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University of Delaware students take action to improve veteran care
USA Today
On Sept. 16, CNN hosted the second GOP primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The treatment of veterans has been a hot button issue for both Republicans and Democrats ever since the Department of Veteran's Affairs scandal of 2014, which included accusations that veterans may have died waiting for care at VA hospitals. A week before the debate, Donald Trump wrote a letter to CNN asking the network to donate the money earned from advertisements that aired during the debate to a veteran's charity. But Trump isn't the only candidate trying to improve the treatment of veterans.
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VA to launch new one-stop portal on Veterans Day, seeks vendor info to run, maintain it
FierceGovernmentIT
The Veterans Affairs Department will be sifting through information from vendors on how they can provide technical support for a soon-to-be-launched Web portal that would serve as a one-stop shop for veterans services and benefits. Vets.gov is slated to be launched on Nov. 11, or Veterans Day, and is supposed to consolidate the approximately 1,000 websites the department manages now. The portal is designed to help veterans find and apply for benefits and services rather than go through a maze of currently VA-managed websites.
House committee rejects amendments to help LGBT veterans
Human Rights Campaign
The U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee shamefully rejected two amendments aimed at helping LGBT veterans and their families. Representative Dina Titus, D-Nev., offered the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which would correct outdated language in statute that defines "spouse" as a person "of the opposite sex" and would ensure that all veterans are receiving the spousal benefits that they have earned and deserve.
VA is trying to go paperless for disability benefits system, but costs spiraling out of control
The Daily Caller
The Department of Veterans Affairs is in danger of not meeting its goal of eliminating the disability backlog by the end of 2015, and costs continue to climb, a new inspector general report has found
VA Benefits Management Systems need increased management
RevCycleIntelligence
Although the Department of Veterans Affairs has made great strides recently by implementing its Veterans Benefits Management Systems across all of the organization's regional offices, the Government Accountability Office still reports that the VBMS is not processing veteran benefits requests with the greatest efficiency.
The veteran's guide to getting a job on Capitol Hill
We Are The Mighty
This "how to" guide is for veterans who are interested in working on the Hill. Staffers are the most common Hill positions in both the House and Senate. Personal staffers work for members and professional staffers work on committees. Most offices separate policy topics into portfolios and oftentimes veterans are most qualified to cover the Department of Veterans Affairs, foreign affairs and/or DoD/military. However, based upon the veterans' education and career field they may be qualified for other portfolios.
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USDA veteran initiatives now part of DoD's Transition Assistance Program
U.S. Department of Defense
Agriculture and farm business opportunities became the newest career training choice for transitioning service members when the Agriculture Department announced it would ensure service members attending the Defense Department's Transition Assistance Program, or TAP, would receive information on veteran training and counseling programs in agriculture.
Serving the needs of student veterans
WVXU-FM
In 2009, there were approximately 500,000 veterans receiving education benefits and attending U.S. colleges. By 2013, more than 1 million student veterans were using their GI benefits to pursue advanced educational opportunities, and that number is estimated to increase by 20 percent in the next few years.
Texas veterans find mental health care difficult to access
Houston Chronicle
Sabastian Vasquez survived three combat tours to Iraq in as many years. Then he entered another fight to subdue the predatory memories of war. A decade after his honorable discharge from the Marines, Vasquez remains plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder and the residual effects of a traumatic brain injury. In dark moments, he feels as if his mind has turned against him and is holding him captive.
Spare a thought for our military personnel, veterans this Suicide Prevention Month
Care2
Physical injuries and depressive states that raise the likelihood of suicide is something that isn't often discussed when we talk about military health care, but this problem — which has been called an "epidemic" in recent years — is something we have to talk about.
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