DENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH, & VETERAN SUICIDE-INFORMATION & CLARIFICATION
By John Stevens
FROM: Jefferson County (JC) Laura Moore, Lead Veteran’s Service Officer
This past week, I have been inundated with concerned community members seeking clarification and/or information about the lack of support for Veterans accessing mental health care, dental, and the high rates of Veteran suicides. I have outlined each of these issues below in attempt to answer these questions.
Counseling for Veterans at the JC Community & Senior Center – the Central Oregon Vet Center has been providing outreach counseling services in this building for at least 15 years to qualified combat Veterans and Veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST). To my knowledge, the only time there was a disruption of services was a few months after Louise Muir passed unexpectedly.
Since the building was re-keyed in December, a trusted member of the combat support group has been issued a key to the building as well as the conference room, where group and individual counseling sessions take place.
I personally spoke to the counselor, Dennis Rogers from the Central Oregon Vet Center, who facilities the combat support group and provides individual counseling this afternoon. Dennis confirmed while he does not have a key to the building, there have been no disruptions to mental health services with the exception of the few months following Louise’s passing as outlined above.
Dental - there have been numerous conversations regarding dental coverage for Veterans with the Jefferson County BOCC, National Association for Veterans Service Officers, OR County VSOs, and National Service Organizations since 2014 when I first started volunteering for this office. Dental insurance issues are not unique to Jefferson County and are problematic across the state and nation.
In September of 2025, the BOCC formally requested I find out more information about why dental practices in Jefferson County are not accepting: VA Community Care Dental, VA Dental Insurance Program (VADIP), and the Veterans Dental through OHP.
Under this direction, I contacted every dental practice in Jefferson County multiple times over a period of 4 months and for the practices that replied, I received the same responses I have been receiving from dental providers across Central Oregon for years:
Low reimbursement rates compared to private insurance
VA Community Care Dental - rates are set by Congress.
OHP - rates are determined by State and Federal regulations.
Administrative Burden – complex billing processes, laborious paperwork, difficulty getting answers from anyone
Lengthy wait times for approval
Keep in mind, Local County & Cities, State, and Federal Governments can’t direct private dental practices to accept VA or OHA insurance.
Suicide Prevention & Awareness - Central Oregon has the highest rates of suicide, especially among youth, in the state and the nation. I have worked diligently to partner with agencies and local businesses over the years to address this systemic issue and help raise awareness. The past 9 months alone, I have applied for grant funding and hosted the following, at NO cost and open anyone in the community 18 years+o Oregon Calm Conversations on Lethal Means – a two hour lunch and learn workshop designed to help family, friends, and community members have life-saving conversations with individual who may be thinking of suicide or during a time of crisis in partnership with Linn County Behavioral Health.
o Applied Suicide Prevention intervention Skills Training (ASIST) Workshop – an intensive two-day workshop for community members who want to feel more comfortable, confident and competent in helping to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. This training was taught by two combat Veterans and in partnership with Valor Impact.
o Series of 4 Financial Wellness Lunch & Learn - financial issues are contributing cause of suicide that are often overlooked. Topics covered (Cash Flow Management, Creating & Maintaining a Budget, Financial Goal Setting, Credit Counseling) were based off Veterans surveyed and in partnership with Neighbor Impact.
In addition to the above, we have tried to address the social isolation, food insecurity, and seasonal depression of Veterans (which also impacts their families) in a variety of ways over the years such as: Valentine’s Day Appreciation Lunches/Breakfasts, Christmas Dinners and Toy Events, Workshops on services (local mental health services including VA, Caregiver Support Program, Oregon Veterans Home, VA Burial), Resource Fairs, Music Lessons, Veteran Specific QPR Trainings, Horseback Riding Lessons, Gift Cards for Groceries, Food Boxes, Gym Memberships, MAC pool passes, School Supply Events, partnering local: Valor Impact, OVMA, Madras VFW, Joyful Noise Music Academy, Madras Elks, MadTown Fitness, S4L Ranch, and BestCare to name a few.
As it was identified that many people were not aware how to properly use a gun lock to secure a firearm, Cecilia Ledford, a USMC Combat Veteran employed by JC Public Health created a flier to address this issue. Nurses are now taking these out to home visits along with a welcome bag to help educate new parents on how to use them and they are also available at the VSO office and several businesses in town. See attached doc for reference.
Please note: A VSO can't force a Veteran or anyone else for that matter to seek mental health services or inpatient treatment. We can only offer available resources and it is up to the Veteran whether or not they choose to access them.
If you know of a Veteran who needs to be connected to services such as housing, mental health, caregiver support, transportation to health care appointments, employment, Veterans organizations and/or you are interested in specific types of education workshops that would benefit Veterans and their families, please reach out.
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