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Periodic updates to Congress on RAND’s work in veterans | Web version
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Congressional Newsletter
December 2021
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Sgt 1st Class Gail Braymen, Division West, Public Affairs/U.S. Army
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RAND recently celebrated the launch of the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute. The institute is dedicated to conducting innovative, interdisciplinary, evidence-based research to improve the lives of those who have served in the U.S. military. Research will focus on veteran health and health care, education and economic opportunities, and communities and families, including caregivers of injured veterans.
Read more »
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Bethany/Adobe Stock
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Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles, California, is a pervasive public health problem, with the county having the highest concentration of veterans experiencing homelessness in the United States. This report describes a first-of-its-kind longitudinal study that followed 26 veterans experiencing homelessness in West Los Angeles. Authors make several recommendations, such as allocating more resources to fully meet the needs of veterans experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles (including more-robust outreach services, substance use disorder treatment, and other health care treatment), implementing additional temporary and permanent housing solutions, and building in accountability measures to make progress toward these goals more transparent to a larger audience.
Read the report »
Read the commentary »
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Synthetic-Exposition/Getty Images
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What role can research and public health efforts play in suicide prevention among U.S. veterans? In a recent testimony before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, RAND researcher Rajeev Ramchand outlined four data and science strategies that are critical in the efforts to prevent veteran suicides. Ramchand notes the importance of improving the national mortality data infrastructure to provide both better-quality and more-timely data on veteran suicide. Using data to better understand veterans’ health care experiences outside the VA would help identify where suicide risk may cluster within health systems, and collecting better and more comprehensive data on veteran firearm ownership and storage would shed light on whether suicide prevention strategies focused on safe storage practices are effective. Finally, Ramchand mentions the need to formally test whether novel mental health treatments are effective at reducing fatal and nonfatal suicide attempts.
Watch the video overview »
Read the full testimony »
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EJ Hersom/Department of Defense
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With the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war, there are questions about whether the “sea of goodwill” toward U.S. veterans may be ebbing. RAND data collected in July–September 2021 reveal what benefits and services Americans think the U.S. government should provide to veterans. Researchers found that very few American adults feel the U.S. government is doing an excellent job of caring for its veterans, and 87% of American adults support the need to do more for veterans. Most respondents saw the greatest need for mental health services for veterans, followed by housing for homeless veterans and physical health care. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of respondents agreed that veterans should be provided with more benefits if they served longer, were exposed to combat, or were severely injured.
Read more »
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RAND Congressional Resources Staff
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Experts and Research Available to You
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Members of Congress and staff can receive free copies of RAND reports and engage with researchers. To request reports, briefings, or meetings, or to invite researchers to testify, please contact ocr@rand.org.
Learn more at rand.org/congress. |
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“Truth Decay,” the diminishing role of facts in U.S. public life, poses a grave threat to evidence-based policymaking and to American democracy. RAND continues to study this phenomenon to learn more about its causes, consequences, and potential solutions.
Explore the research.
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The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. We serve the public interest by helping lawmakers reach informed decisions on the nation's pressing challenges.
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