New mental health scholarships designed to counter VA staff shortfalls

Starting next summer, VA officials will award scholarships to students studying mental health care The latest effort the leader attempts to fulfill in exchange for a promise to work in the department after the recipient graduates important vacancies.

Mandated by Congress as part of the General John Scott Hannon Veterans Affairs Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019, the move offers graduate-level research in exchange for a six-year commitment to work at a Veterans Affairs Veterinary Center. Priority will be given to “underserved areas where additional mental health professionals need to be added,” officials said.

“Veterinary centers provide veterans, military personnel, and their families with quick and easy access to the mental health care they need and deserve.” VA Director Dennis McDonagh said in a statement.

“These scholarships allow the VA to provide all veterans and military personnel, including those in historically underserved areas, with highly qualified, trained, and caring veterinary staff. It helps to make the center accessible.”

With just five scholarships expected to be awarded in the first year, the move is very symbolic. VA leaders say hundreds of psychologists, psychiatrists, family therapists and counselors are needed in recent years to meet the growing demand across the department’s healthcare system.

McDonough has called for better salaries and benefits for new hires, but says much of the problem stems from a shortage of trained professionals across the country.

A study published in the National Library of Medicine in August estimated that there will be as many as 31,000 psychiatric vacancies in the American medical community by 2024. Based on current education and enrollment statistics, it could take him another 25 years to fill all those posts with qualified individuals.

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VA has 300 veterinary centers nationwide. Community-based counseling sites offer a wide range of support services, including mental health care and employment assistance.

According to officials, more than 286,000 veterans and their families used the veterinary center’s services in fiscal 2022.

Scholarship recipients will be assigned to sites with high veteran utilization and vacancy issues. VA staff expects about 50 applicants each year, all of whom are graduate students already studying in in-demand specialties.

Information about scholarships can be found at Federal Register website.