For many veterans and military families, the hardest part of seeking mental health care isn’t admitting they need help—it’s figuring out where to go, how long it will take, and whether the care will actually fit their lives.
Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) was created to address exactly that problem. Nearly ten years later, it has quietly become one of the largest nonprofit providers of outpatient mental health care for the military community in the country—and is now expanding overseas.
To better understand what CVN is, how it works, and why it matters, Military.com sat down with Anthony Hassan, CEO of Cohen Veterans Network, and Air Force Gen. (ret) Joe Lengyel, Chairman of CVN’s Board of Directors, for an in-depth conversation about the organization’s mission, growth, and impact.
What follows is what every veteran, and every military family member, needs to know about CVN.
What Is Cohen Veterans Network?
Cohen Veterans Network is a national nonprofit network of outpatient mental health clinics designed specifically for veterans, service members, and their families.
Founded with a philanthropic commitment of $275M from Steve Cohen, CVN was built to fill persistent gaps in access to care, particularly long wait times, cost barriers, and the lack of providers who understand military life.
From the beginning, the mission was simple.
“If a military member, veteran, or family member raises their hand and asks for help,” Hassan said, “they should get it—without barriers.”
Today, CVN operates 22 clinics across the United States, with plans for continued growth based on need, not arbitrary targets.
Who Can Get Care at CVN Clinics?
One of the most important things to understand about Cohen Veterans Network is who it serves.
CVN provides care to:
- Veterans
- Active-duty service members
- Military spouses and partners
- Children and adolescents in military families
About half of CVN’s patients are veterans, while the other half are family members—an intentional focus that distinguishes CVN from many veteran-only models.
Women veterans represent a significant portion of CVN’s patient population, and Hassan noted that many report feeling particularly welcomed in CVN clinics. Children and adolescents account for roughly 20% of family-member care, reflecting growing mental health needs among military kids.
What Kind of Care Does CVN Provide?
CVN clinics deliver clinical, evidence-based mental health treatment, not peer support or non-clinical counseling.
Care is provided by licensed mental health professionals, including:
- Psychologists
- Licensed clinical social workers
- Licensed marriage and family therapists
- Licensed professional counselors
Treatment addresses conditions such as:
- PTSD
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Adjustment disorders
- Relationship and family challenges
CVN also provides couples therapy and is expanding child and adolescent services, including consideration of child psychiatry in some locations.
Many patients complete care within 8–12 sessions, often over the course of a few months—a model designed to help people feel better sooner, not stay in therapy indefinitely.
How Fast Can You Get an Appointment?
Speed matters, especially in mental health.
While wait times in some systems can stretch for months, CVN’s goal is to get patients into care within two weeks.
Gen. Lengyel, who spent decades in senior military leadership roles, said that delay can carry real risk.
“Waiting four or five months for mental health care is like telling someone who needs oxygen that they’ll get it later,” he said.
That emphasis on rapid access is one of the defining features of the CVN model.
How Much Does It Cost?
Another common concern: cost.
CVN bills private insurance when available, but inability to pay is never a barrier to care. If a patient is uninsured or cannot afford copays, CVN works to address the cost.
Importantly, CVN’s clinics, both in the U.S. and overseas, operate at no cost to the federal government. The organization is funded through private philanthropy and state-level partnerships, not DoD or VA budgets.
Why CVN Focuses on Families, Not Just Veterans
A defining element of Cohen Veterans Network is its belief that military readiness begins at home.
“Family readiness is military readiness,” Lengyel said. “If families aren’t healthy, readiness suffers.”
By treating spouses, partners, and children—not just the service member—CVN addresses challenges earlier, often before they escalate into crises that affect careers, assignments, or long-term well-being.
That upstream approach, Hassan said, helps prevent problems rather than reacting after damage is done.
What’s Changing: CVN Is Going Overseas
One of the most significant developments discussed with Military.com is CVN’s expansion onto U.S. military installations overseas, beginning in Japan and South Korea.
In cooperation with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), CVN is opening clinics on bases in the Indo-Pacific, the first civilian mental health organization to do so.
The focus overseas is primarily on:
- Military family members
- DoD civilians
- DoDEA educators
- Some veterans living abroad
Access to care overseas can be especially difficult due to language barriers, cultural differences, and limited local resources.
“This is uniquely personal care,” Lengyel said. “You need providers who understand the military experience.
Why Overseas Mental Health Care Matters for Readiness
Beyond individual well-being, CVN’s overseas expansion has broader implications for force readiness.
Hassan and Lengyel both emphasized that access to mental health care can determine whether families are able, or willing, to remain overseas.
“These services allow families to stay,” Hassan said. “They open doors for assignments that might otherwise not be possible.”
Military children overseas face the same pressures as their peers in the U.S., compounded by frequent moves, deployments, and cultural transitions. Without accessible care, families may feel forced to return stateside.
CVN’s presence helps stabilize families, and, by extension, the force.
Continuity of Care Across Assignments
Another advantage of the CVN network model is continuity.
A family receiving care overseas can transition seamlessly to a CVN clinic in the U.S. after a PCS move, without restarting the process from scratch.
“That continuity matters,” Hassan said. “It’s one less disruption during an already stressful transition.”
The Impact You’ll Never See
When asked how they measure success, both leaders pointed beyond metrics.
“You never know all the bad things that didn’t happen,” Lengyel said. “The crisis that was avoided because someone got help when they needed it.”
Hassan echoed that sentiment, noting that CVN often hears from patients who believe care came at a pivotal moment in their lives.
“When someone finally raises their hand,” he said, “this might be our only chance. We take that seriously.”
What’s Next for Cohen Veterans Network?
As CVN approaches its 10-year mark, both leaders see continued growth, but with a clear focus.
“We’ll still be doing one thing,” Lengyel said. “Rapid access to high-quality mental health care, just in more places.”
Hassan agreed.
“Who would have thought we’d be global?” he said. “Now the door is open. We’ll go wherever military communities need us.”
For veterans and families navigating an often-confusing mental health landscape, that may be the most important takeaway of all.
