A new bill is being proposed to create counseling services for deployed military personnel. Recently, a House committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the House floor for a debate.
The bill is asking that states implement a counseling program for service members and their immediate families. Right now, the services that are already available are limited. Counseling and chaplains are already assigned to assist in family issues, however, these locations are not widely accessible. Also, the available services are only available for a year after the return of an oversea family member.
This, according to Col. Scott Olson of the Utah National Guard, is not enough. In 2004, there were nearly 10,000 divorces among those returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Many difficulties that a military family must deal with once a tour of duty is finished include divorce, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder, and domestic violence. The counseling services that are provided have gaps. According to Olson, “It may take years for an individual to readjust to family life again.”
The proposed bill brings services to local state departments so that they are all accessible to many families in need.
While the bill has gained support there are factors that could mean the bill might die. The counseling services will cost between $100,000 and $600,000 per year. Also, the bill has come up late in the session.
Still, though, many hope that the bill will become a law before too many military families suffer and dissolve.