NAMI continues to receive reports of difficulties veterans experience in trying to receive needed, promised, and effective VA mental health services. In the midst of an overseas war, suicides of military personnel, guardsmen, reservists, and veterans in and out of the VA, along with post-traumatic stress disorder, are once again hot-button issues. In the eyes of many, VA mental health reform seems to have stalled, despite the VA’s continued claims of enhanced spending in all its mental health programs. The VA is under rising pressure from Congress to meet the needs of veterans of the newest generation of military service while maintaining good care for those from earlier generations. This activity is occurring in the shadow of the healthcare bureaucratic scandal and public relations disaster at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and before the promise of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health Reform has fully blossomed. This symposium will explore ideas and viewpoints on the status of VA mental health reforms from the perspectives of current and former VA officials, veterans who consume that care, and NAMI experts.

• Symposium Chair: Mary Gibson, chair, NAMI National Veterans Council, Waco, TX

• Moe Armstrong, M.B.A., director, Consumer and Family Affairs, Vinfen Corporation, Cambridge, MA
• John Bradley, consultant, NAMI National Veterans Council, Washington, D.C.
• Fred Frese, Ph.D., member, NAMI National Board of Directors, Hudson, OH
• Thomas Horvath, M.D., chief of staff, Michael Debakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX
• Ira Katz, M.D., PhD., deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Vererans Affairs, Washington, D.C.