Annville, PA – Over the last year, accredited veteran service officers throughout the commonwealth, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), have handled more than 1,100 veteran queries a month and helped to connect veterans to more than $1.1 billion in compensation and pension benefits earned through their service. That is a 10 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2023 – and another example of the Shapiro Administration delivering for Pennsylvanians.
“Surpassing $1 billion demonstrates how tenacious our team is when it comes to working with veterans, verifying eligibility and connecting them to the benefits they deserve,” said Brian Natali, acting director, Bureau of Veterans Programs, Initiatives, Reintegration, and Outreach. “We are grateful to county veteran affairs offices, veteran service organizations and all the veteran service officers who are on the front line and helped us to meet the demand and reach this incredible milestone in service to veterans.”
DMVA also handles queries from veterans or family members looking for lost or misplaced military paperwork, often needed to begin the process to file claims or receive benefits. The DMVA has averaged more than 700 such requests each of the past four years.
Contributing to DMVA’s recent increased queries and claims work has been the federal Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act signed by President Biden into law in August 2022. The Act expanded VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.
“Our staff has made the large number of PACT Act claims a priority, getting them to the federal VA as quickly as possible,” said Natali. “We understand how important it is to veterans and their families to receive their benefits without barriers and delays.”
Natali said the agency’s success can also be attributed to PA VETConnect, an outreach program that enables the DMVA to concentrate services from within communities where veterans live.
The engine driving this program is an outreach team blanketing the commonwealth and connecting veterans to the best possible resources to meet their needs. The PA VETConnect network includes more than 2,160 resources and assisted about 1,800 veterans in the last quarter alone.
To request assistance, or for more information about PA VETConnect or other DMVA programs and services, visit www.dmva.pa.gov.
You can also learn more about the DMVA by following us at www.facebook.com/padmva or www.twitter.com/padmva.
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