ADMH Commissioner Presents Draft Veterans Mental Health Plan to Senate Committee

Alabama Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kimberly G. Boswell addressed the Alabama Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee on Thursday, April 3. The Commissioner presented a draft report from the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee on the state of Veterans access to behavioral health services across the State.

This presentation was part of a process that began in 2024 with SB135, sponsored by State Senators Jones, Chesteen, Butler, Kelley, Stewart, Coleman-Madison, Coleman and Barfoot. SB145, which became Act 2024-358, established the Veterans Mental Health Steering Committee to develop a comprehensive plan to address the unique behavioral health needs of Alabama Veterans.

Act 2024-358 established the following timeline and tasks for the Steering Committee, after its June 1, 2024 effective date:

• September 1, 2024: The Committee shall have its first meeting by this date.
• January 1, 2025: The Committee shall complete a full review of the following:
  • The current state of Alabama veterans’ mental health and rates of substance use;
  • Current mental health, substance use, recovery, and other support services in Alabama;
  • Needs assessments previously conducted for the purpose of identifying gaps in services and supports.  The review of needs assessments shall include quantitative and qualitative feedback of post-9/11 veterans in Alabama;
  • The need for additional services and coordination of existing services.
• April 1, 2025: The Committee shall develop a Comprehensive Plan and submit it to the House and Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committees by this date.
• June 30, 2025: ADMH shall submit the Comprehensive Plan to the Governor by this date.
• August 31, 2025: The Governor shall act on the Comprehensive Plan no later than this date. Upon the Governor’s approval, ADMH will implement the Comprehensive Plan.

A significant portion of the Comprehensive Plan will deal with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the plethora of other mental health issues that accompany it. This is a growing area of concern in military psychiatry, and the Commissioner mentioned the Army STARRS study during her presentation.

The Army STARRS study is a longitudinal evaluation of the effects of deployment-acquired TBI on PTSD and related disorders. It examined a cadre of 4,645 soldiers and showed a significant risk increase for PTSD, depression and generalized anxiety disorder in soldiers with TBI. There also appeared to be an increase in suicidality, but this did not approach statistical significance during the initial evaluation of the data.

“It’s pretty dramatic in the study that was done in the army about the increase in mental health issues traumatic brain injury brings to the table as well as also combining that with post traumatic stress disorder,” Commissioner Boswell said. “So, it gets to be kind of complicated, and it really requires someone to be able to sort out what is the real issue that is going on, and make sure that they appropriately address that issue.”

The Commissioner also addressed the issue of TBI becoming more and more of an issue as Veterans age.

“Something we see too, with older veterans. You know somebody may have been really successful at managing that. But then, as we begin to slow down and the aging process kicks in, we also see some of it begin to show up as the aging process happens. They might've been able to deal with it pretty successfully for a lot of years, it then begins to show up later in life as they age,” Boswell concluded.

Thursday’s presentation by the Commissioner marked an important milestone for the Comprehensive Plan, which was favorably favorably by the Senate Committee. It now goes to Governor Kay Ivey for her final approval.

A PowerPoint of the draft Comprehensive Plan may be reviewed HERE.