Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Centers are essential to ensuring service members, veterans and military families can access counseling and other social and psychological services, but the centers need improvement, a panel of experts said at a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. 

“Vet Centers are a central component of the Veterans Health Administration comprehensive service delivery system, serving a distinct role in facilitating easy access to readjustment counseling to eligible veterans, service members and their families,” Michael Fisher, chief officer of the VA’s readjustment counseling service, said during the hearing.

Initially created in June 1979 to support Vietnam-era veterans, the Vet Centers are counseling centers that provide social and psychological services for service members, veterans and their families, according to a VA webpage.

In fiscal year 2023, Vet Centers helped more than 115,000 veterans, service members and family members access counseling at more than 300 centers across the country, according to a Dec. 1 VA news release.

Some veterans, like Jennifer Brown, who served in the Army for six years as an aircraft repairer before struggling to adjust to civilian life in 2015, said Vet Centers provide a space for them to feel understood.

“I wanted to speak to someone who had lived experience very similar to mine that could understand what I was going through without me having to translate everything for them,” Brown, who deployed to Afghanistan, told Disabled American Veterans in a 2022 news release. “I experienced a lot of violence, and a lot was happening in the back of my mind that I wasn’t even fully aware of.”

Despite their critical role, Vet Centers still have more work to do, said Sharon Silas, director of the Government Accountability Office’s health care team.

“Successfully meeting the potential of Vet Centers requires ensuring they’re effectively meeting their clients’ needs, outreaching to potential populations who could benefit from its services and addressing barriers to care,” she said, citing findings from a May 2022 GAO report on the centers. 

Already overburdened by nationwide mental health care needs, veterans in more rural areas may struggle to access care at Vet Centers, GAO found. Vet Centers could benefit from a more tailored approach to care. Currently, they view veterans’ needs as individuals, which may mean that they miss the unique collective needs of veterans, the report found.

“For example, Vietnam veterans may have different needs than those who’ve served in more recent conflicts such as Iraq or Afghanistan.” Silas said.

Though Vet Centers “have taken steps” to meet patients’ needs and address access issues, they could do more, Silas said. “Vet Centers can be a powerful tool for VA and play a pivotal role in successfully reaching and delivering quality mental health care to veterans, service members and their families as they adjust to civilian life,” Silas said. “Fully addressing our recommendations will help Readjustment Counseling Service and Vet Centers to increase the effectiveness of these efforts.”

To learn more about Vet Centers, click here.