Just Creepy: VA is to Deploy 'Mobile Counseling Centers'

In an alleged effort to bring mental health services closer to veterans, the VA has deployed 50 new "mobile counseling centers" which will be administered through the Vet Centers.

“Our widespread distribution of this fleet from coast to coast marks a new chapter in VA's innovation to reach rural and under served veterans with high-quality readjustment counseling,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.

I don't consider this "new" effort to be innovation but just creepy. Think about this, the mobile counseling center will reach each veteran how often? This convoluted effort smells like a pork barrel project to benefit the "mobile center" manufacturer.

An existing Vet Center will be assigned a vehicle and will travel around to access the rural resident veterans. The Vet Center counselors and outreach workers will travel for events and activities to reach a more broad geographic area.

This mobile counseling center seems ridiculous. It would seem more appropriate for the VA to pay for private counseling on a set rate scale, similar to facilities which provide services for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Therefore, the rural resident veterans could receive more regular counseling by a professional of their choosing without the veteran having to worry about when they will next have the short bus come to their rural neck of the woods.

Vet Centers were established to provide non-medical readjustment counseling in easily accessible, consumer-oriented facilities, addressing the social and economic dimensions of post-war needs. This includes psychological counseling for traumatic military-related experiences and family counseling when needed for the veteran’s readjustment.

As many of you know, the counseling provided by the VA and Vet Centers is not provided often enough. Thus, how will random trips to obscure parts of the country benefit the veterans who may need more regular therapy?

These vehicles will be used to provide outreach and direct readjustment counseling at active-duty, reserve and National Guard activities, including post-deployment health reassessments for returning combat service members. This seems like a very arduous task for the already overworked VA and Vet Center mental health facilities.

The vehicles will also be used to visit events typically staffed by local Vet Center staff, including homeless "stand downs," veteran community events, county fairs, and unit reunions at sites ranging from Native American reservations to colleges.

While most of their use will be in Vet Centers' delivery of readjustment counseling services, the local manager may arrange with VA hospitals or clinics in the region to provide occasional support for health promotion activities such as health screenings.

The 50 vehicles are being manufactured for VA by Farber Specialty Vehicles of Columbus, Ohio.

This "plan" seems like a complete waste of taxpayer money which could be spent towards individual counseling in a veteran's local neighborhood.