Veterans Services

Forward Observer: Vet Center Counseling Now Available During Training or Drill Weekends for the Guard– BUT NOT SO MUCH IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY?

LVMAC Poster Art 2005On 27 August the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it had formalized a partnership with the Department of Defense formalized a partnership on 28 June between VA’s Vet Centers and the National Guard Bureau, to provide Vet Center counseling, outreach staff and other services to members during training or drill weekends to decrease their suicide rate — a reputed problem in the Pennsylvania National Guard. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit: Veterans Employment Representative Position Opens in the Valley

DLI LogoFinally, after months and months of delay, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is advertising openly for someone to replace the Disabled Veterans Opportunity Program Counselor lost at the Lehigh Valley CareerLink in August 2018, due to retirement.  If you are a veteran and wish to help our community’s veterans, and their spouses in certain instances, in gaining secure and good-paying employment upon return from service and for other reasons, this may be one of the best ways to do it.   These civil service positions are federally funded under the U.S. Department of Labor’s US VETS program.  Below are the details provided by Doug Monroe, the remaining veterans employment representative at the CareerLink: (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

Forward Observer:  Secretary Wilkie’s Four Priorities for the VA in 2019

LVMAC Poster Art 2005Priorities, smy-orities … five, six or ten … different ones almost every time you look …  when it comes to the Department of Veterans Affairs (and federal agencies in general).  It is time to do a little house cleaning as the new year begins because, in these times, on what the VA concentrates will dramatically change its operations in the coming years.  For example, implementing the Mission Act listed below is no ‘small potatoes’ matter.

In his words, the Secretary of the VA, Mr. Wilkie, has now whittled down the Department of Veterans Affairs’ strategic priorities for 2019 to four:  (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit: An Often Overlooked Benefit — VA Eyecare

It is often forgotten — despite eye care being, amazingly, the Veteran Health Administration’s third busiest program — that if you are enrolled in VA healthcare, you are eligible for diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic eye care services, regardless of your priority group.  You may also be eligible to receive eyeglasses and medically necessary contact lenses, if the ophthalmologist/ optometrist determines the need. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

Forward Observer: Thinking of Starting or Improving Your Own Business?

LVMAC Poster Art 2005There are 28 million small businesses in the United States according to the Small Business Administration, an amazing 99.7 percent of all the employers.  Small businesses employ over 56 million people in this country, about 57 percent of all the employment in the private sector.  Think about that.  They certainly are an important component to ensuring a thriving economy.  Throughout our history, small businesses have helped to secure the “American Dream.” Importantly, they rely heavily on workers for their success, not on some “robotic arm.”

In that vein of thinking, Pennsylvania is gradually getting around to the addressing the issues of generating veterans businesses in the Commonwealth. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC News: New Employment Website

At the 21 February 2018 Council meeting — and among a gamut of topics including its Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for separating servicemembers, grants for homelessness efforts, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) — Mr. David Cummiskey, Assistant Director in Pennsylvania for the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), introduced the Veterans.gov website.  Although we are convinced personalized, pro-active point-of-service can not be overlooked or replaced, this website is a welcomed addition for beginning the transition to civilian employment or, for older veterans, re-employment.  It needs more marketing. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit: VA Revises Regulations on Reimbursement for Emergency Treatment of Veterans

[Editor’s Note:  The following is a press release from the VA partially correcting what has been a longstanding problem related to emergency care received outside of the VA.]

WASHINGTON — Today [10 January 2018] the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has, through a Federal Register notice, revised its regulations concerning payment or reimbursement for emergency treatment for non-service connected conditions at non-VA facilities. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

Forward Observer: VA’s RAMP Is Bad News – Do Not File a Claim This Way!

LVMAC Poster Art 2005On 29 January 2018, the Ms. Kelsey Yoon, the national director for the Veterans Benefits Program (VBP) of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), wrote the state councils of her organization to provide general guidance on the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) put in place by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as one of the means to produce faster turnaround times for compensation claims, thereby reducing the backlog continuing to plague the VA.  The letter was disturbing, and we believe it important to spread word of its contents to a wider audience, since it may affect you or one of your loved ones.  The following is an extracted from her letter: (more…)

By LVMAC, ago