On average, 22 veterans commit suicide each day. Men aged 50-59 were the most likely to commit suicide—well after they’d likely been discharged. The high prevalence of mental health disorders that contribute to these deaths demonstrate the urgency of providing mental health treatment to veterans at no matter when combat related mental health disorders first appear.

Currently, veterans face a five-year window in which they must seek treatment for mental illnesses before losing their higher priority status. This legislation would eliminate this time-limit and allow veterans to seek treatment for service-connected mental illnesses, regardless of when their conditions manifest themselves.

Learn More

Click here to learn more about the mental health crisis facing today’s veterans and about the Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act.

Take Action

The bi-partisan bill has 48 co-sponsors to date. See a list here. If your Congress person is not on the list, contact them and encourage them to sign-on as a co-sponsor. Let them know it’s literally a matter of life or death for the men and women who fight to protect our freedoms.

This is not okay, and we need to let legislators on the Health Committee know it. Contact your legislators today and urge them not to consider any expansion of the Human Services Block Grant program. (Click here to see a list of the Health Committee members. Contact the member of the committee who represents your district. If you are unsure of who your legislator is, find them here.)

When communicating with legislators:

• Remind them that the Block Grant is a major shift in public policy that was designed and implemented with no stakeholder participation—and no consideration of the consequences.

• ​Explain that a true pilot program would have been implemented in a small number of counties, with a well-designed plan for evaluating its success. The initial pilot started in July 2012 and has not yet been evaluated. Greater expansion doesn’t make sense when the program has not been in place long enough to know the results. ​It is critical that the initial 20-county Block Grant implementation be rigorously evaluated to determine whether its goals of flexibility and integrated services have been met. As a matter of sound public policy, only when success has been demonstrated should expansion be considered.

• Let them know that the Block Grant breaks promises the Commonwealth made to its citizens to provide and maintain community mental health services after the closure of state institutions. Approximately 73 percent of the Block Grant is comprised of funds previously dedicated to community-based behavioral health services. Moving these funds into a Block Grant, where they can be used for other programs, breaks these promises and puts the behavioral health system infrastructure in jeopardy.  It also puts individuals without access to community-based supports at risk of homelessness, incarceration, and being “dumped” into emergency rooms.

Speak out today! It is critical that legislators hear from you no later than Monday morning. Let them know that you oppose the Block Grant expansion.

Below are resources for receiving and volunteering support:

Give An Hour provides services to anyone who is or has been affected directly or indirectly by the current conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Soldiers Project is a group of licensed mental health professionals who offer free psychological treatment to military service members (active duty, National Guard, Reserves and veterans) and their loved ones who have served or who expect to serve in the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The VA Crisis Line connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text.

Representative Gene DiGirolamo, (R) Bucks County, chair of the House Human Services Committee has introduced HB 315, a supplemental appropriation bill which restores $84 million in Human Services funding that was cut as part of the fiscal year 2012-2013 state budget.  If it passes, the cuts would be restored now!

Take Action Today!

Contact your representative. Rep. DiGirolamo currently seeks co-sponsors of the bill and has asked his House colleagues for support. We need you to ask them as well. Click here to see if your representative has signed on yet to co-sponsor the bill. If not, please urge your legislator to sign on to HB 315. If your representative is a co-sponsor, say thank you. Not sure who your representative is? Click here to find out.

Read Rep. DiGirolamo’s co-sponsor solicitation letter here, which contains an outline of the increases he proposes.

Share your story.  In his letter, DiGirolamo says, “The 10% cut that was part of the budget is severely impacting services for people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and addictions.” If you or someone you love is one of those people, tell your legislator how the cuts have hurt you. And share your story with other organizations who are fighting to restore cuts this year—and to and prevent more next year. Click here to learn how to share your story.

Act today! This is an opportunity to restore Human Services funding, which would make a critical difference to many individuals and behavioral health organizations across the state.

Who is eligible: Participants need to be over the age of 18 and have a psychiatric disability.

What the survey covers: This survey will help us identify what mental health consumers would like to see in a weight loss intervention. The survey will ask questions about personal health, nutrition, physical activity, goal setting, and preferences in technology and weight loss programs. Responses to the survey are completely anonymous and participants may choose to skip any question they do not wish to answer or stop the survey at any time. There is no penalty for not completing the survey.

How can I participate: The survey, which will take about 10 minutes, can be completed on a computer or iPad.  To get started, click here.

Help spread the word! Please help us reach interested participants by disseminating this study announcement and sharing the text below via your listserv or in your next newsletter.  Also please let us know if you have additional suggestions that will help us reach participants who may be interested in participating. If you have any questions or would like more information about this survey, please contact Dr. Gretchen Snethen at (215)707-3390 or gsnethen@temple.edu