March 28, 2024

Veterans commission discusses best ways to document work

Vets Affairs to work on outreach in months ahead

When the Veterans Affairs Commission met Wednesday, there was a lengthy discussion about how the Veterans Affairs office could best document its activity level in helping veterans.

For example, the department provided assistance in processing VA pension/compensation claims to 17 veterans in a recent 90-day period, which doesn’t sound like a high number, but there is more work in some than others, and this type of assistance is only part of Veterans Affairs tasks.

On the other hand, the 980 calls answered during the quarter is not a useful statistic on its own, either, as calls vary in length and don’t always involve follow-up by the department. There were also 41 appointments made, 23 walk-ins and 18 outreach efforts, so it’s difficult to know which statistics show the high level of activity at the busy Veterans Affairs office.

Commission Chair John Billingsley suggested the 980 calls could be broken down better and documented to show the amount of assistance given on each call.

“We just need to annotate things better,” said Chris Chartier, the county’s Veterans Affairs director.

The commission voted to submit its quarterly report to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, along with its annual budget. The commission actually finished $32,000 in the black for Fiscal 2016 in county funding but used every penny of a $10,000 annual grant from the state.

Chartier also noted the different ways his department helped veterans financially. One recent example was to help a veteran purchase a bus ticket back home to the Omaha area, as he had traveled to central Iowa for a funeral and didn’t have means to return home.

The commission also voted unanimously to seek prices from local skilled carpenters who could make flag cases used in funeral or memorial ceremonies for deceased veterans. Chartier said his department ends up ordering between 30 and 50 cases per year, and shipping from out-of-town manufacturers is cost-prohibitive.

The commission also discussed using cases created by industrial technology students at Newton High School and/or DMACC-Newton’s Career Academy as a way to supplement the need for flag cases.

Chartier gave a report on Jasper County’s ongoing attempt to earn a Home Base Iowa designation. The latest development was the directive for Chartier to create a map of the county related to veteran-friendly businesses — part of the vast amount of documentation required to submit a proposal.

The commission also discussed its upcoming outreach efforts. Those include the Aug. 10 Iowa State Fair parade, which has one statewide veterans entry, and the Sept. 8 Thanks With Franks event, a charity event at the Jasper County Courthouse hosted by the Young Professionals of Jasper County.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com