Updated April 9
As anxiety swirls around a looming cut to federal funding for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services’ veterans counseling program, the Island’s congressional representative and Massachusetts’ top elected official are lambasting the decision made under the Trump administration’s Department of Veteran Affairs.
Congressman Bill Keating, who represents Martha’s Vineyard in Washington, said that he’s pushing back against the federal cuts, noting the Island nonprofit has provided critical mental health services.
“The VA is claiming to cut contracts like MVCS’s because they are duplicative, but there is nothing duplicative about services provided to Island veterans when there is no VA outpost on the Vineyard,” Keating told the Times. “Shame on this administration for cutting essential services to American heroes under the guise of efficiency.”
Last month, the VA decided it would not be renewing an $80,000 contract with Martha’s Vineyard Community Services once it expires on June 30. The funding, since the program’s founding in the 1980s, has gone to Community Services’ Readjustment Counseling for War Veterans group, which is currently helping about 30 veterans deal with severe symptoms of PTSD through counseling. The cut was a part of the VA’s efforts, announced last month, to terminate more than 500 contracts deemed “non-mission-critical or duplicative,” and is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to find savings in federal spending. The department stated over $900 million from canceled contracts would be redirected to “healthcare, benefits, and services for VA beneficiaries.”
Keating said he has reached out to the VA to demand answers, and that he “won’t stop until I am sure every veteran is getting the services they need and deserve.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren attempted to reinstate the funding through an amendment to a tax break and spending cut bill advanced by Senate Republicans, but her proposal never made it to the Senate floor.
Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey has also pushed back against the spending, as has the state’s highest elected official, Gov. Maura Healey.
“President Trump is abandoning our veterans. Mental health care for veterans on Martha’s Vineyard isn’t just a budget line — it’s a lifeline taken away from those who have served,” Healey said.
A VA representative has not responded to a request for comment on its decision.
While state legislators have a limited ability to sway the VA contract decision, they’re also speaking out against the funding cut.
State Rep. Thomas Moakley, who represents the Vineyard, said he is in contact with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell to “assess if this cut is legal,” and with the Executive Office of Veterans Services to see if there is any way the state can directly help the Vineyard.
“The VA’s decision to cut off this funding is government heartlessness, not government efficiency,” Moakley said. “Our veterans served this country, and we owe it to them to provide services like this.”
Representatives of Campbell’s office told The Times, “We are unable to comment.”
State Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents the Cape and Islands in Boston, urged organizations impacted by federal funding cuts to join litigation efforts against the Trump administration, but said there are limitations to what can be done at the state level to reinstate the funding — or even replenish the $80,000 with state funding.
“It’s shameful that those who have served our country, put country before self, are having vital programs ripped out from under them at the whims of an unelected billionaire implementing capricious, slash-and-burn policies,” Cyr said.
While the onus is on the president and Congress to reconsider, Cyr said that state legislators will continue to propose policies to support veterans and “do everything to fight” the current administration’s “wrong-headed policies and vengeful political agendas.”
Still, the contract termination won’t eliminate all veteran services on the Vineyard. Community Services offers different veteran programs in collaboration with other Island organizations, and veteran services are also provided by Dukes County.
Martina Thornton, Dukes County manager, said in an email the county’s veterans office offers various services, including arranging honor guards for funeral services, advice on how to access VA health services and file federal claims, and processing Chapter 115 benefits, a Massachusetts program designed to help veterans with financial hardships.
However, she said the office only has “part-time coverage” currently, since the county is searching for a new veterans services officer to replace Randy Dull, who left the position earlier this year.
“The veterans can still reach the DC VSO office, ideally by calling 508-693-6887 and leaving contact information and what they are looking for,” Thornton said. “Someone will call them back and will set up an appointment if needed. I would discourage people from just dropping in without an appointment.”
Martha’s Vineyard Community Services is working to preserve the counseling program, and discussions are underway among Islanders on how to support it. Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe Councilman Kevin Devine said he’s pushing the tribe to donate to the cause, and will be reaching out to state and congressional legislators.
Devine, who served in the U.S. Army for 28 years, said he was “furious” about the VA’s “ridiculous” decision. Devine said the contract nonrenewal also arose among the combat veterans attending Community Services’ program on Tuesday night — the same day The Times’ story was published.
“There are already guys who have anxieties over this,” he said.
Several Islanders have underscored the burden that would be placed on veterans, particularly older ones, if Community Services’ counseling group ended. Devine said that would mean a combat veteran would need to spend hours of their day getting to a veterans center on the mainland for perhaps just a half-hour appointment.
Devine said combat veterans experience “terrible things” while in active duty. He said the VA already doesn’t offer enough support to combat veterans to reintegrate them back into civilian life after they leave military service. That drives the importance of protecting programs serving veterans.
“They’re stabbing us in the back,” he said.
