Veterans

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Written by: Editor

Published: 04 May 2015

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake VA Clinic has a new, full-time member services representative who is available to assist veterans with their veteran benefits.

The member services representative is available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

She can register new VA patients, make new Veterans Health ID Cards, complete co-pay tests and annual means tests, assist with travel benefits, and assist in resolving billing issues.

Call 707-995-7239 to schedule an appointment to meet with the member services representative.

The Clearlake VA Clinic is located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive and is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., serving enrolled veterans of Lake County.

The clinic offers a wide array of services from primary medical care, outpatient mental health, podiatry, women’s care and basic dermatology, to social work, nutritional counseling, marriage and family therapy, and much more.

For an appointment call 707-995-7200.

To learn more, please visit: www.sanfrancisco.va.gov/locations/clearlake.asp .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 18 April 2015

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is accepting applications from veterans interested in participating in the 2015 National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic.

The 2015 National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic will be held Sept. 13-18 at the VA San Diego Healthcare System in San Diego.

The annual event is expected to attract veterans from all over the country who have sustained a variety of injuries ranging from traumatic brain injury and polytrauma, to spinal cord injury or loss of limb.

“I encourage every Veteran who may be eligible to take advantage of this opportunity,” said VA Secretary Robert McDonald. “There is rehabilitative power in leading an active lifestyle and learning new skills and activities.” 

The National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic represents VA’s continued commitment to offer adaptive sports and recreation therapy as an integral part of a successful rehabilitation program.

The deadline to apply for the 2015 National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic is May 1.

For more information or for an application, visit www.summersportsclinic.va.gov .

The 2015 National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic is sponsored by VA, the Veterans Canteen Service and other community organizations.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 17 April 2015

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the award of 20 contracts for the Assisted Living Pilot Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (AL-TBI).

Originally slated to end in 2014, the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (“VACAA”) extended this program through October 2017.

“We are pleased to extend this valuable program and provide specialized assisted living services to eligible veterans with traumatic brain injury that will enhance their rehabilitation, quality of life and community integration,” said Dr. Carolyn Clancy, VA’s Interim Under Secretary for Health, “TBI is one of the prevalent wounds of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and VA remains committed to taking care of those veterans suffering from TBI.”

Under the AL-TBI program, veterans meeting the eligibility criteria are placed in private sector TBI residential care facilities specializing in neurobehavioral rehabilitation.

The program offers team-based care and assistance in areas such as speech, memory and mobility.

Approximately 202 veterans participated in the AL-TBI Pilot Program in 47 facilities located in 22 states.

Currently, 101 veterans participate in the pilot as VA continues to accept new eligible patients into the program.

In October, VA issued a request for proposal (RFP) for vendors wishing to participate in the program.

In accordance with the RFP, VA has awarded 20 contracts to facilities located in 27 states.

The contracts went into effect on April 1, 2015. The program is currently effective through October 2017, in accordance with VACAA.

For more information about the TBI program, visit www.polytrauma.va.gov .

For information about VA’s work to implement the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, see http://www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/documents/FactSheets/Progress-Report-March-2015-Fact-Sheet.pdf .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 31 March 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – The federal initiative to provide timely decisions on disability payments to veterans has crossed a major milestone in its final sprint to eliminate the backlog of veterans’ benefits claims.

The major transformation effort to apply new technology and process solutions has paid off at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

It reduced its inventory of backlogged claims from a high of 611,000 claims in March of 2013 to fewer than 200,000 this week, while at the same time improving decision quality.

“Make no mistake, we’re not slowing down short of the finish line,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey. “Our goal is to eliminate the claims backlog by the end of 2015 – meaning all veterans will receive timely and accurate decisions on their disability claims.”

Hickey credited a combination of factors for the 67-percent drop in backlog: first, the extra hours of work put in by dedicated benefits claims processors across the nation, who have worked evenings, Saturdays and Sundays to drive the backlog down; as well as procedural efficiencies backed by powerful automation tools and paperless claims processing.

In addition, she cited the transformation of Veterans Benefits Administration’s training and quality assurance programs resulting in steady increases in the accuracy of decisions.

Just a few years ago, claims processors handled 5,000 tons of paper annually, an amount equivalent to 200 Empire State Buildings.

In less than two years, VA converted claims processing to a 21st century digital environment where claims for VA benefits and services can be submitted and processed, and benefits delivered, online.

Veterans increasingly are filing claims electronically from the start at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov .

Veterans can submit their applications online, upload their supporting documentation, and check the status of their claim through a multi-channel Web portal boasting nearly 60 self-service features.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 28 March 2015

IGO, Calif. – On Tuesday, the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) leadership met with the Northern California Veterans Cemetery (NCVC) Monuments and Memorials Advisory Committee (MMAC) and community members.

During this meeting, CalVet officials announced existing monuments and memorials at the cemetery will remain in place.

Additionally, CalVet will be reappointing the MMAC committee members.
 
