Anchorage Daily News

The Department of Veterans Affairs Alaska Region offered some striking numbers this week about veterans in Alaska. One number jumped out.

Nationwide, an estimated 50 percent of recent veterans who would qualify for mental health care don't seek it.

One of the reasons, said Reed Dyer, an outreach coordinator with the VA in Anchorage, is that there is a stigma attached to mental health care. Active-duty troops and veterans who wouldn't dream of ignoring shrapnel in a shoulder might not seek help with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. They fear losing status in the military or in the civilian world, or they feel shame or embarrassment.

But the spirit is no less subject to war wounds than that shoulder. And the spirit may be tougher to heal.

There should be no stigma. As Dr. Joe Pace, a VA psychiatrist and 20-year Air Force veteran, said earlier this year, PTSD and other mental health problems from service in and around combat are normal reactions to abnormal situations.

Like physical wounds, some psychological wounds go deeper than others. Those that go deep are like their physical counterparts -- left untreated, they get worse.

Dr. Pace pointed out that in his active-duty experience, troops that came to him for help of their own volition usually were able to resolve their problems without needing to inform a commanding officer. Those referred to him by a commander usually had let the problem grow big enough to notice, big enough to disrupt family life and job performance.

The lesson: Treat the trouble early on; the wound will be easier to heal, exhibit fewer symptoms and be less likely to recur.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former chief of naval operations. He's done a real service for U.S. troops and veterans by calling for more effective screening and treatment for PTSD. When leaders pull the psychological wounds out of the shadows and regard them for what they are -- honest wounds of war -- soldiers, veterans and their families are all better off.

Warriors are tough by definition. The stigma attached to mental health problems is that to admit them or even suffer them is a sign of weakness. That's skewed thinking. What soldier doesn't call in air support or reinforcements when they're needed, when they can save lives? There's no issue of toughness or character there. Nor should there be for any soldier or veteran who needs that help.

BOTTOM LINE: Invisible wounds are just as real as blood and bone. The sooner they're treated, the better.

Unsafe kids

Not enough state social workers means children suffer

Wednesday's front page told the sad story of a young man who was abused and neglected from the time of his birth, even though the state foster care system was alerted to the dangers. His case shows what can happen when the state fails to adequately respond to complaints that a child is being harmed.

Lawyers for the boy, who is now 18, say the state did not do the minimum investigation required to protect the young man, even though there were 37 reports from neighbors, teachers and others that the boy was in danger. The child was allegedly beaten, left too long with an abusive father, and then hurt by another foster child known to be violent.

The state has just agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of the boy.

Most of the incidents that stole his childhood took place 10 years ago, or longer.

Since then, some things have changed for the better in Alaska's foster care system.

For example, a law change this year made it clear that the state can be held liable if it fails to make enough effort to keep a child in its custody from harm.

But a recent report by a federal evaluator of Alaska's foster care system pointed out that many flaws remain. Alaska still doesn't investigate reports of harm quickly enough nearly half the time, evaluator John Henderson reported recently.

Its caseworkers don't make the recommended monthly home visits with each foster child three-fourths of the time.

The turnover and vacancy rates for positions are still too high.

It's clear what happened to the child in this case could easily happen again.

Christine Schleuss, one of the attorneys for the boy, handles other cases involving alleged abuse of foster care children. She hears the same responses from the state year after year: It was a chaotic time. We had big case loads. Morale was bad.

"There doesn't seem to be any sense of the importance or the need to spend the money that's required in order to get competent workers who will stick around," Schleuss said.

The federal critique would seem to back that up.

A case worker's starting pay is just $38,000. That's not enough for such a demanding and important job. The Legislature and governor should increase the pay and do whatever else it takes to keep social workers around.

BOTTOM LINE: The state may be well-intentioned toward children in its care, but adequate protection is still lacking.

ADVERTISEMENT