Council President Flynn Welcomes the VA’s Implementation of Free Emergency Mental Health Care for Veterans

City Council President Ed Flynn applauds the VA’s latest policy implementation to provide free emergency mental health care for veterans experiencing “acute suicidal crisis”.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced on January 17 that all veterans who are suffering from “acute suicidal crisis” will be eligible to receive free emergency mental health care at a VA facility or regular clinic whether enrolled in the VA healthcare system or not. This policy change aims to prevent suicides among veterans, which according to the latest VA’s figures, sees 17 veterans commit suicide per day. In addition, this new change will significantly improve emergency access to mental health care services for 18 million veterans, half of whom are not currently enrolled in the VA healthcare system, or live long distances from a VA facility.

“This is a huge improvement in terms of access to emergency mental health care. It is important to bring down suicide rates among our veterans and help destigmatize mental health in the veteran community. I have seen many of our veterans struggle with PTSD and mental health traumas without necessarily knowing where to seek help. I applaud President Biden, the U.S. Congress, especially Congressman Mark Takano’s leadership in taking meaningful steps to address mental health services for veterans.”

The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is also available 24/7 for veterans who are experiencing a mental health crisis. They can dial 988 to speak with a mental health professional. Once connected, they can press “1” for the veteran’s crisis line. There is also a web chat tool available at: http://VeteransCrisisLine.net/chat. For more information, please contact Councilor Flynn’s office at 617-635-3203 and Ed.Flynn@Boston.gov.

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