Outreach Specialists, an additional 50
positions were authorized by the Under Secretary
for Health in April 2005. These positions are
located in all fifty states, the District of
Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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Jamie Hamilton, Austin Vet Center OEF/OIF
Outreach Specialist OH-58 D Kiowa Warrior/UH-60
Black Hawk Helicopter Mechanic/Crew Chief
Afghanistan 2006-2007
Iraq 2003-2004
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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384,622 OEF/OIF Veterans Cumulative through
6/30/09
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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Vet Centers participate in the Post Deployment
Health Reassessment (PDHRA) process beginning
with the pilot in November 2005. Vet Center
staff are on site at each event to facilitate
referrals for readjustment counseling and provide
outreach materials and education to separating
service members and their families. From
November 2005 through July 31, 2009, Vet Centers
have participated in 1,412 distinct PDHRA events
and facilitated 23,045 Vet Center referrals.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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On August 5, 2003, VA Secretary authorized Vet
Centers to furnish bereavement counseling
services to surviving parents, spouses, children
and siblings of service members who have fallen
while on active duty, to include federally
activated Reserve and National Guard personnel.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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VET CENTERS
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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STAFFING
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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50 Mobile Vet Centers are being utilized to
provide access to VA for returning Veterans via
outreach to demobilization active military bases,
National Guard, and Reserve locations nationally.
The vehicles provide essential homeless Veteran
services including participation in Stand Down
events. The vehicles also support Vet Center
services to rural areas geographically distant
from VA services.
Initial MVC Demonstration for Congress, October
2008
Each Mobile Vet Center is equipped with a state
of the art satellite communications package that
includes fully encrypted tele-health equipment,
access to all VA systems (Computerized Patient
Record System, MyHealthEVet) and connectivity to
emergency response systems.
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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Red River Flooding Deployment MAR/APR 2009
Fargo, ND
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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RURAL OUTREACH Vet Center outreach being
conducted at the 87th Annual Greeley Stampede in
Greeley, Colorado. The 2009 Rodeo was dedicated
to OEF/OIF Veterans. Vet Center outreach was
coordinated by the Cheyenne Vet Center OEF/OIF
Outreach Specialist Larry Little, a retired USMC
Sergeant Major and Veteran of both Iraq and
Afghanistan.
87th Annual Greeley Stampede Greeley, Colorado
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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SPECAIL POPULATION OUTREACH Vet Center outreach
at annual AMPSURF event, Pismo Beach, California.
More than two dozen injured and disabled
Veterans took to the waves for a little physical
and mental therapy with Operation Restoration IV
at Pismo Beach. Disabled Veterans and wounded
active-duty service members from Brooke Army
Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, spent
several days experiencing the thrill and healing
power of surfing. RCS sent Chris Lopez and Brock
McNabb from Santa Cruz, both OIF Veterans, and
Joe Costello, Team Leader and OEF Veteran, San
Marcos Vet Center. Joe is an avid surfer and
participated in the water with the Veterans as
well as providing counseling in the off hours.
Operation Restoration IV Pismo Beach, California
POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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New Initiative READJUSTMENT COUNSELING FOR WOMEN
VETERANS AND FAMILIES
Project Overview

• Develop women Veteran and family focused services
  in existing and new sites in Vet Centers to
  promote state of the art holistic care. These
  would include leveraging new technologies to
  promote access, care, and case management of
  women Veterans and families. Hire more women
  providers (peer to peer) to provide services in a
  safe environment.
• Develop a 24/7 call center for women Veterans
  with peer counselors
• Develop a social networking program to
  facilitate rural services
• Provide women combat/family services in each Vet
  Center
• Develop new models to provide more comprehensive
  services such as employment, benefits, and some
  primary care (i.e., rural areas)

POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15
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• Services Provide in FY2008
• 167,034 Veterans and families provided 1,112,819
  visits
• 67,334 (40) of all Veterans receiving Vet
  Center services were not seen at any other VHA
  Facility
• Within the total services listed above 14,517
  Veteran families were provided 53,064 visits

POC Alfonso Batres, Ph.D., Chief Officer,
Readjustment Counseling Service, 15