Financial Planning, in a June 19, 2014 article, quoted Venable partner and retired Navy Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett on the role financial troubles play in military suicides. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) brought the issue to the fore with a bill aiming to ensure more effective financial planning for soldiers and veterans at risk of suicide over monetary hardship.
Admiral Barnett said the proposal bridges the divide between addressing deep emotional problems and severe financial concerns. “Over here is mental health and over here it’s financial counseling and [the attitude is], ‘Well, they don’t have anything to do with each other,’” he said. “What I think may be lacking is this type of research that shows that there are more avenues of counseling programs and that you have to go beyond that to pick up the factors that are acting on military members and their families. We have to significantly up our game and widen the search for root causes and solutions.”
Admiral Barnett said the proposal bridges the divide between addressing deep emotional problems and severe financial concerns. “Over here is mental health and over here it’s financial counseling and [the attitude is], ‘Well, they don’t have anything to do with each other,’” he said. “What I think may be lacking is this type of research that shows that there are more avenues of counseling programs and that you have to go beyond that to pick up the factors that are acting on military members and their families. We have to significantly up our game and widen the search for root causes and solutions.”