APA Services has endorsed the STRONG Veterans Act of 2022. The legislation, sponsored by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) and ranking member Michael Bost (R-IL), seeks to bring about broad changes and improvements to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health treatment and research.
The STRONG Veterans Act of 2022 incorporates several pieces of legislation previously debated by the House Veterans Affairs Committee and included in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee’s Post-9/11 Veterans Mental Health Improvement Act that was marked up by the committee last December.
“The American Psychological Association strongly supports the efforts of Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Bost, and the House Veterans Affairs Committee to provide the needed direction, funding and workforce for the Veterans Administration,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. “This act goes a long way in improving the effectiveness of the VA through expanding eligibility for services under Title 38, bolstering the Solid Start Program for transitioning servicemembers, and increasing research focused on suicide prevention and mental health. Psychological science and the psychological workforce are essential to providing the care and treatment members of the armed forces, veterans and their families need. This is why we support the STRONG Veterans Act of 2022 and hope for its swift passage and enactment.”
The act has five distinct sections seeking to achieve different goals related to mental health, including:
- training of VA staff to support veterans’ mental health,
- improving the Veterans Crisis Line,
- developing more effective outreach to transitioning service members and veterans,
- expanding the delivery of mental health care services, and
- researching and reporting to Congress on the impact of current services and the changes required by this act.
Support for this legislation is part of the APA Services broader efforts to ensure that service members, veterans, and their families have the support and mental health services they need during and after their service.
For more information, contact Corbin Evans.