By Melanie Dallas, LPC

Last spring Highland Rivers Behavioral Health released a report on our services to Veterans over the past decade. Looking back at our records from 2013 to 2023 showed that Highland Rivers has provided over 90,000 individual services to more than 3,300 unique Veterans.

Highland Rivers has served Veterans in almost every program and service we provide, including outpatient, residential, crisis, community-based, crisis respite apartments, supported employment, high utilization management, housing voucher and peer support services, as well as Veterans court. As an agency that has long prioritized ensuring Veterans have access to behavioral health services, we are proud to have served so many Georgia Veterans.

This month, as we celebrate Veterans Day and the millions of men and women who have served our nation in the military, I want to share some highlights of our ongoing work to expand behavioral health services and resources for Veterans.

First – because this is important – I want Veterans, family members and community partners to know Highland Rivers will serve any Veteran regardless of discharge status or ability to pay. I mention discharge status because that can affect whether an individual Veteran receives VA health benefits. While we may wish that everyone who served receives VA insurance, the fact is Veterans who may have been dishonorably discharged do not.

But Highland Rivers has always served individuals who are uninsured or have limited financial resources, and that includes Veterans. In fact, of the 484 Veterans Highland Rivers served during the 2024 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), more than 65% received some level of state-contracted services (services for which the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities is payor). This funding, which originates in the Governor’s budget and is appropriated to DBHDD by the Georgia General Assembly, is critical to Highland Rivers’ ability to serve Veterans (and other individuals) in need.

Toward that end, in 2022 Highland Rivers Behavioral Health was awarded a grant from the VA focused on Veteran suicide prevention. The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention grant allowed us to create a Veteran Engagement Team that provides case management and peer support to Veterans in Cherokee, Cobb and Pickens counties, linking them and their family members to services and resources in their communities. The annual SSG Fox grant has been renewed for the past two years and we continue to expand the number of Veterans we serve.

More recently, Highland Rivers became a partner provider with the Warrior Alliance, an Atlanta-based organization that links Veterans to healthcare and other resources across Georgia. This will be a long-term partnership but has already led to an increase in the number of Veterans we have been able to serve in our outpatient clinics (and other clinical services) and through the SSG Fox program.

And, just this month, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health received certification as a Veteran Ready Organization (VRO) from PsychArmor, a nationally recognized nonprofit leader and training provider for military cultural awareness. Ninety-six percent of Highland Rivers staff completed PsychArmor’s training courses covering military culture, trauma-informed care, and specific Veteran challenges. This certification is very meaningful for us and shows that our commitment to Veterans extends across all areas of our organization.

Finally, I want to share some important links for Veterans and our communities.

For Highland Rivers online Veterans services referral form (Veterans can self-refer), visit: https://highlandrivers.formstack.com/forms/ssg_fox_referral_form.

If you’d like to read our Veterans services report mentioned above, visit: https://highlandrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Services-to-Veterans-2013-2023.pdf.

Finally, I am proud to share a new Highland Rivers video – which is actually quite moving – in which two Veterans share their personal stories, and their experience with our agency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbrwrOxwY0.

On this Veterans Day, I want to salute everyone who has served our nation, in any branch, in any job, at any time. Your service matters and helps make American the land of the free. Thank you.

Melanie Dallas is a licensed professional counselor and CEO of Highland Rivers Behavioral Health, which provides treatment and recovery services for individuals with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a 13-county region of northwest Georgia that includes Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk and Whitfield counties.