VA Secretary Looks For Progress On Veterans Suicide, Homelessness Soon
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said he expects to see significant progress soon in efforts to reduce homelessness and suicide among veterans, despite the complexity and long-term challenges of both issues.
Will Biden Award The Medal Of Freedom To Burn Pit Activists?
A prominent senator has joined numerous veterans advocates in their push to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to key figures in last summer’s fight for expanded benefits for victims of burn pit smoke and other military toxic exposure incidents.
Climate Change Makes Things Harder For Unhoused Veterans
On a Friday afternoon in early September, the temperature stood at 94 degrees at Windsor Veterans Village just north of Santa Rosa, California—sweet relief from earlier in the week, when the mercury soared to 114 degrees. The sky looked hazy with smoke from the Mosquito Fire, which had already consumed tens of thousands of acres of forest in the eastern part of the state.
AFSA International President Kerry Wright (right), Amy Gerrard DoD Civil Servant, AFSA Newest life member (middle), AFSA Chief Executive Keith Reed (left)
The 69th annual National Veterans Day Observance was held at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on Friday, November 11, 2022, and AFSA's International President Kerry Wright, Chief Executive, Keith A. Reed, and Legislative Communications & Administrative Assistant, Vanessa Lee, were in attendance.
SSgt Adina Ungureanu (left) with SrA Keegan Harter (right)
At the event, which was presided over by Maj. Gen. Allan Pepin, commanding general of the Joint Task Force-National Capitol Region and U.S. Army District of Washington, Vice President Kamala Harris laid the wreath.
On Friday morning, the function at Arlington National Cemetery was sponsored by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough. First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff are also in attendance, according to McDonough, who made this statement earlier this week. Despite not being present at the COP27 United Nations climate summit, President Joe Biden, who is slated to depart for Egypt tonight, issued a proclamation earlier this week to recognize the valor and sacrifice of American warriors.
President Biden Proclamation On Veterans Day
On Monday, November 7th, President Joe Biden issued the following proclamation in honor of Veterans Day:
Today, we honor generations of patriots who have earned the title of “American veteran” — a badge of courage that unites the finest group of former service members the world has ever known. With their selfless sacrifice, our Armed Forces have forged and defended the very idea of America — a promise of freedom and equality, democracy and justice, possibility and hope. We owe them an incredible debt that can never be fully repaid.
Veterans Day is personal to the Biden family. We have felt the pride that comes with seeing your child wear the uniform of the United States and the pain of long deployments far from home. We know what it is like to pray every day for the safe return of someone you love. And we have stood in awe of our veterans who carry the lasting wounds of war. We pledge to continue the work of returning our prisoners of war and those still missing in action and commit to remembering the sacrifice of the families of those who have served. As both a father and Commander in Chief, I firmly believe that our one truly sacred obligation as a nation is to properly prepare and equip the brave women and men we send into harm’s way and to care for them and their loved ones when they return home.
SSgt Adina Ungureanu (left) with SrA Keegan Harter (right) displaying the USA flag and the AFSA organization flag during the program's color bearer portion.
That is why I was so proud to sign the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act — the most significant expansion of benefits and services for our veterans in more than 30 years. As the name suggests, the PACT Act fulfills a promise to our veteran community. By funding new facilities, enabling better research, and expanding care and compensation for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service — as well as helping their survivors access life insurance, home loan assistance, tuition benefits, and monthly stipends — we are giving back to those who have given so much for all of us. This law bolsters other bills I have signed this year to improve health care for veterans — from providing mammograms and screenings for service members exposed to toxins to compensating veterans who developed cancer and other medical conditions from our World War II nuclear program. And to ensure we continue to meet our sacred obligation to our veteran families, caregivers, and survivors, the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative is helping military spouses find jobs, supporting children of service members in classrooms, and extending physical, mental, and emotional services to families.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other federal agencies are also working around the clock to end veteran suicide and veteran homelessness. As part of a comprehensive public health strategy that we released last year, the VA is funding community-led suicide prevention programs that meet veterans where they are, increasing public awareness about the importance of firearm storage in preventing suicides, and requesting billions more from the Congress to improve mental health care services for patients across the country. At the same time, with funding from my American Rescue Plan, the VA is on track to permanently house 38,000 homeless veterans this year alone.
