The Quad Cities Veterans Experience Action Center (VEAC) will be July 19 and 20 in Davenport, Iowa. The event brings VA, Veteran service organizations, community service providers and other government partners together to provide services, resources and information directly to Veterans and military families in their community.
Billboards are up and the word is out on the Quad Cities Veterans Experience Action Center on July 19 and 20 in Davenport, Iowa.
“The VEAC set the gold standard taking care of Veterans. These action centers reduce anxiety and allow Veterans to cut to the chase and get the benefits they deserve,” said Dom, a U.S. Army Veteran attending a Veterans Experience Action Center in Goldsboro, North Carolina earlier this year.
Veterans and families will be able to file claims and receive decisions on site, obtain Veteran service organization representation, receive counseling services through the mobile Vet Center and learn about many other community resources.
Over the two days, more than 30 community partner organizations and dozens of VA staff will serve hundreds of Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.
Services offered from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. include:
- VA benefits compensation and pension claims
- Wellness exams, on-site enrollment in VA health care benefits
- Social services, including caregiver support and home health care
- Mental health counseling and opioid safety education
- Homeless, low-income housing and vocational support services
- Volunteer and employment opportunities
- Vocational rehabilitation, loan guarantee and education services
- VA Mobile Vet Center
- VA national Cemetery Administration Memorial Benefits
- Services from community partners including: Information and referrals, legal services
- Resilience and preparedness information
Planning for this particular Veterans Experience Action Center started in May 2018 in collaboration with the Veterans Experience Office, the National Cemetery Administration, VA Regional Offices, Iowa City VA, the local Vet Center, two Community Veteran Engagement Boards, the Rock Island Arsenal, UnityPoint Health, the United Way, St. Ambrose University and many more.
”Veterans get lots of info, with claims, appeals and face-to-face time with a VBA rater. Even if the Veteran is denied they leave satisfied, knowing why and next steps, this (VEACs) should be the national model.”
Tresa, Air Force Veteran and DAV service officer
Feedback from those who attended Veterans Experience Action Centers to provide help, or from those who were there seeking information and assistance, is that often times Veterans and their families are unsure of what is out there as far as benefits and services and how to get them. Attending a Veterans Experience Action Center empowers Veterans with same day answers.
For more information on the Quad Cities Veterans Experience Action Center visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/316203322587430/.
The Veterans Experience Office is working alongside communities to plan several more Veterans Experience Action Centers including San Juan, Puerto Rico, September 4-6; and Cary, North Carolina, September 18-21, 2019.
If you are interested in supporting a VEAC in your community send an email to vet-friendlycommunities@va.gov.
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Having the staff to process benefit claims at one place and get approval is a big ++ for VA. The ability for a Vet to sit down and make sure that there is no misunderstandings in a claim will make sure that errors are prevented before they occur, as well as the rating official being able to insure that every thing necessary for the claims approval is communicated to the Vet. I think the only thing that would help to improve this would be that a medical professional who is familiar with the Vet is present and able to complete any necessary examinations to determine the outcome.
VA can do this everywhere. They can put rating officials at every location that primary care is provided to vets. Properly implemented, this would make a huge dent in appeals as well and justify the costs of increasing the number of rating officials and establishing a communications network to a single, integrated, processing center instead of having it all done at the VISN level. With current levels of technology, we don’t have to have regional centers any longer because information transfers are almost instantaneous across the nation.
Holding on to the status quo only insures that the problem with appeals and applications only continue. There have been a few steps to alter that status quo but the facts about what is happening shows that the numbers have not really dropped, but instead remained the same. I think that a major change like this would fix the system instead of shuffle the problem about.