Senate Veterans Affairs Committed missing all the facts

Senate Veterans Affairs Committed missing all the facts
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 21, 2013

I want to go back to the days when I didn't have a clue what was going on. Back to the days when my Dad, a Korean War Veteran was getting all the help he needed and I didn't pay attention to what he had to go through to make sure he got cared for. I want to go back to the days when I thought my husband's mild PTSD would not get worse. Even to the days when I thought there would not be more suffering the way Vietnam veterans did. That was 30 years ago and those days are long gone, never to return again. Judging from what I just read, it looks like things are even more screwed up than I thought they were.

I just read the press release on the hearing the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held on veterans committing suicide. I think I finally know why there has been absolutely no changes in the programs the government pays for. They just don't have a clue about what the rest of us are talking about.

Start with the number of OEF and OIF veterans Dr. Robert Petzel said were being treated for PTSD by the VA. He said 119,000 but the number on the VA website has this;

VA Facility Use by Recent Veterans with PTSD VA presents a report four times a year on the number of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and who used medical care at various VA facilities.

Read the latest report (664 KB, PDF) for data from October 1, 2001 to December 31, 2012. During this time, 286,134 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans were seen for potential PTSD at VA facilities following their return from these overseas deployments.

Summary A query of VHA health care utilization databases using the November 2012 DMDC roster yielded a total of 261,998 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans coded with PTSD at a VAMC and 70,044 Veterans who received Vet Center service for PTSD. Of these, 216,090 were seen only at a VAMC; 24,136 only at a Vet Center; and 45,908 were seen at both facilities. In summary, based on the electronic patient records available through December 31, 2012, a grand total of 286,134 OEF/OIF/OND Veterans were seen for potential PTSD at VHA facilities following their return from Iraq or Afghanistan.

So which is it? Where did Petzel get his numbers from and the larger question is, why didn't the Senate Veterans Affairs Committed know what the real numbers were before they held this hearing?

Senate Hearing Focuses on Veterans Suicides
Vermont Witness Testifies on Outreach Program

WASHINGTON, March 20 – A Senate panel today examined Department of Veterans Affairs efforts to provide mental health counseling for veterans who are committing suicides at a rate of more than 8,000 a year.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has made progress, but is short of its own goal set last year to hire 1,600 clinicians by June 30. As of March 13, the VA had hired 1,105 clinicians.

“I want to commend VA for the strides it has made,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “However, I am very concerned that VA has hired only 47 clinicians in the last two months. Clearly the VA must step up the pace of hiring if it intends to meet its goal of 1,600 new clinicians by the end of June of this year. In order to meet this goal, VA will need to hire almost 500 clinicians in the next two months. Frankly, I don’t see how this is possible, and I want to know what the VA is going to do about it.”

Dr. Robert A. Petzel, the head of the Veterans Health Administration, told Sanders that the VA would streamline its hiring process to meet the June 30 goal. “We know our work to improve the delivery of mental health care to veterans will never be truly finished, but we are confident that we are building a more accessible system that will be responsive to the needs of our veterans,” he testified. Petzel told Sanders the VA is treating 119,000 service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for post-traumatic stress disorder.

In other testimony at the hearing, Andre Wing of South Burlington, Vt., told the committee about a successful outreach program in Vermont, where fellow veterans go to the homes of service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. “One of the reasons the Vermont Veterans Outreach program has been so successful is our grassroots way of doing business. We are the ones going to the veterans’ home and working with them to find what they really need. The issues range from health care, emotional support, disability benefits, homelessness, employment, or financial assistance,” said Wing, the outreach program’s team leader.

The veterans outreach program in Vermont was launched in 2007 with federal funds secured by Sanders. It has since been adopted in other states.

Other witnesses at today’s hearing spoke about their personal experiences.

Kim Ruocco is the national director of suicide education at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. “We have found at TAPS that peer-to-peer support plays a key role in helping traumatized families find healing and comfort,” said the widow of Marine Corps Maj. John Ruocco, who committed suicide seven years ago while awaiting a redeployment to Iraq.

Jacob Wood served in Afghanistan with a Marine who took his own life after returning from the war. To instill a sense of purpose in returning veterans, Wood founded Team Rubicon, an organization which has used veterans’ military experience to aid victims of natural disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti.

The Marine's name is Clay Hunt. Clay was co-founded of Team Rubicon.

I wrote and open letter to Senator Sanders about Comprehensive Solider Fitness increased suicide warning ignored and producing 57% Military suicides happening after they sought help

RAND reviewed these programs and their findings supported what I have been saying all along.

but there is almost no evidence that resilience can be taught or produced.

Table 3.2 List of Resilience Programs Reviewed
Assessment of the Army Center for enhanced Performance (ACeP)
Battlemind
Operational Stress Control and Readiness (OSCAR)
Employee engagement Program (nSA)/Corporate Athlete
Energy Project
Gallup Consulting
HeartMath
Joint Speakers Bureau (JSB)
Landing Gear
Marine Resiliency Study (MRS)
Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness training (MMFt)
National Guard Resiliency Program
Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS)
Passport toward Success
Penn Resiliency Project (PRP)
Preventive Psychological health Demonstration Project (PPhDP)
Promoting Alternative thinking Strategies (PAthS)
School Mental health team (SMht)
Senior Leader wellness enhancement Seminar (SLweS)
Soldier evaluation for Life Fitness (SeLF)
Spiritual warrior training Program (SwtP)
Warrior Resiliency Program (wRP)
Warrior Resilience and thriving (wRt)

Warnings against using Xanax and Valium were ignored on top of all the above.

When will the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee actually understand what they are dealing with so they make sure money is spent wisely and they actually do something to prevent suicides tied to the military?