VA HQ Veterans News for Monday, August, 15, 2011.  Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ.

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• 1.     Invisible women: The number of homeless female veterans outpaces help.  Fayetteville Observer  Veterans Affairs is taking the lead on homelessness among its veteran population in part because of an agencywide push that began in 2009, when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki declared that the VA would seek to end homelessness among veterans by 2015. ... 
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• 2.     Plan to help vets use benefits builds.  The Columbian  Washington has 640000 military veterans undefined about 10 percent of the state's population. Allman said the program has helped move about 10000 Washington veterans and their family members to the federal Veterans Affairs health-care system. ... 
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• 3.     Alexandria VA Medical Center adding services, looking for volunteers.  Alexandria Town Talk  Tia Owens-Powers/ towens@thetowntalk.com Gracie Specks was named director of the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Pineville in July 2010. She is a native of Ruston and graduate of Grambling State University. ... 
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• 4.     Dogs help veterans with PTSD cope, improve.  York Daily Record  Little study exists on the effectiveness of dog training in treating PTSD, because "it's still too new," said Tom Murray, a readjustment counseling therapist and a licensed clinical social worker with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. ... 
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• 5.     Veterans' groups are frustrated by scams that prey on patriotism.  TheDay.com  Blumenthal said he would consult the US Department of Veterans' Affairs and Federal Trade Commission about stronger laws to protect against scams. Blumenthal likened the scams to those that flowered in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and more recently ... 
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• 6.     For disabled vets seeking tax relief, the wait is over.  The Virginian-Pilot  In order to get the best experience with our full-size images, you should enable JavaScript in your browser. Mark Jacobs, a PTSD-disabled veteran, poses for a photo at his home in Hampton, Va., on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. He doesn't want other veterans ...
  
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• 7.     Agent Orange buried on Okinawa, vet says.  The Japan Times  Since his exposure to the defoliant's dioxin during the salvage operation, the veteran has suffered serious illnesses, including strokes and chloracne. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) undefined which handles compensation for ailing service members ... 
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• 8.     Services availble to veterans through number of programs.  PNW Local News  Part of providing those services is making sure that veterans know they are available. Veterans services are provided by county, state and federal agencies, most notably the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the VA. It's opening a new office in the ... 
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• 9.     Man gets jail time for false mileage claims.  Bellingham Herald  Michael Edward Harrison received the jail time in US District Court for his earlier guilty pleas to four counts of making a false claim for travel benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Once released, Harrison will be under court ... 
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• 10. Federal, local officials hail construction of new VA clinic in Jacksonville.  Florida Times-Union  The clinic will provide 90 percent of a veteran's daily care, Shinseki said. It will also benefit from $284 million the VA has spent on telemedicine technology the past two years to connect local physicians with experts at larger facilities. ... 
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• 11. Helping Hometown Heroes.  TribLocal  The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs is hosting a free Helping Our Hometown Heroes benefits fair that will offer veterans a chance to learn about the benefits they have earned. The fair will bring federal, state and local agencies and ... 
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• 12. Woman speaks out about rights involving service animals after incident at fair.  Chillicothe Gazette  The US Department of Veterans Affairs has been placing more service animals with veterans in recent years. Both Lucas and Newstrom think veterans are more likely to be asked for identification because they often have the animals for "invisible" ...
  

13. White House Rural Council Delivers Report On Rural America. Whitehouse.gov Previewing next week's White House Rural Economic Forum at Northeast Iowa Community College as part of President Obama's three-day Midwestern bus tour, offers a lengthy round-up of administration activities and initiatives on rural issues. The list includes events by Secretary Shinseki last month in North Dakota and Montana, and upcoming appearance in Nevada (August 17), Nebraska (August 19), Minnesota (August 31) and Iowa (September 1).

14. Disabled Veterans Recover, Find Employment Through Farming. WFGA-TV The Veterans Farm, founded by a former Army sergeant injured in Iraq, that gives area veterans a chance to learn about agriculture, earn money and participate in "agriculture therapy" for PTSD.

15. Vietnam Veteran Uses Comics To Recount War Experience. AP  Don Lomax, the creator of Vietnam Journal, a comic which "offers an honest depiction of the Vietnam War," drawing on his experience there. Introduced in 1987, the comic "chronicles the lives and events of soldiers on the front line during Vietnam."

16. Army Reports Record Suicide Numbers For July. Stars and Stripes  "As many as 32 soldiers killed themselves in July, the Army reported Friday, a figure that, if confirmed, would be the highest total since the Army began releasing the figures in 2009. The Army suffered 31 suicides in June 2010. Among active-duty troops, three of 22 cases have been confirmed as suicides. Of 10 potential suicide cases among reserve troops, all remain under investigation, the Army said."

