VetsThriveNYC: Cultivating Health, Healing & Wholeness for Veterans
The NYC Department of Veterans Services, through its VetsThriveNYC program, aims to empower service members, veterans, and their families by fostering purpose-driven lives, providing compassionate services, and advocating for their needs. The program focuses on community engagement, targeted advocacy, and coordinating access to benefits and resources. With a team dedicated to whole health and community resilience, VetsThriveNYC leverages partnerships to address mental health concerns, promote well-being, and offer innovative approaches tailored to veterans' unique needs within a holistic framework.
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Mind, Body, & Spirit: NYC s Approach to Mental Health VetsThriveNYC Melissa Walters LMSW Monique Rada Director Core4 WHCR Outreach Coordinator 1
Agency Mission The NYC Department of Veterans Services aims to foster purpose-driven lives for NYC service members, veterans, and their families through: -Community engagement, amplifying life strategies for successful transition and renewed service -Targeted advocacy, championing legislative and policy proposals at the local, state, and national level -Compassionate service, ensuring coordinated access to earned benefits, services and resources 2
VetsThriveNYC Team Monique Rada Whole Health Coordinator C1 Melissa Walters, LMSW Director of the Core4 Whole Health Model Gabriel Ramos Whole Health Coordinator C2 Eileen Barcene Whole Health Coordinator C3 Emily Jagroop Systems Specialist Tanya L. Thomas Whole Health Coordinator C4 3
Agency Overview: Lines of Action Fighting veteran homelessness Healing through connection Fueling purpose- driven lives City Employment, Education, Entrepreneurship, Engagement & Events Housing & Support Services Whole Health & Community Resilience 4
Objectives Learn importance of addressing mental health concerns for veterans military service members, caregivers and their families Learn concepts to address veteran and military family well-being Learn about leveraging partnerships that are low cost and at the low end of the stigma curve for veterans Share innovative whole health approach that focuses arts/culture, community, holistic service modalities and peer to peer connections, and clinical treatments 5
ThriveNYC Roadmap for Mental Health 6
VetsThriveNYC Mission: Cultivating Health, Healing & Wholeness - Community & peer-based approach to veteran well being - Increasing connections for veterans & families beyond clinical setting - Holistic approach to build out community-based programs - Part of NYC s ThriveNYC mental health initiative - Goal: engage 2,000 veterans & families each year 7
VetsThriveNYC Components Core4 Whole Health Model Veteran Outreach Team - Non-linear model designed to foster hope, healing and wholeness - Community engagement with NYC veterans, families & caregivers - Informed access to clinical treatment, holistic services, social support and cultural initiatives & the arts - Increase access to care & encourage help-seeking behaviors through peer-based support 8
VetsThriveNYC Programs 311/VA Crisis Line Integration Mental Health First Aid - Act early to identify mental health challenges & connect to mental health resources and services - Change the culture by training community in both Adult & Veteran/Military Family Mental Health First Aid - Connect to resources, such as the VA Crisis Line, NYC Well, or an array of comprehensive mental & physical health resources through a direct referral in NYServes, DVS s vetted network of service providers - Increase awareness of mental health concerns & connection to services through education 9
VetsThriveNYC Programs (cont.) Military/Veteran Caregivers Community On-Site Engagement: - Partner with communities: member of Senator Elizabeth Dole Foundation s Hidden Heroes Initiative - Close treatment gaps: Outreach Team conducts multi-pronged outreach in veteran-specific areas across the City - Tailored services: Ensures NYC military & veteran caregivers connected to comprehensive mental health services tailored to their needs - Partner with Communities, providing veterans and their families in every neighborhood equal access to care that works for them, when & where they need it - Social networking: Military Families and Caregivers Network, a social networking site for military families & caregivers 10
VetsThriveNYC Programs (cont.) Women veterans Background - Close treatment gaps: Reduce the disparities in care women veterans face regarding mental health concerns related to military service - Identified urgent need: According to a RAND study of 200,000 veterans who served in Iraq & Afghanistan, 20% of women veterans have PTSD & major depression; 13,000 have alcohol dependence syndrome & 7.1% have substance misuse disorder - Disparities in care: Top 3 mental health diagnostic categories for women veterans are PTSD, depression and hypertension, yet women veterans have lower rate of receiving adequate mental health services - Greater risk: Research indicates women veterans have greater risk for suicide, anxiety, & depression than their male counterparts 11
VetsThriveNYC Data: Mental Health Interventions 12
VetsThriveNYC Core4 Whole Health ModelTM Shifts conversation: DVS s Core4 Whole HealthTM model shifts conversation to concentrate on what matters most to veterans & families - - Four tiers: The Core4 Whole Health Model designed to foster hope, healing & wholeness through informed access to clinical treatment, community holistic services, peer/family/community social support, and cultural initiatives & the arts - Domain components: Each domain includes: (1) a DVS outreach team lead; (2) a community expert; and (3) a set of domain-specific programs and strategies - Steering Group: The Core4 Consortium Steering Group engages veterans, service members, veteran caregivers & the broader NYC community 14
CORE4 Whole Health Model Domain Community Leads Programs/Strategies Partnerships with cultural programs, faith-based organizations, and community partners addressing veteran- specific issues. C1- Culture: Education, Engagement, Arts Cultural engagement through outreach, education, and the arts Public Artist in Residence Program (PAIR) led by Brian Doerries, Theater of War VetsThriveNYC Core4 Whole Health ModelTM Joint Collaboration with DVS/DCLA Collaborations with NYC veteran peer organizations NYC Mentoring Initiative Veterans On Campus C2-Connection:Peer Social Support Peer-to-peer connections between veterans as well as families ProVetus, Mentoring the Next Generation of Citizen Leaders Our Veterans Veteran Mental Health Holistic Services Fund Veteran Peer Resilience Training Marketing campaign C3-Community: Holistic Services Community holistic services offered in non- traditional settings Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC) Veteran Mental Health Coalition Clinical Referrals & Consultation Additional Strategies in progress C4-Clinical: Treatment Clinical treatment spanning the entire trauma spectrum of needs Headstrong Project, Weill Cornell Medical Center 15
VetsThriveNYC VetConnectNYC: No Wrong Door Approach to Services - Coordinated care: DVS is in the process of procuring the nation s leading coordinated service delivery platform, NYServes: NYC - soon to be rebranded as VetConnectNYC - Vetted providers: VetConnectNYC links New York City veterans & their families to over 80 vetted service providers, including all the service providers associated with VetsThriveNYC - No wrong door: VetConnectNYC can be accessed online, by phone, or by working with one of DVS s team members. Veterans and their families provide only the most basic information and a team of trained case managers get to work 16
VetsThriveNYC Community: the Front Lines of Hope & Healing Clinical treatment Community / Culture / the Arts Families & peers Veterans & service members 17
VetsThriveNYC Closing - Lead with the strengths: Our military members protect the quality of life we sometimes take for granted; we owe it to them to highlight their strengths, resilience and courage - Unified goals: Professionals and community leaders, behavioral health providers, prevention treatment and recovery centers all have the same goal: to serve and support our veterans and military families - Investing in veterans: The City of New York respects and honors their sense of duty and sacrifice, and invests in their continued service as valued members of our community - Honoring service: Veterans are dedicated to defending our nation and we appreciate and honor their service. Through this forum, we are all champions working towards to same goal 18
Veterans are our mission, our only mission. There simply is no greater privilege. Loree Sutton, MD U.S. Army Brigadier General (Ret.) Commissioner 19
