VA Pilot Project Offering Care to Calif. Veterans Has Not Expanded
A pilot project launched in California and other states that offers health services to veterans enrolled in college has not expanded, even though it has been touted as a national veteran's care model, the Center for Investigative Reporting reports.
Background
The Veterans Resource Center -- operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs -- opened at the City College of San Francisco in 2010.
The center's staff includes a social worker and a psychiatrist who can provide certain services or make appointments for other types of care at larger VA facilities.
Initiative Has Not Expanded
The initiative has remained in the pilot stage, with $2.8 million in annual funding and only three other colleges across the country offering a VA clinic on campus.
According to CIR, funding for the centers has been distributed only to schools where an administrator and local VA facility express interest and not on campuses with the highest amount of veterans enrolled.
Kai Chitaphong -- national director of the initiative -- said he is unsure how long it will take for the program to gather the data needed to move forward with widespread implementation (Glantz, Center for Investigative Reporting, 7/25).
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