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| Innovators Insights on Veterans Services |
Welcome to a special edition of our newsletter about innovative services for veterans and their families. As the nation welcomes large numbers of service members returning from Iraq this winter, and continues to support those veterans who have already come home, the Ash Center wanted to highlight some examples of creative approaches that help veterans.
In addition, please visit the “A Better Welcome Home” playlist on the Ash Center’s YouTube channel. Videos include information about how viewers can get involved to help veterans reintegrate within their communities.
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| Health Care Access |
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has unveiled a new pilot program that links veterans with medical professionals via the Web, to provide them with behavioral health, oncology, and post-operative care services. The system allows clinicians to provide advice, make diagnoses, and prescribe medications. While telemedicine services — which combines streaming video, e-mail, and text messaging — have been used by the department previously, the new online care system has been specifically designed to ensure that veterans in remote areas or with mobility issues can receive care without having to travel to a medical center.
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| Corrections, Probation, and Parole |
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Florida has created a voluntary program to awaken military discipline in its imprisoned veterans. The state has created separate dorms in five of its prisons for honorably discharged military veterans with less than three years left on their sentences. These veterans engage in military ritual, attending formation upon rising in the morning and standing at attention during flag-raising ceremonies and in front of marching honor guards. Beds and dorms must be clean and tidy, and bunks display a card showing the veteran's photo, branch of service, and years served. Around 300 of Florida's incarcerated veterans have volunteered for the program, and veterans' advocates state that housing the men together makes it easier to coordinate benefits and services after release, helping to prevent recidivism. California and Illinois have implemented similar programs.
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| Long-term Care |
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In Rapid City, South Dakota, the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System has instituted "No Veteran Dies Alone,” a hospice volunteer program modeled after a national program called No One Dies Alone. Under the program, volunteers attend to veterans, conversing with them, holding their hands, or simply sitting quietly by their bedside. Health-care providers observe that during this final stage of life, some veterans start to experience post-traumatic stress symptoms or combat-related shame or guilt, and want talk to a compassionate listener. Many of the volunteers are veterans themselves. In addition, the program can fill a gap if family and friends are unavailable during a veteran’s last hours. The program has been implemented at 14 VA centers around the country, so far.
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| Social Services |
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The Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, awards grants to nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide assistance to very low-income veterans and their families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing. In North Dakota, the Salvation Army and the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People are partnering to use their grant to deploy caseworkers to help veterans find housing, seek financial assistance, apply for benefits, and conduct general searches for other community referrals. To date, the program has awarded 85 grants nationwide.
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| Health Care Access |
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs continues to outfit mobile health centers to ensure that returning warriors in rural areas have access to medical care. The VA has recently installed technology in these vehicles that allows caregivers to instantly access medical records and benefits, including medical imagery data. The vehicles may also be used to respond to emergencies and natural disasters.
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| Employment |
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Returning warriors are being recruited as farmers under the Veteran Farmers Project. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a Nebraska nonprofit, the program provides veterans with consultations with agricultural professionals, mentoring from established farmers, as well as financing from local banks and government lending programs. Program supporters believe that farming is a viable career option for veterans returning to a rural community, and that farm work is especially appropriate for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who may be less accustomed to a typical office environment.
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| Legislation |
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Illinois has enacted two laws to aid veterans in the state. One law allows honorably discharged veterans to take the state police test without having 60 hours of college credit. While applicants will require more education for promotions, the legislation acknowledges their field experience and gives them an opportunity to enter the state police ranks. The other law extends the state’s Medicaid-style Veterans Care program, which assists those veterans who may not qualify for federal health-care benefits and are either unemployed or do not receive health insurance through their employer.
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| Employment |
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ new Warriors to Workforce Program trains wounded vets to become acquisition professionals. The program offers veterans with disabilities a three-year internship to prepare them for a career in government contracting. Participants will undergo training in basic business principles, technical contracting knowledge, and mental skills to adapt to job-related stresses. Upon completion, veterans are promoted and placed within VA contracting organizations across the country.
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| Service Delivery |
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Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, and South Carolina are joining a dozen other states to add military service to driver’s licenses to certify service members’ veteran status. This addition is a more efficient way for veterans to prove eligibility for benefits and discounts without carrying discharge papers. Modifying state licenses also helps authorities identify veterans that could potentially be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder during police actions.
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| Mental Health Services |
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The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology has received a $125,000 state grant to urge returning soldiers to enter into a mental health career treating fellow veterans. The Train Vets to Treat Vets program will also raise awareness among civilian psychologists about issues that veterans may struggle with, so that they can better help service members and their families. Program staff are also traveling to area colleges to advocate to veterans that they major in psychology.
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| Service Delivery |
A new collaborative effort between the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services has unveiled a developer challenge to further the goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015. Project Reach, in conjunction with Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Foundation, will motivate application developers to create mashups of federal data that will help homeless veterans and others find shelter, medical care, and employment opportunities. Although most homeless do not have a smartphone, community-service professionals and volunteers who are in contact with the homeless usually do, and will be able to access real-time information for the homeless when they perceive a need. Five finalists, who will receive $10,000 grants, will be selected in late August to beta-test the apps, and the successful app will collect the $25,000 grand prize.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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NOTE: The highlights in this newsletter link to source articles from other websites, and may not be available after a certain length of time.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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