About Veteran and Family Support Services
The Veteran and Family Support Services (VFSS) program is chartered to provide comprehensive case management and behavioral health assessment, treatment, and referral services for New Mexican veterans and their family members suffering from primary or secondary effects of deployment and combat. Soldiers deployed to combat areas often return with emotional and physical challenges. The emotional challenges can range from adjustment and reintegration issues to anxiety, panic, and full Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Physical injuries can include relatively unobservable traumatic brain injuries (TBI) as well more obvious wounds, amputations, and paralyses. Their interpersonal relationships often suffer and they face economic pressures due to not being able to hold jobs, finding themselves homeless, or with significant marital and family difficulties.
While veterans suffering from demonstrably service-connected injuries can receive excellent services through the Veterans Administration (VA), many have not been sufficiently assessed to establish service connection, have pre-existing conditions that have been exacerbated by military service, live too far from VA facilities, or face conditions that make traveling to VA facilities problematic (lack of transportation, distance, fears of crossing bridges, etc.). Some veterans are not aware of the services to which they are entitled or cannot navigate the bureaucracy to secure the services. It is the purpose of this program to assist veterans in identifying the services they need; the assistance available through the VA, other government agencies, veteran service agencies, and civic groups; and securing the services for the veteran. In addition, the program provides direct behavioral health services for veterans and family members that cannot access VA or other providers.
Veteran families are often not eligible for VA services, are often confused about personality changes in their returning soldiers, and suffer from the emotional and economic fallout of their soldiers' injuries. In addition, the challenges posed by reintegration after a year or more of separation can themselves disrupt the families and exacerbate other adjustment issues faced by veterans. The VFSS assists soldiers' families as their own client category—the veteran need not seek services before the family can use our services.
Case management services assess client needs, develop referrals for needed services, assist the client in accessing those services, and following the client to ensure they receive quality service from the referral provider. Case management services can be provided in the home, and case managers can accompany clients to their appointments for initial screenings and assessments. In addition to comprehensive case management, the VFSS team can provide short-term direct behavioral health services to veterans and family members. The team has consulting psychiatrists, a clinical psychologist, and marriage and family therapists to assist clients in further assessing and addressing behavioral or relationship challenges stemming from deployment or combat. An integral part of the program is team members that provide native healing services or referrals for veterans and families that prefer more culturally sensitive interventions.
The program works closely with the Veteran Administration medical center in Albuquerque in providing treatment for veterans and their families, and in providing training for local providers. Additionally, the VA medical center and Presbyterian Medical Services are collaborating on the development of a point-to-point telemedicine capability between the medical center and the program site. This capability will allow VA clinicians to provide services to patients that cannot or do not want to travel to the medical center.
The program operates a state-wide toll-free phone line and has access to Presbyterian Medical Service's telemedicine network. These services allow the team to provide services to veterans and family members who live at greater distances from the team's operating sites.
