History
The United States has the most comprehensive system and programs of assistance for Veterans of any nation in the world. The first domiciliary, a residential home for Veterans was authorized by the Federal Government in 1811. After the Civil War, President Lincoln made a promise to care for widows, orphans and injured soldiers; many State veterans homes were established to care for indigent and disabled veterans. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Congress established a new system of Veterans’ benefits, including the addition of disability compensation and vocational rehabilitation. In the 1920s, the ever-increasing benefits were administered by three different Federal agencies: the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department, the Veterans Bureau, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. The establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when Congress authorized President Herbert Hoover to consolidate the programs for Veterans into one government bureau. The Veterans Administration took over the responsibility of the National Cemetery System from the Department of the Army in 1973, but in 1989, President Bush established the Department of Veteran Affairs as a Cabinet-level position. President Bush was quoted as saying; "There is only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States of America." (United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 2010)
Structure
The mission statement of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is, “To fulfill President Lincoln's promise ‘To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan’ by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s vete...
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...he VA values diversity, innovation and professional growth, and contributing to the education of medical personnel. The established hierarchy creates accountability at all levels with a clearly defined budget process.
Works Cited
Department of Veteran Affairs. (1997). Master Agreement between he Department of Veteran Affairs and the American Federation of Government Employees (VA Pamphlet 05-68). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
Office of Management and Budget. (2011). Budget of the United States Government: Fiscal Year 2012. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/veterans.pdf
United States Department of Veteran Affairs. (2010). About VA. Retrieved from http://www.va.gov/about_va.asp
United States Department of Veteran Affairs. (2010). Budget Report. Retrieved from http://www.va.gov/budget/report/
For a school project we interviewed veterans and reflected on those interviews, I gained a better understanding of how to answer the question: why are veterans important to us. Veterans remind us of the horrors of war, of the innocent lives that were lost, and the millions of people those lost lives affected. Each of those veterans that we see has served our country fighting not only for our rights but also for the rights of those across the world. They chose to leave their families, jobs, and life back home to go and make sure that those human rights were being maintained across the world. That sacrifice of leaving everything behind is mind blowing.
America is the land of opportunity and the land of second chances. People come to America to live a better life, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. When Veterans come back home, all they want is a second chance at life again. They want to come back and be able to start from where they left off. But the government has done very little to help these veterans. The government believes they have done enough with the programs they have created, but it hasn’t had much of a change. The purpose of this essay is to discuss my opinion and what I know about this issue, to benefit The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who are my intended audience. If the government were to put a lot of effort, like they do for pointless issues, there wouldn’t be many struggling veterans. If the government does more to improve every aspect of the reintegration process of veterans, so many benefits would come out of this action. There are a couple of reasons for why we should work toward improving veterans lives. First, there would possibly be a decrease in the veteran suicide levels and a decrease in the substance abuse aspect. Second, less veterans and families will have to worry about living and struggling with mental illnesses. Third, by improving the economical aspect for these veterans, more will find jobs and less will end up on the street homeless. And lastly, the reintegration process won’t be as hard for these veterans, and they will be able to resume a normal life. This essay is not meant to offend in any way, its purpose is to provide a new perspective over this issue, to cause a change for the better.
The federal government desire to help veterans by providing health medical services without any fee at any Veterans Hospital.
United States Government Accountability Office (2011). Veterans' Education Benefits: Enhanced Guidance and Collaboration Could Improve Administration of the Post-9/11 Program (GAO-11-356R). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
It was once assumed that the government would provide services for veterans, but nonprofit organizations and communities have been picking up the slack to help veterans get back on their feet after returning home. The government is dependent on nonprofit organizations to supply veterans and their families with the necessary goods and services. The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an organization that provides services for veterans and their families. The WWP focuses on mind, body, economic empowerment, and engagement, all things that help veterans through post-war symptoms (The Wounded Warrior Project). The government is recommending giving less housing allowances, limiting pay raises, and having higher fees for health care benefits; other cuts would include stores being unable to give discounts to military families (Nissenbaum and Barnes). The amount of money veterans receive for housing, health care, and retirement is being cut left and right by the government and the money is being used and put towards other departments. In California, The County Veterans Service Officers Inc. plays a very important role in verterans’ lives (California Association of County Veterans Service Officers, Inc.) Many organizations help veterans who are in need of services because our government is not always able to provide...
2. United State Department of Veteran’s Affairs. October 5, 2011. Grant and Per Diem Program. November 8, 2011. .
“Factors Affecting Health Care” (50-55) Demonstrates the sacrifices and how difficult it is for veterans to receive healthcare from the Department of Veteran Affairs.
"Homeless Veterans Programs | Military.com." Homeless Veterans Programs. Http://m.military.com/, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.” The VA, who was formerly called the Veterans Administration, was established 21 July 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA encompassed the functions of the former U.S. Veterans' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective 15 March 1989 (V.A.)
The VA (Veterans Affair) Health Care System is one of the largest, most advanced health care networks in the U.S. The VA Health Care System is the provider for veterans, retirees and their dependents and manages all their health care. The VA Health Care is actually one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is also VA Benefits Administration which has to do with compensations and pensions. Then the other part of the VA is the National Cemetery Administration which is in charge of the cemeteries and providing burial and memorial benefits. All these parts make up the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA History)
How is it that the nation with the most comprehensive system of assistance for its veterans has failed so miserably in caring for their health and medical needs? The VA health services system was established in 1921, after the end of WWI as the U.S. Veterans Bureau (Shonick 1995) to provide inpatient, outpatient, and long term care programs for veterans that had medical conditions as a result of their military service. Today services are provided to veterans for all health issues whether military related or not at over 152 medical centers, in addition to nearly 1400 community-based outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers and Domiciliaries. Together these health care facilities provide care to more than 8.3 million veterans
Whitehouse, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 1 Jan. 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .
As their “mission statement” states, “(our goal is) To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans.”. They would like to honour those who fought for our country. The department has been around for 87 years and was originally put into place by president Herbert Hoover who signed Executive Order 5398. The department is currently run by the secretary of veteran affairs who was David Shulkin until march 28th in which he was dismissed. There are a few problems with the site including there are no named authors, however, we do know there are very vivid hiring processes for the federal government. Acording to Business insider, 3 employees are currently being idited for accepting bribes but saying, "The Company is actively reviewing the information outlined in the indictment. Furthermore, the Company has fully cooperated with the VA Office of Inspector General, which conducted the investigation in this matter. The Company will continue to cooperate fully with all legal and regulatory
This bill was introduced to “enforce the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to conduct annual evaluations of mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” In essence, it was proposed because of the high suicide rates that occur with veterans and as a way to help those individuals with increase access to better quality health care and ultimately decrease the statistics of veteran suicide. The bill wants to propose three different acts if passed. First it would like to increase health care by programs, peer community groups, and online resources to help individuals going through mental trauma. Secondly, it wants to start a program to pay the college loans of students in psychiatry in order to easier recruit
The word "veteran" for the purpose of this article refers to a person who has served with the Armed Forces of the nation or of the states. The military is comprised of 12 Service branches: five Active Duty and seven part-time duties – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. Obviously, I think we all understand the Active Duty portion of our military.