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AGENCY TESTIMONY
History and structure of the Department of Veterans Services
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ยท
3 min
Commissioner Hendon outlines the establishment, evolution, and current structure of the Department of Veterans Services (DVS).
- DVS created through Local Law 113 of 2015, officially established on 04/08/2016
- Evolution from a referral agency to a direct services provider
- Current structure: 39 authorized positions, 34 filled
- Breakdown of staff allocation between internal operations and services
James Hendon
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Now to the history.
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The Department of Veterans Services was created through local law one thirteen of twenty fifteen.
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Our official date of establishment is 04/08/2016.
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Prior to being created, veteran community members protested outside of City Hall in twenty fourteen and twenty fifteen clamoring for the creation of what we now know as DVS.
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The genesis for the complaints, veteran nonprofits that received discretionary funding from the city council wanted their own veteran services department to coordinate with for the execution of their contracts.
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The veterans felt like contracting with larger agencies was impersonal and that the groups did not have a certain baked in cultural competency to see and fully deal with the nuances of military and veteran community.
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It took almost two years of protesting to reach a place where the city council voted on local law one thirteen on 11/10/2015, the day before Veterans Day.
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The mayor at the time signed the bill into law on 12/10/2015, '1 month later.
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When the city made DVS starting on 04/08/2016, it took the five staff who worked for the then mayor's office of Veterans Affairs and combined them with eight staff who worked exclusively on veteran housing issues at the Department of Homeless Services, DHS.
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Key things about the agency when it was created, DVS didn't have its own administrative back end at the time.
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We were dependent on the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, DCATS.
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The housing group that initially originally came from DHS worked in a silo.
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It continued to focus on addressing veteran homelessness like a laser.
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It did not integrate into other aspects of the agency at the time.
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As an aside, the veteran homeless population in New York City has decreased from 4,677 in 2011 to 624 in 2024, a greater than 85% decline.
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This is largely attributable to the leadership of the DVS housing team and the other continuum of care partners.
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We thank all of them for their work.
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The rest of DVS was focused on being a referral agency, not a direct services agency.
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The center of gravity for the core four whole health model or agency strategy from 2016 to 2019 was referring veterans to groups that focused on culture, connection, community, and clinical care.
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For perspective, 61 out of 62 counties in New York state has a county veteran service office.
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In the case of New York City, which covers five counties, we have DVS.
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We were the only such entity that did not help veterans submit VA claims.
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Many consider filing VA claims to be a foundational veteran service.
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Things changed for us in late twenty nineteen.
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DVS began a shift starting with my time here to focus on direct services.
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Technology, which is masterful in helping to facilitate referrals and optimize performance in general is great.
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However, the bedrock of any government services organization is its ability to provide core services.
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Technology enhances those things.
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It does not come before them.
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That was a key difference in the philosophical shift at DVS.
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Other changes or evolutions, this is not everything, just a handful of them, include the housing team, while maintaining its integrity, became integrated with the rest of the agency.
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We transitioned away from DCAS support model to one where DVS now maintains all of its internal administrative functions.
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We developed a VA claims unit to help veteran the veteran community members file VA claims, and we have evolved our procurement capacity significantly such that we're processing a growing number of veteran oriented city council discretionary contracts and contracting opportunities tied to state funding.
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In all that we do, DVS triages issues in the veteran community where there is acute need and we can provide unique value.
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We do what we can to deliver that what that value while optimizing the partners and resources available and being mindful of our mandates in the city charter.