National Youth Transitions Center Opens Doors: First Center Devoted Exclusively to Serving Youth with Disabilities and Wounded Veterans

Washington, D.C. (October 26, 2011) -- Surrounded by healthcare, labor, community and military leaders, The National Youth Transitions Center (NYTC) was launched and officially opened its doors today, making needed services available to hundreds of young adults across the country. Developed by the HSC Foundation, the NYTC will, for the first time, bring multiple organizations together in one space to provide much-needed transition services, research, public policy, and wounded veterans’ services to youth. The center will provide assistance for youth with physical, sensory, intellectual, and emotional disabilities like autism, and to veterans making that difficult transition from life on the battlefield to life as a civilian.

“The National Youth Transitions Center will enhance the ability of young people and veterans to re-enter the workforce, participate in and contribute to community life, and to become productive members of society. This vitally-needed center will bring together experts from across the country to ensure that our youth and young veterans with disabilities are included in all aspects of our communities,” said Thomas Chapman, President and CEO of the HSC Foundation. “We’re making sure a neglected youth population doesn’t fall through the cracks as they enter adulthood.”

More than 40 organizations (see attached list) are collaborating with the center and will see youth and young veterans with disabilities (ages 14-26) to help get them ready for higher education and the workforce. Twelve of these organizations are housed in the new, state of the art, seven-story facility that is located in northwest Washington D.C. near Georgetown University’s campus. It will be equipped with the latest technology to provide services not only to youth at the center, but across the nation.

Some of the services they will provide include:

• Personal development and leadership training

• School¬-to-¬work readiness training

• Family education and support

• Work based learning (mentoring and internships)

• Career counseling and exploration

Ari Ne’eman is the president and co-founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), one of the organizations collaborating with the National Youth Transition Center. Ne’eman also sits on the National Council on Disability—a position he has held since being confirmed by the Senate last year. He says a center like this is long overdue.

"The National Youth Transitions Center is an extraordinary project that ASAN is proud to be a part of. By bringing together disability organizations from across the spectrum of our broad community, we can make progress we never could manage on our own. We're stronger together - and the NYTC is making that happen,” Ne’eman says.

For young people with disabilities that do not have assistance, the outcome is grim, as statistics have shown:

 Youth with disabilities are more than twice as likely as their peers to drop out of school, and they will face much higher unemployment rates.

 The adjudication rate of youth with disabilities is four times higher than for youth without disabilities.

 Youth with disabilities are three times more likely to live in poverty as adults than their peers without disabilities.

In addition to serving youth with disabilities, the center will also serve young veterans who are making that difficult transition from life on the battlefield to life in an office or college environment (especially when that transition brings with it new mental and physical disabilities).

Veterans like 27-year old Ryan Lamke understand the need for a center like this all too well. Lamke joined the Marine Corps after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He served for four years doing two deployments in Iraq. After being blown up by several roadside bombs and a grenade, Lamke suffered multiple brain and orthopedic injuries forcing him to resign from active duty. He found going back to civilian life was more difficult than he ever imagined.

“When you get out of the military it’s as if you have to go through a whole new boot camp. When you enroll in basic training, you’re taught how to be a solider, when you get out you need to be taught the same things, but most people don’t understand that,” Lamke says. “When I came back I had to learn not only how to deal with the people I had left behind I had to learn simple things like budgeting, paying bills, and most importantly understanding how to trust people in the civilian world again. That coupled with my injuries made life incredibly complicated,” Lamke says.

Until now, there has not been a comprehensive facility that really offered a safe haven for young veterans to talk about their problems and experiences. The NYTC is partnering with The Student Veterans of America not only to give them that place, but also to be surrounded by the support of young counselors and employment advisors who have faced and overcome the same issues as the men and women they’re helping.

“The National Youth Transition Center is about employment, education, freedom, and independence and you can’t have independence without an education or a job. We’re giving them the tools to help them build a path to independence and reach their highest potential,” Chapman said.

