Veterans’ Health

Project Title

Disseminating Best Practices to Help Expand Community-based Mental Health Services for Veterans

Grant Amount

$30,000

Priority Area

Veterans’ Health

Date Awarded

May 26, 2015

Region

NYC

Status

Closed

Website

https://mhanys.org/

SEE GRANT OUTCOMES

Veterans face a wide range of mental health needs, including coping with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Under a federal mandate, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is required to collaborate with community-based mental health providers to better reach veterans and their families and connect them to needed services. One such collaboration is the Veterans Mental Health Coalition (VMHC), established by Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC) in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness-NYC. Through strategies such as education, information, and promotion of services, VMHC works to improve access to and quality of mental health and substance use services for veterans, servicemembers, and their families. NYHealth awarded MHA-NYC a grant to advance VMHC’s mission and further meet the needs of returning veterans and their families.

Under this grant, VMHC worked to expand existing models of partnerships between the VA and local community organizations, as well as encouraged replication of such models among other New York City providers. Specifically, VMHC convened behavioral health care providers, VA representatives, and funders to highlight the models and outcomes already underway in New York. Additionally, through a targeted print and social media campaign, VMHC worked to accelerate partnerships between the VA and effective community mental health organizations and providers. MHA-NYC worked closely with VMHC to write and publish blog posts, op-eds, and articles focused on meeting the behavioral health needs of veterans, targeting local and national news sources and military-specific media outlets.