Denver Mills, Team Leader and Director of the Concord Vet Center in Concord, California insists that: "It's one of the best kept secrets in the VA," even though Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau featured the program in his famous Doonesbury comic strip for nearly a week in December 2005.

With obvious pride in his voice, Mills, a Vietnam combat veteran, is describing the VA's readjustment Counseling Service (RCS), also known as the Vet Center Program, which operates a system of 209 community based counseling centers for combat veterans and their families. An additional 23 Vet Centers are set to open within the next two years.

The program was established by Congress in 1979 to counsel and assist the significant number of Vietnam-era veterans who were still experiencing readjustment problems. Over the years, the program was expanded to cover all combat veterans, including those who served in OEF-OIF and subsequent operations within the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Federally activated Reserve and National Guard personnel and their families are also covered by the program.

The stated mission of the Vet Center program is to "welcome home war veterans with honor by providing quality readjustment counseling in a caring manner. Vet Centers understand and appreciate veterans' war experiences while assisting them and their family members toward a successful post-war adjustment in or near their community."

Many of the Vet Center personnel are combat veterans themselves. "We pride ourselves," says Romeo Horvath, OEF/OIF Outreach Coordinator at the Peninsula Vet Center in Redwood City, California, "on having staff who are predominantly veterans, although that's not a requirement. It has helped establish immediate credibility for our veteran clients."

Vet Centers are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Because of the highly sensitive and confidential nature of the program, the Vet centers are located away from the VA medical centers, typically in storefront facilities in downtown areas. "And, in remote locations," Mills reports, "the VA contracts with outside providers, in order to meet the needs of combat veterans and their families who live far from existing facilities."

Vet Center Services

To help combat veterans make a satisfying transition from military to civilian life, the services provided at the Vet Centers cover a wide range, including;

Individual, group and marital/family counseling;

Bereavement counseling;

Medical referrals;

Assistance in applying for VA Benefits;

Employment counseling, guidance and referral;

Alcohol/drug assessments;

Information and referral to community resources;

Military sexual trauma counseling and referral;

Outreach and community education.

Horvath, an Irag War veteran himself, explains: "We specialize in readjustment counseling for combat veterans, and also offer therapy for victims of sexual trauma during their military service, and bereavement counseling for family members who have lost a loved one during combat. All our services are free and highly confidential."

When asked how combat veterans can make initial contact with their nearest Vet Center. Denver Mills offered this advice: "Visit the Vet Center website, www.vetcenter.va.gov, and click on "Find a Facility" or call the regional office of the Readjustment Counseling Service at 707-686-2988."

Both Mills and Horvath invite and strongly encourage combat veterans and their families to visit their local Vet Center. In Horvath's words: "We offer a relaxed atmosphere, with plenty of smiles for everyone."

Mobile Vet Centers: Reaching Out in Rural Areas

In this post Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki talks with rural Veterans about what the VA can do better.

The White House Blog

 Rural Veterans and the Tyranny of Distance