Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 12-10-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Shinseki Announces that VA Has Begun A National Survey Of Veterans. 
2. VA’s Under Secretary for Health Nominee Looks To Shake Things Up At VA. 
3. House-Senate Conference Committee Reaches Agreement On Military Construction-VA Spending Bill.
4. Congress Must Quickly Work Out Differences On Veterans Caregiver Legislation. 
5. Website Offers Chance To Vote On Ideas That Would Save Federal Government Money.
6. Post-Traumatic May Harm Children’s Brains.
7. Honoring Homeless Veterans Assistance Team.
8. Condolence Letter Policy Being Reviewed By White House.
9. VA Study To Focus On Female Vietnam Vets
10. Magnificent Afghanistan: Music Video’s 1960’s Sentiment Confronts War’s Reality

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
The Women Veterans Health Strategic Health Care Group strives to deliver exceptional customer service for women veterans, so the response time to questions submitted through the Inquiry Routing and Information System (IRIS) is something the team monitors closely. IRIS is the system through which veterans can send questions directly to the VA, and the required turnaround time for a response is five business days. In Fiscal Year 2009, Women Veterans Health Care’s average response time to IRIS inquiries—from assignment to closure—was less than 1.5 days for 437 inquiries. How does that stack up? When compared to 168 responder groups within Veterans Health, Women Veterans Health Care had the fifth highest number of inquiries for Fiscal Year 2009. When compared to 10 other Veterans Health groups for Fiscal Year 2009—and with inquiries ranging from 200 to nearly 500—Women Veterans Health Care set the benchmark for response time. What is your team’s average response time?

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1.      Shinseki Announces that VA Has Begun A National Survey Of Veterans.  Prattville (AL) Progress‘ (12/10) Reports, "Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a national survey of veterans, active duty service members, activated National Guard and reserve members, and family members and survivors to learn if they are aware of VA services. VA’ final report on the survey is set for release by December 2010."  

2.      VA’s Under Secretary for Health Nominee Looks To Shake Things Up At VA.  Air Force Times (12/10, Maze) Dr. Robert Petzel, the Obama Administration’s nominee to run the Veterans Affairs health care system, "says he is looking to shake things up in the nation’s largest integrated medical system." On Wednesday, Petzel, "who has 35 years of experience in VA, told a Senate committee that he would bring an ‘innovative and creative approach’ to veterans health programs if confirmed as VA undersecretary for health.   

3.      House-Senate Conference Committee Reaches Agreement On Military Construction-VA Spending Bill. CQ (12/10, Donnelly) reports, "A House-Senate conference committee finished work late Tuesday on a final spending bill for veterans and military construction programs for fiscal 2010 that would provide slightly more money than President Obama requested and considerably more than last year’s appropriation." The committee "settled on $78 billion as a total amount of discretionary funding in the bill (HR 3288), just above" the President’s "$77.7 billion request and 7 percent more than the $72.9 billion appropriated for fiscal 2009."  Also noted,  that the conference measure would  provide money for homeless veterans and veterans’ outpatient clinics in rural areas.  

4.      Congress Must Quickly Work Out Differences On Veterans Caregiver Legislation.  Army Times (12/10, Maze, 104K)  Column states "A group of 19 military, veterans and medical organizations are urging Congress to quickly work out differences on legislation that would provide new benefits to caregivers of severely disabled veterans.  Families are waiting for the desperately needed help. ‘We stand ready to assist you in moving this vital legislation,’ the groups said in a collective Dec. 9 letter that comes as House and Senate leaders are planning their schedules for the final days of the 2009 legislative session." Congressional aides "said the staffs of the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees are trying to work out differences between the Senate’s Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Services Act and the House’s Caregivers Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act.  
 

5.      Website Offers Chance To Vote On Ideas That Would Save Federal Government Money. The Washington Post (12/10, O’Keefe, 684K) asks, "Want to help the federal government save some money? Make sure to vote Thursday" for the SAVE Award, at SAVEAward.gov. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) launched the award "in September, an effort to solicit cost-savings ideas from federal employees. The agency received more than 38,000 submissions from workers.  The White House announced four finalists Monday." One of those finalists, Nancy Fichtner, works at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Grand Junction, Colo. Her suggestion is for the department to permit veterans leaving VA hospitals to take any leftover medication home with them."  

6.      Post-Traumatic May Harm Children’s Brains. , CNN (12/9, Landau) Reported on its website, "Psychological trauma may leave a visible trace in a child’s brain, scientists say" In a new study. The study, published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, "found that children with symptoms of post-traumatic stress had poor function of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that stores and retrieves memories." CNN added, "Of youths who have experienced a traumatic event, 3 percent to 15 percent of girls and 1 percent to 6 percent of boys could get a PTSD diagnosis, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. By contrast, an estimated 6.8 percent of the adult American population has had PTSD at some point, the department said." 

7.      Honoring Homeless Veterans Assistance Team. The Temple (TX) Daily Telegram (12/10, Gibbs, 19K)  Paula Wood, supervisor and coordinator of the Central Texas Health Care for Homeless Veterans program, and her staff reach out to homeless veterans every day. Last month, their work was recognized" by the Department of Veterans Affairs "when the team received the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Service for Homeless Veterans. The Central Texas staff of caseworkers and social workers deserves the award, Wood said, because they’ve worked hard and are committed to helping the homeless."
            The Temple (TX) Daily Telegram (12/10, Gibbs, 19K) reports, "The makeup of homeless veterans seeking help has changed drastically in the last six months, with many more families seeking assistance. The Central Texas VA system has received 210 vouchers" from the "Department of Housing and Urban Development of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing program." The vouchers "will be used to house homeless veterans in VA selected apartment units." 

8.      Condolence Letter Policy Being Reviewed By White House. The AP (12/10) reports, "The White House says it is reviewing a long-standing policy that prevents President Barack Obama from sending a condolence letter to families of service members who have committed suicide. Some families want the policy overturned and are lobbying the White House to do so." On Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs "said…that the policy is under review.  Stating the president requested the…review because he cares about service members who take their own lives."
  

9.      VA Study To Focus On Female Vietnam Vets. The Arizona Daily Star (12/10, Alaimo, 110K) reports, "For the next four years," the Federal "government will be paying closer attention to veterans like Ellen Glenn of Tucson. The retired Air Force nurse is one of thousands of military women who served overseas during the Vietnam War — a target group soon to be the focus of a $5.6-million study" by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. About "10,000 such veterans will receive phone calls, questionnaires — with results compared against their medical records — to help the agency assess the long-term effects their wartime service has had on their physical and emotional health. The results will be used to improve VA care for women who served in Vietnam and also to tailor research and services for female troops serving in current and future wars." 

10.    Magnificent Afghanistan: Music Video’s 1960’s Sentiment Confronts War’s Reality.  Salem-News. (12/10) On December 1st I told our viewers about a new Afghan War protest song under production, based on the catchy lyrics of the Country Joe McDonald song, Vietnam Rag: "Feels Like I’m Fixing to Die" – made famous during Woodstock.