Veterans
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WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced that HUD will provide $46.2 million to public housing agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to supply permanent housing and case management for 6,790 homeless veterans in America.
This is the first of two rounds of the 2011 HUD-VASH funding. HUD expects to announce the remaining funding by the end of this summer.
This funding, from HUD's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program, is a coordinated effort by HUD, VA, and local housing agencies to provide permanent housing for homeless veterans.
California received approximately 1,125 vouchers totaled at $10,539,828.
The city of Santa Rosa in cooperation with the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Santa Rosa community-based outpatient clinics received $206,565 and 25 vouchers, with the Humboldt County Housing Authority in cooperation with the San Francisco VAMC and Eureka community-based outpatient clinics received 25 vouchers valued at $142,572.
Other awards went to San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, and several Southern California cities and counties.
Read a complete local breakdown of the rental vouchers here: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=HUD-VASH2011Chart.pdf.
“Over the past three years, HUD helped thousands of homeless veterans find a permanent place to call home while VA provided medical treatment, case management and other services to address their specific needs,” said HUD Secretary Donovan. “We have no greater mission than to prevent
and end homelessness, especially for those brave men and women who risked their lives to protect our nation.”
“This initiative will strengthen our ongoing efforts to eliminate veteran homelessness by 2015 and improve quality of life for veterans,” said VA Secretary Shinseki. “Working with our partners at HUD and in Congress, we continue to make good progress to reduce veteran homelessness though much work remains. VA is committed to providing veterans and their families with access to affordable housing and medical services that will help them get back on their feet.”
“This is a great step forward in our effort to get veterans off the streets and into permanent housing," said Senator Murray, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
“Growing up during the Vietnam War, I saw a generation of soldiers left behind because they weren't given the support they needed during their transition home, and I have worked to ensure that veterans today don't face a similar fate,” Murray said. “These vouchers will provide critical support to thousands of veterans whose needs went unmet for too long, so that they will finally get the services they need and a permanent place to call home. HUD-VASH vouchers are a key reason why we are making real progress toward goals to finally end veterans homelessness.”
This funding to local housing agencies is part of the Obama Administration's commitment to end veteran and long-term chronic homelessness by 2015. Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, http://www.usich.gov/PDF/FactSheetVeterans.pdf, serves as a roadmap for how the federal government will work with state and local agreements to confront the root causes of homelessness, especially among former servicemen and women.
The grants announced today are part of $50 million appropriated for fiscal year 2011 to support the housing needs of 6,900 homeless veterans.
VA Medical Centers (VAMC) provide supportive services and case management to eligible homeless veterans.
Homeless veterans are referred to the public housing agencies for these vouchers, based upon a variety of factors, most importantly the need for and willingness to participate in case management.
The HUD-VASH program includes both the rental assistance the voucher provides and the comprehensive case management that VAMC staff provides.
Veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.
VA offers eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico.
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"We are taking a proactive approach to enhancing VA health care for women veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We are seeking the input of women veterans so that VA can continue to provide high quality health care to the growing numbers of women veterans."
Representatives at VA's Health Resource Center (HRC) are placing calls to women veterans nationwide, asking them to share their experiences with VA and suggest potential enhancements that will further VA's mission to provide the best care anywhere.
Women veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the veteran population.
Of the 22.7 million living veterans, more than 1.8 million are women. They comprise nearly 8 percent of the total veteran population and 6 percent of all veterans who use VA health care services.
VA estimates by 2020 women veterans will constitute 10 percent of the veteran population and 9.5 percent of VA patients. The HRC, which started placing calls on June 1, is contacting women veterans who have enrolled, but have not begun using VA services.
"Through this contact center, we are placing friendly, conversational calls to women veterans," said Patricia Hayes, chief consultant of the VA's Women Veterans Health Strategic Health Care Group. "We want these veterans and their caregivers to talk candidly about why they are not using VA, whether they are aware of the gender-specific services we offer, and what additional services they would like to see VA offer."
The HRC representatives making the calls are also informing women veterans about the services VA offers and quickly connecting them with appropriate departments if they are interested in trying VA health care. Veterans who have complaints about VA are connected to a patient advocate who helps resolve issues.
