CALLS TO VA SUICIDE LINE GOT VOICEMAIL

Lack of training, overload at backup crisis centers cited

A VA suicide hotline movingly portrayed in an Oscar- winning documentary has allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail and has struggled with adequate staff training, according to an inspector general investigation.

Inspectors found problems occurred when calls were routed to backup crisis centers after staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs suicide hotline center in Canandaigua, N. Y., ( 800- 273- 8255) were taking all the calls they could handle.

“We substantiated allegations that some calls routed to backup crisis centers were answered by voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance,” said the VA Inspector General report.

The VA, which has highlighted veteran suicides as a crucial area of concern, said that since the hotline was created in 2007, about 2million calls have been answered and emergency efforts made to intervene and save lives in more than 53,000 cases.

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, an HBO documentary highlighting the life-and-death drama of the hotline efforts, won an Oscar last year.

The inspector general report did not document how many calls go to voicemail.

It said calls going to backup crisis centers increased dramatically in recent years, from 36,261 in 2013 to 76,887 in 2014. About every sixth call goes to a backup center, the report said.

In response to the findings, the VA concurred with all recommendations for taking steps to ensure calls no longer go to voicemail and that staff training be improved.

Steps to increase staffing at the Canandaigua center were announced by the VA almost a year ago, said Victoria Dillon, a department spokesperson.

A comprehensive training initiative is underway, and a quality assurance surveillance plan to monitor backup centers is being developed, she said.

Calls routed to the backup centers can be placed in a queue where callers hear music while they wait.

The VA had no process for learning how long these people wait or howmany of them finally hang up, the report said.