300,000 of the U.S. military veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless and can’t find any Job

The Department of Defense’s special program for brain injuries can’t seem to explain its purpose to congressional watchdogs, and that doesn’t bode well for the program’s future or for those it’s supposed to be helping: wounded war veterans.

According to Congress’s investigative wing, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Defense Centers for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCOE) was unable to define and justify its mission to GAO officials when they came calling for an audit.

“[DCOE was] not able to explain to us in any clarity what they’re about, what they intend to do in the future, how much it’s going to cost and what value will come out of that spending,” Denise Fantone, a GAO director who helped supervise the investigation, told NPR.

That’s bad news for soldiers returning from Afghanistan or Iraq who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other traumatic brain injuries, because DCOE is supposed to help the 44,000 service members dealing with these serious conditions. AllGov

FACTS & FIGURES

300,000 of the U.S. military veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a recent study.

New statistics from the VA show that veterans make up 20 percent of the 30,000 suicides in the United States each year.

An average of 18 veterans commit suicide every day and five of those are already getting treatment at the VA. Abclocal.go.com

In 2010, more than 134,000 people made calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Of those callers, 61 percent identified themselves as veterans. news.medill.northwestern.edu

Figures released by the VA in 2010 show a dramatic increase in suicide among veterans aged 18 to 29 years old, due in large part to multiple deployments and the overall stress of combat.

Between 2005 and 2007, the VA said it saw a 26 percent increase in suicides, mostly among veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Truthout