FederalDaily - June 18, 2007
VA to Hire Suicide Prevention Counselors
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said it plans to hire suicide prevention counselors at each
of its 153 medical centers as it prepares for a July special forum to review all VA mental health care
programs—especially those for returning combat veterans. The new counselors will join the 9,000
VA mental health professionals that are part of the agency’s $3 billion mental health services
effort, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said on June 14. About 1 million VA patients have a mental health
diagnosis. “VA health care professionals are committed to provide timely, compassionate intervention,
which might help prevent this needless suffering,” Nicholson said. The four-day forum in Washington,
D.C., will bring together mental health clinicians and researchers from across the country in an effort
to improve the VA delivery of mental health care, Nicholson said. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1347
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GSA Announces Two New Regional Administrators
The General Services Administration (GSA) on June 14 named new regional administrators for the GSA
National Capital Region and the agency’s Rocky Mountain Region, said GSA Administrator Lurita
Doan. Tony Reed, a former assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of General Services, will
oversee the GSA Capital Region, which has an inventory of over 880 government-owned and leased facilities
that house nearly 300,000 federal workers. Reed holds a bachelors degree in criminal justice from John
Jay College of Criminal Justice and a masters of public administration degree from New York University.
Leslie L. Plomondon, a former director of Asia, Africa & the Middle East for the Colorado Office
of Economic Development & International Trade, will head the Rocky Mountain Region—which
includes Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota. Plomondon holds a bachelors
degree in sociology from Rutgers and a masters degree in International Management from the American
Graduate School of International Management. To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/home.do?tabId=0
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NFFE Suggests Postponing Mandatory Passport Deadline
The head of the union representing federal Passport Agency workers said on June 13 that because of
the huge backlog of passport applications, the Department of Homeland Security should push back its
Jan. 1, 2008, mandatory passport deadline. The application crush is being caused by new regulations
that require U.S. citizens who travel by land or air to a foreign country to have a valid U.S. passport
by the deadline, said Colin Walle, president of National Federation of Federal Employees Local 1998
(a nationwide local representing all bargaining unit passport workers). Staffing shortages are contributing
to the backlog, Walle said, noting that the State Department did not hire the needed personnel to complete
the work despite knowing what the increased demands on the agency would be as early as 2005. Despite
assurances made to the union two years ago, the department has hired just 185 new passport workers
of the 468 they promised to add, Walle said. The State Department on June 8 granted a waiver of a related
rule that had required passports for U.S. citizens flying from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
Under that waiver, which is effective through Sept. 30, travelers can fly to those countries and re-enter
the U.S. without a passport if they carry proof that they have applied for one. To see more, go to: www.nffe.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/4387.
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