The question is on how the system is dysfunctional. I come from a business background, so I'm viewing it through that lens—as well as a counselling and psychology background—so I see how things could be streamlined and made more efficient.
I'm wondering whether they are consulting the right people who can really streamline these things, but there are different things that are unique to the military and VAC that maybe we can't change.
With regard to the process for women applying to our program, first of all, they are coming to us and they are not functioning well, yet nobody is allowed to advocate for them and help them through the system. They're not allowed to make calls on their behalf. We can't call the CMs.
If we have a veteran who is actively suicidal and we are concerned about this person, we know that they need treatment and we can provide that treatment, if we find out...I send an email and I do their first name, dot, last name—I hope I get the spelling right—and most of the time I'm successful. Then they're mad that we have contacted them directly to consult about one of their client's cases.
In the whole process, there's the lack of transparency, the absolute no communication. You can never get a direct phone number. It is almost impossible to get a direct phone number for the person's case management team. That is insane, when you're supposed to be collaborating with the health care team. We can't even access them.
Are there any other aspects of the process that you think we could...?