Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
AGENCY TESTIMONY
Agency priorities for veteran services
0:22:03
ยท
5 min
Commissioner Hendon outlines the five main priorities for DVS, emphasizing their importance in serving the veteran community.
- Priorities in order: data, transitioning service members, housing, claims, and culture
- Detailed explanation of each priority and its significance
- Focus on improving data collection and outreach to transitioning service members
- Efforts to enhance housing support and VA claims assistance
- Emphasis on cultural initiatives to bring together the veteran community
James Hendon
0:22:03
Priorities.
0:22:05
Priorities for the agency in order are data, transitioning service members, housing, claims, and culture.
0:22:12
Say it again, data, transitioning service members, housing, claims, and culture.
0:22:16
We do not list mental health as a separate priority because it undergirds all that we do.
0:22:21
Data, the goal regarding data about New York City's Veteran community, particularly veteran contact information, is to get it, clean it, and share it with governmental entities with whom we can legally and ethically partner.
0:22:31
Examples include the New York City Council, New York State Department of Veterans Services, and the VA.
0:22:36
If all of us are doing our part to engage New York City Veterans, then more of our brothers and sisters will come into the light.
0:22:41
We're sit in a situation where from an outreach standpoint, more touches are always better than less.
0:22:45
Also, to be clear, the most recently available VA information holds it as of f y twenty three, '30 '4 point '3 percent of all veterans self identify in The United States, Twenty Nine Point Eight Percent self identify in New York State, and 24.1% self identify in New York City.
0:23:00
Identifying our people so that we can love them through our services is the most critical thing that we do.
0:23:05
Transitioning service members our goal for transitioning service members is to identify them, attract them to New York City and the city's opportunities and benefits for veterans in general, and serve them.
0:23:14
Thanks to years of work and partnership with the state directors of Veterans Affairs nationwide, DVS now receives d d two fourteen information for veterans transitioning to New York City.
0:23:23
As soon as the separation document is cut, we get it electronically.
0:23:26
Also, as of last autumn, we are notified once an active duty service member formally tells military that they intend to end their active duty service and transition to New York.
0:23:35
We know that a future veteran is inbound to us up to eighteen months before their active duty service ends.
0:23:41
It is vital to make sure these people do not fall through the crack cracks and become untethered to veteran services, much like what happened to many who came before them.
0:23:47
This is our second priority.
0:23:49
Housing.
0:23:50
Perennially, DVS is strong in its support of two out of four rungs of the housing ladder.
0:23:55
Emergency housing, those facing homelessness and in the shelter system, and supportive housing, those in need of additional support in the path to independent living.
0:24:02
While maintaining what we do in emergency and supportive, we are working to become stronger in the upper rungs of the ladder, affordable housing and home ownership.
0:24:10
In light of the economic uncertainty and the 1.4% vacancy rate in New York City, we seek to become stable ground for veterans looking for counseling and navigator services specific in these endeavors.
0:24:19
There exists no one stop shop that can listen to a veteran's affordable housing and homeownership needs and then advise them on veteran specific city, state, federal, public, private, and nonprofit options.
0:24:30
This is an example of DVS in a synergistic one plus one equals three way closing the gap.
0:24:36
Claims, another gap to close.
0:24:38
The service connected disability rate is thirty one point two percent nationwide according to 2023 census data.
0:24:43
The rate falls to twenty one point six percent New York State and 21 and twenty point one percent in New York City.
0:24:50
Taken conservatively, using census population data that we know is severely depressed, that suggested at least 14,354 New York City veterans would receive a service connected disability rating from the VA if they applied for one.
0:25:02
This would raise the proportion of New York City Veterans with disability ratings to the national average.
0:25:06
Our goals here are to increase the number of accredited service officers in New York City who are able to submit VA claims, inform the public about available high quality free VA claims support, and help ensure that accredited service officers in the five boroughs file claims at a steady pace.
0:25:22
We'd like to take this time to thank the council for supporting the Veterans Resource Center initiative, which uses chartered veteran service organization to ensure that VA claim support is offered out of each of the each council member's district office at a cadence of one day per month starting no later than f y twenty six.
0:25:37
Culture.
0:25:39
Our fifth priority is culture insofar as we hope to amplify, support, and when possible, seed events that bring together our veteran and military family community.
0:25:47
There's several things here.
0:25:48
As mentioned before, enduring community events, the memorial of the post nine eleven war veterans and their loved ones and honoring New York City's Vietnam Veterans who are missing in action come to mind.
0:25:56
One culture supporting initiative that I'd like to focus on.
0:25:59
For the Joseph p Dwyer program, where the state confers money annually to promote activities that normalize help seeking behavior among veteran and military families, DVS along with all other counties in New York is a Dwyer program recipient.
0:26:10
We now receive more than $400,000 per year in Dwyer funds.
0:26:14
It took time to put this together, but we are the only recipient that is doing something as dynamic as what we do.
0:26:19
While operating within all contracting and procurement protocol board guidelines, we effectively employ the Dwyer resources in a way that parallels the administration of a grant.
0:26:27
The deadline for the first Dwyer program applications post pilot stage was in December.
0:26:32
An evaluation committee representative of various demographics when our within our community was convened.
0:26:37
We're in the process of administering Dwyer funding to winning organizations at this time.
0:26:41
In total, 30 NYC Dwyer organizations will receive funding for 31 projects.
0:26:46
One group applied for two different things.
0:26:48
We are excited to watch this process unfold.
0:26:50
The current NYC Dwyer awardees are recipients of funding f y in f y twenty five and f y twenty six.
0:26:56
The opportunity to apply for NYC Dwyer funding will open every two years.
0:27:01
The next window for Dwyer applications will ope will be during calendar year '26 in advance of the funding to be remitted during fiscal years '27 and '28.