The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced that as of the end of January it hired 1,058 mental health clinical providers and 223 administrative support staff and is closing in on a goal of hiring 1,600 providers with 223 support staff by June 30 as set forth in an executive order.
VA says it set aggressive goals to fill the new positions as well as existing and projected mental health vacancies within the VA system. It said it has hired a total of 3,262 mental health professionals – including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, mental health nurses, licensed professional mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and addictions therapists — and administrative support staff to serve veterans since the goal was announced.
VA also said it completed hiring and training additional staff to increase the capacity of the veterans’ crisis line (1-800-273-8255, press 1) and phone lines have been increased by 50 percent.
The department further announced it is working to hire and train 800 peer specialists in the coming year and is working with a contractor to provide them with certification training. It noted that he number of veterans receiving specialized mental health treatment from the department rose to over 1.3 million in fiscal 2012.
