WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A suicide hotline operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance, according to a report by the agency\u2019s internal watchdog.<\/p>\n
The report by the VA\u2019s office of inspector general says calls to the suicide hotline have increased dramatically in recent years, as veterans increasingly seek services following prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the aging of Vietnam-era veterans.<\/p>\n
The crisis hotline \u2014 the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary \u2014 received more than 450,000 calls in 2014, a 40 percent increase over the previous year.<\/p>\n
About 1 in 6 calls are redirected to backup centers when the crisis line is overloaded, the report said. Calls went to voicemail at some backup centers, including least one where staffers apparently were unaware there was a voicemail system, the report said.<\/p>\n
Hotline callers \u201cmade numerous complaints of long wait times for responders, being put \u2018on hold\u2019 or calls \u2018not being put through\u2019 to a responder,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was deeply saddened and disappointed by the IG report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe VA\u2019s failure to help our most vulnerable veterans is not only unacceptable, but it is shameful,\u201d McCain said. \u201cThe VA\u2019s inability to run a call center and deal with increasing demand has put our nation\u2019s veterans at greater risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said the agency agrees with the report\u2019s recommendations and is working to modernize the crisis hotline, located in Canandaigua, New York, to better serve veterans. The VA is hiring more staff and has implemented staggered shifts to increase staffing during peak call times from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Gibson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are improving our ability to be more available when our veterans need help the most,\u201d said Gibson, who visited the hotline center twice last year.<\/p>\n
Upgrades are planned in the next year to provide state-of-the art phone systems and greater work space for staff who answer crisis calls, Gibson said.<\/p>\n
About one-fifth of all suicides in the United States are committed by veterans, and the VA has highlighted suicide prevention as a crucial area of concern. A law signed by President Barack Obama year requires the Pentagon and VA to submit to independent reviews of their suicide prevention programs and make information on prevention more easily available.<\/p>\n
The law also offers financial incentives to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals who agree to work for the VA and assists military members as they transition from active duty to veteran status.<\/p>\n
An HBO documentary highlighting the life-and-death drama of the VA suicide hotline won an Oscar last year. The film, \u201cCrisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1\u201d won for best documentary, short subject.<\/p>\n
Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an advocacy group that works with the call center, said he was disappointed by the IG\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the number of service members, veterans and their families reaching out to the Veterans Crisis Line continues to grow, the need for additional resources becomes more apparent,\u201d Rieckhoff said.<\/p>\n
Reach Matthew Daly: http:\/\/twitter.com\/MatthewDalyWDC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A suicide hotline operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance, according to a report by the agency\u2019s internal watchdog. The report by the VA\u2019s office of inspector general says calls to the suicide hotline have increased dramatically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-19455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19455\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19455"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=19455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}