The partners at the center envision a multitude of benefits that include:

• For youth and veterans with disabilities: Readiness for jobs or college, eased reentry into their communities as well as confidence and skill

• For employers: Outstanding, capable employees ready to help reach goals and fulfill missions

• For the disabilities and transitions fields: New thinking and learning from research, evaluation, advocacy, and models of service

• For the nation: A valuable human resource for the future

The official opening ceremony was attended by several members of Congress including Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) and Rep. Gregg Harper (MI), as well as Sue Swenson, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education, Ortiz, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Employment and Training Services for the Department of Labor, and Gen. Gale Pollock.

About The HSC Foundation
The HSC Foundation (HSCF) is dedicated to improving access to services for individuals who face social and health care barriers due to disability and chronic illness. It puts a particular emphasis on youth, especially those who are transitioning to adulthood. Health Services for Children with Special Needs, Inc., The HSC Pediatric Center, HSC Home Care, LLC and Special Needs Consulting Services are subsidiary organizations of the Foundation. To learn more about The HSC Foundation, visit http://www.hscfoundation.org.

This Week at American Veteran

This week, Congress is still on a break for the in-district work period. However, the work continues for the AMVETS National Legislative Department, which is planning for more Capitol Hill visits to discuss veterans' issues ranging from recent daunting unemployment figures to follow-up on assistance dogs for wounded veterans.

Over the weekend, AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin was quoted by CNN on the latest veterans' unemployment figures, which surpassed 14 percent. Cmdr. Miskulin is in Indiana for the week, touring the AMVETS Department of Indiana.

This week, American Veteran will begin to discuss AMVETS' new program to help address the invisible wounds of war, as details emerge this week. We will also discuss the upcoming 2010 AMVETS Symposium for 21st Century Veterans. Details about the upcoming symposium are now available on the AMVETS National Web site.

This week, we will also highlight the work of AMVETS Riders in Tennessee, who honored local Vietnam veterans last week.

Finally, members of the AMVETS family were on hand at the White House this morning for the annual Easter Egg Roll. Photos will be available shortly.

If you have a story you would like to share with us for publication on the blog for American Veteran magazine, or in the quarterly print edition, please let us know. And, as always, we're eager to read your comments.

Live from Capitol Hill: AMVETS Commander to Testify

AMVETS National Commander Duane J. Miskulin testified before a special joint session of the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs on Capitol Hill this morning in Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, outlining AMVETS' legislative agenda for 2010.

Below are additional photos from this morning's special hearing before a joint session of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs. For details from this morning's hearing, Click Here. To view video from this morning's hearing, Click Here.

(Hundreds of AMVETS in Washington for this weekend's national executive committee meeting and Silver Helmet Awards packed into Dirksen room G-50 for this morning's hearing.)

(Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) thanks each of the veterans organizations on this morning's panel for their continued dedication to improving veterans' services, while Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) looks on.)

(Cmdr. Miskulin reads his prepared remarks during this morning's hearing, highlighting the persistent VA claims backlog and the invisible wounds of war.)

(Top photo: Cmdr. Miskulin delivers his remarks, as members of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs look on during this morning's special joint session. All photos by Ryan Gallucci.)

Live from Capitol Hill: Senate to Host Hearing on Mental Health

This morning, the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs will host an oversight hearing on mental health and suicide prevention. AMVETS Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof, who submitted a statement for record on the subject, will be on hand for the morning's hearing.

The morning's panels will include Iraq war veteran Daniel Hanson, VA's acting undersecretary for health, Gerald Cross, National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, board member Clarence Jordan, and other key VA mental health personnel. Each panelists remarks should be available shortly after this morning's hearing. To view a full list of panelists and details about this morning's hearing, Click Here.

Military and veterans mental health has been one of AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin's top priorities during his term.

NAMI also signed a memorandum of understanding with AMVETS in 2008, looking for new ways to improve mental health services to the veterans' community.

AMVETS plans to introduce a new program in an effort to improve the mental health climate for today's veterans, as Miskulin indicated in his quarterly column in American Veteran magazine. American Veteran online will keep you posted as more information on the new program becomes available.

