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Veterans Mental Health Sessions — 26 a Year, but Only for Living Center Residents

A state programme pays mental-health providers for 26 sessions a year with an eligible veteran. Its reach is far narrower than the name suggests: it is for veterans who live in a veterans community living center, and only after the sessions their federal benefits cover are exhausted.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A state programme pays mental-health providers for 26 sessions a year with an eligible veteran. Its reach is far narrower than the name suggests: it is for veterans who live in a veterans community living center, and only after the sessions their federal benefits cover are exhausted.

What it's worth: 26 mental-health sessions a year, paid to the provider

  • The programme sits in the division of veterans affairs and reimburses the provider, not the veteran.
  • It is written for veterans who live in a veterans community living center.
  • Before using it the veteran must attest that the annual number of sessions covered by their federal veterans benefits has been exhausted.
  • The behavioural health administration is required to publish a list of participating providers on its website.
  • The enacting act appropriated $642,645 from the general fund to the department for the division to run it, and took effect on 16 May 2023.

This record exists to correct a myth. The name promises far more than the programme delivers. It is not open counselling for any veteran in the state: the enacted act limits it to veterans who live in a veterans community living center, and requires them to have used up their federally covered sessions first. A veteran reading the title alone would expect a state-funded therapy benefit and find a narrow top-up for nursing-home residents.

Who is entitled to it

  • The programme pays for sessions with a veteran.
  • Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Check the living center condition first. The programme as enacted is for veterans who live in a veterans community living center — if you do not, this is not your route, and a county veterans service officer is the better first call.
  2. 2Use your federal sessions first. The act requires an attestation that the annual number of sessions covered by your federal veterans benefits has been exhausted before the state programme starts paying.
  3. 3Ask the behavioural health administration for the list of participating providers; publishing it is a statutory duty, and the list is the only way to find a provider the programme will reimburse.
  4. 4Confirm with the provider that they bill the division directly. The money moves from the state to the provider, so nothing should be asked of you at the point of care.
  5. 5Track the count. The entitlement is 26 sessions in a year, and neither the act nor the pages read here describe a route to more.
Form
Attestation that federally covered sessions are exhausted, then a participating provider
File with
The Division of Veterans Affairs, through a participating provider
Documents you will need
dd214
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionThe name promises far more than the programme delivers. It is not open counselling for any veteran in the state: the enacted act limits it to veterans who live in a veterans community living center, and requires them to have used up their federally covered sessions first. A veteran reading the title alone would expect a state-funded therapy benefit and find a narrow top-up for nursing-home residents.
Worth knowingThe payment goes to the provider, not to the veteran. There is no reimbursement to claim back, which also means a provider outside the participating list cannot be paid for retrospectively.
Known gapThe provider list the act requires the behavioural health administration to publish was not located this session. Without it there is no way to name a provider a veteran can actually approach, which is the single most useful fact about this programme and the first thing to chase on the next pass.
Known gapWhether the programme has been widened since 2023, and whether the appropriation has been renewed in later budget years, was not checked. A programme with a single-year appropriation and no administering page is one to re-verify before relying on it.

Sources

Why only one source type: The General Assembly's own page carries the enacted summary of the programme in full — the eligible class, the session count, the attestation and the appropriation. No administering page describing the programme was reachable this session: the behavioural health administration's site was searched for the provider list the act requires and none was found, and the division's own services pages do not mention the programme.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.