17. Vermont High Court: Disability Payments Aren't Part Of Garnishment Calculations. Leagle, Inc.  The Supreme Court of Vermont, in Cote v. Cote, decided August 12, overturned a lower court's inclusion of veterans' disability payments within the total income of a husband whose Social Security payments were being garnished after he failed to make court-ordered alimony payments. The Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act caps at 55% the percentage of aggregate disposal earnings that may be garnished; by including the husband's monthly $2,721vetrans' disability payment within its calculation of his aggregate disposal earnings, the lower court had garnished his entire $1,569 Social Security payment. The state Supreme Court ruled, however, that veterans' disability payments were not "remuneration for employment" within the meaning of federal law, and therefore should not be counted. As a result, 55% of the husband's Social Security payment was all that could be garnished.

18. New Law To Improve Veterans' Voting Rights. Carol Stream (IL) Press  "A new Illinois law will soon ensure residents at federal veterans facilities have the same voting options and assistance offered at statewide veterans facilities and nursing homes. Senate Bill 98 was signed into law this week" and takes effect on January 1, 2012.

19. Federal, Local Officials Hail Construction Of New VA Clinic In Jacksonville.  Florida Times-Union On Thursday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki "presided over the ceremonial ground breaking for the Jacksonville Replacement Clinic, a $35 million, 133,500-square-foot facility that will serve up to 35,000 veterans a year. About 200 veterans, city, state and federal officials attended the event on North Jefferson Street." In attendance was US Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) and Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, who both talked about how the new facility will benefit area veterans. The Times-Union adds, "The department will close the existing clinic near downtown but maintain a Southside facility it has been leasing for almost two years."

20. Claim Payments For Three New "Agent Orange" Illnesses Surpass 84,000.  Stars And Stripes "More than 84,000 Vietnam veterans afflicted with heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B-cell leukemia are drawing disability compensation today thanks to a decision by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to expand the list of ailments presumed caused by exposure to herbicides, including Agent Orange, used during that war. Another 74,000 veterans have claims pending, and will only need to show VA that they set foot in Vietnam and have one of the diseases added last year to the list of Agent Orange 'presumptive' conditions." While such "payments comfort veterans and their families, they have upset some Republican senators who argue" that VA should not pay benefits if there is only an "association" between a disease and Agent Orange exposure, especially during a time when tough budget choices must be made.

21. Senators Call For Safe Housing For Women Veterans. CQ  "Sens. Richard J. Durbin and Patty Murray are calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure safe housing conditions for women veterans who are homeless, after a group of them was placed this year in a shelter that was found to be unsafe." In a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "on Thursday, the Democratic senators expressed disappointment over...VA's decision to place women veterans who were enrolled in the department's Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program in a homeless shelter in Chicago geared toward men." While VA said the women were relocated earlier this summer, the "senators called the incident 'unacceptable' and asked the department to report to Congress on the steps that have been taken to ensure such incidents are not repeated."

22. VA Secretary Makes Appearance In St. Louis. KSFX-TV Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki on Wednesday told "a crowd of veterans in St Louis" that "his administration is doing all it can to help them," including by expediting its benefit application process. The Secretary made his comments while speaking "at the AMVETS national convention going on this week in St. Louis, Missouri." Shinseki "also met with officials from the embattled John Cochran VA Hospital, saying he's pleased with the progress there."

23. Veterans Court Offers Treatment, Other Services. Thousand Oaks (CA) Acorn  "The judges of the Ventura Superior Court have established a Veterans Court that began hearing cases involving veterans of the US military as a pilot project in November 2010." The court is a "coordinated effort of the Ventura Superior Court, Department of Veterans Affairs and Ventura County district attorney, public defender and probation agency offices. Under the California Penal Code, defendants eligible for this court are US military veterans who would otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who committed a criminal offense as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse or psychological problem stemming from US military service."

24. Changes Coming To Post-9/11 GI Bill. Frederick (MD) News-Post Several "changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill just took effect, with a second wave of changes coming Oct. 1." One of the changes which went into effect at the beginning of this month is that private and "foreign tuition payments will be capped at $17,500 per academic year, except for those" although veterans in certain states will not be subject to the cap. Veterans Affair is "reaching out to veterans so they better understand these changes, and they're also reaching out to colleges to boost participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, where colleges and the VA help cover some of the additional costs of attending private and out-of-state institutions."

