Veterans Crisis Line Training and Leadership Concerns Raised in Senate Hearing

Veterans Crisis Line Staffing and Training

• ❓ Senator Duckworth questioned whether responders were the only employees answering Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) phones.
• 💡 Brad Combs, former Lead Auditor, stated that while trained responders worked daily, other VA employees were brought in for overtime periods.
• ⚠️ These other employees had previously gone through responder training but were not full-time responders and may not have received current refresher training.

Changes in VCL Operations

• 📅 A 2023 IG report indicated that the practice of using non-full-time responders for overtime ceased around February 2022.
• ✅ Going forward, only full-time responders or those in specific supervisory roles (supervisor, team operation coordinator, assistant deputy director) were permitted to take veteran calls.
• 🧐 Miss Blaine confirmed that as recently as May 2025, it was only responders answering the phones, contradicting potential earlier practices.

Communication and Leadership Failures

• 🗣️ Concerns were raised about a lack of communication and evolving direction within the VCL leadership.
• 📉 Wrongful terminations of VCL staff occurred with little communication, even supervisors were unaware.
• 🎯 The speaker criticized this as a failure of leadership, where supervisors were not adequately informed or empowered to prepare their teams.
• 📊 A distinction was made between leaders who lead and managers who manage, with an emphasis on the former being crucial for effective operations.