Schumer Calls On VA To Make Counseling Services Immediately Available To Accommodate Influx Of New Vets In The Hudson Valley

Schumer Calls On VA To Make Counseling Services Immediately Available To Accommodate Influx Of New Vets In The Hudson Valley

Today, Senator Charles E. Schumer called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to immediately provide new counseling services to veterans living in Orange County and across the Hudson Valley. Schumer said that with nearly 1,500 veterans from current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan living in the Hudson Valley alone, these services are needed now more than ever. Schumer also called on the VA to establish an entirely new Veterans Center in Orange County in addition to the new counseling services.

"Our heroic soldiers have paid an enormous price and we need to be doing so much more to take care of them when they come home," Schumer said. "More returning soldiers than ever suffer from psychological ailments that require immediate and comprehensive attention and they shouldn't have to leave home to get it. This new center would provide an invaluable service to the ever growing number of Hudson Valley veterans."

Right now, the two closest veteran's outreach centers for vets living in the Western Hudson Valley are located across the Hudson River in White Plains and upstate in Albany. However, 44 percent of the 1,368 veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan live in Orange County. 607 veterans from the Iraq and Afghan wars live in Orange County, with 162 in Rockland, 81 in Sullivan. In total, there are 131,259 veterans living throughout the Hudson Valley.

Schumer said it is vital that additional counseling services be made immediately available to returning veterans. There number of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan is at record high's as new medical treatments have thankfully allowed a greater percentage of soldiers to survive what had been fatal injuries. Schumer said the VA cannot wait for a new center to be built to start providing these critical services.

In his letter, Schumer wrote, "This readjustment impacts not only our veterans, but also their families. As such, they need support services as they work through the difficulties that arise from long periods of separation and the psychological impacts of war on the entire family."

Schumer also expressed his strong support though for the creation of a new center in Orange County to deal with the influx of returning soldiers. The Vet Center Program was established by Congress in 1979 out of the recognition that a significant number of Vietnam era vets were still experiencing readjustment problems. They are community based and provide a broad range of counseling, outreach, and referral services to not only veterans, but also their families.

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=268655&&year=2007&