"Welcome Home" from Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland will help vets from Iraq and Afghanistan navigate the VA system.

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Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.  If you would like to contact Jim about his columns, you can email him here...  The archive of Jim's articles is here...  To find an answer to a specific VA benefits question, use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...  And, be sure to use Jim's:  A Military Veterans Guide To Disability Compensation and Pension Benefits -- A Compendium of Resources and Knowledge For The Disabled Veteran -- click here...   JIm's series for new vets, "Welcome Home," is also featured on Military.com. And, you can follow Jim on TWITTER here ...

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Welcome Home! #6 -- Check Out Your Local Vet Center

by Jim Strickland

Here you are, home at last. It's not an unpleasant sensation but it's so very different than your recent history that it's disconcerting. At times maybe it's even frightening. There's so much to do and a lot of things have changed. You've been away and everything seems smaller somehow...but for the things that loom larger and more intimidating.

You may not be sleeping so well. You didn't expect to startle quite as easily as you do and you're growing a little tired of your heart racing and pounding in your chest. Your thoughts are racing too...the memories of friends, the places you've been, those things you've seem are all fresh in your mind and won't leave you alone.

Now what? You can't talk to your friends or family who weren't there...how could they understand? You aren't ready to stand in lines to get into a program at a VA hospital but you're beginning to understand that talking to someone could help.

What's a veteran to do?

Enter the "Vet Centers". Since 1979 your Department of Veterans Affairs - Vet Center Program has run 232 community based Vet Centers. Vet Centers are staffed by small teams of professionals in an atmosphere that's less formal than the big hospitals. Many of the providers at your vet center are combat veterans.

Are you in an area where you can't get to a Vet Center? There are now mobile Vet Centers that will come to you. If you served in any combat zone or were a victim of military sexual trauma you're eligible for Vet Center services.

What can you expect from a Vet center and how do you go about getting services?

I've recently had the good fortune to meet Susan McPherson. Susan is a Readjustment Counseling Therapist at the Ventnor, N.J. Vet Center. She's also a disabled veteran with 12 years of active duty as an Intelligence Specialist in the Navy and a Masters degree to her credit.

Susan took the time from her busy schedule to write to share some of the many positive events and trends that are happening at Vet Centers.

Susan was excited as she told me, "Some good news about what I'm seeing in the VA is a very smooth and easy transition to get OIF/OEF veterans into the system and hooked up with services."

I had to ask if the Vet Centers were only for the use of our GWOT vets. "No, of course not", Susan said, "The original concept was designed to meet the needs of Vietnam veterans and we continue to serve them. We're using that experience to continually improve our services to meet the unique needs of the younger vets who we're seeing. Our Vietnam (and other combat) veterans will always be welcomed."

"I recently had a case where I needed to get an OIF veteran into a Substance Abuse Treatment Unit (SATU) program. With only two phone calls I had him entered into the system and placed in treatment within
4 days. Once he completes the SATU program he will be transferred to the inpatient PTSD program and then return for follow up counseling with me."

She went on to say, "Coordination of services is much easier then it has been in the past. With the two facilities that I called each returned my call within an hour while I had the veteran with me. I was able to walk the veteran upstairs to the CBOC and Homeless Coordinator Ken Gorski, MSW interviewed the veteran, set up the inpatient date and scheduled transportation for the veteran. Seamless transition is not a catch phrase around here, this is the trend of the future."

I learned that bereavement counseling services have been added for surviving parents, spouses, children and siblings of service members who die of any cause while on active duty.

I asked Susan if a veteran can just walk in for help. Susan told me, "Any combat veteran or active duty, NG or Reserves vet can just walk into our facility and will usually seen that same day or have an appointment within a week to see a therapist. The veteran does not have to be in the VA system and all we need is a copy of their DD214.

Most importantly, everything is highly confidential."

I asked if Vet centers were available for use as a place to find a computer to apply for a job or just to stop by for coffee and a friendly greeting. Susan answers, "We don't have computers for job searches due to confidentiality restrictions with VA computers but we have referral sources to help veterans find employment. Vet Centers were set up as a storefront for combat veterans to walk in, get acquainted with our services, ask questions and meet other veterans who share their same issues."

In the final analysis your Vet Center is one of those valuable benefits that you're earned with your honorable military service. I agree with Susan as she sends out her message to all combat veterans; "Stop by, get to know us and have a cup of coffee on us."

You can find a Vet Center near you by clicking here http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp 

Vet Center staffs are available toll free during normal business hours at 1-800-905-4675 (Eastern) and 1-866-496-8838 (Pacific).

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Strickland, Veterans' Advocate, Welcome Home, Iraq veteran, Afghanistan veteran