Fulfilling our nation’s promise to our veterans and military families also means ensuring that everyone who serves — no matter their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or religious background — feels safe and valued in the ranks. Since coming into office, I have made historic reforms to the military justice system that enhance safety and protection for service members and veterans who have experienced sexual assault or harassment. Secretary McDonough issued a zero-tolerance policy and announced that harassment and sexual assault, including sexual harassment and gender-based harassment, will not be tolerated within the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is also a priority for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has made preventing sexual assault and restoring trust in the military justice processes a constant focus. Additionally, we reversed the discriminatory ban on transgender service and directed a review of all policies and practices to ensure greater inclusivity of LGBTQ+ veterans.
In every generation, America’s veterans have been willing to give all for that which we hold sacred — freedom, justice, and democracy. They have served selflessly, sacrificed greatly, and shouldered the burden of freedom quietly, asking no glory for themselves. Today, let us honor them by living up to their example — putting service before self, caring for our neighbors, and working passionately to build a more perfect Union worthy of all those who protect our lives and liberty.
In respect and recognition of the contributions our veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor our Nation’s veterans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2022, as Veterans Day. I encourage all Americans to recognize the valor, courage, and sacrifice of these patriots through appropriate ceremonies and private prayers, and by observing two minutes of silence for our nation’s veterans. I also call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States of America and to participate in patriotic activities in their communities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
- JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR
AFSA International President Kerry Wright (left) , Chief Executive Keith Reed (right) making their way to the wreath-laying presentation
President Joe Biden and other Democrats emphasized the PACT Act's extended health care coverage for post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits used in Afghanistan and Iraq, which was delayed but ultimately successful in passing. Biden referred to it as "the greatest substantial increase of benefits and services for our veterans in more than 30 years" in the White House's annual Veterans Day proclamation.
Updates the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by requiring the VA to continue providing assistance to a family caregiver for at least six months after the death of a veteran participating in the program.
Requires the VA to establish a process by which veterans who are determined to have the most significant need for caregiver assistance are permanently eligible for such assistance.
Requires the VA to standardize the criteria used across all facilities in its required evaluations of the needs of the veterans and the skills of the family caregiver.
Standardizes criteria used in accepting and evaluating applications for participation in the program across all facilities.
Support the CHAMPVA Children's Care Protection Act!
This bill provides that a child shall be eligible for medical care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) until the child's 26th birthday, regardless of marital status.
Support the AUTO for Veterans Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92795/respond
Legislation Summary
The Advancing Uniform Transportation Opportunities for Veterans "AUTO" Act would reduce the financial burden incurred by virtue of military service by ensuring severely disabled veterans receive a grant from the VA's Automobile Assistance Grant program to purchase a specially equipped vehicle once every ten years - as opposed to only once.
Support the Aid and Attendance Support Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92792/respond
Legislation Summary
The Aid and Attendance Support Act temporarily increases eligible disabled veterans' and surviving spouses' Aid and Attendance (A&A) allowance by 25%.
Support the Ensuring Survivor Benefits during COVID-19 Act!
The Ensuring Survivor Benefits During COVID-19 Act requires the VA to solicit a medical opinion to determine if a service-connected disability was the principal or contributory cause of death in situations where a veteran's death certificate identifies COVID-19 as the principal or contributory cause of death, the certificate does not clearly identify any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities as the principal or contributory cause of death, and a claim for dependence and indemnity compensation is filed with respect to the veteran.
Ensures Reservists and National Guard members have no-fee healthcare through TRICARE Reserve Select that covers medical and dental coverage.
Fixes the parity gap for Reserve Component retirees receiving early retirement pay due to deployment credits making them eligible for TRICARE upon receipt of retirement pay.
Provides an incentive for small businesses to hire Reserve and National Guard members by ensuring their healthcare costs are covered.
Ensures service members can access physicals needed to be ready for no-notice deployments (which have increased over the past year).
Eliminates the statutory language that excludes Federal Employees Health Benefits Program eligible service members from TRICARE Reserve Select eligibility.
Support the Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92818/respond
Legislation Summary
The Advancing Toward Impact Aid Full Funding Act would:
Split Impact Aid's $1.1 billion request evenly over five years, across three main categories for funding: Basic Support, Federal Property, and Children with Disabilities.
Increase Basic Support funding by $190 million annually, meeting Impact Aid's 2019 funding requests.