VBA/VHA Host Conference on Veterans' Mental Health

This morning, the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration and Veterans Health Administration convened for a forum on mental health at the Capitol Hilton in Washington. AMVETS National Service Director Denny Boller and National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof will be on hand throughout the two-day meeting.

The goal of the forum is to allow VA administrators, veterans' groups, and other stakeholders to discuss the current compensation and pension system within VA, idetify shortfalls in the disability rating process and evaluation criteria, and streamline interoperability between VA's health care system and its benefits system.

This afternoon, Boller will participate in a panel discussion with leaders from the nation's other top veterans' service organizations to discuss VA's compensation and pension process and its impact on veterans involved in the process.

Boller, who has served for decades as an AMVETS national service officer preparing veterans' compensation and pension claims, focused his remarks on providing clear standards national standards for disability evaluation, improving interoperability between VA and Department of Defense when dealing with service-connected conditions, and implementing VA's Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook (VHA 1160.01) in an effort to improve outreach and care.

To view the official Web site for the forum and to download an agenda, Click Here.

American Veteran will follow developments out of the forum over the next two days. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: VA's official logo for the VBA/VHA Mental Health Forum.)

AMVETS Joins Health Care Leaders and Other Veterans' Advocates to Discuss Rural/Remote Vets' Care

This morning, AMVETS joined the House Veterans Affairs Committee roundtable to discuss rural and remote veterans' issues. National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof spoke on behalf of AMVETS, explaining how the organization viewed the issue, why it was important to AMVETS members, and what AMVETS leadership believed would be the best courses of action to improve the situation.

Roof cited alarming mental health care shortages in rural and remote areas and alarming death rates among rural and remote veterans, including a 2006 study by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, which demonstrated that death rates among rural and remote veterans were 60 percent higher than their urban and suburban counterparts.

The informal discussion, led by Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and VA Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Dr. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), focused on utilization of current VA assets and identification of new areas on which the federal government should focus.

Participants concluded that Congress should focus on three areas when addressing the issue through legislation: Immediate, local access to care; quality of care; and comprehensive outreach.

Roof also explained that any solution must also focus on continuity of care for the long term, rather than stop-gap measures ensuring that rural and remote veterans would have access to occasional care.

Roof said that today's veterans, many of whom are still in their 20s, do not need care for just the next couple of years, but for the next half century.

The House Committee plans to hold additional hearings on the issue and begin work on legislation to improve the situation. AMVETS leaders will be watching closely and providing input where necessary. Check back with American Veteran Online regularly for updates.

(Photo: Roof discusses AMVETS' position on rural and remote veterans' care issues during this morning's roundtable. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

VA Secretary Shinseki Delivers Keynote at Suicide Prevention Conference

Yesterday, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki delivered the keynote at the VA/DoD suicide-prevention conference at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency in Washington.



AMVETS is on hand at the conference today to participate in breakout sessions ranging from collaborative assessment and management of suicide, rural and remote veterans' mental health care, substance abuse and suicide, social media and suicide prevention, and ongoing research within VA and DoD.

American Veteran Online will continue to follow the conference, reporting on developments throughout the week.

(Video: Pentagon Channel video of Shinseki's address discussing military and veterans' suicide.)

VA, DoD Host Summit to Discuss Mental Health

Yesterday VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Defense Secretary Robert Gates opened the first-ever VA and Department of Defense summit on mental health at the Capitol Hilton in Washington. The summit brings together leaders across both departments, medical practitioners, and military and veterans' advocates, including AMVETS, to discuss mental health issues related to military service.

Since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the invisible wounds of war have become a major concern for the veterans' community. A recent RAND report shows that up to twenty percent of all service members who deployed in support of the conflicts have exhibited some symptom associated with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.

Pentagon and VA have come together in an effort to better serve those affected by service-related mental health issues at the summit, which runs through Thursday.

In his opening remarks, Shinseki tasked the summit with three goals: Build on current levels of mental health care; maintain advances by promoting psychological health, resilience and prevention; and establish a mental health care model that leverages national resources beyond the military.

AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin has made military and veterans' mental health his top priority since taking office in September, making this summit critical to the work of AMVETS and its partners.

