Different participating groups and agencies each address the needs of returning veterans and their families but they do not all address the same needs and few if any address all their needs. This Discussion Group will work on identifying what services are available, where the natural interagency alliances are and areas that need further development.

While returning veterans and their families are entitled to a host of services and supports, competing demands on their time, limited awareness of what services and supports are available, confusion about how such supports can assist them, concerns about career impact of service use and stigma regarding mental health services can all limit engagement. This Discussion Group will develop strategic approaches to engaging returning veterans and their families.

All returning veterans and their families face challenges in dealing with deployment and readjustment. Even when the veteran does not meet criteria for mental health diagnoses, they and their families may be threatened by dysfunction and disability. This Discussion Group will work on identifying practical (and often non-medical) interventions that effectively improve resiliency and function among individuals and families.

A subset of returning veterans and/or their families may develop the need for more substantive, “traditional” mental health services to address depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD and substance abuse. Psychiatric conditions may arise in the veterans themselves, their spouses or their children. This group will begin to identify a means to assess and track service needs, the resources currently available by location and natural hand-off points and procedures.