Post Tag: "Veteran Policy"

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 [...]

TOPICS: disability claims • HR 5854 • Veteran Policy • Veterans Administration

richard a. friedman

Why Are We Drugging Our Soldiers?

On April 24th, 2012 by Rob Kane

By Richard A. Freeman, New York Times – SINCE the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been a large and steady rise in the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among our troops. One recent study of 289,000 Americans who served in those countries found that the rates of the disorder [...]

TOPICS: drug treatment • Op Ed • PTS • PTSD • Veteran Policy

Enduring Freedom

National Stop Violence Against Women Day

On February 14th, 2012 by Megan Klein Zottarelli

Today is a day to celebrate loved ones, but it’s also a day to protect the women of our nation as well. National Stop Violence against Women Day brings to light the struggles of military and veteran women who have experienced violence in their homes. The statistics are frightening: women veterans and female service [...]

TOPICS: Event • Veteran Policy • Women Veterans

New Online Enrollment Application Available for Servicemembers

On February 3rd, 2012 by Rob Kane

It is imperative to instruct our soldiers coming home on their benefits and how to acquire them. For those with post-traumatic stress, it may not surface immediately and once our men and women suffer it more acutely, it may be a greater struggle to find out how to get the care they need. This [...]

TOPICS: Department of Veterans Affairs • Policy • returning troops • VA claims • VA enrollment • VA health care • veteran benefits • Veteran Policy • Veterans Administration

Governor Jerry Brown signs legislation

Veteran Legislation: A look back at 2011

On February 1st, 2012 by Keith Boylan

The following bills signed into law by Governor Brown in 2011 focus on veteran services, benefits, and/or compensation. We encourage all veteran advocates to familiarize themselves with the new laws to ensure veterans receive the maximum benefit due to their passage, as well as monitor their proper implementation. AB 167 “Stolen Valor Act” The [...]

TOPICS: Veteran News • Veteran Policy

Swords to Plowshares Joins California Interagency Council on Veterans

On February 1st, 2012 by Jordan Towers

Swords to Plowshares is proud to announce that Keith Boylan, the Policy and Program Coordinator for the Institute for Veteran Policy has been appointed Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Employment for the California Interagency Council on Veterans (IAC). On August 23, 2011, Governor Brown issued an Executive Order establishing the California Interagency Council on [...]

TOPICS: Afghanistan • Bay Area Veterans • Disabled Veterans • Employment • Green jobs • Job Training • Policy • Swords in the News • Veteran Jobs • Veteran Policy • Vets

law enforcement

Combat to Community Cultural Competence Training Prepares Law Enforcement

On January 19th, 2012 by Jordan Towers

Responding to Recent Violence Perpetrated by Iraq Veterans SAN FRANCISCO (January 19, 2012) – The tragic violence recently perpetrated by Iraq veterans is being met with widespread response. Reports by friends and family indicate that Benjamin Barnes, who fatally shot a Washington State park ranger, and Itzcoatl Campo, who is accused of stabbing four [...]

TOPICS: Afghanistan • Combat to Community • Deployment • Iraq • iraq veteran • OIF/OEF • Policy • PTSD • Suicide • TBI • VA claims • Veteran Policy • Vets • Women in combat • Women Veterans

Women Veterans Coordinator Responds to Gender PTSD Study

On January 18th, 2012 by Starlyn Lara

On Monday, KQED highlighted a study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) which concluded that women soldiers suffer post-traumatic stress as much as their male counterparts. The number of female soldiers in the military has doubled in the past ten years and women [...]

TOPICS: Swords in the News • Veteran Policy • Women Veterans

VA Announces Changes to Emergency Care Payment Policy

On January 12th, 2012 by Jordan Towers

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today a change in regulations regarding payments for emergency care provided to eligible Veterans in non-VA facilities. “This provision helps ensure eligible Veterans continue to get the emergency care they need when VA facilities are not available,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. The [...]

TOPICS: Afghanistan • Bay Area Veterans • Disabled Veterans • Iraq • OIF/OEF • PTSD • VA claims • VA health care • Veteran News • Veteran Policy • Vets • Women Veterans

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2 Women Share 1st Kiss at U.S. Navy Ship’s Return

On December 21st, 2011 by Jordan Towers

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted “first kiss” on the dock after one of them returned from 80 days at sea. Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of [...]

