UPDATED: More veterans services planned in area

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to restore a Vet Center Community Access Point (CAP) in Morris Township and to establish a Vet Center Outstation in Hackettstown.

Both will expand access to mental health care resources to veterans in northwestern New Jersey.

The announcement was made April 23 during a visit by VA Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal. He was joined by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11; Morris County Commissioner Krickus; and other federal, state and local officials.

“Vet Centers provide veterans with high-quality counseling, community engagement, and referral services in nearby and comfortable environments,” Elnahal said during his visit.

The centers provide a range of services to veterans and their families, including mental health counseling to combat veterans and those who suffered military sexual assault as well as bereavement services to families of service members who die on duty.

At the Vet Center Outstation in Hackettstown, services will be administered by the Bloomfield Vet Center. Outstations are posts where at least one counselor is located to provide closer-to-home care in communities far from full Vet Centers.

A Vet Center CAP will be incorporated into the veterans services already provided at the Morris View Healthcare Center. CAPs are satellite locations that work in conjunction with established service centers.

The new CAP is scheduled to open Thursday, May 2 at the Morris County Veteran Services Office, 540 West Morris Ave., Morris Township.

Services will be provided - by appointment only - by two Veteran Affairs counselors from the Bloomfield Vet Center. They will be available every Thursday. To make an appointment at the Morris Township site, veterans should call the Bloomfield Vet Center at 973-748-0980.

“Morris County can host this new Veteran Affairs service point because we’ve recently doubled the space for our veteran services,” said Krickus, a Marine Corps veteran.

Local lawmakers

State Sen. Parker Space and Assembly members Dawn Fantasia and Michael Inganamort, all R-24, said they were pleased by the announcement.

“Vet Centers provide a broad range of counseling, outreach and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help veterans make successful readjustments to civilian life,” according to a statement from the lawmakers.

As of Sept. 30, 2020, about 40,000 veterans live in Morris, Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon counties, according to VA estimates.

“When the two centers open, veterans, service members and their families will not be forced to travel long distances or travel out of state to receive much needed mental health services,” the statement said.

Sherrill called the plans “a step in the right direction towards ensuring our veterans - and their family members - have access to the care they need.” “I will continue to work to increase access to high-quality mental health care with a full Vet Center.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said, “We honor our veterans, service members and their families by providing them the care and resources they deserve, including individualized counseling and mental health care as they transition to civilian life or respond to service-related trauma.

“Vet Centers provide these vital community-based readjustment counseling services, but there has been a critical gap in these services in northwestern New Jersey. I applaud the Veteran Administration’s expansion of Vet Center services to help fill this gap so that more veterans and their families have timely access to this care near where they live.”

Rep. Tom Kean, R-7, said, “I am excited to see that the VA is heeding the needs of the community in Northwest New Jersey and bringing a Vet Center Cap in Morristown and a Vet Center Outstation in Hackettstown. This is a good step in the right direction, but more still needs to be done. I look forward to continuing to work with my New Jersey colleagues to bring a much-needed Vet Center to Northwest New Jersey.”