Veterans Affairs Committee on March 20th, 2017

[Chantale Malette]

No. At this time, there's no way to do so because it would be very difficult to assess the person's condition and to get back in touch with the person. For the moment, the safest method is for the person to call the 1-800 number. A mental health professional will respond and immediately verify the person's condition. The mental health professional can then get back in touch with the person, take note of the person's telephone number, and so on. Therefore, there's direct contact with the person.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

One of the things we've heard in previous testimony is how important it is to have peer support, to have somebody who has served be a person who can talk to a veteran who may be in crisis now.

Is there somebody who can immediately be put in touch with them if they call the 1-800 number? You talked about some of the criteria for working at the contact centre. Is there somebody, a peer, who could be put in touch with them immediately?

[Chantale Malette]

We would refer to existing resources, for example OSISS. We work closely with them as well. If a veteran needed to speak with a peer, then we would use the services already in place.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

But that could be quite a bit of time from that telephone call. It wouldn't be within the hour.

[Chantale Malette]

Maybe not within the hour, but we would certainly make the call right away, and we would either stay on the phone with this person or we would do frequent follow-ups during the evening. We would find out the best way to support this person at that time.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Has anybody ever used the service and asked if a veteran works there? Does that question ever get asked?

[Chantale Malette]

It's never happened.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Those are my questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

We are running out of time. I just have one clarifying question on your pamphlet here. It says:

A voluntary and confidential service to help all Veterans and their families as well as primary caregivers who have personal concerns that affect their well-being. The service is available free of charge.

As a caregiver or a family member, do you need a veteran's reference to use this service?

[Johanne Isabel]

It's a service provided by Health Canada. The person simply needs to mention that they're a veteran's spouse and they can have immediate access to the service.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Thank you.

That ends our round. On behalf of our committee here today, I would like to thank all three of you for coming with your testimony and for all you do to help our men and women who have served.

Mrs. Romanado, go ahead.

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

I know I wouldn't normally have the floor.

Would it be possible for the members of Parliament to receive a copy of this? I am not sure all members of Parliament are aware that this service exists. I would highly recommend that you make sure they have it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

Great. Thank you.

Mr. Fraser, go ahead.

[Colin Fraser, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, I am just wondering why we are finishing at 5:20.

[The Chair, Liberal, Neil Ellis]

We could go to Mr. Bratina for six minutes, if he wishes to take that.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

Did the increase in number from 614 to 1,143 and the extension of the 20 visits put any demands on resources? Were you able to do that within the complement of staff you had, or did it cause you to spend more money?

[Chantale Malette]

We have actually hired more mental health professionals.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

These young people.... There was a reference to the military background, but what about orientation? How do you bring them into a military setting? I could see a certificate course in something like this, to add to their M.A. Is there an orientation process?

[Johanne Isabel]

It is a good question. I have to admit that right now we don't have a certificate or a specific program. We had a discussion last week, following recommendations from the family advisory committee at Veterans Affairs Canada. It was recommended that we provide more training for our mental health providers working with the VAC assistance service. Next week we'll have a call in to discuss this and try to identify how it could be done.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I'm sure you need these very qualified people, who typically would be younger people coming out of the university setting. It would be more difficult for, say, veterans with some years of service to become qualified. They would have the natural ability to relate to a veteran, but there are specific issues that these people are trained for, which is beyond the scope of just an interested former service person.

On the question of the satisfaction survey, can you give me an indication of how that takes place?

[Chantale Malette]

When the client sees one of our counsellors, the counsellor provides a voluntary survey with questions regarding the services that the client has received. They provide the person with a pre-stamped envelope as well, so the person can send us the information, which is then shared with VAC.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

It's always important, whatever we do, to review it and see whether we are making progress. So that's good to hear.

On the face-to-face counselling sessions, how long would a session typically go?

[Chantale Malette]

Normally, a session is one hour.

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

In the satisfaction survey, is there a reflection that this is generally a good amount of time?

[Chantale Malette]

Yes.