U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, this month launched an investigation into what he says are critical deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) management of the Veterans Crisis Line.
In two separate letters, Sen. Moran requested an audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), and that the VA Secretary take appropriate personnel actions without waiting for the full conclusion of the GAO audit.
The senator’s requests follow concerns he received from current and former VA employees who provided “substantial evidence” of mismanagement that is creating a danger to the health and safety of United States military veterans, according to his staff.
For instance, in Sen. Moran’s Nov. 14 letter sent to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, he wrote that multiple whistleblowers have reported that VCL responders are currently transferring veterans with complex needs to an indefinite waiting list for eventual contact from a special unit.
Despite a statutory requirement for the VCL “to be staffed by appropriately trained mental health personnel and available at all times,” this special unit of responders for “Callers With Complex Needs” is allegedly severely understaffed and undertrained, according to the senator’s letter.
“Worse yet, a break in record retention is reportedly resulting in a complete loss of communication with veterans who are disconnected while waiting on hold in this queue,” he wrote.
Sen. Moran called the VA’s history with these secret waiting lists “deplorable,” and if the VCL is, in fact, letting veterans who reach out in moments of desperation slip through the cracks, he wrote, “it needs to be known and it needs to be stopped.”
Sen. Moran also called on McDonough to make certain the VA fully cooperates with an independent investigation of the VCL.
In his Nov. 6 letter to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, the senator requested that a thorough audit of the VCL include information on VCL operations, specifically of the Call Center, Silent Monitoring, and Complex Needs units; information technology and record retention; and oversight and quality assurance.
“It is stated that ending veteran suicide is VA’s top clinical priority. A thorough GAO review of the [VCL] would help VA and Congress to address this program’s flaws and move us closer to that goal,” wrote Sen. Moran.
The VCL, the senator added, is on the front line to support veterans whose health and safety are at heightened risk. “Any mismanagement of this critical program unduly increases that risk and is completely unacceptable,” he wrote.