AMVETS National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof was on hand for the first day's activities, listening to a variety of speakers who brought a wealth of expertise in the mental health field to the summit.

American Veteran will be following the summit closely over the next three days. Check back regularly with American Veteran Online for updates.

(Photos: Top: VA Secretary Shinseki addresses the VA/DoD mental health summit at the Capitol Hilton. Hyperlink to official DoD story by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen, released. Right: Defense Secretary Gates addresses the summit. Photo by Christina Roof.)

VA's Mental Health Strategic Plan

Five years ago, the Bush Administration commissioned a mental health strategic plan for the VA in an effort to standardize and modernize the system designed to handle the invisible wounds of war.

As a way to implement the strategic plan, VA commissioned the VHA Uniform Mental Health Service Handbook in June 2008 (VHA 1160.01). The handbook outlined more than 200 critical benchmarks that must be met by all VA health care facilities to be in compliance. Yesterday was the deadline for 100-percent compliance.

Since VA's Office of the Inspector General issued a report on compliance last spring, AMVETS has been following up on the handbook's implementation.

"At the time, VA was optimistic about the numbers presented in the OIG report, which demonstrated near compliance in most areas," said AMVETS Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof who had testified on the OIG report before Congress in the spring. "Unfortunately, AMVETS noticed that the OIG's data set was incomplete. Only 149 of 171 VA medical facilities even responded to OIG's inquiry."

The missing data, compounded with the troubling trends in veteran suicides, led AMVETS leaders to conclude that perhaps everything had not gone according to plan. Now that the deadline has passed, AMVETS has started to ask tougher questions.

AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin has made veterans' mental health issues a top priority for his year in office, and intends to hold VA accountable for the strategic plan's implementation.

"It's heart-wrenching to see young veterans losing the battle with themselves on the home front, after surviving the battle with our enemies," Miskulin said. "VA's implementation of this handbook is one critical step in ensuring our veterans have the resources to cope with these invisible wounds."

Since yesterday, AMVETS legislative and communications departments have been making calls to check on the status of VA's implementation. Check back shortly with American Veteran Online for updates.

VA Suicide Lifeline Takes to the Streets

This afternoon, the VA announced that it will be publicizing the VA suicide prevention lifeline, 1-800-823-TALK (8255), on more than 21,000 buses in 124 communities across the country. The VA hopes to reach more veterans through the direct marketing campaign, which proved successful during last summer's trial run in Washington, D.C. To view the VA's press release about the program, Click Here.

The VA launched the hotline in July 2007 as a way to offer 24-hour assistance to veterans in need of critical counseling. AMVETS has proudly supported the VA effort since its inception, prominently displaying the hotline on all of its Web sites and in printed materials.

To date, the VA says that more than 3,000 veterans have been rescued as a result of the hotline, with more than 120,000 veterans and their loved ones seeking counsel through the service.

Suicide prevention is a serious issue to AMVETS, which is vocally calling for all VA medical centers to meet the compliance deadlines for the VA's Strategic Mental Health Plan and the Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook. The handbook will help to ensure that all VA centers offer a certain level of care to veterans coping with combat stress issues.

To visit the VA's suicide prevention Web site, Click Here.

(Image: Suicide prevention banner from the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site. Image is in the public domain.)

VA launches Web site for college mental health counselors

This week, the VA launched a new Web site offering teaching aides for college mental health counselors to address the issues student-veterans may face.

The new site notes that VA has recognized mental health issues among recently-returned Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. As more veterans seek to take advantage of their new G.I. Bill benefits this fall, college mental health counselors must be prepared to properly address the issues for which student-veterans may seek counseling.

Currently, the site offers links to presentations on suicide prevention, PTSD training, and alcoholism.

The suicide prevention PowerPoint presentation is quick and matter-of-fact, and the PTSD 101 course is a mutli-faceted, in-depth analysis of the disorder, its causes, its prevalence among veterans, and potential treatment options.

The new Web site is a key first step in ensuring college campuses are able to meet the needs of veterans once the new G.I. Bill takes effect August 1. Hopefully, mental health counselors on college campuses will take advantage of these resources in order to provide adequate, timely assistance to veterans who need it.

