![]() Other local leaders we spoke to say they are in favor of a prompt, mutual agreement between Legacy and the VA. He says in the past week, his team has been sharing their situation with other San Luis Obispo County veteran services agencies. At this point, I would hope that Greater Los Angeles would approve the pending referrals for those veterans to be able to return," Farmer added. "We really want to be a partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to give this care. "When these veterans are ready to receive the help, we as a community, and that includes the VA, needs to be prepared to accept these veterans."įarmer says the veterans displaced from Legacy Village are still awaiting VA authorization so they can return to the recovery center and finish their treatment programs. "What Legacy Village has been doing has been bringing these veterans in on a scholarship to get them treated right away, because time to care is so important for veterans or for anybody with a substance abuse disorder," said Morgan Boyd, San Luis Obispo County Veterans Services Officer. Other veterans services officials underscored the importance of providing timely treatment for those who have served. He says the treatment and housing Legacy Village provides prior to a veteran's authorization has always been free, with no additional reimbursement requested from the VA. We don’t believe we are doing anything incorrect there," Farmer told KSBY. "The Greater Los Angeles VA has seemed to take issue with us treating those veterans for free, for those days in between when they get a referral and when authorization is issued. Farmer claims this is the first time it has been an issue. Last Friday, the Los Angeles VA threatened to pull its contract with Legacy Village if they didn't discharge the unauthorized veterans who were staying at the center. "We began to hear that veterans who wanted addiction treatment would have to go to West Los Angeles, and it has resulted in dozens of veterans locally who have been denied access to care for addiction treatment." "Around February of 2023, we began to see denials of veterans who wanted care in the community," said Dennis Farmer, CEO of Legacy Village. ![]() ![]() In recent months, however, they say the VA has started cracking down on their services. That is why for the past four years, Legacy Village has made it a priority to immediately take in and treat veterans who are referred to their center while they await authorization from Veterans Affairs. Local veteran services professionals say there is a very small window of time in which crucial services for substance abuse, mental disorders, or PTSD can be provided to veterans in crisis before they are at heightened risk of death by suicide or overdose. It's been nearly a week since the Legacy Village recovery center in Nipomo was told by the Greater Los Angeles VA that it had to discharge nearly all of its veteran clients.
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