California Veterans! Ask Questions Now! Do You Have Benefits Questions? Need Peer Support?
You can ask questions to the following people:
» BG Mike Eastman - Advisor, ETS Sponsorship
» Justin Monk - VP of Government Affairs, Student Veterans of America
» SGT Jim Zenner - Veteran Peer Access Network, LA County Department of Mental Health
» Rebecca Brenen - VSCM, LA VA Regional Office
» SPC Kathy Cash - Certified Peer Specialist, HUD VASH Program
» Erin O'Rourke - Operations Associate, Team Rubicon
» Jeanette Gilles - Deputy Director Community Integration, America’s Warrior Partnership
» MSgt Adam Castillo - Program Manager, Veteran Peer Access Network (VPAN)
» Coleton Whitaker - Director of Programs, Elizabeth Dole Foundation
» Staci H. - Senior Manager of Volunteers and Partnerships, Blue Star Families
» Melissa Comeau - Director, American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network
» Natalie Souza - AVSCM, LA VA Regional Office
» Danielle Bracco - Director of Operations, ETS Sponsorship Program
» 1SG Zelda Davis - Management Analyst, VA
» CPL Lance Iunker - CalVet LINC, San Diego
» Pamela Redwine - Coach, Public Contact, LA Regional Office, VA
https://v2.waitwhile.com/lists/vba-departmentofvete/join
A representative will contact you at the time of your choosing and can assist you with your claim.
Waitwhile: Next Gen Waitlist App, Appointment & Queue Management
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Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
Since 2005, VHA has been actively building the peer specialist profession. What started with 50 Veterans in peer specialist roles grew to 300 by 2012, located at various VA facilities across the country. In August of 2012, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order, which contained a requirement to “…hire and train 800 Peer to Peer Counselors to empower Veterans to support other Veterans and help meet mental health care needs.” Over the next year, the Peer Support Services Section of the VHA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention worked with partners in VA and the community to ensure hiring standards, training options, and position descriptions would be sent out to all VA facilities who would be adding peer specialists to their teams. They also worked with community partners who provide the peer specialist certification training needed for the peer specialist role in VHA. More than 900 peer specialists were hired into VHA prior to the end of 2013. There are currently over 1200 peer specialists employed across the country. Approximately 20% of peer specialists are women, which exceeds the ratio of female to male Veterans using VHA services. The size of the peer specialist workforce in VHA and the program locations where they work are continuing to grow in VHA over time.
Peer specialists in VHA are US military Veterans who self-identify with a lived experience of recovery from a mental health condition. They have been trained to help other Veterans with similar experiences to identify and achieve specific life and recovery goals. A peer specialist is a Veteran who is actively engaged in his/her own recovery and wellness and provides peer support services to other Veterans who use VA health care services.
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Also I am interested in employment with the VA to help with the backlog of claims. Is there any positions that can work remotely to help with the claim backlog? How to I apply for these positions?
Thanks
Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
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There are two important changes to note in the last year or so. The first is back in June 2020, the Carr v. Wilkie case forced VA to provide benefits beyond the 48-month cap in certain situations. (Here's VA's Facebook post explaining it: https://www.facebook.com/gibillEducation/photos/a [login to see] 2661615/ [login to see] 556615)
The second is from this past April, where VA independently changed their intrepretation of the same underlying law (38 USC 3695) and removed Ch. 31 from the cap on education benefits. So, previously, if you used Ch. 31 or Ch. 33 it counted against the other towards that cap. With the April change, Ch. 31 has its own limit (subject to certain extensions) and all other education benefits (Ch. 33, 30, etc.) have their own separate 48-month cap.
The important thing to note is that the language of the statute (38 USC 3695) only allows this separation of benefits in one direction. That is, it allows Ch. 31 to be used to its cap BEFORE Ch. 33 (or other education benefits) are used to their own cap. If Ch. 33 benefits are used before Ch. 31, it lowers the overall 48-month cap on BOTH benefits. (Here's another fact sheet from VA that explains this: https://www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/docs/48_Month_Rule_FAQs.pdf)
I hope that's helpful, and please let me know if I need to better explain anything. It's wonky stuff, so I may not have been as clear as I could've been. Also, you can reach me directly at [login to see] .
Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
Waitwhile: Next Gen Waitlist App, Appointment & Queue Management
Waitwhile is a virtual waitlist app and scheduling software that lets you create the customer experience of the future
If there were an organization that the DAV would both identify and support as the National Center of Excellence for PTSD, I would have thought that would be the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. Just as puzzling, what is the plan for the VA to acknowledge the care received @ Save A Warrior and authorize said organization as a treatment facility for veterans with Complex PTSD? It seems that Public Law Public Law 104-191, The Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access To Care, And Treatment Act Of 2020 would be a logical place for Save A Warrior's program to be reviewed, a pilot created and subsequently funded. This Save A Warrior organization started right here in California and still operates here today.
DAV’s Charitable Service Trust provides a $1M grant to support veterans suicide prevention
COLD SPRING, KY., Nov. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Charitable Service Trust has awarded a $1 million grant to Save...
The American Legion has a medical marijuana-related resolutions passed by the National Executive Committee:
Resolution 11 was passed during the Legion's 2016 National Convention in Cincinnati. The resolution calls on the Drug Enforcement Agency to license privately funded medical marijuana production operations in the United States to enable safe and efficient cannabis drug development research; and urging Congress to remove marijuana from Schedule I and reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value for treatment of PTSD and pain relief.
Save A Warrior (SAW) provides an innovative and effective "war detox" program for Warriors suffering from Post Traumatic Stress. While nearly two dozen Warriors lose their battles to PTS each day, our program gives them a fighting chance at recovery.
MISSION GET INVOLVED TEAM We are an advocacy group of Veterans for Veterans who use medical cannabis. We provide education, safe access, information on VA resources and benefits, employment and networking opportunities in the cannabis industry, and support veteran owned cannabis businesses from cultivation to retail. (Veterans Cannabis Group
Dial 1-877-4AID-VET ( [login to see] ) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless, displaced and at-risk Veterans
Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends
Visit https://www.va.gov/homeless/ for more information
Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.
Peer support services is an integral component of recovery-oriented care in VHA. Peer specialists work in outpatient, inpatient, and residential mental health services as well as in homelessness programs and primary care teams across the VA health care system. They work alongside other health care professionals and bring a unique perspective to the interdisciplinary treatment teams. The expertise of peer specialists is founded in their personal experiences of overcoming challenges with their mental health and wellness, resulting in them successfully living in recovery in their daily lives. Peer specialists have been trained to use their personal lived experiences with recovery to promote hope and help Veterans with mental health conditions to identify and achieve self-determined goals for recovery and personal wellness.
Veterans may request a referral for peer support services from their VA health care provider.
Dial 1-800-MyVA411 is a national, toll-free number that serves as a “front door” to VA.
Peer support services is an integral component of recovery-oriented care in VHA. Peer specialists work in outpatient, inpatient, and residential mental health services as well as in homelessness programs and primary care teams across the VA health care system. They work alongside other health care professionals and bring a unique perspective to the interdisciplinary treatment teams. The expertise of peer specialists is founded in their personal experiences of overcoming challenges with their mental health and wellness, resulting in them successfully living in recovery in their daily lives. Peer specialists have been trained to use their personal lived experiences with recovery to promote hope and help Veterans with mental health conditions to identify and achieve self-determined goals for recovery and personal wellness.
Veterans may request a referral for peer support services from their VA health care provider.
2021-VA-BenefitsHandBook.pdf