VA has trained professionals in all aspects of women's health, including general primary care, osteoporosis management, heart disease, mental health care, menopausal services and obesity-related issues, such as diabetes. Preventive screenings for breast and cervical cancer are also areas in which VA excels.
Soon, all VA facilities will offer comprehensive primary care for women from a single provider.
The Women Veterans Health Care program has made significant changes in the last few years to enhance the health care offered to eligible women Veterans.
This progress includes: adopting key policies to improve access and enhance services for women veterans; implementing comprehensive primary care for women veterans; conducting cutting-edge research on the effects of military service on women's lives; improving communication and outreach to women veterans; and providing mental health, homelessness and other services designed to meet the unique needs of women veterans.
For more information about VA programs and services for women veterans, please visit www.va.gov/womenvet and www.publichealth.va.gov/womenshealth.
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"At VA, we are committed to delivering the best care possible to veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "VA's research program plays an invaluable role by continually evaluating
available approaches to determine their benefits and risks in different populations."
In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the prevalence of obesity, which is a challenge to treat. Bariatric surgery is the most effective way for severely obese patients to achieve weight loss.
The bariatric surgery study compared mortality rates for 850 obese veterans who had received the procedure at one of 12 VA bariatric surgery centers between 2000 and 2006.
These veterans were considered to be "high-risk" due to older age and greater weight in comparison to
more than 41,000 obese veterans who had not received bariatric surgery, but had used VA outpatient services.
The study also compared mortality rates for 847 obese veterans who had received bariatric surgery and 847 matched obese veterans who had not received bariatric surgery. Patients were followed for nearly seven years.
"By evaluating one important treatment option for obesity, this study represents another significant advance in defining best care approaches for those who entrust their health to VA," said Dr. Robert A. Petzel, VA's Under Secretary for Health.
The study was designed to shed light on the benefits of bariatric surgery in a defined group of patients over a limited timeframe. Despite this study's findings, study investigators are not suggesting VA stop
doing bariatric surgery for certain patients.
"Significant weight loss results in improved disease control and quality of life for patients, so there are many reasons why patients like those in our study may still want to undergo bariatric surgery," said Dr.
Matthew Maciejewski, the study's lead investigator and part of the Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Services Research in Durham, N.C.
"Also, other studies, conducted on different patient populations, have found bariatric surgery to be associated with reduced mortality and have also suggested that survival benefits from surgery-induced weight loss may take longer than six years to become evident," Maciejewski added.
An analysis of the 1,694 propensity-matched patients found that bariatric surgery was not significantly associated with reduced mortality.
Maciejewski recommended that veterans who are considering bariatric surgery in VA, and who are similar to veterans examined in this study, "should be counseled by their VA surgeon that bariatric
surgery may not impact their survival in the medium term (6-7 years), but that the long-term association with mortality remains unknown."
Moreover, because a high proportion of veterans with diabetes or high cholesterol are able to discontinue their medications after bariatric surgery, he suggests that longer-term survival benefits be examined for veterans who had bariatric surgery after 2006, before VA changes its policy and/or guidelines.
Dr. Joel Kupersmith, VA's chief research and development officer, notes that VA considers all associated evidence in any policy decision, but notes this is just one study. "It is by conducting leading-edge research studies such as this one on bariatric surgery, and evaluating the meaning in the context of all rigorous scientific evidence, that VA Research provides the foundation for optimal veterans' health care," he said.
Dr. Maciejewski also does not recommend that insurers stop covering bariatric surgery for high-risk patients based on these study results because, "survival is just one aspect of the cost-effectiveness of
bariatric surgery, which has been shown to be cost-effective for eligible patients."
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These family caregivers were the first to complete their caregiver training under the program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The first payments to 96 recipients were issued today.
"This is a long-awaited day for many family caregivers who diligently worked to achieve this landmark legislation to enhance services for family caregivers," said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. "I am proud VA can now offer direct support to the loved ones who give the veterans we serve a greater quality of life by allowing them to remain at home surrounded by family and friends."
Family caregivers will receive an average $1,600 in monthly stipend payments. The initial payments will average $2,500 because the first stipend checks are retroactive to the date of application.
