To the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, the general public, and the greater Sacramento Veterans and their families:
I am writing as the recently retired County Veterans Service Officer for the County of Sacramento to express my concerns regarding the proposed 2010-2011 fiscal year budget reductions that would entail eliminating the (4) Veterans' Claims Representative positions in the Department of Human Assistance. These (4) positions also represent what is commonly known as the County Veterans Service Office (CVSO).
It is my understanding that the Department of Human Assistance has evidently determined that the vital services provided by these county employees can easily be shifted to the numerous veterans' service organizations. Please be advised that the local post/chapter service officers and the national service officers located at the Mather VA Medical Center would be unable to absorb the significant workload increase and demands for services and simply stated, they do not possess the capability or program mechanisms required to effectively case manage the following:
* The "State Mandated Welfare Referral Program" which requires county eligibility workers to refer veterans and their dependents who have applied for public assistance programs to their respective County Veterans Service Office for a VA benefit entitlement determination interview.
* State legislation enacted during 2007 which requires county mental health clinics to refer veterans seeking mental health treatment to their respective County Veterans Service Office for assistance.
DHA has also evidently determined that a county only needs to have an appointed County Veterans Service Officer to meet the State Department of Veterans Affairs requirements to receive revenue allocations. The State Department of Veterans Affairs allocates $9,000.00 per fiscal year to counties that have appointed a CVSO, but the majority of the Subvention Program allocation (approximately $75,000.00), is predicated on workload units (i.e., disability and death claims, etc.) and Sacramento County would not be eligible for this allocation under DHA's scenario of only having a CVSO whose primary function is to refer veterans and their dependents for services as opposed to a CVSO with (4) supporting Veterans' Claims Representatives that provide the necessary advocacy and claims filing services.
The term collaborative efforts has been used with respect to addressing the budget deficit and it is my opinion that any collaborative efforts need to start with our own county employees. Prior to my retirement in January of this year, I had the opportunity to meet with Paul Lake, DHA Interim Director and other DHA Executive Management members. I discussed with them and submitted a recommendation and a generic referral form that entailed the requirement that any veteran or their dependent that applies for a "County Only Public Assistance Program" must be referred to DHA Veterans Services for a benefit entitlement determination interview.
DHA Veterans Services has made great progress with respect to the General Assistance Program, but this concept also encompasses the County Medically Indigent Services Program and all requests by veterans and their dependents for county health services. As an example, DHA Veterans Services implemented performance measurement criteria beginning with the 2008-2009 fiscal year that focused on veterans who had applied for County General Assistance. Our efforts resulted in approximately $300,000.00 in VA disability benefits being awarded to these veterans, getting them enrolled in the VA Health Care System and other support programs versus utilizing county health clinics, and getting them off County General Assistance benefits and assisting them in obtaining their self-sufficiency, since many of them were homeless veterans. I strongly believe that the cost avoidance factor to the county general fund would increase significantly if similar performance measurement criteria were implemented and applied to other county only programs and staff in those program components were held accountable in an effort to ensure that veterans and their dependents were properly referred and interviewed.
There are other collaborative initiatives that should also be implemented:
* Collaboration with the Volunteers of America, Salvation Army, and other social service agencies with respect to applying for VA Homeless Grants that would also encompass the vital support services that DHA Veterans Services provides to the homeless veterans' population.
* Collaboration with the veterans' service organizations regarding increased marketing and promotion of the Veterans' License Plate Program. Sacramento County receives revenue allocations from the
sale and renewal of these specialized plates and the State Department of Veterans Affairs has recently added monetary incentives to the program. Establish a separate budget revenue account for this revenue allocation program and stipulate that all revenue earned from the sale of these plates be used solely to fund DHA Veterans Services.
I also believe that you need to think outside of the budget balance sheet and ask yourself this question, "What is the real net county cost amount to fund the services provided by these (4) Veterans' Claims Representative positions?"s Please also consider the following:
* The VA will input over $200 million to Sacramento County veterans receiving disability benefits and survivors of veterans receiving death benefits during the current fiscal year. Sacramento County
ranks 5th in the state regarding this monetary category and the (4) subject positions and those before them definitely contributed to this factor.
* The advocacy and claims filing services provided by these (4) positions will result in over $3 million in new benefits obtained for veterans and their dependents during the current fiscal year. The State Department of Finance has previously stated that a certain portion of each dollar in benefits obtained by a County Veterans Service Office for veterans and their dependents goes into the county general fund in the form of sales tax, property tax, etc. Based on this assumption, it would only require $.09 of each dollar obtained for veterans and their dependents for Sacramento County to break even on the $268,373.00 appropriation to fund these (4) positions.
In conclusion, any reductions below the current authorized staffing level for DHA Veterans Services would only negate the proven cost avoidance parameters that have been established over the years. Instead, efforts should be taken to re-evaluate the service delivery system with priority given to those services that have a direct impact on county general fund cost, while increasing earned revenue allocations under the Subvention, Medi-Cal Cost Avoidance, the Veterans' License Plate programs. The veterans' community of Sacramento County has earned and deserves the highest quality of service that these (4) Veterans' Claims Representative positions provide. A service with a proud tradition that dates back to 1946.
Thank you for your continued support regarding Veterans Services and for considering the information contained in this correspondence. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if any additional information is needed.
Jeffrey A. Pealer
Retired Sacramento County Veterans Service Officer
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