EXPANSION OF COUNSELING FOR COMBAT VETERANS ANNOUNCED (VA News Release)

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that combat veterans will receive readjustment counseling and other assistance in 28 additional communities across the country where Vet Centers will be established in 2010. The community-based Vet Centers -- already in all 50 states -- are a key component of VA’s mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling.

The existing 232 centers conduct community outreach to offer counseling on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family members, as well as bereavement counseling for families of service members killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were sexually harassed on active duty. Vet Center services are earned through service in a combat zone or area of hostility and are provided at no cost to veterans or their families. They are staffed by small multi-disciplinary eams, which may include social workers, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, master’s-level counselors and outreach specialists. Over 70 percent of Vet Center employees are veterans themselves, a majority of whom served in combat zones.

Florida communities receiving new VA Vet Centers are Bay, Collier, Lake, Marion, and Okaloosa Counties.

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