WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) met with the state commander and leadership of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio to discuss continued efforts to address the more than 389,000 disability claims pending with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The DAV is a national veteran’s service organization led by National Commander Joseph W. Johnston, a Clermont County resident.

“The Disabled American Veterans serve as a strong voice for our nation’s veterans,” Brown said. “Whether it’s through job training programs or helping fellow veterans with VA claims, the DAV serves as an essential service organization dedicated to helping veterans transition back to civilian life. As we continue to drawdown from a decade at war, I look forward to working with the DAV to serve those who have served us.”

At today’s meeting, Brown was also joined by Will Davis, State Adjutant of the DAV Department of Ohio, Mike Stith, Past Commander, David Bilinovich, Executive Committee, Bob Gross, Sergeant at Arms, Steven Strootbeck, Assistant Supervisor, and Leo Connelly. The DAV has more than 28,000 members in Ohio and more than 1.2 million members nationally.

In November 2013, Brown announced that key provisions of his Veterans Services Outreach (VSO) Act passed the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. The Act would require the VA to notify veterans filing claims electronically that they can receive help and important time-saving information that could significantly reduce their wait time.  In August, Brown announced that he would  also work to pass the Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013, legislation that would hold the VA accountable by requiring it to publically report information on both its projected monthly goals and actual production so that Congress and the public knows if the VA is working toward eliminating its backlog. The bill would also establish a task force to hire and train claims processors, and develop tactics to attack and eliminate the backlog.

In December 2013, Brown announced his support for a bipartisan plan that provides additional resources to veterans in need of transitional housing programs, improves homeless prevention programs and expands existing programs to help get veterans off the street and into safe, stable housing.

The Homeless Veterans Prevention Act would improve prevention programs and increase the availability of transitional housing for female veterans. Specifically, the legislation would:

  • Improve homelessness prevention programs by allowing the VA to develop public-private partnerships focused on increasing the availability of legal services available to homeless veterans to help obtain proper identification, representation before the court system, and assistance with legal issues associated with housing and family law. A recent VA survey found that lack of legal services was one of the top four unmet needs among homeless veterans.
  • Increase transitional housing programs by establishing strict standards for grantees to meet the needs of female veterans by providing gender-specific housing. The Act would also help keep families together by allowing dependents in to transitional programs.
  • Expand existing programs by increasing the current eligibility for the Homeless Veterans Dental Program to include HUD-VASH participants and reauthorizes several current VA programs that fund drop-in centers, rapid re-housing and transitional programs, and employment assistance.

Brown, a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, is the only Ohio Senator to serve a full term on the Committee and is Co-Chair of the Senate Air Force Caucus. He is also an original cosponsor of the VOW to Hire Heroes Law, which offers job retraining assistance to veterans between 35 and 60 years of age. Veterans in search of foreclosure assistance, help receiving medals, tax assistance, or other casework concerns may contact Sen. Brown’s office at 1-888-896-6446.

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