OCEANSIDE -- There was a glaring element missing in action at a Tuesday forum on how to better serve the mental health needs of active and former members of the military and their families -- the intended targets.

The forum sponsored by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency was one of a series agency officials are conducting to determine how best to spend the $16 million they expect to receive from the state next year for new mental health efforts.

County officials maintained that they had notified area military bases and groups about the forum. They couldn't explain why none of the people they are aiming to serve were present at the four-hour session at the Oceanside Civic Center.

"This is an opportunity to focus specific resources for this (military) population," Alfredo Aguirre, director of the county's adult and children's mental health department, said during opening remarks.

The more than three dozen people in attendance were primarily mental health counselors and specialists, as well as veteran's advocates and people who work for agencies dealing directly with current and former service members.

The absence of military families was discussed by one of three groups that ended the day by brainstorming ways to better serve that large component of the county population. When reporting its conclusions, the group said spending some of the money to reach out to service members and their families should be considered.

Phillip Hanger, the county assistant deputy director of adult and child mental health services, said if the county conducts a second idea-generating session in North County, it should aggressively seek military family participation.

The forum is part of an effort to determine how to divvy up the new intervention money the agency getting from the 2004 passage of Proposition 63, which levies a 1 percent tax on millionaires' annual incomes for new mental health programs.

The money has to be spent on new programs, with at least 51 percent going for programs that target people 25 years old and younger.

When the county reports to the state in June how it intends to spend it share of the Prop. 63 money, military community beneficiaries could include:

- those at risk of suicide

- substance abusers

- homeless veterans

- female service members

- troops booted out of the military on bad conduct discharges, rendering them ineligible for benefits

- gay and lesbian service members.

County officials stressed that they are not seeking to duplicate existing private, military and nonprofit mental health services. Instead, their quest is to find ways to reach populations not being served now.

Faced with a growing number of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and suicides among service members with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, the forum concluded that the troops and their families are suffering a wide array of emotional issues tied to the conflicts.

San Diego County has the second largest veteran population in the nation, with approximately 252,000 former service members as well as roughly 125,000 active-duty Marines, sailors and National Guard troops, according to Tom Splitberger, the county's veterans service officer.

Among that population, according to Karen Schoenfeld-Smith of the San Diego office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, are potentially hundreds of troops and their family members suffering a variety of mental health issues that are not being addressed by the wide array of programs already in existence.

Perceived stigmas and peer pressure for troops who seek mental health counseling remains a roadblock for many, she said.

"People have the concern of who's going to know about this and how is it going to affect my career," she said.

Schoenfeld-Smith also suggested that children of active-duty troops who might be suffering emotional traumas are reluctant to seek help because of the effect it might have on their parents' military careers.

She also noted that the rising number of traumatic brain injuries suffered by troops exposed to repeated explosions is increasingly being linked to cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Figures recently obtained by the North County Times from the Marine Corps show the number of traumatic brain injury cases in that service's ranks swelled from 189 in 2004 to 343 the next year and 655 in 2006. The number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases grew from 596 in 2004 to 1,869 in 2007, the Marine Corps said.

"Everyone one comes back from that experience changed," Schoenfeld-Smith said of serving in a war zone.

Two counselors who now work with active-duty troops and veterans, Steve Ryan of Carlsbad and Robert Bornt of Oceanside, said they do not believe the military is doing all it can to provide adequate mental health services to the troops and their families.

Each said the county intervention effort can provide the resources needed to reach those in need.

A county forum on the mental health needs of Native Americans takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Radisson Suite Hotel, 11520 W. Bernardo Court in Rancho Bernardo. A session on people who have multiple mental health issues is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the North Coastal Regional Center, 1701 Mission Ave., Oceanside.

For more information on both workshops, contact Debra Fitzgerald at (619) 563-2753 or debra.fitzgerald@sdcounty.ca.gov.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.