American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2012 – President Barack Obama today signed an executive order that provides increased access to mental health services for service members, military families and veterans.
The order, signed as Obama left Washington for a visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, directs the Defense Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other key federal departments to expand suicide-prevention strategies and to take new steps to meet the demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment services, White House officials said.
The president is expected to share details about the new initiative today during a private roundtable discussion with soldiers and their families at Fort Bliss and during an address to the troops.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the new provisions underscore the U.S. government’s commitment to strengthening the health of the military force and providing additional support to combat “two unseen wounds” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.
The executive order:
— Strengthens suicide-prevention efforts across the force and in the veteran community;
— Enhances access to mental health care by building partnerships between the Department of Veterans Affairs and community providers;
— Increases the number of VA mental health providers serving veterans; and
— Promotes mental health research and development of more effective ways to prevent, identify and treat PTSD, TBI and other related injuries.
More than 2 million service members have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, serving tours of unprecedented duration and frequency, White House officials noted in announcing the new executive order.
“Long deployments and intense combat conditions require optimal support for the emotional and mental health needs of our service members and their families,” they said.
The executive order builds on efforts already under way within the Defense Department, VA and other federal agencies to ensure veterans and active, Guard and Reserve service members and their families get the support they deserve, officials noted.
In terms of suicide prevention, the executive order directs VA to increase the capacity of its veteran crisis line by 50 percent by the year’s end. It also calls on VA to ensure that no veteran who reports being in crisis should have to wait more than 24 hours to be connected to a mental health professional or trained mental health worker.
VA also will work with the Defense Department to establish a national, 12-month suicide prevention campaign focused on connecting veterans to mental health services, officials reported.
To ensure veterans have access to these services, the executive order also calls on VA and the Department of Health and Human Services to establish at least 15 pilot sites where VA can partner with local mental health providers. This initiative, officials said, will help ensure services are available in regions where VA has had trouble hiring or placing providers.
The order also directs VA and HHS to develop a plan to increase access to mental health care in rural communities.
In addition, VA will hire 800 peer-to-peer support counselors to help veterans support each other and ensure that their mental health needs are met.
That’s on top of VA’s ongoing effort to hire 1,600 new mental health care professionals by June 2013. VA has hired more than 3,500 mental health professionals since 2009, and the new executive order includes recruiting incentives to build on that momentum.
The new order rallies interagency support in confronting mental health and substance abuse support for veterans, service members and their families. It establishes an interagency task force to recommend new strategies, and calls on DOD, VA, DHHS and the Department of Education to devise a national plan to improve PTSD and TBI diagnosis and treatment. A comprehensive study included in that plan will delve into better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat these and other mental health challenges, officials said.