TACOMA -- Two state departments are working together to train mental health workers, police, drug treatment counselors, tribal representatives and other community service personnel in how they can better serve troubled veterans returning to the United States after traumatic service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mental health and crisis experts with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Social and Health Services are partnering with community organizations to sponsor a series of trainings this summer.

"The Veterans Collaboration Group," as they have dubbed themselves, will hold trainings on July 9 in Tacoma and July 30 in Yakima. An earlier session was held in Bellingham in June.

Partner agencies include WDVA, the DSHS divisions that coordinate substance abuse treatment and mental health services, Washington Association of Designated Mental Health Professionals and the federal Veterans Administration as well as local groups.

Additional information about the remaining two sessions is available by contacting David L. Reed, a mental health worker in the Health and Recovery Services Administration of DSHS, or Tom Schumacher, PTSD Program Director with WDVA.

As communities welcome veterans' home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important that providers and first responders are prepared to serve their special needs, particularly if the veteran is struggling with readjustment issues related to war trauma or deployment.

"We are interested in helping crisis workers and police know how to identify a veteran with war exposure and symptoms, and to help these professionals respond effectively," said Schumacher. "Many crises can be quickly resolved when local professionals can help define what is needed and offer services locally. These regional workshops are all about education, creating empathy for the experiences of warriors, understanding their significant homecoming challenges, and establishing networks that work for the benefit of the veteran, their family, and the community."

Reed said the workshops were developed in response to the serious challenges that face local communities as soldiers still dealing with war trauma return from the battlefield after prolonged and repeated deployments.

The workshops focus on the basics – what works and what doesn't – and instructors encourage participants to look ahead at the kind of crisis situations in which they may face a returning soldier losing control or posing a threat.

"The workshops provide information about the soldiers' needs," Reed said, "and they are upfront about the challenges these veterans may be dealing with at that point. We teach specific skills that you need to de-escalate this kind of crisis."

Other topics in the curriculum include veteran and military cultures, war trauma, traumatic brain injury, war-related post traumatic stress disorder and combat-related mental illness and stigma.

Collaboration Group training

• July 9, Tacoma
• July 30, Yakima

For additional details, e-mail David Reed at reeddl@dshs.wa.gov

FOR ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND, INFORMATION:

Heidi Audette, Communications Director, Department of Veterans Affairs, 360-725-2154.

Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, 360-725-1915 (Pager: 360-971-4067).

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DSHS does not discriminate and provides equal access to its programs and services for all persons without regard to race, color, gender, religion, creed, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation, age, veteran's status or the presence of any physical, sensory or mental disability.