Historically, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been reluctant to partner with the private sector to assist veterans in need, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological problems. Over the years I have at times taken the VA to task for not taking advantage of the many private service organizations and individuals who want to help. A new study from the Center for a New American Security shines a light on this issue. Nancy Berglass, author of this new report, writes:
Berglass, who suggests that neither the Department of Defense nor the VA does enough to help the warrior make the transition to veteran, says an increase in public-private partnerships would help veterans in countless ways. Refreshingly, on the VA's brand new VAntage blog, writer Taylor Baldwin Kiland agrees with the report's findings:
In a Newsweek story last year, I reported that the VA under new leader Eric Shinseki was finally beginning to tear down the wall separating this bureaucratic federal agency from the private sector, but that there is still a long way to go. The good news is there are already a number of non-profits and individuals working with VA and the military to do remarkable things for veterans. They include ACVOW (American Combat Veterans of War), a veteran mentoring and assistance organization here in San Diego County run by Michael Sloan and Bill Rider, and Give an Hour, a nationwide, non-profit network of mental health professionals founded in 2005 by therapist Barbara Van Dahlen that provides free services to U.S. troops, veterans and their families.
In a recent speech, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen also recognized the efforts of USA Together, a non-profit that matches service members with vetted private-sector organizations that can provide services of all kinds to veterans. But many more of these public-private partnerships need to be forged as the veteran population surges with the return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kiland writes:
