Veterans Services

Forward Observer — The Spending of Your Veterans Trust Fund Donations

LVMAC Poster Art 2005In 2012 the Veterans Trust Fund was established in Pennsylvania.  We thought you might want to know how it is being used this year.

In 2015, fifty-five organizations applied for grants, the sum of which would have amounted to nearly $4.7 million in funding for veterans’ services and programs. Of these, ten grants were subsequently awarded.  Since all were competing for $350,000 in grant money, there is an implication: there are needs state government is failing to recognize through the usual means. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

Forward Observer — Put the Bastards in Jail

LVMAC Poster Art 2005We have written before concerning the presence of scamming when it comes to veterans.  You would think us targeted prey because it is an ongoing and widespread problem nationally.  Pennsylvania’s Office of Attorney General, specifically its relatively new Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, has become more involved of late — an indication that the problem is particularly acute in the commonwealth.

PWVC Wanted Poster May2015Now we hear that some firms and persons in Pennsylvania, veterans among them, are charging for filing a VA compensation or pension claim for a veteran or a survivor.  (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

Forward Observer — The VA Fixes the Veterans Choice Card’s “How the Crow Flies” Issue

LVMAC Poster Art 2005Few doubt that Congress had a point in wanting the Veterans Choice Card provision in the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA) — excessive delays in service merited this temporary measure — but it seems also to have  rushed the Department of Veterans Affairs, whether unfairly or not.  In its haste to respond to short deadlines, the VA has made some poor regulatory decisions along the way. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit — Treatment Trends Seeks Case Manager for Veterans

TTI LogoVeterans Sanctuary is dead, killed off by a lack of government-private sector cooperation, but Treatment Trends, Inc. persists in seeking ways to assist those veterans with profound drug and alcohol programs find a better life.  Now it is seeking a Veterans Treatment Case Manager to aid veterans who are receiving addiction treatment in Keenan House and the Halfway Home of the Lehigh Valley in an effort to help them access community health, veterans support services, social and VA services.  This part of a “veterans track” effort within the organization and has been recognized by the Office of Veterans Affairs, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs with grant funding. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit — Permanent Employment for the Chronically Unemployed?

Lehigh Conf of ChurchesOne of the smaller, gold-nugget programs we help fund as part of our effort to assist veterans is Lehigh Conferences of Church’s Permanent Employment Program (PEP) because its vision entails assisting “chronically unemployed individuals to search for, and obtain, meaningful employment by providing barrier assessment, education, case management, and subsidized work experiences in the Lehigh Valley” – in other words, a holistic, work-oriented approach. In so doing, it can take a veteran who was once unemployed to a state of self-sufficiency through meaningful, permanent employment which does not have to be subsidized. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit — PTSD/Co-Occurring Disorder Vet Grant Opportunity, Short Notice

Frankly, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seems poor in distributing word or notifying of grant opportunities in the veterans arena.  As a consequence, this grant opportunity has been extended beyond its original 13 or 14 February deadline.  So, we are taking the unusual step of trying to spread the word, since they have only extended the deadline to 27 February.

An extension has been given to the following grant:

The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) is announcing the availability of up to $750,000 in competitive grants from funds appropriated for Veterans outreach and shall be used for programs providing treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse for Veterans. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit — Home-based Primary Care Program Begins at the Allentown VA Clinic!

va_sealAbout September 2014, the Allentown Outpatient Clinic began offering Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) according to Dr. Adelman, the new Director of the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center.  He announced it during an 18 December meeting of the Veterans Advisory Group at the clinic.

The mission of HBPC is to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary primary care in the homes of veterans with complex medical conditions when routine, clinic-based care would not be effective or practicable. Consequently, the program focuses on the frail and chronically ill who require interdisciplinary care and ensures the necessary continuity and coordination of the care occurs at home as much as possible. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbit — VA and Blue Star Mothers Chatting on 17 December About CHAMPVA!

va_sealAre you the spouse or child of a Veteran?  You may qualify for the Civilian Health and Medical Program of VA (CHAMPVA), which can reimburse you for doctor’s visits, mental health care, prescriptions, and many other services.  Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center would like you to know that on Wednesday, December 17, 2014, from 7–8 p.m. Eastern, VA and Blue Star Families (a nonprofit organization not related to Blue Star Mothers) will host a Facebook chat about VA benefits for Veterans’ spouses, dependents, and survivors.  Anyone with a Facebook account can take part and it is not too late to sign up.  The instructions follow: (more…)

By LVMAC, ago