Beginning Saturday, veterans and military personnel facing a mental health crisis can call 988 and press 1, after years of being told to dial an unmemorable 10-digit number.

The Veterans Crisis Line will join the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline through the new 988 suicide and crisis hotline, linking veterans and service members who need help with the same Department of Veterans Affairs support system as before.

The goal of the new number, VA officials said Friday, is to make it easier for veterans, service members and their families to access mental health support. The VA anticipates that the new three-digit format will lead to increased calls and has hired additional personnel to meet demand, said Dr. Matthew Miller, executive director for suicide prevention at the VA.

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"Now that 988 implementation is upon us, we are excited and we are ready," Miller said during a media roundtable.

Mental health advocates hope 988 will replace emergency calls to 911 for mental health crises.

While 911 dispatchers are prepared to send first responders and support callers during an emergency, Veterans Crisis Line staffers are trained counselors who can handle distraught callers, access records and send help in emergencies, according to the VA.

"It's one thing to answer the call quickly ... and to provide quality services within the call, both of which are absolutely essential and, by the way, legally mandated. But what happens after the call is something that uniquely distinguishes us. ... If a veteran is willing, we will put in a referral to [a] local suicide prevention coordinator at the local facility, offer direct contact and outreach with a veteran, and then connect them to the right care at the right time and the right place," Miller said.

The 988 initiative was signed into law in 2020 and developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the VA.

Their Veterans Service Officers (VSO’s) are trained and accredited by the US Department of Veterans Affairs to provide free assistance to veterans and their dependents and survivors. This includes not only applying for federal and state benefits but also providing resources related to the following:

• Compensation and Pension
• VA Home Loans & Housing
• Health Care
• Military Records
• Education & Training
• Employment
• Burial & Survivor
• Permits
• Transportation
• Claims Assistance
• Veterans’ disability benefits and rights

Read more: https://militarybenefits.info/state-veterans-affairs-office-directory/#ixzz5k2H3QjidYou are here: Home / State Veterans Affairs Offices

State Veterans Affairs offices available by each state. Learn about the state and federal benefits you are entitled to receive and how to claim them. State Veterans Offices help veterans file claims for education, care for your health, find employment, get a veteran home loan, with compensation/pensions and much more.

Read more: https://militarybenefits.info/state-veterans-affairs-office-directory/#ixzz5k2GQpxuZ

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is a part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Washington, D.C.  The Board’s mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner.

The Board Appeals Metrics page is now available with additional details. The link is also available in the Resources links to the right.

If a Veteran is affected by any natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or flood, he/she may request that his/her appeal be advanced on the docket. Veterans are strongly encouraged to submit their request in writing, and can include evidence such as newspaper clippings, pictures, FEMA declarations etc., in order to support their request. Requests can be sent directly to the Board’s fax line: 844-678-8979 (Toll Free). Veterans are instructed to include their name, VSO’s name (if applicable), and their claim number. For more information on advancement on the docket, please visit our customer service page.

Here is a list of Hearing Team coordinator points of contact by region. If Veterans, Veteran Service Organizations or Regional Offices have questions about their hearings these are the appropriate people to contact.  For general inquiries, please access Appeals Status on VA.gov (information below) or phone 1-800-827-1000.
Hearing Coordinators 

Greetings,

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is providing information about utilizing alternatives to in-person Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic to support social distancing and the safety and health of Veterans and clinicians. VBA will continue to complete as many examinations as possible using virtual means that do not involve a face-to-face examination. This message is intended to advise you about the change and provide guidance and resources.

• C&P examinations are forensic examinations used to gather evidence used by VBA claims processors in making decisions on Veterans’ claims for disability compensation and pension benefits. C&P exams are scheduled when the evidence already in the Veteran’s record does not contain all the information needed to make a decision on the claim.
• Disability Benefits Questionnaires, or DBQs, are standardized forms used by clinicians when performing C&P exams. The purpose of a DBQ is to ensure the clinician performing the exam captures and records all the information needed by VBA claims processors to make a decision.
• For many years, both Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinicians and VBA contract vendors have conducted C&P examinations using DBQs. In FY19, VBA completed about 65 percent of the more than 1.6 million examination requests generated by regional office claims processors....

Thousands of veterans caregivers could see their Veterans Affairs stipendsreduced or taken away completely under a series of case reviews planned over the next year to ensure long-time participants still qualify for the benefit. 

Veterans Affairs officials said that no families currently in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers will see reductions in stipends before fall of next year, and families being removed from the program won’t have the financial support cut off until early 2023.

But the move still means the looming loss of thousands of dollars a month for some families of veterans with serious, lingering service injuries. 

About 33,000 individuals are currently enrolled in the program, which provides support services and monthly stipends to caregivers of veterans unable to perform basic self-care activities. 

Program Executive Director Colleen Richardson said the reviews will cover about 19,800 “legacy” participants, all of whom entered the program before October 2020. Before then, only veterans who left the ranks after September 2001 were eligible to apply for the program...

November 2022 By Leo Shane IIII, MilitaryTimes

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said he expects to see significant progress soon in efforts to reduce homelessness and suicide among veterans, despite the complexity and long-term challenges of both issues.

In a wide-ranging interview with Military Times just before Veterans Day, McDonough said department leaders are pleased with recent progress on both issues, two of the top policy focus areas for VA staff over the last decade.

But he also noted that the recent improvements are not enough, and veterans cannot wait decades for the problems to be resolved.

In September, VA researchers announced that the number of veterans suicides in America fell to fewer than 17 a day in 2020, the lowest rate since 2016. The total number of veterans who took their own life was down nearly 10% from 2018 to 2020, a decrease which they attributed to more mental health resources and intervention programs for veterans.

Earlier this month, federal officials announced the number of homeless veterans dropped by more than 11% from the start of 2020 to the start of 2022, a significant decrease after several years of minor changes in the total.

Officials also attributed that to years of focused efforts on assistance programs for veterans.

The number of homeless veterans has fallen by about 55% since President Barack Obama in 2010 announced a goal of ensuring housing for every veteran in America. Despite the progress, an estimated 33,000 veterans are still without stable shelter on a typical night.

McDonough has announced a goal of housing 38,000 veterans this year (about 31,000 have been helped so far) and said he expects that to show some immediate impact on the problem.

“I feel like veteran homelessness is one that we will see resolved in a very concrete way in a matter of years, rather than decades,” he said...