“Reappointing members to the Monuments and Memorials Advisory Committee is an important first step in ensuring the community is effectively represented and provided the opportunity to voice their ideas and concerns,” said CalVet’s Deputy Secretary, Veterans Services Keith Boylan. “The community’s input is integral to the development and growth of the cemetery moving forward, and we are accepting applications from past members as well as new members for the committee.”
 
CalVet is preparing regulations to standardize the monuments and memorials approval process at all state Veteran cemeteries. The regulations will be based on National Cemetery Administration Shrine Standards and will be publicly discussed through the California Rulemaking Process.
 
For more information about the NCVC, including how to apply for MMAC membership, please visit www.calvet.ca.gov/VetServices/Pages/Monuments-and-Memorials-Advisory-Committees.aspx .

MMAC applications will be accepted at through April 30, 2015.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 24 March 2015

SACRAMENTO – On Sunday, March 29, at 1 p.m., the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Honor Committee, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 500 Sacramento Valley host the unveiling of 31 new names engraved on the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Capitol Park.

“CalVet is privileged to honor our Vietnam veterans who died in service to our country,” said CalVet Acting Secretary Debbie Endsley. “Sunday’s poignant ceremony provides our state an opportunity to display our everlasting gratitude.”

Among the 31 additional names are 10 California Veterans already engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the District of Columbia.

The remaining 21 names are California veterans who died aboard the USS Frank E. Evans when the destroyer sank in the South China Sea on June 3, 1969.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Honor Committee was created when Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill 287 into law on September 6, 2013.

The committee is tasked with compiling a list of names of Vietnam Veterans from California to be added to the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The committee also must include the names of California Veterans who later died as a result of illness or injuries, including physical or mental injuries documented by the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or licensed medical professionals, that can reasonably be assumed to have resulted from military service in the Vietnam War.

Under the provisions of the law, written by Assemblymember Jim Frazier Jr., the committee must compile a list of names to be added to the memorial by November 1 of each year. The unveiling occurs March 29, the day before “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” events scheduled for March 30.

For more information, including each veteran’s name and home town, please visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Honor Committee web page at www.calvet.ca.gov/Vietnam .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 21 March 2015

The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001 – a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans – declined by 1.8 percentage points over the year to 7.2 percent in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week.

The jobless rate for all veterans, at 5.3 percent, also declined from a year earlier.

In addition, 29 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported having a service-connected disability in August 2014, compared with 16 percent of all veterans.

In 2014, there were 3.2 million veterans who had served during Gulf War era II.

Twenty percent of these veterans were women, compared with 4 percent of veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era. Nearly half of all Gulf War-era II veterans were between the ages of 25 and 34.

This information was obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that provides data on employment and unemployment in the United States.

Data about veterans are collected monthly in the CPS; those monthly data are the source of the 2014 annual averages presented in this news release.

In August 2014, a supplement to the CPS collected additional information about veterans on topics such as service-connected disability and veterans' current or past Reserve or National Guard membership.

Highlights from the 2014 data:

– The unemployment rate for male veterans declined to 5.2 percent in 2014. The rate for female veterans edged down to 6.0 percent.

– Among the 573,000 unemployed veterans in 2014, 59 percent were age 45 and over. Thirty-seven percent were age 25 to 44, and 4 percent were age 18 to 24.

– Veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent in August 2014, the same rate as for veterans with no disability.

– Nearly 1 in 3 employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector in August 2014, compared with nearly 1 in 5 veterans with no disability.

– In 2014, the unemployment rate of veterans varied by state, ranging from 1.4 percent in North Dakota to 8.5 percent in Maryland.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 02 March 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) announced that the U.S. Department of Defense has issued a rule to implement Thompson’s legislative provision requiring every American flag purchased by the Department of Defense (DOD) to be 100 percent manufactured in the United States, from articles, materials, or supplies that are 100 percent of grown, produced or manufactured in the United States.

Thompson’s provision passed last Congress as part of H.R. 3547, the Fiscal Year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill, and was signed into law by the president in January 2014.

“This Pentagon rule implements my legislation to make sure every American flag DOD buys is made in America, by American workers with American products,” said Thompson. “As a veteran myself, I am proud that because of this legislation, our brave men and women in uniform will never again have to serve under a non-American made US flag.”

Thompson’s provision, which the DOD rule codifies, applied the Berry Amendment to the American Flag.

The Berry Amendment, originally passed in 1941, prohibits DOD funds from being used to acquire food, clothing, military uniforms, fabrics, stainless steel, and hand or measuring tools that are not grown or produced in the United States, except in rare exceptions.

Thompson’s provision applied the same rules for the DOD’s acquisition of American flags, which previously were not listed as a covered item.

Precedent already exists for such a provision. Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs is required to only purchase U.S.-made American flags for servicemembers’ funerals.

Thompson’s provision passed as part of H.R. 3547, the Fiscal Year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill. The DOD has now codified Thompson’s provision in its new rule issued Monday.

Thompson is proud to represent California’s fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.