VA failed to use funds set for mental health [View All]

[chat_noir]

VA failed to use funds set for mental health
Millions meant to help combat vets went untapped and millions went to other programs

WASHINGTON | Over the last two years, $300 million has been set aside to fill critical gaps in mental health services for veterans, especially troops returning from combat.

But more than $50 million of those allocations didn’t get spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and millions more went to other programs, congressional investigators reported Thursday.

The funds were supposed to improve awareness of the VA’s mental health programs and provide better access for combat vets, former women personnel and others with serious mental illnesses.

The underspending was one of the topics at a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee looking into the number of soldiers and Marines suffering post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.

“Please don’t hide behind statistics and bureaucrat-ese,” Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of California told medical experts at the hearing. “Let us know you have some passion for solving this issue.”

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15634551.htm