Federal Veterans Center For Mental Health Services Opens In Morris

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will open a new Veteran Center Community Access Point (CAP) in Morris County this week, bringing counseling and other VA services closer to home.

The CAP opens Thursday, May 2 and is located inside the newly-expanded Morris County Veteran Services Office (VSO), at 540 West Morris Avenue in Morris Township.

These Vet Center Community Access Points are satellite locations of the VA, and provide readjustment counseling services and other resources to eligible veterans, service members and their families.

The Morris Vet Center and a planned outstation in Hackettstown will expand access to important mental health care resources for veterans in northwestern New Jersey, officials said last week during a visit by the VA's Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Shereef Elnahal.

“Expanding this program throughout Northern New Jersey reaffirms our commitment to meeting Veterans, service members, and their families where they are, while also improving the overall mental health and well-being of those who served,” Elnahal said during a press conference, which was attended by dozens of area veterans.

Confidential counseling services are available (by appointment) for eligible veterans and service members, including members of the National Guard and Reserves, and their families. Currently, the two counselors are only taking appointments on Thursdays, beginning May 2.

Officials said that availability could increase, based on how in-demand these mental health services are.

To make an appointment, call the Bloomfield Vet Center (not the Morris VSO) at 973-748-0980. Counselors from this center will be taking appointments for the Morris Township location.

Morris County Commissioner John Krickus, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said the county was able to provide space for this new service point with the recent expansion of the Veterans Service Office. The county is continuing to increase staffing at the VSO and allocating funds to address the demand for mental health, family counseling, and other veteran services.

U.S. Representatives Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11) and Tom Kean (R-NJ-07) were among the elected officials who have been advocating for a CAP to re-open in Morris County, and both said they will continue working to increase access to mental health care for veterans and their families.

"Veteran readjustment counseling is an important resource for service members, veterans, and their families," Kean said. "This is a positive first step in the right direction, but much more still needs to be done."

Sherrill — a veteran of the U.S. Navy — said that expanding these services to meet the needs of Morris County veterans has been a top concern for state advocates and people on her Veterans Advisory Board.

"After countless letter writing campaigns, many meetings with VA officials, and tireless community outreach, today’s announcement of the reopening of the VA’s Community Access Point in Morris Township and an Outstation in Hackettstown is a step in the right direction towards ensuring our veterans – and their family members – have access to the care they need," she said in a statement.

The new Vet Center Outstation planned in Hackettstown will offer counseling services as well; an opening date has not yet been announced.

New Jersey currently has five other Vet Center locations: Bloomfield, Egg Harbor Township, Ewing Township, Lakewood Township and Secaucus.

Click here to see more information about the new CAP in Morris County.