Veterans who suffer from Military Sexual Trauma Now Eligible for VA Health Care

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced in early December that it would expand eligibility for veterans in need of mental health care due to sexual assault or sexual harassment that occurred during their military service. This expansion comes under the authority from the recent VACAA legislation (Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014).

This sexual assault trauma, commonly known as Military Sexual Trauma (MST), is specifically defined as: psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a VA mental health professional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty or active duty for training.

This expansion, which also pertains to Reservists and National Guard members participating in weekend drill, gives the authority to offer veterans the appropriate care and services needed to treat conditions resulting from MST that occurred during a period of inactive duty training.

The expansion is rather timely, especially in light of recent reports of the continued increase in military sexual assault cases, which we at LHFV have discussed frequently on our blog.

Every VA health care facility will have a MST Coordinator who serves as the point person for MST cases. And every VA medical center and community based outpatient clinic offers some MST-related outpatient counseling.

Currently, veterans can receive health care for mental and physical conditions related to MST free of charge. Veterans do not need to have a service-connected disability or seek disability compensation to be eligible for MST-related care.

And, as many who experience sexual harassment or assault have not reported the incidents in the past, it is important to note that veterans do not need to have reported such incidents to the Department of Defense or have documentation or records to support their claims of having experienced such trauma. The responsible VA mental health provider makes a clinical determination as to whether a veteran’s condition is MST-related.

Finally, veterans do not need to enroll in the VA’s health care system to qualify for MST-related treatment, as it is independent of VA’s general treatment authority.

Veterans can learn more about VA’s MST-related services online at:

www.mentalhealth.va.gov/msthome.asp 

And you can see video clips with the recovery stories of veterans who have experienced MST at, and learn more at: http://maketheconnection.net/conditions/military-sexual-trauma.

If you have questions about service connected MST and disability compensation, contact us at Legal Help for Veterans.

Military Renews Focus On Drinking In Wake of Sexual Assaults

Incidents of binge drinking and sexual assaults involving military personnel have highlighted an ongoing concern for the service. The Army's Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, notes that while there are many different treatment programs for servicemen and servicewomen who grapple with drinking problems, there is now a concerted effort on prevention, before drinking gets out of hand.

The Pentagon estimates that there may have been as many as 26,000 sexual assaults perpetrated against military members in 2012, a dramatic jump from the estimated 19,000 assaults which occurred in 2010. The numbers are difficult to correlate, as many assaults are never reported. According to both studies and surveys conducted by the military and by independent agencies, alcohol abuse was a factor in almost 50 percent of sex abuse incidents.

Horoho spoke at SHARP, the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention conference at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland last month. She reported that troops are routinely asked about their level of alcohol consumption at medical appointments, as are their family members.

 

Drinking issues have been dealt with previously by various means, from barrack sweeps for beer and liquor to random breathalyzer testing to therapeutic efforts. This new push, to prevent problem drinking before it starts, is a sea change. She stated that the new push is focusing on prevention of alcoholic abuse both in barracks and off-base. Army barracks will be swept more often for alcohol in personal spaces, while the Marine Corps is now performing random breathalyzers tests to base-based troops on base.

Alcoholic consumption and sexual assault are frequently linked behaviors; a significant number of the reported sexual assault occurred when service members had also been socializing in settings where alcohol was consumed, or the alleged sexual perpetrator was often reported to have been drinking prior to the assault. 

The Army is now pushing for increased confidentiality for members who request help for a drinking issue, Horoho added. The potential stigma involved in having a chain of command know that a service member is work gin on a drinking issue is likely keeping many troops from accessing treatment, Horoho said.

The public recognition that alcohol plays a major role in the number of sexual assaults and sexual abuse is a change; Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently stated that while sexual assaults and sexual abuse in the military was due to a complex number of issues, one of the largest factors was alcohol use.

Source

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/07/08/military-tries-to-sever-booze-sex-assault-link.html?comp=1198882887570&rank=1