Increase Federal Property funding proportionally to Basic Support (BSP) by allocating an additional $11 million annually.
Increase funding for Children with Disabilities by $9 million annually, funding $2,000 per eligible student.
Advance national K-12 school systems to become more equitable and meet educational needs.
Support military families that are especially impacted by federally tax-exempt land.
Support the Health Care Fairness for Military Families Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92815/respond
Legislation Summary
Modifies the extension of dependent coverage under TRICARE by allowing a dependent at the age of 26 to be covered without an additional premium.
Authorizes such coverage of dependents without a premium regardless of whether they are eligible to enroll in an employer-sponsored plan.
Support Expanding TRICARE Cranial Remolding Helmet Coverage!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92802/respond
AFSA urges our nation's elected officials to support legislation that would expand the scope of TRICARE's coverage of the DOC Band Post-Op device if your baby:
Is three to 18 months old; and
Is diagnosed with craniosynostosis or nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly (to include torticollis)
Support the Jobs and Childcare for Military Families Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92799/respond
Legislation Summary
Allow an employer a work opportunity tax credit for hiring the spouse or domestic partner of a member of the Armed Forces.
Specifically, an employer may receive a tax credit equal to 40% of a new employee's first-year wages if the employer hires a service member's spouse or domestic partner (as recognized under state law or by the Armed Forces).
Create programs for service members to pay for childcare on a pretax basis.
Specifically, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast Guard) must implement flexible spending arrangements that permit members of the Armed Forces to use basic pay and compensation to pay on a pretax basis for dependent childcare.
Support the Retired Pay Restoration Act!
Link to Advocacy Campaign: https://www.votervoice.net/AFSA/campaigns/92798/respond
Legislation Summary
Allowsthe receipt of both military retiredpay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability.
Extends full concurrent receipt eligibility to individuals who were retired or separated after at least 20 years of military service due to a service-connected disability.
Call To Action:Share How TRICARE's coverage of the Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band Post-Op device negatively impact your family's quality of life!
For the past year, our Military and Government Relations Team has been working with AFSA military families on getting legislation introduced that would expand the scope of TRICARE's coverage of the DOC Band Post-Op device if a baby:
Is three to 18 months old; and
Is diagnosed with craniosynostosis or nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly (to include torticollis)
Despite unsuccessful efforts (via FOIA request) to obtain important data for the purpose of quantifying the need of this issue in the aggregate, our Team is looking to hear from the field to share your story and help have your voice heard by members of Congress.
Issue Background
Helmet therapy is used to gently correct the shape of babies' skulls over time.
Newborn babies' skulls are soft plates with spaces between them. As the baby grows, these plates grow, gradually harden, and knit together.
Unfortunately, there are circumstances under which the soft plates may develop a flat spot or uneven appearance. This condition is called plagiocephaly.
Today, almost one in two babies (47%) is affected by some form of plagiocephaly.
When the baby's skull joins together too early, or in an abnormal way, this is called craniosynostosis. There are several types of craniosynostosis, depending on when the baby's skull joins together.
Today, it is estimated that 1 in every 2,500 babies has craniosynostosis.
Positional skull deformities and/or abnormalities - whether diagnosed as a form of plagiocephaly or craniosynostosis - can have short and long term health effects on a child.
However, despite this, TRICARE only covers the Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band Post-Op device, synonymously referred to as a "molding helmet," if your baby:
Is three to 18 months old; and
Has had craniosynostoris surgery;
But still has a misshaped skull.
In other words, cranial molding helmet(s) are not covered for the treatment of nonsynostotic positional plagiocephaly or for the treatment of craniosynostosis before surgery; despite medical evidence that suggests the presence or absence of congenital or acquired plagiocephaly (to include torticollis) can, at the very least, increase the risk of gross motor development.
In fact, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics school-aged children with moderate to severe plagiocephaly scored lower than controls on cognitive and academic measures.
As a result, military families - who face unique challenges given the sacrifices that come along with serving our country - have been put in the tragic position to either front the hefty cost of the helmet (approximately $2,000), seek alternative forms of treatment that may not be preferred, or forego treatment altogether.
We are pleased to share the AFSA Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay procedures and marketing materials to help share the process with our members, your membership and potential new recruits.
