From Military.com:
“Five VA Facilities Chosen to
Start Service Dog Program for Veterans with PTSD”
The Department of Veterans
Affairs released its plan Tuesday to launch a canine training pilot program for
eligible veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Five VA medical centers
have been chosen across the country to offer the pilot program over the next
five years, including the Anchorage VA Medical Center in Alaska, the Charles
George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville, N.C., the
Palo Alto VA Medical Center in California, the Audie L. Murphy Memorial
Veterans' Hospital in San Antonio; and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center in
Florida. "There are many effective treatments for PTSD and we're looking
at service dog training as an adjunct to those options to ensure Veterans have
access to resources that may improve their well-being and help them
thrive," VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a press release announcing
the chosen pilot locations.
Advocates have long put pressure
on lawmakers to finance service dog training for veterans as an option to deal
with mental-health challenges. The program they hope will "raise awareness
for this treatment option as a proven method for mitigating debilitating
symptoms of PTSD and suicidal ideations," Rory Diamond, CEO of the
nonprofit K9s For Warriors, said in a press release last year that coincided
with the passage of a law creating the pilot program.
The pilot program was required
under the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act, or
the PAWS Act, signed into law on Aug. 25, 2021. Advocates and officials say
that service dogs can help bolster veterans' sense of self-worth as well as
help the retired service members regulate their emotions as they establish
trust with their service animal. Veterans in the program will help train
potential future service dogs and engage in a social cohort. Following the
eight-week program, qualified veterans will have the option to adopt the dog
they assisted in training. The VA has not named the partner organizations it
will work with to run the training.
A report from the Congressional
Budget Office estimates the total expense for the VA to include this treatment
option through 2026 -- from the training to the veterinary health care -- will
be roughly $30 million at roughly $27,000 per dog. Participating in the
program, however, will come at no cost to veterans. To be eligible to
participate, veterans must meet three primary requirements. First, they must be
enrolled in the VA health-care system; second, they must be diagnosed with
PTSD; and third, they must be recommended by a VA mental health-care provider
or clinician. Receiving that final endorsement will come only after veterans
have had a visit to their primary care or mental health-care provider within
the last three months. The VA has not yet announced whether it will expand the
program to additional VA medical centers beyond the five sites it chose to
first start the pilot.
^ I’m glad this program is
expanding and hope it continues to expand throughout the VA. ^
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