(Image: Bridge from the VA's new mental health counseling page for student-veterans. Image is within the public domain.)

Pa. Congressman Joe Sestak Discusses Combat Stress

Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a retired vice admiral and an inactive member of Morton AMVETS Post 118, discussed combat stress Tuesday on CNN in the wake of the tragic Baghdad stress clinic shootings.



During the interview, Sestak pointed out that veterans are under constant stress in today's combat environment, and that repeated, long deployments only exacerbate the situation. He said that proper identification is paramount to treating veterans who struggle with combat stress, and that the U.S. military needs more mental health practitioners working in the field to identify potential issues.

Sestak also pointed out the absurdity of the current self-identification which DoD and VA require for troops at risk for PTSD.

"If 25 percent of veterans coming home had cancer, we would not be having self-referrals to treat cancer," he said. "We don't have a mandatory, systematic approach that includes the families...We can be doing better, and we must do better."

On Monday, Sestak hosted his annual veterans' summit in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, with leaders from the national veterans' community on hand, including representatives from AMVETS Department of Pennsylvania and National Headquarters.

During the summit's first panel on health care and benefits, veterans in the audience raised questions about the military's approach to identifying and treating combat stress issues, citing personal experiences where family members had faced overwhelming obstacles in treating combat-related mental health issues.

Sestak took these issues to heart when he returned to Washington, pointing out that we must not repeat the mistakes of the Vietnam era when veterans are coping with combat stress.

(Video: CNN video of Rep. Joe Sestak courtesy of the Office of Congressman Joe Sestak, used with permission.)

Live from Capitol Hill: AMVETS testifies on VA contracting and veterans' small businesses

This afternoon, AMVETS' Christina Roof testified before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. Roof's testimony focused on contracts and contract policy as it relates to veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs).

To read Roof's remarks, Click Here.

To view video from the hearing, Click Here.

(Photo: AMVETS Legislative Aide Christina Roof testifies before the VA subcommittee. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

Ecstasy to Treat PTSD???

This morning, Military.com reported on a South Carolina psychiatrist exploring the affects of the party drug MDMA, or ecstasy, on PTSD sufferers. After reading the story, I, personally, think there may be some merit to this study. Patients were under the watchful eye of qualified physicians, and the drug seemed to help them properly connect with their emotions. As a veteran of the war in Iraq, and having dealt with this issue first-hand, I realize that confronting suppressed memories and properly connecting with emotions are often the most difficult hurdles in treating combat stress. Why shouldn't the VA give MDMA a look, since its primary function is to enhance emotional response?

Today, most doctors prescribe a barrage of antidepressents and anxiety meds for PTSD sufferers. To me, this seems like the easy way out. I've never been a fan of antidepressents or their side-effects. I find it hard to believe that these drugs would be the only answer. The former Army Ranger quoted in the story said, "I don't want to be part of the Prozac nation. I know some of those people and they don't feel up or down or anything at all."

PTSD has long been an issue for the military, dating back to cases of "shell shock" in WWII. Vietnam Veterans were hung out to dry when they sought to address their mental health issues. It didn't really come to the forefront until this conflict. Unfortunately, the VA still seems to be struggling to adequately treat the condition, as evidenced by recent studies showing a dramatic rise in soldier suicides.

MDMA, like any other pharmaceutical, can have dire consequences if used inappropriately. However, there could be a proper clinical use for the drug after all. I've seen first-hand the kind of effects PTSD can have on troops when they come home. If there's a viable treatment out there, I think the VA should investigate. (Though I guess I can understand their skepticism, in light of last year's Chantix dabacle.)

-Ryan

PS-If you're suffering from combat stress, DO NOT TAKE ECSTASY ON YOUR OWN. The South Carolina study was conducted in a controlled environment and properly sanctioned by the FDA. Ecstasy is still ILLEGAL, and, like any drug, if self-medicate with it, you could DIE. If you're having issues, call the VA. Their 24-hour number is at the bottom of this blog.

(Official DEA photo)