The amount of the stipend is based on the condition of the veteran and the amount of care they require as well as the geographic location where the veteran resides.
An additional 80 stipend payments will be released from the U.S. Treasury on July 8 bringing the total to 176 family caregivers receiving the stipend in July.
"We continue to process and approve applications on a daily basis" said Deborah Amdur, VA's chief consultant for Care Management and Social Work. "It has been profoundly gratifying to receive messages from family caregivers about the value of this program."
Since May 9, nearly 1,250 caregivers of veterans who were seriously injured in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, have applied for the Program.
A core caregiver training curriculum is a required component of the program. This comprehensive training, which was developed by Easter Seals in collaboration with VA clinical experts, has received many positive comments from family caregivers.
In addition to the training, eligible family caregivers can also access mental health services and are provided health care insurance, if they are not already entitled to care or services under a health plan.
Veterans may review the criteria for eligibility and download the family caregiver program application (VA CG 10-10) at www.caregiver.va.gov.
The application enables the Veteran to designate a primary family caregiver and secondary family caregivers if needed. Caregiver support coordinators are stationed at every VA medical center to assist with coordinating the training or assist caregivers in locating available services.
Support for all caregivers is also available via the national Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274. Caregivers of veterans from all eras are encouraged to use the Web site and support line to learn about more than two dozen supportive services VA offers to family caregivers.
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"In keeping with our commitment to deliver timely and high quality benefits to our Nation's Veterans, VA strives to keep veterans, their families, and the public informed about the performance and productivity of VA's regional offices, which administer benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "This new effort expands the Department's commitment to public transparency by sharing performance and productivity data in the delivery of benefits, including compensation, pension, vocational rehabilitation and employment, education, home loans, and insurance."
VA announced last year its ASPIRE for Quality initiative, aimed at making data and outcome information available to the public in such areas as acute care, ICU, outpatient, safety and annual process measures, and how each Medical Center measures up to quality goals.
"VA is committed to making performance and productivity data available to ensure VA is accountable for the timeliness and quality of the benefits we provide to our nation's veterans," said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey.
The expanded ASPIRE for Productivity website provides information on how VBA and its regional offices are doing in relation to Department goals. The site specifically depicts how each of the regional offices measures up to productivity and other claim processing goals.
The new ASPIRE performance and productivity data can be accessed on the VA Web site at http://www.vba.va.gov/reports/.
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During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches and field training exercises.
She is the daughter of Victor Rogers of Upper Lake, Calif.
Rogers graduated in 2005 from Upper Lake High School.
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"Dr. Fine's work reflects great credit upon the VA health care system and our research program," said VA Chief Research and Development Officer Dr. Joel Kupersmith. "Ensuring equal access to high-quality care is a vital part of VA's mission, and researchers like Dr. Fine and his team at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion are essential to this effort."
Fine directs the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP), based in Pennsylvania. He is also a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Over the past quarter-century, his innovative research has led to improvements in the clinical management of community-acquired pneumonia, a common and costly illness.
The work has also helped shape national and international quality and efficiency standards in this area.
In related work, Fine recently evaluated an initiative at several VA sites to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and boost providers' use of alcohol-based hand rubs, which was recently recognized by the New England Journal of Medicine.
He also led a major study aimed at shortening the duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy and hospital stays for people with pneumonia.
Fine is an accomplished mentor and international leader in health services research. He has helped launch the research careers of more than 50 trainees. He and his team at CHERP have developed a widely used conceptual framework for disparities research and conducted numerous studies to understand and reduce disparities in health care.
"I consider myself a very inquisitive and somewhat competitive and driven person, and I feel immensely fortunate to be able to apply my scientific knowledge of health services research to improve the quality and equity of health and health care for Veterans," said Fine.
The Eisenberg award recognizes the career achievement of a senior Society of General Internal Medicine member whose innovative research has changed the way generalists care for patients, conduct research, or educate students.
It is named for the late Dr. John M. Eisenberg, because of his exemplary role as a researcher, mentor and advocate for research in general internal medicine.
To learn more about CHERP, visit www.cherp.research.va.gov.
