Nicholson: Vital Services More Accessible for Returning Veterans
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) vet center program, which provides readjustment counseling and outreach services to combat veterans, is expanding into 23 new communities across the nation in the next two years, the Department announced today. These facilities are an important resource for veterans returning from the Global War on Terror and their families.
“Our vet centers lead the world in helping combat veterans successfully readjust to life at home,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “It’s an important service which combat veterans have earned. VA continues to expand into more communities with our vet centers to bring our services closer to the veterans who need them.”
New vet centers will be located in Montgomery, Ala.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Modesto, Calif.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Orlando, Fort Myers, and Gainesville, Fla.; Macon, Ga.; Manhattan, Kan.; Baton Rouge, La.; Cape Cod, Mass.; Saginaw and Iron Mountain, Mich.; Berlin, N.H.; Las Cruces, N.M.; Binghamton, Middletown, Nassau County and Watertown, N.Y.; Toledo, Ohio; Du Bois, Penn.; Killeen, Texas; and Everett, Wash.
During 2007, VA plans to open new facilities in Grand Junction, Orlando, Cape Cod, Iron Mountain, Berlin and Watertown. The other new vet centers are scheduled to open in 2008.
All vet centers are community-based. They provide counseling on mental health and employment, plus services on family issues, education, bereavement and outreach, to combat veterans and their families. They are staffed by small teams of counselors, outreach specialists and other specialists, many of whom are combat veterans themselves.
The vet center program was established by Congress in 1979 in recognition that a significant number of Vietnam veterans were still experiencing readjustment problems. Today, all veterans who served in combat are eligible for care at a VA vet center at no cost, as are their families for military-related issues. Also eligible are veterans who were sexually assaulted or harassed while on active duty and the families of service members who die on active duty.
Currently, VA maintains 209 vet centers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
