Bill seeks commission for veterans

State lawmakers proposed yesterday the creation of a commission to assess a mental health crisis among combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Service men and women too often fall through the cracks of the sprawling bureaucracy of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, they said.

"The VA has not been there enough for veterans with mental health problems," said Representative Anthony Verga, a Democrat from Gloucester, chairman of the state's Veteran and Federal Affairs Committee and a bill sponsor. "We see the stories of veterans committing suicide and waiting for benefits and struggling to find care, and we wonder what's happening."

The proposed 11-member commission would study the "effects of war on the citizens of the Commonwealth" and report, within a year, on ways to improve services for returning veterans.

An emotional hearing before legislators yesterday featured five hours of testimony by veterans, their families, and advocates.

According to research by Verga's committee, 28,000 service members have returned to Massachusetts since Sept. 11, 2001, and about 25 percent of them have faced "serious mental health challenges."

That roughly matches national findings by the National Alliance on Mental Illness that one in six returning soldiers suffered severe depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Fewer than half of them seek help because they fear "hurting their career or being stigmatized," Phil Hadley, president of the alliance's state chapter, said in testimony with the committee.

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P . Murray also testified, saying the administration of Governor Deval Patrick was preparing to fully support the bill.

Murray described PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, which is the physical injury to the brain caused by trauma such as a bomb blast, as the "signature injuries" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said they both require a comprehensive approach to treatment, not just by state and federal agencies but also by private medical institutions.

The centerpiece of the hearing were the stories of returning veterans and their families.

One who spoke was Deborah DiMasi, the wife of House Speaker Salvatore F . DiMasi. She told of her brother, Jeff, a member of the 82d Airborne Division who returned from years of combat operations that left him a profoundly changed person. He spiraled into mental illness and took his own life last year, she said.

She urged the legislators to consider a program adopted by the New Hampshire National Guard that requires returning veterans to get, before discharge, three days of mandatory screening and counseling for mental health.

Debra Lucey came from Belchertown to tell the story of her brother, Marine Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, who returned from Iraq "a totally different person" and committed suicide just days after being released from a VA facility.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Sapp of Billerica, who served in Iraq with the Massachusetts National Guard and who suffers from PTSD, testified alongside his wife, Anne, saying, "We need to expand services not only to veterans but also to their families, who bear an extraordinary burden in helping loved ones with mental health issues."

Phil Budahn, a VA spokesman, defended the agency's efforts. The VA, he said in a telephone interview, offers "comprehensive mental health services" in the four VA medical centers in Massachusetts and a host of clinics.

But Paul Keough, deputy commissioner of the state Veterans' Services Department, said Massachusetts, the only state to fund extensive veterans' services on its own, has had to increase its efforts for veterans because the VA had "walked away from its obligation."

In a telephone interview, US Senator John F. Kerry cautioned against states fulfilling a role that is a "sacred promise" of the federal government to provide for returning veterans. "To fill the vacuum is a good thing, but to make it a long-term thing would be dangerous," he said.