Veterans are at risk of family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and unemployment. More than a half a million veterans in the United States are homeless at some point, and on any given night more than 300,000 are living on the streets or in shelters.

Living in Long Beach, California on many street corners and freeway exits you can find a man or woman holding a sign that reads, “homeless vet support your troops” or “ disable vet homeless, will work for food.” I ponder the fact that our veterans have risked their lives and endured great sacrifice, to only come home and feel abandoned. The problem is that the veterans are not being able to access mental health in a reasonable time. 

Mental health care access for veterans is one of the top issues all candidates must address, but that discussion must also include the quality in care for the mentally ill. From 2002 to 2009, one million troops left active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and became eligible for Veterans Affairs care (VA). Of those troops, 46 percent went to the VA for services, and of those veterans who used VA care, 48 percent were diagnosed with a mental health illness. However, 540,000 (54 percent) of veterans with mental health problems have not gone in for services. By now, you may be wondering what is currently being done to resolve this issue.

There is a bill in place currently, H.R. 3230 Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, which allows eligible veterans to use eligible health care providers outside of the VA system to help reduce veterans’ current wait time.  But H.R 3230 does not give veterans full access in picking who their providers are, nor is this a permanent solution to the problem. H.R 3230 carries stipulation that ultimately is not 100 percent beneficial for veterans.

The problem with bill H.R 3230 is that it only requires the VA to expand the options for eligible veterans to elect to use non-VA healthcare, but for only a period of up to three years, and only for veterans who meet certain eligibility requirements, who will be able to elect to receive care from eligible non-VA entities and providers through the Choice Program. This means that most veterans are still forced to wait long periods of 30 days or more before they are able to have an appointment with a physician.

Tom MacArthur and Mr. O’Rourke found a permanent solution to our veterans not being able to access health services in a timely manner. Introduced to Committee on March 25, 2015, H.R 1604 amends the current bill in place by expanding the eligibility of veterans to receive mental health care at non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. With the passing of H.R 1604, veterans will be able to immediately access mental health care from any provider, within or outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs, whether veterans have attempted to schedule an appointment with the VA or not. Also this will hopefully help reduce the suicide rate among the veteran population. 

Candidates must speak out on the issue of healthcare reform and address the large number of veterans who have serious mental health problems and who are not rendering health care services. They fought for our freedom; we have an obligation to make sure we fight just as hard for them.

All veterans face problems in returning home. But the real battle on the home front is getting them the care they were promised from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The experience of the combat zone will never leave them. Given the mental health problems veterans experience, our candidates need to address how we will deliver services to those who are not receiving care. We have to make sure that the half-million returning veterans do not fall through the cracks.

There is power in numbers, by joining together as a community we need to reach out to our local elective officials to inform them of the solutions for our veterans and their access to mental health services. 

Arlana J. Walton is a Master of Social Work (MSW) student at the University of Southern California.