By Carleen Johnson | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The murder of three young girls in Chelan County last week is shining a spotlight on veterans’ mental health issues.

Veterans’ advocates in central Washington say veterans are being failed due to a lack of resources.

The horrific murders of 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker, and 5-year-old Olivia Decker have devastated the local community as a whole, as well as the community of advocates for veterans’ mental health care.

The children’s father, Travis Decker, an Army veteran, is charged in their murders after taking them on May 30 for what was supposed to be a short visitation.

The children were found dead near a campsite outside Leavenworth on June 2. An autopsy revealed they were suffocated with plastic bags over their heads.

Rob Bates, owner of Bates Counseling Services in Quincy and himself a military veteran, told The Center Square that Travis Decker came into his offices last month seeking services, but he did not meet with him personally.

Bates could not say if Decker had scheduled an appointment or what services he had come seeking, as that is privately protected information.

“I heard that he’d been in our office, and then I remembered I actually saw him walking out the door as I was coming out from dealing with being in session with a veteran on my own,” Bates said. “You know, he was 10 feet away and, and I don’t know why he was in the office because we have confidentiality between each other, but dear God, obviously we didn’t have whatever he needed, and he came to look for help and we just didn’t have it.”

He noted that veterans comprise a higher percentage of the population in rural communities than in urban areas. They may also face greater challenges in accessing mental health services that can range from PTSD to depression, to anger and anxiety to substance abuse.

“We look at the funding in King County itself. King County has bonds and levies and taxes, and then they have nonprofits, and then they have VA facilities, and they have a vet center, and they have all these services,” Bates continued. “But we actually have a higher concentration in our rural low-income demographic that are spread out over six counties in the area, and we have almost 25,000 veterans here.”

Heather Hill, a licensed psychotherapist, owns Central Washington Veterans Counseling and supports veterans with therapeutic services or readjustment counseling.

“For the last six months, we haven’t been able to bring anybody new into services,” said Hill, who, like Bates, told The Center Square the need is outpacing resources.

“The Yakima Vet Center currently is sending a therapist out here biweekly for in-person visits to be complemented by telehealth on the off weeks if they need more than biweekly appointments,” Hill said. “But, that structure falls down come winter time because the therapist no longer commutes due to road conditions, and so what that did this last year is for my veterans who are older or less technologically savvy or live rural enough to where it’s not feasible for them to have good internet connection, their services are just put on hold for the winter months.”

Hill said telehealth services are not a good fit for many veteran clients.

“There are numerous studies that show that telehealth, mental health therapy is not the best practice for combat veterans or people with complex PTSD or severe PTSD. Because of the propensity of people to disassociate, and it’s very difficult to get them grounded and back and present in the moment on a computer as opposed to being in person,” she explained. “When you’re in person you have that whole benefit of co-regulation where you can physically tap somebody and touch them to draw them back.”

Hill said that if her practice does not receive a federal contract extension by June 30, services will have to be scaled back considerably.

“We will be discharging about 100 veterans back into the community with no real alternative resources besides that biweekly one individual coming from Yakima, which they cannot take on that caseload, practically, as it’s not realistic,” she said. “Confluence Health, which is our major medical provider here in town, is scheduling out to December.”

Bates said he’s been losing sleep ever since the murder of the Decker girls, wondering if things would have turned out differently had he had gotten a chance to meet Decker in person.

“Knowing that he was 10 feet away, and you’re like, God, I could … maybe I could have said something for that guy, right?” Bates asked, choking back tears. “Just maybe, I could have had a chance to say, ‘Come back, let’s talk.’ I can’t control an outcome, but as long as I tried, as long as I tried to engage, I’m OK with that. But this one is really hard.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the search for Decker had been narrowed down to an area off Highway 97 near Ingalls Creek and Valley High in Chelan County.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said it has received more than 500 tips from the public. Local officials handed search operations over to federal authorities Sunday night, explaining that regional law enforcement personnel were exhausted and needed rest.