Starting next summer, Department of Veterans Affairs officials will award scholarships to students studying mental health care in exchange for a promise that the recipients work for the department after graduation.
The VA initiative announced in November, called the Vet Center (Readjustment Counseling Service) Scholarship Program, would award scholarships to those looking to earn degrees in social work, psychology, mental health counseling, or marriage and family counseling, according to a department press release.
The move, mandated by Congress as part of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019, will provide two years of tuition for graduate-level studies in exchange for a promise of six years of work at a VA Vet Center.
The decision to award the scholarships comes after efforts from leaders to try to fill critical staffing vacancies.
The VA leaders have said in recent years that they need hundreds of psychologists, psychiatrists, family therapists and counselors to keep up with growing demand across the department’s health system.
In July, the VA's Office of Inspector General reported 2,622 "severe" staffing shortages across almost 300 clinical and nonclinical occupations within the department; psychiatry was noted as one of the top five most common "facility designated" shortages, and social workers were in the top 15.
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“Vet Centers provide Veterans, service members, and their families with quick and easy access to the mental health care they need and deserve,” Va Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “These scholarships will help VA ensure all veterans and service members, including those in historically underserved areas, have access to Vet Centers with highly qualified, trained and compassionate staff.
Only five scholarships are anticipated to be awarded in the first year and would cover up to two years of graduate mental health-related studies and, in exchange, the VA would require recipients to serve six years at one of its 300 veteran centers in the U.S.
McDonough has pushed for better pay and benefits for new hires but has also noted that much of the problem stems from a shortfall in trained professionals across the country.
The VA has 300 Vet Centers spaced out around the country. The community-based counseling sites offer a wide range of support services, including mental health care and job placement assistance.
Officials said more than 286,000 veterans and family members used Vet Center services in the fiscal year 2022.
The scholarship recipients will be assigned to sites with high-veteran usage and problematic vacancies. VA officials expect about 50 applicants per year, all of whom are already graduate students studying in-demand specialties.
Information on the scholarship is available on the Federal Register web site.
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