Below is the annual listing of Veterans Day community outreach activities. Please feel free to share with fellow Veterans in your respective networks.  The includes free meals and other items for Veterans Day 2018. Participating restaurants include Applebee’s, Olive Garden, Golden Corral and more! The whole list is at this link: https://www.thespruce.com/veterans-day-free-meals-1357348?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

Best,

Bronwyn Emmet

Public Affairs Specialist

National Veterans Outreach Office

Department of Veterans Affairs

Explore VA today!  http://explore.va.gov/

VA amends regulations on VA pension and other needs-based programs

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently amended its regulations governing entitlements toVA pension andParents’ Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, which are need-based programs.  

“The amended regulations bring consistency to the pension process and ensure benefits are available for Veterans and survivors with financial need,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “They will help maintain the integrity of and provide clarity to our needs-based pension program.” 

VA’s pension program provides monthly benefit payments to eligible wartime Veterans and their survivors with financial need.

The pension regulations, which were updated Oct. 18, cover the following:

• Establish a clear net-worth limit for income and assets for Veterans to qualify for pension, 
• Establish a 36-month look-back period to review asset transfers at less than fair market value that reduce net worth and create pension entitlement, 
• Establish up to a five-year penalty period to be calculated based on the portion of thecovered assetsthat would have made net worth excessive, and 
• Updates medical expense definitions for consistency with VA internal guidelines.

The changes are intended to ensure VA only pays benefits to those Veterans with a genuine need.

For more information on VA’s pension program, visitwww.benefits.va.gov/PENSION/.

Sincerely,

Heather J. Patterson

Special Assistant to the VSO Liaison

Office of the Secretary

Department of Veterans  Affairs

Trump Administration announces decline in Veteran homelessness

Number of homeless Veterans drops 5.4% since last year and by nearly half since 2010

WASHINGTON — Veteran homelessness in the U.S. continues to decline, according to a new national estimate announced today by U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson.

HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report finds the total number of reported Veterans experiencing homelessness in 2018 decreased 5.4 percent since last year, falling to nearly half the number of homeless Veterans reported in 2010. 

In announcing the latest annual estimate, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie and HUD Secretary Ben Carson noted that local communities are reporting reductions in the number of Veterans in their shelter systems and on their streets. View local estimates of Veteran homelessness at this link.

“The reduction in homelessness among Veterans announced today shows that the strategies we are using to help the most vulnerable Veterans become stably housed are working,” said VA Secretary Wilkie. “This is good news for all Veterans.”

“We owe it to our Veterans to make certain they have a place to call home,” said HUD Secretary Carson. “We’ve made great strides in our efforts to end Veteran homelessness, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure those who wore our nation’s uniform have access to stable housing.”

“In ‘Home, Together,’ the new federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, we redouble our commitment to ending homelessness among Veterans and among all Americans,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “Working together at the federal, state and local level, we can and will continue to make progress until all Americans have a stable home from which they can pursue opportunity.”

Each year, thousands of local communities around the country conduct one-night “Point-in-Time” estimates of the number of persons experiencing homelessness — in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and in unsheltered locations. This year’s estimate finds 37,878 Veterans experienced homelessness in January 2018, compared with 40,020 reported in January 2017. HUD estimates among the total number of reported Veterans experiencing homelessness in 2018, 23,312 Veterans were found in sheltered settings, while volunteers counted 14,566 Veterans living in places not meant for human habitation.

HUD also reports a nearly 10 percent decline among female Veterans experiencing homelessness. In January 2018, local communities reported 3,219 homeless female Veterans compared with 3,571 one year earlier.

The decrease in Veteran homelessness can largely be attributed to the effectiveness of the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, which combines permanent HUD rental assistance with case management and clinical services provided by the VA. HUD-VASH is complemented by a continuum of VA programs that use modern tools and technology to identify the most vulnerable Veterans and rapidly connect them to the appropriate interventions to become and remain stably housed.

Last year alone, more than 4,000 Veterans, many experiencing chronic forms of homelessness, found permanent housing and critically needed support services through the HUD-VASH program. An additional 50,000 Veterans found permanent housing and supportive services through VA’s continuum of homeless programs. 

To date, 64 local communities and three states have declared an effective end to Veteran homelessness, creating systems to ensure that a Veteran’s homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time. For a map of the communities that have ended homelessness, go to this link.

HUD and VA have a wide range of programs that prevent and end homelessness among Veterans, including health care, housing solutions, job training and education. More information about VA’s homeless programs is available at VA.gov/homeless. More information about HUD’s program isavailable here. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless should contact their local VA Medical Center and ask to speak to a homeless coordinator or call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838).

Sincerely,

Heather J. Patterson

Special Assistant to the VSO Liaison

Office of the Secretary

Department of Veterans  Affairs

WASHINGTON — Yesterday evening President Donald J. Trump declared November 2018 the second annual National Veterans and Military Families Month to “salute the brave and dedicated patriots who have worn the uniform of the United States, and…celebrate the extraordinary military families whose selfless service and sacrifice make our military the finest in the world.”

