New York State Veterans Face Staggering Unemployment, Huge Barriers to Mental Health Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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New York State Veterans Face Staggering Unemployment, Huge Barriers to Mental Health Care

Survey Finds Nearly 13% Report Joblessness, 56% Need Mental Health Support

NEW YORK - Today, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, unveiled a new in-depth report, New York's Newest Veterans, assessing the unique challenges impacting veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in New York State. The report, which analyzes several key findings from the RAND Corporation’s recent study “A Needs Assessment of New York State Veterans: Final Report to the New York State Health Foundation,” identifies unemployment, mental health and navigating services and benefits as the top issues facing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from New York. For IAVA’s policy recommendations based on the RAND study and to learn more about the stories of New York veterans transitioning home, visit IAVA’s online portal for New York veterans at http://iava.org/nyveterans.

“This report should be a wake-up call to every New Yorker from Rochester to Brooklyn.  New York veterans are facing unemployment rates significantly higher than the rest of the state, while nearly 25% face mental health challenges. These problems are statewide and urgent. New York veterans shouldn’t have to fight for their livelihoods when they get back home from war,” said IAVA Founder and Executive Director and former New York National Guardsman Paul Rieckhoff.

“From unemployment to barriers to mental health care, this study takes an in-depth look at the issues New York veterans and their families are facing in communities across New York. With IAVA’s support, RAND spoke to new veterans about the real and lasting problems they’re facing as they transition home.”

“Governor Cuomo, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg and leaders across New York State must do more for our returning heroes. They must focus on lowering the unemployment rate, addressing suicide and ensuring that New York State veterans have every resource available to them as they transition home.”

“While this is a study of just one state, it is indicative of a much larger crisis impacting communities across the country. Getting new veterans the care they need isn’t just a federal government or VA problem. All Americans must come together to provide support and solutions. There are real, concrete ways to solve these issues and it starts with understanding the concerns and challenges veterans are facing on the local level. This study is a critical step towards helping policy makers and community leaders make smarter choices to ensure that all new veterans are a part of the ‘Next Greatest Generation.’”

IAVA analyzed data RAND collected through focus groups and an epidemiologic survey that looked at the needs of new veterans and their spouses. The focus groups provided a qualitative look into how a specific group of New York veterans and their families viewed their challenges at a specific point in time, while the survey provided a quantitative assessment of the challenges of a broadly representative sample of New York’s newest veterans and their spouses. You can download the full report here: http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR920.html.

If you are a member of the media who wishes to arrange an interview with IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff, who served with the New York Army National Guard, or another IAVA Member Veteran from New York State, please contact Isabel Black at (212) 982-9699 or isabel@iava.org.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the country’s first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 200,000 Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. IAVA was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in New York City.


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