Publisher’s note: This article addresses mental health issues and suicide. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please know that you are not alone, and free, confidential help is available 24/7. Call 800-273-8255 to talk to a counselor now. If you’re a veteran, the VA Veterans Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Call 800-273-8255 and Press 1.
In Part 1 of The Maverick Observer’s “Colorado Gives Back to Veterans,” we looked at how Colorado is helping homeless veterans and veterans who lack employment — two significant problems in the veteran community.
However, arguably the biggest problem veterans face is mental health and an increased risk of suicide. According to Stop Soldier Suicide, veterans have a 50 percent higher suicide risk than those who haven’t served in the military.
To address this issue and specifically help El Paso County veterans gain access to mental health, Colorado’s General Assembly passed Senate Bill 21-129, “Veteran Suicide Prevention Pilot Program.”
Mental Health Access
Did you know that one in five veterans experience some form of traumatic brain injury? Further, as a result of deployment, many veterans report problems with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), thoughts of suicide, depression and anxiety problems, according to the National Academy of Sciences.
Stop Soldier Suicide reports that since 2006, there’s been an 86 percent increase in suicides among veteran males aged 18 to 34. By 2030, veteran suicides will be 23 times higher than post-9/11 combat deaths. These are horrifying statistics.
To help address the above issue, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers no-cost counseling services through community Vet Centers. Plus, these services are available regardless of discharge character, and veterans don’t need to have a service-connected disability or be enrolled in VA health care to use these services. If you live in or around Colorado Springs and are a veteran, there’s a Vet Center at 3920 N. Union Blvd. Sounds great, right? It is.
However, there are three problems with Vet Centers:
- Gaining access to menatl health care at a Vet Center is not a simple as one might hope.
- The treatment a veteran receives may not be up to par.
- Veterans aren’t always aware the program exists.
To see how easy it is to make a counseling appointment at a Colorado Springs Vet Center, I called their direct line (719-471-9992) during their regular office hours. I made it to the automated messaging system, and then it promptly hung up on me. I repeated this process three more times over the course of two days with the same result.
Unfortunately, my experience is in line with the 2020 Wounded Warrior Project Survey Results, which found that of those warriors who tried to gain mental health care, 28.9 percent couldn’t get an appointment. Likewise, in 2015 an internal VA report found that many Vet Centers had exceeded their “real capacity.”
In September 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that Vet Centers set expectations for “counselor productivity.” To meet these expectations, counselors at the Vet Centers told the GAO they “spend less time with each client to fit more clients into their schedules.” The GAO reports that this, coupled with the “shortage of mental health services,” could negatively affect counselors and client care.
Lt. Col Ted Blickwedel, a therapist at a Vet Center in Rhode Island, said in regard to the productivity requirements, “The dilemma is, choosing between, ‘I’m going to do what I need to do to meet these metrics,’ or actually do [what’s] best for the veterans,” reports NBC News.
Finally, until researching this article, I had no idea Vet Center’s provide counseling services regardless of discharge character or enrollment in VA health care. And I’m a veteran. To find out if my ignorance was unique, I reached out to several my fellow veteran friends. None reported knowing about the free counseling available at Vet Centers.
More Help is Needed
When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, timely and effective access to care is imperative. The VA provides access to care, but at this point, the demand is exceeding what it can handle. Consequently, Colorado’s General Assembly passed SB21-129.
SB21-129 directs the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) to establish a suicide prevention pilot program in El Paso County that’ll serve 700 veterans and their families. CDHS plans to partner with a nonprofit or educational organization to administer this program so that veterans can receive no-cost, confidential, stigma-free, and effective behavioral health treatment. If this program is effective, it can be expanded beyond the initial 700 limit and to other areas of the state.
Colorado Steps Up
As we discussed in Part 1, veterans make up 11.4 percent of Colorado Springs’ population, and Colorado Springs, itself, is considered a “military city.” Because of these two factors, El Paso is uniquely situated to test a pilot program aimed at reducing veteran suicide.
Access to mental health care is imperative for veterans experiencing trauma, and in the past, this access has been elusive for many Colorado Veterans. Will SB21-129 help rectify this problem? And if it does, will Colorado expand this program to other areas of the state? As of this writing, the answers are unknown, but The Maverick Observer is tracking this and will report back as more information becomes available.
