Veterans would have enhanced access to peer counseling specialists to help treat mental health conditions and prevent suicides under legislation recently introduced by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) on Wednesday.
Peer counseling specialists currently working within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) help fellow veterans overcome mental health and substance abuse disorders by connecting them with VA services and teaching them positive coping mechanisms.
Blunt’s Veteran Partners’ Efforts to Enhance Reintegration Act, or Veteran PEER Act, would lift restrictions on peer counseling specialists being incorporated into veterans’ primary care services. It would also authorize the VA to establish peer counseling specialists in Patient Aligned Care Teams. The bill calls for the program to be implemented at 50 VA locations across the country.
“Our nation has a responsibility to ensure our veterans have access to quality behavioral and mental health treatment,” Blunt said. “Given their shared experiences, peer specialists are uniquely positioned to provide veterans the support they need in their care and recovery.”
A 2012 executive order instructed the VA to hire 800 peer counselors to help treat an estimated 1.5 million veterans who need mental health services. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who introduced the bill with Blunt, said the PEER Act would make those peer counselors more accessible to veterans.
“I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and help connect more veterans with peer counselors who can make a difference in their lives,” Blunt said.