Beginning in 2017, President Trump proclaimed November Veterans and Military Families Month, marking the first time America celebrated Veterans and military families for the entire month and not just on Veterans Day, in keeping with the President’s strong focus on improving care and benefits to our nation’s heroes.

That tradition continues again this year, with more than 300 events at VA hospitals, benefits offices and cemeteries across the country, including:

•                      • Senior leader visits to VA facilities

•                      • Open houses

•                      • Town halls

•                      • Benefits claims clinics

•                      • Volunteer recognitions

•                      • Homeless Veteran initiative events

•                      • Suicide-prevention events

•                      • Faith-based community events

•                      • Flag planting tributes at national cemeteries

In addition to the local and regional events across the country, VA is conducting a number of national events, including:

•                      • The annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and leadership breakfast at the National Press Club

•                      • White House hosting Veterans state and local leadership event Nov. 15

•                      • Expansion of the ChooseVA branding campaign

•                      • Legal Services Week during the first week of November, providing free legal services to Veterans in need

•                      • VetTalkX events in nine locations, which are TEDx-type local activities featuring key Veterans sharing their stories of post-military life and connecting Veterans with their communities, all to help bridge the civilian-military divide.

This year’s celebration of Veterans and Military Families Month caps an unprecedented period of improvement for VA, as the department has made groundbreaking progress over the last two years in the areas of accountability, transparency and efficiency across the department while enjoying an important series of legislative successes.

“At VA, Veterans and their families are at the center of everything we do,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. Veterans and Military Families Month is an opportunity for us to honor the service of these patriots while educating communities about VA benefits and services and our commitment to customer service improvement.”

The full list of national events for Veterans and Military Families month is available at this link.

Sincerely,

Heather J. Patterson

Special Assistant to the VSO Liaison

Office of the Secretary

Department of Veterans  Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2018

VA and IBM Watson Health Extend Partnership to Support Veterans With Cancer

WASHINGTON —  Today the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and IBM Watson Health announced the extension of a public-private partnership to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to help interpret cancer data in the treatment of Veteran patients.

First announced two years ago as part of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, VA oncologists have now used IBM Watson for Genomics technology to support precision oncology care for more than 2,700 Veterans with cancer.

Precision oncology is the practice of biologically directed cancer care. For example, the mutations in a cancer's genome (the cancer's DNA) can significantly impact the treatment options available to treat that cancer and the likely outcomes after treatment. By knowing the cancer genome, oncologists and patients are able to choose therapies that specifically target the patient's cancer.

VA’s precision oncology program primarily supports stage 4 cancer patients who have exhausted other treatment options. The partnership extension with IBM will enable VA oncologists to continue using Watson for Genomics through at least June 2019.

“Our mission with VA’s precision oncology program is to bring the most advanced treatment opportunities to Veterans, in hopes of giving our nation’s heroes better treatments through these breakthroughs,” said Acting VA Secretary Peter O’Rourke. “We look forward to continuing this strategic partnership to assist VA in providing the best care for our Veterans.”

VA treats 3.5 percent of the nation’s cancer patients — the largest group of cancer patients within any one health-care group. In order to bring precision oncology advances to this large group of patients, with equal access available anywhere in the country, VA established a central “hub” in Durham, North Carolina.

In this facility, a small group of oncologists and pathologists receive tumor samples from patients nationwide and sequence the tumor DNA. They then use AI — the ability of a computer program or a machine to think and learn — to help interpret the genomic data, identifying relevant mutations and potential therapeutic options that target those mutations.

More than one-third of the patients who have benefited from VA’s precision oncology program are Veterans from rural areas where it has traditionally been difficult to deliver cutting-edge medical breakthroughs.

“VA is leading the nation to scale and spread the delivery of high-quality precision oncology care, one Veteran at a time,” said Dr. Kyu Rhee, chief health officer for IBM Watson Health. “It is incredibly challenging to read, understand and stay up-to-date with the breadth and depth of the medical literature, and link them to relevant mutations for personalized cancer treatments. This is where AI can play an important role in helping to scale precision oncology, as demonstrated in our work with VA, the largest integrated health system in the U.S.”

For more information about the VA’s precision oncology program, visit https://www.research.va.gov/pubs/varqu/spring2016/4.cfm.

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Very Respectfully,

Paula A. Paige

Office of Media Relations, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

VA on Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Flickr. Blog

Download: VA and IBM Extend Public Private Partnership to Support Veterans with Cancer

WASHINGTON --

The Defense Department has identified more than 130,000 veterans who may be eligible for a refund for taxes paid on their disability severance payment, a DoD tax expert said.

Veterans who are eligible for a refund for taxes paid on their disability severance payment can submit a 1040X Amended U.S. Individual Tax Return for their reimbursement. Army Lt. Col. David Dulaney, the executive director for the Armed Forces Tax Council, said the Defense Department has identified more than 130,000 veterans who may be eligible for the refund. DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando

Army Lt. Col. David Dulaney, the executive director for the Armed Forces Tax Council, said the department began mailing notices to veterans July 9.

The deadline to file for the refund is one year from the date of the Defense Department notice, or three years after the due date for filing the original return for the year the disability severance payment was made, or two years after the tax was paid for the year the disability severance payment was made, according to the IRS.

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