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Veterans
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
This funding includes $62 million in new SSVF awards that support outreach, case management and other flexible assistance to rapidly re-house veterans who become homeless or prevent Veterans from becoming homeless.
The grants will be awarded to 271 nonprofit organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A list of applicants who will be awarded grants is available at www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp .
“Ending veteran homelessness remains a high priority and the SSVF program has proven to be remarkably effective in helping low-income veterans and their families overcome housing crises,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “By offering temporary assistance to eligible veterans through these important grants, we will continue to help veterans exit homelessness and remain in stable housing.”
In addition to conducting outreach and case management, grantees will assist eligible veterans and their families with obtaining VA and other benefits, such as health care, fiduciary payee, financial planning, child care, legal, transportation, housing counseling and other services.
Grantees are expected to leverage SSVF grants to enhance the housing stability of very low-income veterans and their families. In doing so, grantees are required to establish relationships with local community resources.
In fiscal year 2018, SSVF grantees served 125,878 participants, including 82,664 veterans and 25,942 children.
As a result of these and other efforts, the number of homeless veterans has been cut in half since the launch of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in 2010.
Since 2010, hundreds of thousands of veterans and their family members have been placed into permanent housing or avoided becoming homeless through VA’s homelessness programs and targeted housing vouchers provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The applicants to whom grants will be awarded competed under a Notice of Fund Availability published Dec. 19, 2018, available at https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVF_NOFA_Publication_2018_27465.pdf .
The funding will support SSVF services in fiscal year 2020, which covers Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020.
The SSVF program is authorized by 38 United States Code 2044. VA implements the program by regulations in 38 CFR part 62.
Visit www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp to learn more about the SSVF program.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
This initial data migration phase of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization, or EHRM, which began in late spring, is an important milestone reflecting the decision to replace Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA, with the Cerner Millennium EHR solution that powers DoD’s Military Health System.
“For decades, VA and DoD have been struggling to achieve interoperability and seamlessly share patient records between our health systems – placing an unfair burden on our veterans and their families,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “No veteran, family member or caregiver should have to carry boxes of paper, medical and service records around. This data migration is the first step to solving that problem for good.”
To date, over 78 billion records have been compiled from all VA medical centers, accounting for 50 terabytes – equivalent to about 850,000 hours of music – of data storage across 21 clinical areas of patient health records, which includes lab results; pharmacy prescriptions; inpatient and outpatient diagnoses and procedures; and other medical data of both living and deceased Veterans.
New data will move into the Cerner system automatically from VistA in near real time, and then make its way to the Cerner Millennium EHR, which will provide shared access with VA, DoD and community care providers. As future phases are completed, service members’ medical records from their years of active duty will reside in one comprehensive EHR.
This modernization effort moves VA one step closer toward achieving an interoperable EHR system that will improve military career transitions and drive better clinical outcomes.
For more information about VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization, visit https://www.ehrm.va.gov/ .
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- Written by: Department of Veteran Affairs
The VA awardees, announced earlier this month by the White House include: Dr. Eric Y. Chang, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California; David J. Clark, Sc.D., Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida; Dr. Walid Gellad, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Dr. Jason A. Wertheim, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
"These VA scientists have established themselves, early on, as leaders within VA and the larger scientific community," said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. "They are already making important contributions to our understanding of Veterans' health issues and VA is proud to have them in our ranks."
Chang was recognized for his use of magnetic resonance imaging techniques to better understand musculoskeletal diseases and injury, like rotator cuff injury. Chang and his team are looking for better ways to assess joint damage and degenerative disease.
Clark was honored for his work to improve neural control of walking in older people who experience impairment from aging, disease or nervous system injury. The goal is to develop therapies that can help older Veterans maintain their well-being as they age.
Gellad is a nationally recognized expert in medication management and policy. The award acknowledges his work to facilitate safer opioid prescribing. Much of his research has focused on high-risk Veterans who receive opioid drugs both through VA and Medicare.
Wertheim's research is focused on creating replacement tissues for diseased human organs, like the kidney and liver, through regenerative medicine techniques. His work has contributed to a better understanding of how human tissues heal, regenerate, and repair after injury.
Established in 1996, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers award acknowledges contributions to the advancement of science, technology, education, and mathematics education and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education and community outreach.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
SAN FRANCISCO – The Department of Veterans Affairs implemented the MISSION Act on June 6.
One of the lesser known provisions of the law established a new urgent care benefit that allows eligible veterans access to urgent and walk-in care at participating clinics in their communities.
This is a giant step forward in terms of convenience for our patients, as eligible veterans do not need to get prior authorization from VA to visit an urgent care provider in VA’s network.
This urgent care benefit is meant to give veterans a convenient way to get treatment for minor injuries and illnesses, such as colds, strep throat and pink eye.
To be eligible for urgent and walk-in care, veterans must be enrolled in the VA health care system and have received care through VA from either a VA or community provider within the past 24 months.
To learn more about how this new benefit works, watch the video above.
Veterans can locate in-network urgent care and retail locations by visiting the Urgent Care Locator.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training also earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Kondratiev is the son of Lana and Vernon C. Thompson of Lower Lake, Calif.
He is a 2019 graduate of Konocti Education Center, in Clearlake, Calif.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
These veterans may be eligible for presumption of herbicide exposure through Public Law 116-23, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, which was signed into law June 25, 2019, and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.
