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WASHINGTON- Last week, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), Erik Shinseki, announced that combat Veterans in 28 communities across the country, including Horry County, will be able to receive readjustment counseling and other assistance by 2010 at new Vet Centers. After the announcement, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC), the Ranking Republican on the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, made the following statement:
“I am very excited about Secretary Shinseki’s announcement that a new Vet Center will be coming to Horry County in 2010.
Over half a million veterans live in the First District of South Carolina alone, and serving as a member of the VA Committee in several capacities since coming to Congress in 2001, I have always worked to enhance the VA to meet the needs of each generation of veterans from World War II to our newest veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is essential that we provide convenient and high quality outreach and readjustment counseling to all combat veterans and any new facility where our nation’s heroes can receive such care will only bring us one step closer to our ultimate goal of providing these men and women with the benefits and services they have richly earned.”
The 232 community-based Vet Centers, already in all 50 states, are key components of the VA's mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling.
Vet Centers also conduct community outreach to offer counseling on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family members, as well as bereavement counseling for families of service members killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were sexually harassed on active duty.
More information about Vet Centers can be found at www.vetcenter.va.gov/index.asp.
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