Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

1.      Veterans Suffer From Much Higher Unemployment Rate In California. The San Gabriel Valley (CA) Tribune (11/14, Hines) reports, “Finding a job is proving especially difficult for young veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Statewide, 24.9 percent of veterans between the ages of 18 and 24 were unemployed in 2009 … significantly higher than the 19.8 percent of non-veterans in that age group.” So “with 30,000 more veterans expected to return to California this year, the state and federal government has spent millions over the past several years on programs aimed at putting vets to work.” Employee Development Department spokesman Patrick Joyce said that “The reason for high joblessness among young veterans is the host of problems they face including P.T.S.D., traumatic brain injury and depression.”

 2.      Kansas To Help Veterans Avoid Scams. The Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun (11/14, Clark, 10K) reports, “The state’s securities commission has adopted a new rule to help Kansas veterans receive additional protection against a type of scam. The new program was announced on Wednesday and requires all investment firms to comply with US Department of Veterans Affairs rules on veterans and their families. The rules prohibit any firm from charging a fee to help veterans receive benefits unless the agent is an authorized agent and has a fee agreement on file with Veterans Affairs.”

 3.      Stand Down For Homeless Veterans Offers Help In Hampton, Virginia. The Newport News (VA) Daily Press (11/14, 69K) reports, “On Saturday, more than 300 homeless veterans got served hot lunches at the Y.H. Thomas Community Center in Hampton. It was all part of the Stand Down for Homeless Veterans, an event where homeless veterans could also get showers, haircuts, new coats, boots, haircuts and new toiletries.” Fletcher Walker, senior vice commander for Hampton chapter of Disabled American Veterans, said that “veterans were bused over from homeless shelters and the Veterans Hospital; others who showed up had been sleeping in their cars.”

 4.      West Virginia Stand-Down Event A Chance To Stand Up For Homeless Vets. The Hagerstown (MD) Herald-Mail (11/13, Belisle, 31K) reports, “It’s estimated that about one-third of the nation’s homeless adults, about 131,000, have served their country in the military, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs. … Those numbers and more came to light Saturday during the third annual Hero-Haven Homeless Veteran Stand Down at the VA medical center. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, homeless veterans tend to be older and more educated than the homeless who are not veterans. About 45% suffer from mental illness and about 70% abuse drugs and alcohol. … About 50 homeless veterans from the local VA center’s 23-county, four-state service area came to Saturday’s stand down seeking help for health, employment and housing problems, said Michelle Cooke, chief of the center’s domiciliary rehabilitation treatment program.”

5.      Retreats For Vets With PTSD To Be Conducted In New Mexico. KOAT-TV Albuquerque, NM (11/14, 10:34 p.m. MT) broadcast that “more help is on the way for veterans struggling” with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), because the “state is getting money to conduct retreats to help veterans with the disorder. They’ll concentrate on combining different clinical therapies, with non-traditional methods, like yoga and acupuncture. Veterans who are diagnosed with PTSD by the Department of Veterans Affairs are eligible to participate.”

 6.      New Jersey Lawmakers To Consider Gold Star Family License Plates Bill. The AP (11/15) reports, “Legislation that would create special license plates for parents and close relatives of American troops killed while serving their country will go before an Assembly panel” in New Jersey on Monday. The “bill being considered by the Military and Veterans Affairs committee would authorize the so-called Gold Star Family plates.” New Jersey is “one of three states that don’t have some version of the Gold Star plates.”

 7.      VA Held Up As Model Health System. In his Green Valley (AZ) News and Sun (11/14, 13K) medical column, Charles Barta writes that in 1993, the VA “had such a low perception that Congress seriously looked at defunding it and transferring all veterans to private care using a voucher system. Fortunately, Bill Clinton chose a man [Jesse Brown] to take over the VA who had the drive to make dramatic changes. … The result of his work from 1993-97 can be seen in every report and study of the new VA.” And “after studying, as well as working in, most of the models of healthcare provision, I believe the VA model is the best for us.” Barta argues that the chief advantages are the integration of information and the cooperative efforts of personnel on behalf of the patient.

 8.      General Speaks Out About PTSD Battle. The Fayetteville (NC) Observer (11/14, Ramsey, 56K) reports Maj. Gen. David Blackledge “is speaking publicly about his invisible wounds to let other warriors know their reactions to combat are normal. … An Army report released this summer said soldiers who need mental healthcare the most are the least likely to seek treatment. They worry it will hurt their career, or they will appear weak. Blackledge was unsure how speaking to a psychiatrist would affect his career. He said his first psychiatrist promised to be careful when taking notes so the sessions wouldn’t come back to haunt the general. Now, five years later, he’s defying the culture of military silence and openly talking about his own troubles.”

 9.      Athletic Trainer Focused On PTSD Treatment. The Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch (11/14, Walsh) reports on Mark Smaha, who has “worked as a certified athletic trainer for 32 years on the college level. His counseling skills come from his ability to connect with patients and from personal experience.” Smaha missed a trip as a young trainer in which the plane crashed and everyone on board was killed. Smaha says that “PTSD symptoms fall into three categories — repeated ‘living’ of the event, avoidance and arousal. Treatment is done in several ways, in both individual and collective settings.” He “stresses to people he counsels that the healing process takes time. An Army veteran who’s served in two wars does not get over PTSD in one or two sessions.”

 10.    Veterans Find Help In Battle For Mental Health. The Willoughby (OH) News-Herald (11/14, Glasier, 34K) reports, “Helping veterans of military service overcome mental-health challenges is the life’s work of Dr. Edgardo Padin-Rivera, Ken Smith and Dr. Tina Brown. Padin-Rivera is chief of psychological services and coordinator of post-traumatic stress disorder programs for the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. … Padin-Rivera brings more than impeccable professional credentials to his dealings with hundreds of area veterans at the VA Medical Center’s sprawling campus in Brecksville. In 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, Padin-Rivera was in the US Army serving as door gunner on a helicopter.”