OIG Monthly Highlights

CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY Inspector General Testifies on Veterans Crisis Line at House and Senate Hearings The Honorable Michael J. Missal testified at two separate hearings on the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) recent work related to the operations of VA’s Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). Mr. Missal testified before the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, United States House of Representatives, at an April 4, 2017 hearing titled, “An Assessment of Ongoing Concerns at the Veterans Crisis Line.” He also testified about the OIG’s VCL work on April 27, 2017 before the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, at a hearing on “Preventing Veteran Suicide.” Mr. Missal’s testimony emphasized that the tragedy of veteran suicide is one of the most significant issues facing the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In discussing OIG’s two VCL reports—Healthcare Inspection – Veterans Crisis Line Caller Response and Quality Assurance Concerns Canandaigua, New York (Report No. 14-03540-123, February 11, 2016) and Healthcare Inspection – Evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration Veterans Crisis Line (Report No. 16-03985-81, March 20, 2017)—he highlighted numerous deficiencies related to governance, operations, and quality assurance. Mr Missal emphasized that until VHA fully implements OIG’s 23 recommendations, it will continue to face challenges meeting the VCL’s critically important mission to provide “suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to veterans, service members, and their family members.”