25. VA Adds Tablet Computers To Massive Technology Buy.  NextGov Reports, tablet "computers gained a spot on the Veterans Affairs Department's upcoming procurement of desktop, laptop and server computers." It is the "first large-scale buy of tablets in the federal government." Roger Baker, VA's chief information officer, "Baker said he expects the more than 200,000 employees in the Veterans Health Administration, including 17,000 doctors, will be early users of tablet computers."

26. Veterans Share Frustrations Over Filing Claims, Accessing Services.  Kitsap (WA) Sun"Ex-servicemembers applying for veterans' assistance face paperwork nightmares and long delays in getting help," while Federal "veterans assistance programs are skimpy on the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. That's what several people told US Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington on Thursday," at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 239 in Bremerton. According to the Sun, approximately "100 people attended a discussion of veterans issues with Murray," who is supporting a bill that "would require every departing service member to go through the Transition Assistance Program, which tackles resume writing, interviewing skills and job hunting."

27. Research Targets Veterans' Brain Damage.  St. Louis Post-Dispatch Researchers "at St. Louis University School of Medicine want to detect and categorize mild brain damage suffered in military combat" by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Dr. Richard Bucholz, director of the St. Louis University Advanced Neurological Innovation Center, is "leading the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Study, funded by $5.3 million from the Department of Defense."

28. ICD Shocks Again Linked To Mortality.  MedPageToday  "Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks may contribute to mortality risk, researchers suggested" in a study that appeared "online in Heart Rhythm." MedPage Today adds, "Patients who got a jolt of any kind from their ICD were 55% more likely to die over a nearly 4.5-year period than those who didn't (P=0.02), Merritt Raitt, MD, of the Oregon Health & Science University and VA Medical Center in Portland, and colleagues found."

29. Wounded Warrior Complex Symbolizes Covenant, Stanley Says.  American Forces Press Service  "The Wounded Warrior Barracks and Wounded Warrior Complex at the National Naval Medical Center...are symbols of the military covenant of caring for troops whether they are at home or deployed, and after hospital discharges, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness said" this week. The American Forces Press Service adds, "The new barracks and complex for wounded warrior care are provisions of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which consolidates NNMC and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the two military flagship hospitals."

30. New Challenges Face Health Care System Treating Women Veterans. Camp Pendleton (CA) Patch  "In a military healthcare system originally geared for men, are women veterans getting the health care they need? The Veterans Administration is doing a lot to ensure that they do, according to the July/August Women's Health Issues, a journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services." The Patch notes, however, that "female veterans also say the quality of care varies from VA hospital to hospital and clinic to clinic and that the battle for services geared for women has been hard-fought."

31. VA Seeking Mental Health Stories.  American Legion  The American Legion  is "asking its members planning on attending the 2011 National Convention in Minneapolis to share their stories of mental health treatment" with VA. The "American Legion Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division is working with VA on a mental health anti-stigma campaign called 'Make the Connection.' During the national convention, VA representatives will be in the convention center to interview American Legion members about their mental health treatment to encourage other veterans to reach out for assistance."

32. VA "Making Strides In Treating" PTSD.  WPTV-TV  VA is "making strides in treating" post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "after possibly missing it in older war veterans." Since "2004, federal funding has increased so much for PTSD treatment that...VA staff treating the disorder has doubled across the country." WPTV added, "At the West Palm Beach VA, PTSD treatment has its own specialized building."

33. Supporters Of Iraq Vet To Call For Better Suicide Prevention Efforts By US Military.  KOMO-TV  According to US Army veteran Mike Prysner, Sgt. Derrick Kirkland, who committed suicide after serving in Iraq, had been rated as low-risk for suicide by Madigan Army Hospital, despite having already tried to kill himself on three other occasions. Kirkland's "supporters say the Army cleared itself in an internal investigation, but they want the investigation reopened." Kirkland's supporters also "say it's going to take public pressure on the military" to get it to increase suicide prevention efforts. On Friday night, near the military base, those supporters will try to gain the military's attention by speaking out about their concerns.

34. VA Med Center May Become Home For Homeless Vets.  Dayton (OH) Daily News The Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center hopes by the end of this year to "find nonprofit partners to develop 29 acres on the southern and eastern side of its campus, addressing the Department of Veterans Affairs' top national goal of ending homelessness for veterans by 2015 while marking a return of permanent residential living to the site." St. Mary Development Corp., a "nonprofit neighborhood development agency, already has plans to build a $6.5 million, 67-unit low-income housing development on 6 acres on the southwest side of the campus. That project, endorsed by the VA, hinges on receipt of $4.8 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funding, plus tax credits."