National Guard Bureau

Story by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs recently implemented many new initiatives and programs as a way to specifically engage National Guard and Reserve veterans who have been deployed, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said, Nov. 19.

Called the "Seven Touches of Outreach" the goal of the program is to "engage Guard and Reserve veterans at least seven times during the deployment cycle with targeted messages and face-to-face encounters with VA staff members," Shinseki told an audience at the National Guard's Joint Senior Leadership Conference held here.

"With this generation, a letter in the mail doesn't cut it anymore," said Shinseki. "There has to be personal contact for the message to get across."

Those engagements start when service members arrive at the demobilization site from theatre.

"They receive an overview on VA services and benefits and are enrolled in VA healthcare," said Shinseki. "Members are assigned an OEF/OIF program manager to contact, who will set up their initial health and dental appointments at the VA facility of their choice."

And during that demobilization process, service members are required to fill out the Post-Deployment Health Reassessment, meet with a healthcare provider and self-evaluate his health status as compared to how is was prior to the deployment.

"VA supports the health assessment conducted by Department of Defense providers and is able to link [reserve component] veterans with appointments to VA for mental health or other follow-up requirements," said Shinseki.

He added that of 298,000 RC veterans screened, 107,000 have been referred for further evaluation, 61,500 members received appointments for healthcare and 25,000 to vet centers for readjustment counseling.

And for those who may need assistance once they return to their state, Transitional Assistance Advisors have been set-up in each state, who work with the adjutant general to link Guard members with VA services.

"TAAs have reached out to [more than] 360,000 RC veterans and referred (more than) 76,000 to VA for services or benefits," said Shenseki.

Additionally, as part of the Yellow Ribbon Program, the VA sends representatives to reintegration programs that returning Guard members attend 30, 60 and 90 days after returning from deployment.

Another way the VA makes direct contact with Guardmembers returning from deployment is through the Combat Veteran Call Center, where VA representatives contact those Guard members directly to advise them of VA benefits and ensure they are aware of the services they are able to obtain from the VA.

"In its first year, the call center made over 700,000 phone calls and either contacted or left messages for 515,000 reserve component members," said Shinseki.

The goal is to ensure those who need care get the care they need, said Shinseki, reiterating that Guard members returning from combat tours are entitled to five years of free VA healthcare and 180 days to obtain a one-time dental evaluation and treatment.

"We are re-engineering our business processes -- fundamentally challenging all our assumptions for why we process the way we do -- and bringing latest technologies into our workspace in order to connect to all our veterans, especially our youngest, with better, faster, higher-quality decisions and services," said Shinseki. "How fast is fast? I don't know, but that is what we are going to find out."

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