Caban Q&A: veterans crisis hotline options and response

Actually going to piggyback a little bit on some of the questions around hotlines, emergency crisis.

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

For the Veterans Emergency Crisis Hotline, if a veteran is having a mental health crisis and they're in need of immediate assistance, what can they do?

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

What are the different options?

I mean, obviously 911 is one, but what are some of the other options?

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

Thank you for that question.

If a veteran calls to the agency in an immediate crisis, they reach out to our executive director of mental health, Dr.

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

Lauren DeMello, and she talks with the veteran.

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

She makes contact with them.

She then connect them to services, whether it's through 988 or one of our other community partners.

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

And are you, through that process, are you collecting data from those calls?

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

Yes.

So she collects...

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

Because of HIPAA?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, protecting the person's privacy, but are there other pieces of information that could be helpful going forward?

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

Yes.

Could you tell us what kind of...

Data is being collected?

And if you're not sure, you can just get back to us.

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

So I'll let Nicole answer that.

Okay.

Thank you for that question.

What we do know is that when these calls are made, we do enter them into the VetConnect system, which also include case notes, notes of the conversation, as well as what the next steps are.

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

So we are tracking that on VetConnect.

So that's an example.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.

And then it's the same sort of follow-up protocol where you're looking at the several days, a week, two weeks, a month, three months.

And as an agency, as we continue having many roundtables at DVS, I've heard from many veteran groups that perhaps that this is one of the first times when the agency itself has really engaged many of the groups.

And we also do work in close communication with the referral partners, especially on those high sensitivity cases.

So that's an example.

Great.

So at DVS, we are meeting with our providers to hear from them directly to let us know what has been working, what hasn't been working.