Ohio Veterans See A Winner

Ohio Veterans See A Winner!

"Ohio now has the opportunity, maybe the burden, to follow through...and set the standard for other states."

05.02.08

Ray Strischek of the Athens County Veterans Service Commission in Athens County, Ohio writes to me with this good news. This follows up a recent series of articles published on VAWatchdog telling veterans, particularly Ohio veterans, about the quality of the services provided them by various agencies.

As I researched facts surrounding this important topic, it became apparent that Ohio's state leaders had decided that their veterans were being short changed and they were now determined to act aggressively and make hard decisions to improve how veterans should and would be treated in Ohio.

Being at the bottom of the rankings will do that. Ohio was last or near last in a number of veterans benefits categories even though their state and county veterans staff are among the best trained and experienced in the country.

Ohio now has the opportunity...maybe the burden...to follow through with this recent legislation and set the standard for other states to follow. Only time will tell if they are to be as successful as the new structure of their veterans services administration will allow them to be.

To have the new authority for successful operations reporting directly to the governors office indicates that Ohio is taking this action very seriously indeed.

Personally, I have high hopes for progress for veterans in Ohio. I spoke (often off the record) with a great many individuals who were well aware of the importance of positive change. From the office of the governor to the front-line County Veterans Service Officers out in the field, every individual I talked with seemed educated to the issues and highly committed to getting it done right.

You can read about the issues in Ohio (and the rest of that series) by clicking here: http://vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf040308-1.htm

Congratulations to all the veterans, legislators and other involved leaders of Ohio who worked long and hard to get this done. We hope you'll continue the progress...the rest of America's veterans are watching.

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April 23rd 2008

Dear Jim,

In Ohio, Senate Sub Bill 289 has been passed by the Senate. Below, in bold font and underlined, are the changes in current Ohio Veterans Laws that Dave Jenkinson and I were lobbying for.

Eighteen years ago, Dave and I and many others started a reform movement to bring accountability to county Veterans Service Commissions. We were only partly successful. We managed to get CERTIFICATION and TRAINING required for Veterans Service Commissioners and County Service Officers. We managed to get the Governors Office of Veterans Affairs the power to require ESTABLISHED rules and procedures from the county VSC offices. However, that success was limited in that there was no enforcement power for the Director of GOVA to require PRODUCTIVITY and no ability for the Director of GOVA to do anything to either the VSC board members or the county Service Officers who failed to PRODUCE.

The passage of Senate Sub Bill 289 holds out the hope for completing the process Dave and I started eighteen years ago. If passed by the Ohio House (which seems probable) and signed by the Governor (again, probable), the new Director of the new Ohio Department of Veteran Services will have the authority to gather the necessary data and evidence to remove NON PRODUCTIVE VSC board members and county Service Officers.

In addition, the Service Officers of the several veterans organizations will be required (for the first time ever) to make reports to the Director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services on their PRODUCTIVITY in accordance with rules and requirements to be developed by the Director of ODVS.

See below:

Sec. 5901.02 (Veterans Service Commissioners are appointed by the County Court of Common Pleas.)

The appointing authority shall remove a member who fails to maintain certification or whose certification is revoked by the director of veterans services.

Sec. 5901.07 (Service Officers are hired by the County Veterans Service Commission.)

The commission may remove a veterans service officer who fails to maintain accreditation or whose certification is revoked by the director of veterans services.

Sec. 5902.02 (Duties of the new proposed Director of the Ohio Department of Veteran Services.)

(C) Adopting rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code pertaining to minimum qualifications for hiring, certifying, and accrediting county veterans service officers and, pertaining to their required duties, and pertaining to revocation of the certification of county veterans service officers;

(D) Adopting rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the education, training, certification, and duties of veterans service commissioners and for the revocation of the certification of a veterans service commissioner;

(V) Developing and maintaining a relationship with the United States department of veterans affairs, seeking optimal federal benefits and services for Ohio veterans and their dependents, and encouraging veterans service commissions to maximize the federal benefits and services to which veterans and their dependents are entitled;

(Y) Investigating complaints against county veterans services commissioners and county veterans service officers if the director reasonably believes the investigation to be appropriate and necessary;

On the down side:

Dave and I were unable to convince the Senate Finance Committee to delete some proposed language (in bold font and underlined) in (W) below:

(W) Developing and maintaining relationships with the several veterans organizations, encouraging the organizations in their efforts at assisting veterans and their dependents, and advocating for adequate state subsidization of the organizations;

In my opinion, the only reason for 'the several veterans organizations' push to change the Governors Office of Veterans Affairs to the Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs (which ended up being called the Ohio Department of Veterans Services), was to get that clause into the law. By speaking out about this naked money grab, however, our efforts did cause the following clause to be added:

(X) Requiring the several veterans organizations that receive funding from the state annually to report to the director of veterans services and prescribing the form and content of the report;

To that extent, I suppose one can say that some sense of accountability to the State of Ohio is now possible and with it, the possibility that one or more of 'the several veterans organizations' could actually lose their funding if they are found in violation of (X) above. More over, we were able to educate a whole new generation of veterans and concerned citizens about the tax subsidies that 'the several veterans organizations were getting from the state with no strings attached.

There is now no good reason for Ohio to remain at the bottom of the barrel as it relates to the number of veterans applying for VA Disability and Pension Claims, and no good reason for the dollar amounts of the approvals to be likewise in the bottom of the barrel, and no good reason for any Service Officer not to pursue multiple disability claims. That was the problem that existed on Ohio's side of the VA Regional Office Desk. That problem existed because PRODUCTIVITY from Veterans Service Commissions and there Veterans Service Officers was not required by the State of Ohio. That problem existed because the State of Ohio required no PRODUCTIVITY from the Service Officers of 'the several veterans organizations' working at the VA Regional Office. Now, PRODUCTIVITY is a matter of law, or will be when Sub SB 289 is passed by the Ohio House and signed by the Governor.

Whether PRODUCTIVITY as a law will be enforced remains to be seen. But the tools are there now. It is now all a matter of the attitude of the new Director of the ODVS, whoever that may be. If the changes do not work, then the question of whether the VSC system of Ohio and its costs to tax payers should continue, and the question of whether tax subsidies to 'the several veterans organizations' should continue, become fair game to voters. The bar has been set.

Veteran organization leaders should consider themselves on notice. The costs of Veterans Service Commissions and the tax subsidies to 'the several veterans organizations' constitute a big chunk of change. If it can be proven that Veterans can file for VA Disability or Pension Claims on their own and succeed in getting top dollar amounts on their own, and/or if, a law change to allow attorney's to represent Veterans would prove more cost effective, then the Ohio System, which has been so generous and accommodating to the leadership of veteran organizations statewide would naturally be in jeopardy.

I have high hopes the system will sort itself out and work. I believe the State of Ohio has a responsibility to its veterans (and a monetary self interest) to help all its veterans receive every dollar of every benefit they earned as part of their service to America. I don't believe a veteran should be left adrift to fight the VA on his/her own but I don't believe a veteran should be required to use the Ohio System if they feel they can handle it alone and get the benefit they deserve.

All along, Dave Jenkinson and I have tried to work within the system that exists, to get it to work, to get it to work right, and change it if it is not working right. The passage of Sub SB 289 is just another day at the office for Dave and I. We are basically happy with the bill. Lot's of good stuff that to us mean lots of good stuff for Ohio's Veterans.

Ray Strischek

Athens County Veterans Service Commission

Athens County Ohio