Veteran News: Information and Disability Assistance Programs

Introduction

Veteran News and Information Service - Health and disability news for veterans from around the world including veterans jobs, VA benefits, and home loans. Keep up to date on current military news and veteran assistance information. Our news items also include press releases issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Main Document

A veteran is classified as a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who has served or is serving in the armed forces. Those veterans who have had direct exposure to acts of military conflict may also be referred to as war veterans. Military veterans often receive special treatment in their respective countries due to the sacrifices they made during wars.

Articles that will be of interest to veterans include benefits and compensation provided, pension information, education, qualifying for home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, applying for business loans, survivors' benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The national Institute of mental health states that post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the five most recognized types of mental disorders. PTSD was originally identified as a post-war syndrome due to the number of returning military veterans having this condition. Although far from being just a condition limited to returning war veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder is a growing problem in our modern-day world. If you suspect that a loved one is suffering from PTSD, get professional psychological help.

U.S. Veterans with a 50% or higher service related disability as determined by a VA regional office "rating board" (e.g., losing a limb in battle, PTSD, etc.) are provided comprehensive care and medication at no charge.

Yellow Ribbon Program

Yellow Ribbon is a scholarship designed to help students supplement their Post 9/11 GI Bill tuition benefits. The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) is a provision of the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.

The program is designed to help students avoid up to 100 percent of their out-of-pocket tuition and fees associated with education programs that may exceed the Post 9/11 GI Bill tuition benefit, which will only pay up to the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition.

U.S. Veteran Facts and Statistics

• Approx. 33% of homeless males in the U.S. are veterans.
• Number of veterans as of Sept. 2009: approximately 23 million.
• Veterans are more at risk of becoming homeless than non-veterans.
• Veterans are twice as likely as other Americans to become chronically homeless.
• Between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year.
• On any given night, more than 300,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters in the U.S.
• The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans, male and female, is greater than the number of soldiers who died during the war.
• Veterans represent 11% of the adult civilian population, but 26% of the homeless population, according to the Homeless Research Institute (2007).
• Increasing numbers of returning military personnel: according to the Mass. Dept. of Veterans' Services, approximately 31,000 service members have returned to the Commonwealth since Sept. 11, 2001.

Veteran Employment News

As part of the US Department of Labor's commitment to helping Americans with disabilities enter and remain in the workforce, ODEP has researched and implemented Telework as a viable employment option for people with disabilities, particularly returning disabled service members and disabled veterans. Telework allows employees with complex needs to work in a more flexible environment (e.g., in a home office or telework center) using computer and communications technology in beginner to advanced levels of experience.