Watchdog finds problems persist with veterans suicide hotline [View all]

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/324868-report-finds-continued-issues-with-veterans-suicide-hotline

Watchdog finds problems persist with veterans suicide hotline

By Rebecca Kheel - 03/20/17 05:05 PM EDT 2comments

A suicide hotline for veterans is still plagued with issues more than a year after an inspector general first identified problems, according to a report released Monday. The latest report found that more than a quarter of calls to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) rolled over to backup centers, much higher than the Veterans Affairs Department goal of 10 percent. Further, the report said, none of the recommendations made in the original February 2016 report have been fully implemented.
(snip)

The Veterans Crisis Line was launched in 2007 and fields more than 500,000 calls annually. Once the main center reaches capacity, calls are rerouted to one of four backup centers run by a VA contractor. A February 2016 inspector general report that found some calls being routed to the backup centers were going to voicemail or did not receive immediate action. The report prompted harsh criticism from lawmakers.

The report made seven recommendations for the VA including collecting data on calls made to the hotline and making sure all training for crisis hotline staffers is documented. In a written response included in the report, the VA agreed with all of the recommendations and said it would implement them by Sept. 30. In Monday’s report, the inspector general said none of the recommendations had been implemented as of Dec. 15, 2016, though the VA continues to work on them.

The new report also found that 28 percent of calls from August to September rerouted to the backup centers despite the VA’s goal of no more than 10 percent of calls rolling over.

Monday’s report does not address how many of the backup center calls are still going to voicemail. But it said two of the centers placed callers into a queue, which left some veterans waiting 30 minutes or more to talk to someone.

The report also found a number of issues with the governance structure, operations and quality assurance practices of the hotline. For example, the VA’s Office of Suicide Prevention and the crisis line’s clinical staff “felt marginalized concerning decision-making with clinical implications,” the report says. Also, the hotline has no process in place to routinely obtain or review data on how many veterans attempt or commit suicide after calling, so there’s no way of knowing exactly how effective the hotline is, according to the report.
(snip)