For more on VA's overall research program, go to www.research.va.gov.
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The senator’s letter was prompted by the recent disclosure that Delta Air Lines charged a group of active duty military personnel a total of $2,800 in baggage charges as they flew home from serving in Afghanistan.
Senator Boxer wrote, “I urge you to work with the airlines to communicate a clear, consistent approach to both active duty military and airline personnel, which will help our service members get the treatment they deserve.”
The full text of Senator Boxer’s letter appears below:
June 9, 2011
Nicholas E. Calio
President and Chief Executive Officer
Air Transport Association of America, Inc.
1301 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 1100
Washington, D.C. 20004
Dear Mr. Calio,
I was disturbed to read news accounts about a group of active duty military personnel who were charged $2,800 in extra bag fees while on a Delta flight returning from a deployment in Afghanistan. Because Delta limited them to three checked bags, they were forced to pay $200 each to check a fourth bag.
It is troubling that the welcome home for these soldiers after an overseas deployment consisted of confusion at the Delta ticket counter followed by a $200 charge – a fee that is truly a hardship for our military men and women and their families.
Delta has sought to address this unfortunate situation by announcing a new baggage policy for active duty military personnel that will permit four complimentary checked bags. Still, this incident serves as a reminder of the need for a clearly defined and consistent approach across all air carriers for baggage checked by active duty military personnel on travel orders.
As the nation’s oldest and largest airline trade association, the Air Transport Association of America is uniquely positioned to ensure that all carriers take the necessary steps to meet the needs of our troops. I urge you to work with the airlines to communicate a clear, consistent approach to both active duty military and airline personnel, which will help our service members get the treatment they deserve.
I know we all agree that after lengthy overseas deployments which require our service members to carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, the last thing they should face is excessive baggage fees and a lack of clarity in an airline’s checked bag policy.
I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
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Muro has been the Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs since January 2009.
“Working with Steve Muro for more than two years, I know he has the vision to help transform the Department of Veterans Affairs,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Together with the other men and women of our Cemetery Administration, he will continue working to serve those who sacrificed for our country, their families and survivors.”
As the senior official for VA's burial operations and memorial affairs, Muro is responsible for overseeing 131 national cemeteries that provide burial services for military veterans and eligible family members.
He is responsible for operating and maintaining VA cemeteries as national shrines and for land acquisition and other activities related to establishing additional national cemeteries.
His responsibility also includes programs that provide headstones, grave markers, medallions and Presidential Memorial Certificates for eligible veterans, as well as federal grants to help U.S. states, territories and tribal governments establish veterans' cemeteries.
Starting in 1979 as an automotive mechanic at VA's Los Angeles National Cemetery, Muro's life's work has been linked with VA's memorial affairs administration. He served in leadership positions at eight VA national cemeteries and as director of VA's Memorial Service Network IV based in Oakland, Calif., responsible for cemetery operations in nine Western states.
From 2003 to 2008, Muro was the director of the cemetery administration's Office of Field Programs. During that period, he twice led that VA administration in achieving the unprecedented American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score of 95 percent.
In October 2008, Muro received the Presidential Rank Award as a Meritorious Executive. Awarded to fewer than five percent of senior federal executives, the award recognizes exceptional leadership, accomplishments and service over an extended time period. Also in October 2008, he was named the deputy under secretary for Memorial Affairs. He was named acting under secretary for Memorial Affairs on Jan. 21, 2009.
Muro is a U.S. Navy veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, including tours on board the destroyer USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG22) and a tour with a mobile construction Seabee battalion.
In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 131 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than 3.5 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA's national cemeteries on more than 19,000 acres of land. VA's National Cemetery Administration has consistently received a top rating in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), an independent survey of customer satisfaction. In 2010, it achieved a customer satisfaction index of 94.
Veterans with a discharge issued under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be buried in a VA national cemetery.
Also eligible are military personnel who die on active duty, their spouses and eligible dependents. Other burial benefits available for veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker.
Families of eligible decedents may also order a memorial headstone or marker when remains are not available for interment.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 800-827-1000.
To make burial arrangements at the time of need at any VA national cemetery, call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 800-535-1117.
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