Mr. Amos, I really appreciate your question.
I just wanted to speak to the paradigm by which we have to compliment the bureaucracy so that they let their guard down and do the right thing. It has been my experience over 20 years that when you compliment them, the bureaucrats immediately say, “Hey, we're doing a good job. We don't have to do anything differently.”
The problem is that with the funding for mental health, we have to understand the users first. Let's not understand the bureaucracy. Let's understand the users, the families and veterans first. When someone suffers a mental health illness, it is 24 hours a day. It is seven days a week. It is all year long. It affects everyone around them.
What we need is a comprehensive system that will address that. Veterans need to know that they can get that care. Like Tina said, they can call a case manager, but that's only a half measure. All of the mental health programs at Veterans Affairs are half measures. They only work for those who are persevering, those who are articulate and those who can fight. Veterans who are suffering with a mental health illness need someone—or a team—who will be there all the time, every day. Only with that security can they take the steps to better their lives.