Hartford - Major changes to the aging Connecticut Veterans Home in Rocky Hill are recommended in a legislative investigative report released Friday, including more privacy and counseling services for the veterans who live there.

The General Assembly's Program Review and Investigations Committee staff said living arrangements in the main residential facility, where about 190 veterans live mostly in a dormitory setting, are unacceptable, based on best practices for transitional or permanent housing. The report recommends giving each resident a semi-private or private room.

"We should be embarrassed," said Rep. Christie Carpino, R-Cromwell, a committee member who said he received complaints from some of the residents who live on the 90-acre Rocky Hill campus, the first state veterans' home in the country. "For those of you who haven't been up there, you'd be embarrassed by the accommodations and the lack of services."

The legislative committee is expected to vote early next year to forward the report to other committees for consideration in the new session, which begins Jan. 7.

Last month, about 80 people, including veterans who rely on the home's residential housing and a nursing facility, turned out for a field hearing organized by the committee. While some called the home a life-saver, saying they'd otherwise be homeless, others complained about the conditions and said they felt disrespected by staff. The committee's investigation comes as a task force led by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman is reviewing services for veterans offered at the Rocky Hill campus and elsewhere.

There is a push to eliminate homelessness among veterans. Advocates say there are more than 500 homeless veterans in the state.

The report released Friday found there are two distinct populations at the Connecticut Veterans Home - long- and short-term residents. Staff recommended the state Department of Veterans Affairs create two distinct programs that provide both transitional housing and permanent supportive housing services in order to better address the needs of the two populations. The report also recommended the agency assess what resources it might need to better accommodate veterans, including those with mental health issues and suicidal tendencies.

Committee analysts said there is a need for additional staff, determining there is one social worker for every 96 residents. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a standard of one social worker for every 25 veterans for its supportive housing programs. In a survey of residents, only 10 percent said they were satisfied with the help they've received in finding employment or housing.

The report also stressed that the home has been hurt by a lack of oversight.

The home's board of trustees, for example, has not been fully active until recently. For a long period of time, the board did not meet. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has not yet named a permanent replacement for Linda Schwartz, the state's longtime veterans' affairs commissioner who was first appointed by former Gov. John G. Rowland. Schwartz was recently named to a position with the federal VA.

A bright spot in the report was the satisfaction rate among veterans with the home's separate long-term health care facility, which performed well on recent federal and state inspections. However, the analysts voiced concern about recent cuts in staffing levels and an uptick this year in the rate of resident falls, wounds and medication errors.