Federal Daily - December 16, 2008

Senator Calls for More VA Health Care Workers

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., urged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire more qualified mental health specialists and improve access to mental health care for veterans, including those in rural areas. In a Dec. 11 letter to VA Secretary James Peake, Salazar criticized VA’s delay in implementing provisions of a 2006 law that allows VA to include licensed professional mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists among its authorized mental health providers. Prior to the law, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists could not be considered or hired as equals to their professional counterparts—clinical social workers—nor could they apply for supervisory positions. “Sadly, after nearly two years, VA has yet to begin hiring the mental health counselors and family therapists our nation’s veterans desperately need,” Salazar wrote. As a consequence, VA is facing a shortage of mental health professionals in rural communities, which has resulted in significantly reduced access to mental health care for vets, Salazar said. Across the nation, approximately 80 percent of rural counties suffer a shortage of VA mental health professionals and 50 percent have no practicing VA psychologist or social worker, he said. To see more, go to: http://salazar.senate.gov/news/releases/081211vahiring.htm.

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Top Deputy for National Intelligence to Retire

Thomas Fingar, the deputy director of National Intelligence for Analysis, on Dec. 12 announced plans to retire Dec. 31 after 26 years in federal service, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said. Fingar, the first person to serve as deputy directory of National Intelligence for Analysis, joined ODNI in May 2005, just one month after the agency was created. Fingar also served as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, which is primarily responsible for the president’s daily briefing. He is also a former assistant secretary of state and head of the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Upon retirement, Fingar plans to join the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University as a Payne Distinguished Lecturer. Peter Lavoy, a former national intelligence officer for South Asia, was named to fill the empty deputy’s spot, ODNI said. To see more, go to: www.dni.gov/press_releases/20081212_2_release.pdf.

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