Chad Robichaux, the founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation, which provides faith-based programs to combat the psychological and emotional challenges of veterans returning home, told Fox News Digital he was outraged by the answers he heard in the House VA Subcommittee on Health hearing this week.
During the hearing, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a retired Navy SEAL, invoked Robichaux's foundation while questioning Dr. Tamara Campbell, executive director of the Veterans Health Administration's Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
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Van Orden asked Campbell whether her office is "preventing veterans from committing suicide or not." Campbell said her department is "moving the needle on this" and must have a "full public health approach where suicide prevention is concerned."
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Van Orden asked how many "faith-based non-evidence programs" the VA currently administers to veterans seeking their help and what her office's "metrics for success" are.
Campbell replied that the VA "certainly value scientifically-based evidence-based programs. That does not mean, however, that we don't collaborate with our chaplain services…." Campbell added the department would be willing to meet with Mighty Oaks to discuss a potential partnership.
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In response, Robichaux told Fox News he was thankful for Van Orden's questioning, saying he hopes the VA will keep its word and reach out to his group.
Robichaux claimed the VA "cherry-picked data" in its report and wrongly excluded overdoses, at least at present. "The American taxpayer is funding a one-solution system for the mental health and suicide epidemic for our warriors, and it is a pharmaceutical one. And it is failing," Robichaux said.
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He criticized U.S. aid to Afghanistan that he suggested is simply landing in the hands of the Taliban.
"Meanwhile, we are giving … $113 billion to corruption in Ukraine, [without] congressional oversight. With just one of those billion [dollars], faith-based VSOs could nearly eradicate this crisis amongst our military community," Robichaux argued.
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Robichaux told Fox News that the Obama administration previously removed funding for faith-and community-based programs through a 2009 executive order. He then asked then-candidate Donald Trump in 2015 to overturn the order.
"The truth is PTSD, and trauma are typically spiritual wounds to the human soul, and a spiritual wound requires a spiritual solution found through a relationship with God," he said. "We cannot take this away from our warriors and expect them to heal…."
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In response to some of the criticism, the VA told Fox News Digital that the department stops "at nothing to get Veterans who live with substance use disorder the help they need and deserve. VA offers a comprehensive continuum of specialty substance use disorder (SUD) services for Veterans, not just medication-based treatment. This continuum of care includes specialty SUD treatment outpatient and residential programs."
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