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On behalf of the California Association of Veterans Service Agencies (CAVSA), I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all those who attended and participated in the Inaugural Veterans Mental Health Summit in Sacramento on August 14th.

We were thrilled to have nearly 100 attendees from across the State join us to hear updates on key issues affecting California’s veterans and discuss solutions for these critical challenges in the coming year.

We were especially honored to have representatives from the California Department of  Veterans Affairs, the California State Legislature, the University of Southern California, Mental Health America, the Judicial Council of California, and the Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission, as well as many other agency representatives and interested members of the public who are the backbone of veteran support.

The invaluable takeaways we garnered from the Inaugural Summit will help guide and inform CAVA’s policy priorities and legislative agenda in 2020 as we continue to improve statewide awareness of veterans issues and improved services to all of California’s 1.6 million veterans and their families.

Topping our action list for the coming year will be:

  • Finding housing solutions for our many unsheltered veterans, with a focus on appropriate housing for older veterans
  • Addressing high rates of suicide and untreated mental health problems,
  • Expanding access to Veteran Treatment Courts
  • Improving data on veterans across systems of care to improve programming
  • Monitoring the opioid epidemic’s impact on veterans, and
  • Improving veteran programs’ access to MHSA funds at the County level.

We hope you were as inspired, motivated and informed by the discussions as we were!

Thank you again for your attendance. We look forward to seeing you next year.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Steve Peck

CAVSA Board President