Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly Monday met with organizations supporting his “Servicemember and Veteran Mental Health Care Package” (“Care Package”) to discuss the importance of improving mental health outcomes for servicemembers and veterans. Donnelly is working to advance several legislative initiatives in the “Care Package” through his work on the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee and the upcoming consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This effort follows the successful passage of Donnelly’s Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act last year. Donnelly and the participating organizations’ representatives discussed how best to ensure critical provisions of the “Care Package” become law by year’s end. Donnelly will be pushing for inclusion of the “Care Package” in the Fiscal Year 2016 NDAA when the Armed Services Committee begins consideration of the annual bill later this week. Donnelly said, “We must strengthen mental health care for servicemembers and veterans—in Indiana and around the country. I am working with military, veteran, and mental health organizations, along with like-minded Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to continue to move forward meaningful, commonsense legislation to provide better mental health services for our servicemembers and veterans and fight the scourge of military and veteran suicide. We have a lot of work to do, but this problem is not too big to solve. I am grateful for the strong support from organizations that are on the front lines advocating for improved mental health care for our troops and veterans. In the coming weeks, I am hopeful that we can advance critical elements of the ‘Care Package’ in the Senate and build on the progress we made last year in getting the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act signed into law.” The National Guard Association of the United States, the Military Officers Association, Reserve Officers Association, National Military Family Association, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention participated in the meeting and expressed their support for Donnelly’s legislation. Pete Duffy, Director of Government Affairs, National Guard Association of the United States, said, “It has been too long a wait for DoD and the VA to respond to the pressing need for community-based behavioral care programs from trained providers for our military members and their families. NGAUS applauds the bipartisan ‘Servicemember and Veteran Mental Health Care Package.’” VADM Norb Ryan, USN-ret., President of the Military Officers Association of America, said, “MOAA is very grateful to Senator Donnelly for his leadership in introducing this critically important ‘Servicemember and Veteran Mental Health Care Package.’ These bills honor the men and women who serve our country by providing tangible evidence of our nation’s commitment to making sure they and their families, and the systems that care for them have the tools and resources they need to deliver timely, evidenced-based, and culturally competent mental health services. Additionally, your legislation is an important step in taking action on recommendations from a recent RAND study, sponsored by the United Health Foundation in collaboration with MOAA, entitled, ‘Ready to Serve: Community-Based Provider Capacity to Deliver Culturally Competent, Quality Mental Health Care to Veterans and Their Families.’ There is no greater priority for those serving in our military and veterans’ health and benefit systems than caring for the mental wellness and well-being of our military, veterans and their families.” Jeffrey Phillips, Executive Director, Reserve Officers Association, said, “Senator Donnelly’s bill directly addresses the needs of the Reserve Components. It will provide a registry of community providers who understand the medical care servicemembers need as a result of their military duty. The Guard and Reserve return to the community when their military duty is done and the registry will help them choose the best medical provider.” John Madigan, Vice President of Public Policy, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said, “Once again, Sen. Joe Donnelly leads the way not only for servicemembers and Veterans in the Hoosier state, but for all of America’s military heroes with the introduction of the ‘Servicemember and Veteran Health Care Package.’ Joe Donnelly clearly understands the need to ensure quality mental health care for servicemembers, veterans and their families. It is not only right, its America’s sacred obligation and duty to help those who keep us free to make sure they get the mental health care they need. We are the land of the free, because of the brave. Joyce Raezer, Executive Director, National Military Family Association, said,“For several years, our Association has advocated on the need for mental health providers that were familiar with the military lifestyle and customs to work with service members and their families. We appreciate Senator Donnelly’s efforts to address not only the cultural competence, but the shortage of providers, too.” The “Care Package” seeks to build on the progress made by Donnelly’s Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act, which was signed into law late last year and requires an annual mental health assessment for all servicemembers—Active, Guard, and Reserve. The package focuses on three areas of mental health providers: providers employed by Department of Defense and Department of Veteran Affairs; community (or private) providers; and the training of physician assistants as new providers. Learn more about the “Care Package” here.
