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:
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.