They may also qualify for a presumption of service connection if they have a disease that is recognized as being associated with herbicide exposure.
The bipartisan Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act gives VA until Jan. 1, 2020, to begin deciding Blue Water Navy related claims. By staying claims decisions until that date, VA is complying with the law that Congress wrote and passed.
“VA is dedicated to ensuring that all veterans receive the benefits they have earned,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “We are working to ensure that we have the proper resources in place to meet the needs of our Blue Water veteran community and minimize the impact on all veterans filing for disability compensation.”
Blue Water Navy veterans are encouraged to submit disability compensation claims for conditions presumed to be related to Agent Orange exposure. Veterans over age 85 or with life-threatening illnesses will have priority in claims processing.
Veterans who previously were denied for an Agent Orange related presumptive condition can file a new claim based on the change in law. Eligible survivors of deceased Blue Water Navy veterans also may benefit from the new law and may file claims for benefits based on the veterans’ service.
The new law affects veterans who served on a vessel operating not more than 12 nautical miles seaward from the demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia, as defined in Public Law 116-23. An estimated 420,000 to 560,000 Vietnam-era veterans may be considered Blue Water Navy veterans.
To qualify, under the new law, these veterans must have a disease associated with herbicide exposure, as listed in 38 Code of Federal Regulations section 3.309(e).
Agent Orange presumptive conditions are:
– AL amyloidosis;
– Chloracne or similar acneform disease;
– Chronic B-cell leukemias;
– Diabetes mellitus Type 2;
– Hodgkin lymphoma, formerly known as Hodgkin’s disease;
– Ischemic heart disease;
– Multiple myeloma;
– Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, formerly known as Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma;
– Parkinson’s disease;
– Peripheral neuropathy, early-onset;
– Porphyria cutanea tarda;
– Prostate cancer;
– Respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, larynx or trachea);
– Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma or mesothelioma).
For more information about Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam waters (Blue Water Navy veterans), visit https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/agent-orange/navy-coast-guard-ships-vietnam/ .
Veterans seeking more information should contact their Veterans Service Officer, call VA’s toll-free number at 800-827-1000 or visit the VA Blue Water Navy Agent Orange website.
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The VSOC program, which provides dedicated vocational rehabilitation counselors on VSOC school locations to support eligible students, began as a pilot initiative at the University of South Florida in 2009, and, since then, has expanded to support 104 schools across the country.
“VA is committed to ensuring eligible beneficiaries have the opportunity to achieve their career objectives,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “The VSOC program is a great example of how VA is delivering on that commitment.”
VSOC assists participants by helping to guide their career paths, reach educational and career targets and access their VA benefits.
Last year, the VSOC program assisted over 44,000 participants in pursuit of their educational goals through on-campus benefits assistance and counseling.
For more information on the VSOC program, visit http://www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/vsoc.asp .
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- Written by: Department of Veterans Affairs
The move aims to simplify and clarify the department’s policies governing religious symbols, and spiritual and pastoral care, which have been interpreted inconsistently at various VA facilities in recent years, resulting in unfortunate incidents that interrupted certain displays.
Effective July 3, these changes will help ensure that patrons within VA have access to religious literature and symbols at chapels as requested and protect representations of faith in publicly accessible displays at facilities throughout the department.
“We want to make sure that all of our veterans and their families feel welcome at VA, no matter their religious beliefs. Protecting religious liberty is a key part of how we accomplish that goal,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “These important changes will bring simplicity and clarity to our policies governing religious and spiritual symbols, helping ensure we are consistently complying with the First Amendment to the U.S.Constitution at thousands of facilities across the department.”
The new policies will:
– Allow the inclusion in appropriate circumstances of religious content in publicly accessible displays at VA facilities.
– Allow patients and their guests to request and be provided religious literature, symbols and sacred texts during visits to VA chapels and during their treatment at VA.
– Allow VA to accept donations of religious literature, cards and symbols at its facilities and distribute them to VA patrons under appropriate circumstances or to a patron who requests them.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the important role religion plays in the lives of many Americans and its consistency with Constitutional principles.
This includes the following values: a display that follows in the longstanding tradition of monuments, symbols and practices; respect and tolerance of differing views; and endeavors to achieve inclusivity and nondiscrimination.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
SACRAMENTO – The California State Senate recognized Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day during a ceremony on the Senate Floor on Thursday.
“Throughout the history of this great state, millions of Californians have answered the call of duty with the Armed Forces, putting their lives in harm’s way to protect our freedoms, democratic values and our way of life,” Sen. Mike McGuire said. “And we know – even if soldiers aren’t deployed to an active war zone, PTSD is impacting American troops in record numbers. Despite the fact that less than 15 percent of American forces see combat, the United States Military has the highest rate of PTSD in its history, which is why we must continue to shine the light on this critical issue.”
Although the United States Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs have made great advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD among veterans, many challenges still remain.
PTSD Awareness Day was made official by Senate Resolution 50, which was approved by the State Senate Thursday. SR 50 also recognizes the need to focus on expanded PTSD services for our active military personnel and veterans.
In attendance for Thursday’s Senate session were Sean Stephens from the Marin County Veteran’s Service Office and Mark Orlando from the Sonoma County Veteran’s Service Office.
Stephens was the one who originally advanced the idea of PTSD Awareness Day to the Senator several months ago.