Coburn was right, Congress failed veterans

UPDATE

Since Congress has been passing bills under "preventing suicides" even though they went up among the veterans population, it is a good time to reflect on exactly what that means to veterans and their families.
The claim of at least 22 veterans a day committing suicide equals 56,210 for the last 7 years. Again, that is an average with some states reporting suicides in their veterans population double the civilian rate.
This is why no one with the national attention should be allowed to just say whatever they want, whenever they want playing politics while pretending they are trying to do some good. We're tired of excuses, empty promises and speeches.

We failed veterans. Plain, simple and contrary to what the talking heads on TV say, the Clay Hunt Suicide prevention bill would not do much to make any of this right.

Tom Coburn gave a speech that, while not well delivered, was mostly right. Veterans lost hope and we have failed them. This speech was slammed by Rachel Maddow last night much to my horror. I could just see veterans cringing, listening to her words and wondering when the hell someone like her will actually know what she is talking about while they are waiting for things to change.

"They are searching for an answer that we have failed to give them." said Coburn.

"They are searching for the support, the nurturing and the love need to be there."

Rachel Maddow asked if anyone had an idea what Coburn was talking about. I wondered why she didn't.

"Nobody else has an objection at all." said Maddow.

I doubt she did much research to know exactly how many people do not hold the same outrage as she does. Many of us are outraged the Congress would dare write one more bill without a basic understanding of the reason for the suicides any more than they dare to even contemplate why everything else has failed.

"The relief of death" Maddow had trouble with comes from when a veteran decides that he will surrender his life after fighting for it, most of the time for decades, only to lose hope.

It isn't the first time Coburn blocked a bill about suicides. He did it to the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act back in 2007. Eventually it was passed and signed into law by President Bush in 2008.

This is what was happening around then.

In 2007 parents were telling members of congress about their on experience with a veteran committing suicide.

Mike and Kim Bowman are on the first of six panels of witnesses who were scheduled to testify at the hearing, which will focus on suicide prevention and treatment within the VA health care system.

Two authors of books about post-traumatic stress disorder also will testify, as will veterans’ advocates from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Legion and Disabled Veterans of America. After the testimony from other panelists, including officials from the VA’s Veterans Health Administration and inspector general’s office, the authors and veterans service organizations’ representatives will return to share their reflections on that testimony.

According to the committee, the Veterans Health Administration estimates there are about 1,000 suicides per year among veterans receiving care through VHA, and as many as 5,000 suicides per year among all living veterans.

According to the Veterans Affairs Department, there were at least 283 suicides among veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the end of 2005.

The Army said its suicide rate in 2006 rose to 17.3 per 100,000 troops, the highest in 26 years of record-keeping. In October, two recently returned Marines one from New Jersey, the other from Bucks County committed suicide.

In response, CONTACT, a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week crisis hotline, is establishing an outreach program specifically for returning veterans and their families. The "It's About Hope" program is a first in 31 years for CONTACT and could be one of the first in the state.

They also had this bill passed and signed in 2008

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

TitleI - Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health Care
Section101 -
Enacts this title in tribute to Justin Bailey, who, after returning to the United States from service in Operation Iraqi Freedom, died in a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) domiciliary facility while receiving care for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a substance use disorder.
Section103 -
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure the provision of the following services and treatment to each veteran enrolled in the VA health care system and in need of services and treatment for a substance use disorder:
(1) screening for substance use disorder in all settings, including primary care;
(2) short-term motivational counseling;
(3) marital and family counseling;
(4) intensive outpatient or residential care;
(5) relapse prevention;
(6) ongoing aftercare and outpatient counseling;
(7) opiate substitution therapy;
(8) pharmacological treatments to reduce cravings for drugs and alcohol;
(9) detoxification and stabilization;
(10) coordination with groups providing peer-to-peer counseling; and
(11) such other services as considered appropriate by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to ensure that amounts available for such care are allocated to ensure a full continuum of such care, treatment, or services to all veterans without regard to the location of their residences.
Section104 -

Requires the Secretary to ensure that treatment for a substance use disorder and a comorbid mental health disorder is provided concurrently through a health professional with training and expertise in the treatment of both disorders, by separate services for each disorder, or by a team of experienced clinicians.

Section105 -

Directs the Secretary to conduct a two-year pilot program on the feasibility and advisability of providing veterans who seek treatment for substance use disorders access to a computer-based self-assessment, education, and treatment program through a secure Internet website operated by the Secretary. Makes eligible for such program volunteer veterans who have served in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom. Requires a program report from the Secretary to Congress. Authorizes appropriations.

Section106 -

Requires the Secretary to conduct a: (1) review of all Veterans Health Administration (VHA) residential mental health care facilities; and (2) follow-up review, within two years after the first review, to evaluate any improvements made or problems remaining with respect to such facilities. Requires a report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees after the initial review.

Section107 -

Directs the Secretary to conduct a three-year pilot program on the provision of the following services to veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, particularly to those who served as a member of the National Guard or Reserve:
(1) peer outreach;
(2) peer support provided by licensed providers or veterans with personal experience with mental illness;
(3) readjustment counseling; and
(4) other mental health services.
Requires:
(1) the Secretary to conduct training programs for veterans and clinicians providing such services;
(2) annual reports to the Secretary from entities participating in the program; and
(3) the Secretary to design and implement a strategy for evaluating the program.

You can read the rest from the link above.

I don't want to bore you with more details especially if you have not read Wounded Times before but since all of this has been tracked from news sources and government reports, the rest of us have seen enough to have come to some conclusions a long time ago. The first one is that reporters on the local level know more about the reality veterans and families live with everyday than national reporters too busy to do any basic research on what is going on. That congress is not interested in what works best and actually doing the right thing as much as they are getting their name on a bill while failing to comprehend the simple fact their name on a bill that produced more suicides will not be forgotten.