Thank you, Chair.
Thank you all for appearing today.
Ms. O'Brien, as I listen to you describe ADI, I'm very impressed. You also mentioned how you've added two mental health professionals to your team to handle what you're dealing with. Much of what you're referring to is very affirmable of what I find within the organization Audeamus, which has received multiple funding opportunities at two universities where they work with a psychiatrist as well as the researchers.
One of them mentioned that having worked for 25 years with Audeamus, screening by mental health professionals is really important to determine a veteran's readiness for a service dog and what the goals are going to be for the dog to meet, and they pair a veteran with that dog right at the very beginning to team train, a term you're probably aware of. They train with their puppy so it becomes second nature to care for each other and build that sense of trust that they need to go out in public.
I would like you to speak very briefly to how important that is, that sense of complete confidence and team within that relationship of the dog and the veteran, that would then spill over into the effectiveness of their training.