The Set-It-Forever/Auto Pay program creates an opportunity to JOIN AFSA or RENEW a membership by making a $36 once-a-year/every-year auto payment, or a $4-each-month/every- month auto payment. The $36 once-a-year option is set at $36, and the $4-a-month option includes a bank processing fee of $1 each month.
Review the two ways to enroll, the benefits to using the auto-pay option, and the marketing materials to help share the details of this program and ensure its success.
For questions, please contact AFSAHQ Member & Field team at 800-638-0594 x 288.
Please Update Your Contact Information Today!
Dear Air Force Sergeants Association Member,
In order for the AFSA to effectively communicate with our members, it is essential to ensure we have your current and / or valid e-mail address. We are in the process of updating our records and need your help! Please take a moment to ensure that we have your most current mail and email address (no .mil's); and accurate membership listing information.
We've made it easy, as you can update your information in either one of three ways:
Call Member & Field Relations team directly at 800-638-0594 x 288 (Mon. - Fri. 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (EST)
Email to: msvcs@hqafsa.org
Visit www.hqafsa.org and select the UPDATE button on the right
We thank you in advance for your support and prompt updates.
In sum, McDonough said department executives are happy with recent progress on these issues, two of the top policy emphasis areas for VA personnel over the previous ten years, in a wide-ranging interview with Military Times just before Veterans Day. He did, however, add that veterans cannot wait decades for the issues to be fixed and that the most recent improvements are insufficient.
Veterans Affairs researchers reported in September that the rate of veteran suicides in America dropped to less than 17 per day in 2020, the lowest level since 2016. More mental health resources and intervention programs for veterans were credited with the roughly 10% decrease in the overall number of veteran suicides between 2018 and 2020.Federal officials reported earlier this month that the total number of homeless veterans decreased significantly between the beginning of 2020 and the beginning of 2022, by more than 11%, following several years of very slight adjustments.
Officials also linked it to years of concentrated work on veteran aid programs. Since President Barack Obama declared in 2010 that he wanted to provide housing for every veteran in America, the number of homeless veterans has decreased by around 55%. Despite the advancement, it is estimated that 33,000 veterans remain without stable housing on an average night.
In addition, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, requested that President Joe Biden take into account awarding the nation's highest civilian distinction to Burn Pits 360 founders Le Roy and Rosie Torres, comedian Jon Stewart, and activist John Feal in a letter to the White House on the eve of Veterans Day. The action comes after the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, was passed in August. The law allocates roughly $300 billion in spending over the following ten years for more disability compensation payments, department facilities, and staffing, as well as research into military illnesses brought on by hazardous exposure accidents.
Le Roy and Rosie Torres have long advocated for the law, arguing that it is necessary to assist all veterans, but particularly the millions of people who have been poisoned by smoke from waste pit fires used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Le Roy Torres, a former Army captain, returned from a mission to Iraq in 2008, he started experiencing health issues as a result of that exposure. Since then, the pair has advocated for change in the way the Department of Veterans Affairs handles situations like these by drawing on their hardships.
In recent years, Stewart and Feal joined the cause's lobbying efforts, leveraging their notoriety to draw more attention to it.
And lastly, more than 100 miles separated this specific fire from Santa Rosa, a charming city located in the heart of California's wine region. However, Santa Rosa and the surrounding area have been affected by many wildfires during the past five years. It was projected that a series of fires in 2017 destroyed thousands of homes and cost the city up to $7 billion in damage.
In California, 12 of the state's 20 largest wildfires—which have burnt in the previous five years—have occurred. Researchers concur that rising global temperatures increase the frequency and difficulty of wildfires, even if California has mismanaged its woods, which also adds to the increase in wildfires. In recent years, many Californians have had to leave their homes; many of them are now permanently homeless. Smoke and particulate matter suffocate pure air even in areas where there hasn't been any actual fire.
Veterans who are homeless can rent flats at Windsor Veterans Village. In 2020, California was home to more than 25% of all homeless people nationwide and more than 30% of all homeless veterans. There are also a number of homeless veterans in other places, such as Texas, which has recently suffered from hurricanes, intense heat waves, and a historic cold frost. Veterans and others who live outside may experience disastrous repercussions as climate change wreaks havoc on the local weather.
And that's the way it is for Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
Stay tuned for our next M&G-B, where we will continue to keep you in the loop on all things pertinent to the coronavirus, veterans, active-duty members, guards and reservists, and military family members. Stay happy, and stay healthy!
