Sean McGloin in U.S. Army dress uniform, standing in front of an American flag and Army campaign streamers.
Sean P. McGloin, U.S. Army
December 16, 1998 – May 22, 2022

In memory of SPC Sean P. McGloin

Sean’s Seat

The SPC Sean P. McGloin Memorial Veterans Scholarship

One seat in Karuna’s 10-week intensive outpatient program is always held for a veteran who needs mental health care and has no other way to pay for it. When one veteran finishes, the next one takes the seat.

If you need help right now

Sean’s Seat is not a crisis service. If you are a veteran in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255, or chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net. You do not need VA benefits to use it.

In an emergency, call 911.

About Sean

Sean McGloin was a close friend of Karuna’s CEO, Harrison Spielman.

Sean served in the U.S. Army as a Signal Support Systems Specialist, with assignments in South Korea and at Fort Riley, Kansas, and was honorably discharged as a Specialist in 2020. He graduated from high school in Windham, Maine, and later made his home in Dalton, Georgia. He was a devoted Chiefs fan, loved hockey and baseball, and enjoyed gaming with his friends on World of Warcraft or Call of Duty. After the Army, Sean worked for a treatment center, helping people in need get the substance use and mental health treatment they needed most.

Sean died by suicide on May 22, 2022. He was 23.

With the blessing of his parents, Richard and Melody McGloin, Karuna started Sean’s Seat so that his name keeps bringing care to veterans who need it.

From Sean’s parents

“Sean’s childhood nickname was Buzz Lightyear, and it fit him perfectly. Being in the Army as a communications specialist was just him taking the next step — he lived above and beyond in everything he did. But somewhere along the way, the darkness took over, and we believe services like this seat can meet that darkness before it wins — helping others be at their very best. This seat carries his memory to infinity and beyond. We honor Sean in many ways — through music, and by cheering on the Chiefs every single game. Thank you, Harrison, for making sure Sean’s name keeps helping people who need it most.”

Richard and Melody McGloin

What Sean’s Seat is

One enrollment in Karuna’s full 10-week Intensive Outpatient Program, held for a veteran at no cost to them. Karuna funds it entirely as charity care. One veteran holds the seat at a time, and as each one finishes, the seat passes to the next, so there is always someone getting care in Sean’s name.

Sean’s Seat is the payer of last resort. If VA Community Care, TRICARE, Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurance will cover the program, we help the veteran use that coverage instead — which keeps the seat open for someone who has no other option.

The seat covers

  • The free pre-assessment
  • All 10 weeks of IOP group therapy — 3 days a week, 9 group hours
  • One hour of individual counseling each week during the program
  • Treatment planning, and discharge and aftercare planning
  • Attendance in person in Westchase or by telehealth, mornings or evenings

The seat does not cover

  • Medication and psychiatric prescribing
  • Transportation
  • Step-down outpatient therapy after the program
  • Services from other providers

Who Sean’s Seat is for

To be considered, a veteran needs to:

  • Have served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard, including the National Guard and Reserve, with proof of service — a DD-214, NGB-22, Veteran Health Identification Card, or equivalent
  • Be 18 or older
  • Be clinically appropriate for an intensive outpatient program, confirmed through Karuna’s free pre-assessment
  • Be physically located in Florida while attending, whether in person or by telehealth
  • Have financial need — no coverage that will pay for the program, or coverage that was denied or leaves costs they cannot afford

Discharge status does not matter here

Sean’s Seat is open to every veteran regardless of discharge status. Veterans with other-than-honorable discharges often have the least access to VA care and are among those most likely to fall through the cracks.

A diagnosis, past treatment that didn’t work, and who referred someone — or whether anyone did — are never grounds for denial. If a veteran needs a higher level of care than an intensive outpatient program, we connect them to that care instead.

How it works

  1. Call (813) 210-7300

    The veteran, a family member, or a professional can start the conversation. There is nothing to fill out first.

  2. Phone screening

    Our admissions team walks through everything on that call — service history, what coverage you have, and what you can realistically afford. It takes about fifteen minutes. There is no paper application and nothing to mail in. We will ask you to send a copy of your DD-214, NGB-22, or Veteran Health Identification Card so we can confirm your service.

  3. Benefits check

    Admissions checks VA Community Care, TRICARE, Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance. If a plan will pay, we help you use it and the seat stays open for someone else.

  4. Free assessment

    We schedule an assessment, same day when we can, to confirm whether an intensive outpatient program is the right level of care.

  5. Decision

    Karuna’s CEO confirms financial need from the screening, and the Chief Clinical Officer confirms clinical fit from the assessment. There is no set income cutoff — every situation is considered as a whole.

  6. The seat

    If the seat is open, you start at the next available group. If it is filled, you join the waitlist in the order your screening was completed, and we check in weekly and help you use other support while you wait.

What we will never ask of you

What you tell us on the screening call, along with your assessment and treatment records, is protected health information and is handled like any other Karuna clinical record. Only the staff involved in admissions, care, or the decision see it.

Sean’s family is not part of the decision and never sees anything about you — not your name, not your situation, not that you applied.

No one who holds Sean’s Seat is required to share their story, appear in anything we publish, or give a testimonial. A veteran who leaves the program early owes nothing, and may reach out again later.

For people who work with veterans

If you work at a VA facility or Vet Center, a county veterans service office, a veterans service organization, a treatment court, a legal aid program, or a clinical practice in Tampa Bay, and you know a veteran who could use this seat — please call us at (813) 210-7300.

Karuna never pays, and never gives anything of value, to anyone for referring a veteran. Referral source is recorded for our own tracking only. It is never shared with the people who make the decision, and it plays no part in it.

Refer a veteran for Sean’s Seat

Veterans, family members, and professionals can all reach out. We will set up a free assessment and walk through it from there.

Call (813) 210-7300 Email us

Karuna Behavioral Health · 10840 Sheldon Rd, Suite B, Tampa, FL 33626
Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255. Free, confidential, 24/7.

Karuna Behavioral Health funds Sean’s Seat in full and does not accept donations or outside funding for it. If you would like to honor Sean, his family has supported the Maine DeMolay Association.