New Jersey political leaders have intensified efforts to revamp treatment resources within the Veterans Administration.

Sgt. Coleman Bean Members of both the House and Senate have now proposed legislation in hopes of reducing the rate of suicide among returning veterans. Two new initiatives, spearheaded by Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rush Holt (N.J.-12th District), would improve mental health support services for all veterans, as well as allocate funds for suicide prevention outreach.

The efforts serve a similar purpose, and have a common origin.

Both were inspired by the story of Coleman Bean, an East Brunswick veteran who took his own life on Sept. 6, 2008, at the age of 25, a few months after returning from his second tour in Iraq. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his first tour, but was called back to duty without receiving treatment.

Bean was a member of the U.S. Army’s Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), with which he had signed a four-year commitment after completing his first tour of duty — one that included combat in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He was called back to active duty in 2007 and assigned to a unit of the Maryland National Guard, with whom he served his second tour in Iraq. Bean was stationed in northern Iraq through much of 2007 and early 2008. Upon returning that May, the Maryland soldiers had access to their National Guard unit’s services and were able to obtain help through that unit’s resources, but as an IRR soldier, Bean came home to New Jersey, and that geographic isolation meant that he was not easily able to get that help. His family says he attempted to obtain services through the VA but did not receive them in a timely fashion.

In May, Holt introduced a bill that would fill a void in the military’s suicide prevention efforts among members of the IRR, and for other soldiers who are designated as individual mobilization augmentees (IMAs). The measure, named after Coleman, seeks to ensure that members of the IRR who have served at least one tour receive a counseling call from trained personnel at least once every 90 days. The personnel conducting this call would determine the emotional, psychological, medical and career needs and concerns of the IRR member. Any member identified as being at risk of harming himself or herself would be referred immediately to the nearest military treatment facility or accredited TRICARE provider for evaluation and treatment by a qualified mental health care provider. The Defense Department would be required to confirm that the at-risk IRR member has received the evaluation and any necessary treatment.

The bill has passed the House, but it is currently stuck in the Senate amid concerns over costs.

Lautenberg hopes to have more immediate success with a nearly identical bill, also spurred by Bean’s story, called the Sgt. Coleman Bean National Guard and Reserves Mental Health Act.

“Thousands of National Guard and Reserve members have left their families and jobs to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. They face significant challenges and make incredible sacrifices, and they deserve the same quality of care and mental health support as other service members when they return home,” Lautenberg said.

The act, which was introduced on July 30, mirrors the basic provisions of Holt’s proposed law, and includes several enhancing measures.

Lautenberg’s bill includes an additional mental health screening by telephone for all members of the IRR and other soldiers who have been deployed into combat since 2001. If extra in-person mental health screenings are found to be necessary, the military would be allowed to provide job protection, basic pay and other benefits.

The legislation also requires five inperson mental health screenings for all members of the National Guard and Reserves within 60 days before deployment, between 90 and 180 days after redeployment, and then no later than six, 12 and 24 months after returning from deployment.

“I thank Sen. Lautenberg for his leadership on this issue. With the Senate joining the House in passing this legislation, we would help ensure that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are still on the Reserve rolls but not in the units receive regular access to the suicide prevention counseling and support they deserve,” Holt said. “If we can afford to send Americans like Coleman Bean to war, we can certainly afford to pay for regular phone calls to make sure they’re doing OK and to get them additional help quickly if they need it.”

Bean’s family, of East Brunswick, is also pleased with Lautenberg’s legislation.

“These legislators not only have our personal thanks and support, but I’m sure they have the thanks and support of many, many veterans who have found it difficult, if not impossible, to get the outreach and counseling services they deserve, and which our country owes them,” said Greg Bean, Coleman’s father.

“We hope this bill passes and becomes a law soon, since every day that goes by with the status quo actually costs lives. We absolutely believe that some of those lives would have been saved had this legislation been in effect,” he said.

Coleman’s mother, Linda, recently testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, a subcommittee of the larger House Committee on Veterans Affairs, about the holes in the VA treatment system, and suggested ways of improving its outreach programs. At the July 14 hearing, Linda Bean made several recommendations to the panel that would rectify program deficiencies for both veterans and their families, including cultivating partnerships with civilian organizations, simplifying the VA website, launching a public information campaign and implementing a veteran support system.

H

er testimony was well received and

was influential in Holt’s newest legislation. The congressman recently submitted an amendment that would appropriate $20 million into the 2011 Department of Veterans Affairs budget for direct advertising and the use of online social media for suicide prevention outreach.

The House quickly passed the amendment on July 28, just in time to include the provision in the 2011 funding bill for the department, which was approved later that same day. The bill now awaits passage in the Senate.

“We have few responsibilities as solemn and important as ensuring that our veterans receive the care they deserve,” Holt said. “Our commitment to reducing suicides among our veterans must be comprehensive and unwavering. My amendment is designed to give the VA the resources and the direction to get appropriate and broad-based outreach under way as soon as President Obama signs this bill.”

Days after the amendment passed, Holt was part of a bipartisan group of 60 Congress members who wrote to the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense seeking increased funding for mental health programs for veterans. The group called for a $700 million increase in the 2011 budget so that a comprehensive post-deployment screening program could be created, among other veteran mental health initiatives.