WASHINGTON — Layers of bureaucracy have bogged down efforts by the federal government to help troops return to civilian life, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki told Congress on Wednesday.
The two departments are collaborating more successfully than ever, Panetta said at a joint hearing of the House Armed Services and House Veterans Affairs committees. But projects such as integrating the two departments’ electronic health records have taken an unacceptably long time, he said.
“While we’re pleased with the progress made to date, we know we have a responsibility to better harmonize our departments,” Shinseki said.
Better coordination could help the departments address high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, homelessness and suicide among veterans, Shinseki said.
There are 104 confirmed military suicides this year, along with 102 investigations into potential suicides, Panetta testified.
“That is an epidemic,” he said. “Something is wrong.”
“Our warriors are trained not to fail on the battlefield,” Panetta said. “We must be committed not to fail them on the home front.”
Panetta said improvements are needed in mental-health services for active-duty and returning troops. One barrier is that the military doesn’t have enough caregivers to address the shortfalls in this area, he said.
The Pentagon also needs more leadership in the field to spot potential problems, Panetta said.
In 2011 there were 301 military suicides, according to data from Cynthia Smith, a Pentagon spokesman. This year’s total may be as high as one suicide a day, Panetta said during the hearing.
Shinseki and Panetta announced in May that they expect to have a joint health-records system in place by 2017. But Congress mandated such a system more than 10 years ago, said Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif. He asked the two secretaries what has caused the delay.
Shinseki said he and Panetta have met five times in the past 10 months to discuss the issue. Disagreements over which proprietary contractor to use slowed down the process, he said. Resistance to change in both departments has been problematic as well, Panetta added.
Renovations to the military’s transition-assistance program announced Monday by President Barack Obama will improve conditions for veterans, Panetta said. The revamp includes extending the program’s current three-day series of workshops to eight days and providing more individualized career counseling.
Unemployment for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan dropped to 9.5 percent in June, but it is still higher than the national average of 8.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. McKeon urged Shinseki and Panetta to address the veteran unemployment rate as quickly as possible.
“The idea that our service members could go from the front lines to the unemployment lines is unacceptable,” McKeon said.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., asked whether the eight-day program would be mandatory. Service members already have trouble getting permission to take time off for the three-day program, he said.
Pilot programs will be conducted to determine that, Panetta said.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., suggested the program should be even longer: between 10 and 12 weeks, or the same length as boot camp. That would allow for adequate medical evaluation and counseling, he said.
The Defense and Veteran Affairs departments are working together on other projects as well, Shinseki said. Since 2009, the departments have been cooperating on a veteran crisis hot line. It has been responsible for an average of 300 admissions a month into VA health-care facilities, Shinseki said.
Also Wednesday, Shinseki told lawmakers that if Congress fails to decrease the budget deficit by the end of the year and triggers sequestration — a process in which federal agencies face automatic budget reductions — the VA could experience cuts.
Obama had said Monday that the VA would be exempt from sequestration, but Shinseki testified that the exemption does not include administrative costs.
Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., asked what “administrative costs” meant and whether the cuts would include measures such as closing veterans hospitals. Shinseki said he did not have enough information to answer.
Information for this article was contributed by Rebecca Cohen of McClatchy Newspapers and by Kathleen Miller of Bloomberg News.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 07/26/2012