TOPICS: dadt • Veteran News • Veteran Policy • Women Veterans

Ninth Circuit Court San Francisco

VCS & VUFT v. Department of Veterans Affairs

On December 5th, 2011 by Rob Kane

On November 16, the Ninth Circuit granted VA’s petition to vacate its May 2011 ruling and to appoint an 11-judge panel to reconsider the case in a proceeding known as “en banc review.” The oral argument will be held on December 13 at 12:30 p.m. in the Ninth Circuit’s San Francisco courthouse at 7th [...]

TOPICS: Department of Veterans Affairs • Event • Veteran News • Veteran Policy

What Servicemembers Need to Know About Protesting

On November 23rd, 2011 by Rob Kane

A workshop convened on November 15 to discuss the implications of protesting by active and inactive servicemembers and veterans. Stephen Collier and Rai Sue Sussman (both of the Bay Area Military Law Panel and National Lawyers Guild) and Teresa Panepinto (of Swords to Plowshares) discussed the potential criminal consequences for active members of the [...]

TOPICS: Event • General • Veteran Policy

Veteran Issues: Family Law, Consumer Rights & Job Protection

On November 16th, 2011 by Amy Fairweather

Practising Law Institute has once again hosted free Legal curriculum regarding veterans and the law. On November 9, 2011, PLI hosted a seminar regarding veteran issues in criminal law, family law, consumer rights, and job protection. Last week, I moderated 3 panels regarding Veterans Courts, California Penal Code section 1170.9, alternative sentencing and a [...]

TOPICS: Event • General • Veteran Policy

Bay Area Workshop on Servicemembers’ Rights to Protest, Nov. 15

On November 9th, 2011 by Rob Kane

Servicemembers and Veterans Occupy! As part of the 99%, military servicemembers and veterans have been participating in Occupy protests in droves. But what are the consequences for such actions? Can servicemembers be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for such protests, or do the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution apply [...]

TOPICS: Event • General • Veteran Policy

Scott Olsen in uniform

Portrait of Veteran Wounded at Occupy Oakland

On October 27th, 2011 by Rob Kane

Scott Olson served two tours in Iraq and faced the most danger at home as he exercised his first amendment rights. This tragic incident will motivate more veterans to participate in protests and ultimately put them in harms way. Law enforcement must be better prepared to deescalate situations like this so that no more [...]

TOPICS: Combat to Community • General • iraq veteran • law enforcement • occupy oakland • Veteran News • Veteran Policy

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VA Revising Sexual Assault Claims Process

On October 21st, 2011 by Jordan Towers

Under pressure from Congress, the VA is trying to come up with a better way of handling disability claims from veterans who say they are suffering trauma as a result of sexual assault or rapes suffered while in the military. A key problem is how to handle claims when there may not be much [...]

TOPICS: Afghanistan • Disabled Veterans • MST • PTSD • Veteran News • Veteran Policy • Women Veterans

Enduring Freedom

Supporting Veterans and Taking National Priorities Local

On October 10th, 2011 by Jordan Towers

On October 4th Swords to Plowshares joined community leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area for a discussion at the Commonwealth Club of California about supporting veterans and taking national priorities local. The panelists included Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, Major General Michael Myatt, President and [...]

TOPICS: Disabled Veterans • General • PTSD • Veteran News • Veteran Policy • Veterans • Veterans Administration • Vets

Recap: Karl Marlantes’ Book Reading and Discussion

On September 30th, 2011 by Rob Kane

About 40 Swords to Plowshares supporters gathered in the Crystal Ball Room of the Marines Memorial Hotel and Club on Tuesday, September 27th to hear Karl Marlantes speak about his book, What It Is Like To Go To War, a personal account of his experience with Post Traumatic Stress. Mr. Marlantes expressed that, through his experience with [...]

TOPICS: Event • General • Veteran Policy

Veterans Alliance

Bay Area Veterans Scrambling After GI Bill Cuts

On August 12th, 2011 by Jordan Towers

Aundray Rogers, an Army veteran and single father of three, worries that he and his children will be living on the street come September. Rogers, one of several hundred thousand U.S. veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill to help pay for his education, will need to make some difficult decisions Monday, when changes to [...]

TOPICS: Resources • Veteran News • Veteran Policy

Success Story for Veteran Means Treatment Over Incarceration

On July 29th, 2011 by Megan Klein Zottarelli

Reaction to the NY Times Article: Coming Together to Fight for a Troubled Veteran, July 17, 2011 It all turned out so well, the true definition of a success story. Not like other stories we’ve heard about in the news related to veterans and “suicide by cop,” but one in which everyone, at multiple [...]

TOPICS: Veteran News • Veteran Policy