Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN ADDRESSING VETERAN NEEDS The United States has been continuously at war for more than a decade. Since 2001, more than 2.6 million service members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, the longest wars in our nation’s history. Persistent instabilities in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia are likely to continue to keep our Armed Forces engaged in combat operations. This has created a steady stream of veterans re-entering civilian society and joining the ranks of the nation’s 22 million veterans from multiple combat eras.

The transition from military to civilian life can be difficult and many veterans face a range of challenges. While the increased rates of post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, suicide and depression have sounded the call to action, the vast majority of veterans are struggling through daily life challenges—employment, housing, relationship challenges, feelings of disconnection and not belonging. Alone, these struggles are difficult to overcome, but often many challenges overlap and can make civilian life a new kind of battle—for both veterans and their families. Furthermore, veterans from previous eras must face the added complications of aging with issues related to their time in service.

The Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) is a global leader in promoting the health and well-being of service members, veterans and military families through research, education and collaboration that encourages successful transitions to civilian life. Housed within the University of Southern California School of Social Work, its priorities include rapidly increasing the number of behavioral health providers trained to treat veterans and their families, expanding community resources for veterans, heightening awareness about military culture and veteran issues to create supportive communities, and conducting research that expands our understanding of veteran transition issues to decrease suffering and promote meaningful and successful civilian lives.

Located in Los Angeles, home to the largest concentration of veterans in the United States, CIR is the only center in the world to combine its trailblazing research, educational expertise, and local, national and international collaborations to address the pressing needs of all veterans and military families.

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RESEARCH TO SAVE LIVESVeterans and service members are confronted with difficult and enduring challenges that do not have simple solutions. Returning veterans face high unemployment rates, and homelessness is a national concern. Some veterans are coming home with severe physical injuries. Many more have mental health concerns. About 22 veterans a day die by suicide. The struggles they face can devastate relationships and severely stress caretakers and families, including military children who are more vulnerable to suicide and depression.

Tackling these issues requires serious scientific study. CIR is uniquely positioned to drive collaborative research across disciplines, test cutting-edge technology and advance innovative approaches to behavioral health care, thanks to its partnerships with military and social scientists and veteran-serving organizations in the U.S. and abroad. CIR has developed databases that offer a valuable portrait of veterans’ lives and provide local leaders, practitioners, employers and communities with the data, insights and best practices necessary to improve veteran care, resources and policies. CIR has also taken the lead in studying overlooked populations and topics, such as military sexual assault, female veterans and LGBT service members.

With a reputation for tackling some of the most challenging and enduring problems that face our veterans, their families and our communities, CIR has set an aggressive agenda for research that leads to better understanding, care and policies that save lives and promote well-being.

Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families

From top: Reviewing the Orange County Veterans Study; behind-the-scenes look at the making of virtual avatar; still from training video;

still from development of latest virtual client technology

TRANSFORMING CARE FOR OUR VETERANS As more service members return home, there has never been a greater need for behavioral health professionals, organizations and communities to be equipped with the latest and highest quality education and training that allows them to provide specialized care and support for our veterans and military families.

CIR is committed to directly expanding the number and improving the expertise of behavioral health practitioners at every stage of professional development, from graduate-level students new to the field to seasoned career clinicians. By harnessing leading advancements in a wide range of disciplines, exploring innovative approaches and developing empirically sound practices and knowledge based on research, CIR seeks to transform military-focused education.

CIR’s research provides the basis for the USC School of Social Work military curriculum that prepares future clinical and management professionals, along with guidance for doctoral students and post-docs who will become the next generation of social scientists advancing this field.

CIR also seeks to train others in the position to impact the lives of veterans and their families, including companies, schools, government agencies, community leaders and the public. Through free educational resources that provide specialized training for those working with veterans and military communities, CIR affords access to expert evidence-based information and materials to reach those who can improve the lives of veterans and their families daily.

This full-spectrum approach addresses both the immediate need for much greater numbers of specialized behavioral health practitioners, as well as improving the ability of communities to transform the care for our veterans and their overall well-being.

COLLABORATING FOR A NEW FUTURE CIR recognizes the power of collective action and brings together expertise locally, nationally and globally. CIR seeks to shape and promote best practices and policies to inform national and international programs and action aimed at improving the health and well-being of all veterans and military families, regardless of nationality.

CIR leads the academic community in the U.S. and abroad through interdisciplinary research, working partnerships, special initiatives, educational conferences, post-graduate scholarship and immersion programs. It provided the leadership to establish the “grand challenges in military behavioral health” with top researchers from around the world. International partners, including NATO, Israel, Taiwan, Singapore, China, and South Korea, seek CIR’s expertise, which in turn enhances the center’s ability to address the experience of veterans everywhere.

Working with governmental organizations and policymakers, CIR is also encouraging policies that improve the daily lives of veterans and military families. Home to the largest concentration of veterans nationwide, Los Angeles offers a unique opportunity for CIR to pilot innovative programs that can inform services and policies and that can also be implemented in other communities. One example is the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative, a collective-impact network of more than 450 veteran-serving organizations and stakeholders in greater Los Angeles, administered by CIR, who come together, informed by CIR’s research, to address some of the most pressing issues facing L.A.’s veterans.

Using the collective power of scientific research, practice innovation, professional education, community collaboration and policy impact, the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families at the USC School of Social Work is uniquely positioned and extraordinarily able to provide leadership to create a new future of health and well-being for our service members, veterans and military families.

Gen. Martin Dempsey (retired)18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families

USC

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cir.usc.edu

1150 S. Olive St., 14th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90015