Help for veterans on the table: Advocates join forces to improve services
By DAN CROWLEY
Staff Writer Wednesday, June 30, 2010
NORTHAMPTON - When it comes to providing veterans with benefits and services, Massachusetts is among the most generous states. But there is room to improve how services are delivered, according to veterans advocates who gathered in Northampton Tuesday.
"As good as we've been, I have a strong feeling that we can be better," said state Rep. Harold P. Naughton, Jr., D-Clinton, who helped craft legislation that enhanced veterans benefits last year as co-chairman of the Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs.
"We don't stop," said Naughton, an Iraq War veteran. "We don't sit on our laurels."
Naughton was speaking as a member Gov. Deval Patrick's Advisory Council on Veterans' Services, which drew about 40 people to its quarterly meeting at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds.
The council is led by Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, its chairman.
Created in 2007, the council reviews and assesses laws and programs related to veterans and the delivery of services to them, including health care, education, housing, outreach and training. The information shared at these sessions helps inform policy-makers with the aim of strengthening veterans' programs and services.
As part of his second annual statewide tour on veterans and military issues, Murray also made stops Tuesday at the Soldier On homeless shelter on the Leeds VA campus and at the Hampshire-Franklin Career Center to talk with veterans and hear their concerns.
"We take that input seriously," said Murray. He said the council seeks to educate veterans and those who assist them about state and federal veterans' programs.
There are approximately 430,000 veterans in the commonwealth, including 6,000 homeless veterans and others who are jailed, which presents challenges in providing veterans benefits.
Aid to vets
Among the veterans programs unique to Massachusetts are Chapter 115 benefits, which provide financial assistance to veterans who have fallen on hard times.
The money under this program, administered by local veterans' agents, helps defray the cost of living expenses, such as food, shelter and clothing, as well as assistance for medical care.
The Chapter 115 program is designed to be temporary, but demand for this assistance remains strong. Funded by local and primarily state dollars, Chapter 115 funding has risen from $18 million to $36 million during the past three years, according to Thomas Kelley, secretary of the state Department of Veterans' Services and a member of the governor's advisory council.
New legislation last year increased the cash bonus available to service members who serve multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the state received veterans' workforce grants totaling $2 million. That money has been allocated to outreach centers to begin job placement and training, and about $1 million for homeless reintegration and workforce investment.
Despite the system of veterans benefits and services, problems remain. Among them is public transportation, particularly for veterans in western Massachusetts, noted Steven Connor, director of veterans' services for Northampton and Hatfield. Connor said some veterans have to travel as many as three or four hours a day on buses to work an eight-hour job in the area, which is unreasonable. The transit system needs to improve, he and others said.
Helping veterans find jobs, he said, "is extremely difficult because of the transportation issue."
Connor also noted that society - particularly law enforcement - needs to be better aware of the issues combat veterans face when returning home, especially those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
"We have to be patient with these soldiers and Marines and understand what they're going through," Connor said.
Others said the privatization of veterans services could compromise the quality and administration of programs. Speakers also raised concerns about finding ways to better serve incarcerated veterans and getting a younger generation of veterans educated about the services available to them before it is too late for them to enroll.
"They're young, they're healthy and they think they're gods," said Roger Johnson, director of the VA Medical Center. "Then they've been in a motorcycle accident and have to pay emergency bills."
"We need to get that message across because it really adds that level of protection for them," he said.
Apart from some minor cuts that Kelley said the Department of Veterans' Services can absorb, the state has for the most part level-funded veterans' benefits and services at a time when other state programs are being cut.
Still, the threat of program cuts to veterans was not forgotten during Tuesday's discussion, as the council was reminded of the budget controversy last year that nearly closed outpatient clinics at the Holyoke and Chelsea soldiers' homes.
After an outcry from veterans groups and what he cited as improved revenue outlook, Patrick reversed his decision to cut the soldiers' homes programs.
"The soldiers' homes should be untouchable," James G. Berrelli Jr., a Vietnam War veteran and director of veterans services in West Springfield. "These men left their families and lives and made the ultimate sacrifice. They always want to cut out of the soldiers' homes, and nobody can understand that."
Murray said that although the state may be a leader in providing services and benefits to veterans, more can be done to strengthen the programs, which is why he's traveling across the state to meet with veterans.
"You're only as good as your last at-bat," Murray said. "There's a lot more to do."
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.