Post Tag: "Veterans Administration"

VA homeless

Veteran homeless drops 7 percent, VA says

On December 11th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Washington Post - The number of homeless veterans in the United States counted on a single night this year declined 7.2 percent from the previous year, a reduction significantly higher than that seen in the general population, according to figures released Monday. Overall, the number of homeless people in the country declined only slightly, to [...]

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Homeless Veteran

Homeless Rates in U.S. Steady Despite Huge Efforts

On December 10th, 2012 by Rob Kane

NY Times – The federal government has made big strides in reducing the ranks of the chronically homeless and of veterans who are homeless, but it probably will not reach its goal of ending homelessness among those two populations by 2015, according to a government report to be released on Monday. Shaun Donovan, the [...]

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Ashley Metcalf

VA Weeks, Months Late Paying Student Veterans

On October 2nd, 2012 by Rob Kane

NBC News – Student veterans hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help fellow ex-service members transition into college have routinely waited four to six weeks — and, in one case, four months — for unpaid wages, prompting eviction worries and mounting debt, according to a survey of program members obtained by NBC News. Ashley Metcalf, [...]

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DealingWithGovernment

Dealing with Government Agencies

On September 27th, 2012 by Admin

If you're doing business with government agencies such as the VA and the Social Security Administration, follow these pointers to simplify the process and improve your chances of success. « Read More

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soldiers

KQED Forum: Troubles at the Oakland Office VA

On July 31st, 2012 by Rob Kane

The backlog of claims at the Oakland VA office is appalling. The inspector general report detailed the poor performance with nearly 40% of claims with errors. It stated also that the wait time that is a third higher than the VA average of already excessive wait times. This was the topic for the first [...]

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shinseki

Shinseki Predicts Significant VA Advances in the Next Year

On July 25th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Stars and Stripes – Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki offered a largely upbeat assessment of his department’s accomplishments over the last three years during remarks at the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention on Tuesday. He also outlined an even rosier future, promising to return next summer with more good news. Shinseki said [...]

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homeless vet sf

VA Awards Swords to Plowshares $1 Million to Help Veteran Families

On July 19th, 2012 by Leon Winston

San Francisco Chronicle – New Grant Targets Homeless and At-Risk Veterans. Swords to Plowshares, a San Francisco-based veteran service agency, is one of 151 community-based organizations nationwide to receive the Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant. The grant will provide assistance to 330 very low-income veterans and their families in San [...]

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Enduring Freedom

DoD, VA Should Improve Access to Care for Soldiers and Veterans With PTSD, Track Outcomes Better

On July 18th, 2012 by Rob Kane

“This assessment is spot on. If we cannot measure it, we cannot manage it. In order to better grasp the scope of the problem and ancillary issues in treating our soldiers and veterans, we need better data. If we are serious about giving this important issue its due attention, our institutions need the knowledge [...]

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sba

Small Business Agency Launches Program to Help Vets Start Businesses

On July 17th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Sun Sentinel – The federal government is rolling out a training program for transitioning service members and veterans to becoming entrepreneurs and create jobs. “Operations Boots to Business” is a national initiative involving the Small Business Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense and U.S. Marines. The SBA announced the program Thursday. “The [...]

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William Maxson

94 Year Old World War II Vet Stuck in VA Backlog Again

On July 10th, 2012 by Jordan Towers

Houston Chronicle – A 94-year-old disabled World War II veteran from Houston who waited seven years for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to make a final decision about his benefits has once again found himself snared in VA’s record claims backlog. More than 909,700 veterans’ claims are pending nationwide, including almost 90,000 in [...]

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shinseki v2

Veterans Affairs Chief Criticized Over What Some See as His Low Profile

On July 9th, 2012 by Rob Kane

NY Times – Is Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, too cloistered from the public and the press, and perhaps even from younger veterans? That certainly is the view of some veterans advocates and some news reporters, including Time’s Joe Klein, who made the case in the magazine’s Swampland blog last month [...]

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job training

VOW to Hire Heroes Act 2011: Veterans Retraining Assistance Program

On June 26th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Congress passed, and the President has signed into law, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. Included in this new law is the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). VRAP offers up to 12 months of training assistance to unemployed veterans. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are [...]

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Barbara Lee

House Passes Bill for VA to Reduce Disability Claims Backlog

On June 4th, 2012 by Keith Boylan

On May 21st over 300 veterans attended a Town Hall meeting at the War Memorial Building here in San Francisco. The forum, hosted by Congresswoman Jackie Speier & Congresswoman Barbara Lee, focused on the back-log of compensation and pension claims at the Veteran Affairs Regional Office in Oakland. The VA official responsible for the [...]

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Housing for 100,000 homeless Americans

VA Announces Partnership to House 10,000 Homeless Veterans in 2012

On May 31st, 2012 by Rob Kane

Agency will collaborate with the “One Hundred Thousand Homes” Campaign WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will collaborate with the “100,000 Homes” Campaign and its 117 participating communities to help find permanent housing for 10,000 vulnerable and chronically homeless Veterans this year. “President Obama and I are personally committed [...]

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CaliforniaSenateSeal

Investigation of Joint Disability Evaluation System

On May 24th, 2012 by Keith Boylan

Interim Committee Staff Report: The frequency and severity of inconsistencies between military mental health providers, military disability evaluators, and VA was less frequent at locations other than the Forensic Psychiatry Reviews at Madigan. However, evaluations at some other military sites focused on perceived “malingering” (which requires intent to deceive) or exaggeration of symptoms without [...]

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Norman Estelle

Angry Veterans Demand End to Disability Claims Backlog

On May 22nd, 2012 by Rob Kane

Bay Citizen – Three hours into a congressionally sponsored forum on the long wait times that Northern California veterans face when they file disability claims, 26-year-old Air Force veteran Sabrina Shindler rose from her seat. “We’re not getting answers, we’re getting excuses,” Shindler yelled at two senior Department of Veterans Affairs officials at the [...]

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VA shadow

Waiting for More Than a Check

On May 4th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Bay Citizen – Until the VA says they are disabled, returning soldiers cannot get tax breaks. Nearly 90,000 Californians are waiting for the Department of Veterans Affairs to rule on their disability claims. Most have been waiting for more than four months. They are not just waiting for a check. The department must determine veterans are [...]

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mike grabski

VA Faces Two Crises: Mental Health and Disability Claims

On May 4th, 2012 by Rob Kane

Bay Citizen: Citizen Opinion – An extensive news investigation by Bay Citizen reporter Aaron Glantz delved into the serious problems facing our Veterans seeking disability benefits in northern California. At the law firm of Bergmann & Moore, every day we hear from Veterans complaining about unreasonable delays and denials by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The [...]

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VA logo

Why I Quit the VA

On May 1st, 2012 by Rob Kane

TIME (by Mark Thompson) – Nicholas Tolentino spelled out the reasons he resigned from New Hampshire’s main Department of Veterans Affairs health center Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. While his prepared remarks also detail just how flexible the VA’s data are when it comes to showing that vets are getting adequate mental-health care, [...]

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VA in Manchester

Ex-VA Hospital Official Faults Mental Health Care

On May 1st, 2012 by Rob Kane

WASHINGTON — Veterans are waiting too long for mental health care and are unaware that hospitals sometimes manipulate records in an attempt to make it appear that standards are being met, a former Veterans Affairs hospital official told senators Wednesday. Hospitals are “gaming the system,” with administrators so focused on achieving performance targets, in [...]

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