//
IImproying the services forWak~eCounty Veterans
• Wake County Council Of Veterans Organizations, Inc.
• Warren Murphy, Pre~e~~
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/
4/13/2005I
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Who are we?TheWake County Council of VeteransOrganizations (aka the “Council”) consists of:
— L~’c~alunits of nationally recognized Veterans ServiceOrg à’ni~ations, their Auxiliaries and subunits
— Repres~n~ativesfrom agencies supporting veterans:• Wake Oounty Veterans Service Officer• NC Empl~mentSecurityCommission• Raleigh Res~e\Mission• Vets Center //
— Representatives from Nb\Q~ngressional Delegatio~/
• The Council represents 52,8~4 Wake Cou~pt~iVeterans, plus their dependa%~~~/ 4/13/2005
Counc• American” Legion (8 Units)
• Air Force Association of America
• Ai~F\p~eRetired Sergeants Association
• Americafl\Veterans that Enlisted Underage
• AMVETS
• Disabled Ame’~Ib~nVeterans (DAV)
• Fleet Reserve Ass~iation
• Marine Corps League
• Military Officers Associatior
• Military Order of the Purple
• NC Vietnam Veterans
• 100th Infantry Division
• Retired Sergeants Majors & Chiefs
• Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) (6 Units)
Membership
America
4/13/20053
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/
/
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/
ere Today?
• Vë~eransof Wake County are under-served by theCounty Veterans Service Office (VSO) as presentlyconstft~ted.
• To present~facts, and statistics comparing WakeCounty with ‘bther NC Counties
• To recommend tothe VSO regarding:— Staffing //
— Funding //
— Structure //
4/13/2005
Why WeH
4
Coun Mission
• To r, consolidate and promote the aims,interests~a~~defforts of the Veterans of WakeCounty, North Carolina
• To promote VeVeterans Day Pa
U
N
ns Day by sponsoring thee in Raleigh
4/13/20055
unty Population
e 560,000 residents of Wake County, theVeterans represent 9.4% of the total county
populat
Wake
•
52
• Veterans a ispersed through the cities, townsand unincorpor~ated areas of the county
4/13/20056
‘N
/Wake 9o~untyVeteransService Office
/
• P~bvidesa wide range of services to the Veteransof th~~q~unty.
• Services “àr~currently provided at the CountyHuman Serv~1cesDepartment facilities onSwinburne Str~’e~,Raleigh, NC. //
— Home visits th~oughout county. //
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4/13/2005
// IService$~’include assistancevv it h• Disability Benefits
• Dep”efl\~ient and Survivors Benefits
• Hospita~~~dMedical Care
• Burial Benefit~
• Education and 1r~ining
• Vocational Rehabi~Mjp~i
• Home Loans N
• Benefit applications for Sta~q~North Carolina Division/I
Veterans Affairs //
4/13/2005
/
/Pro bleyr(Areas• Leri’6th of time a Veteran must wait for appointment
—~SP\meVeterans give up and go to other sources
• Lack ~f\privacyduring interviews.
• Unable to s end sufficient time with each Veteranon initial claims or follow-up.
• Insufficient officestaff.
• Outlying areas of cou
N
\
ace for interviews, files and
ng served.
4/13/20059
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ProbI~mAreas (continued):
• lns’Ufficient time to complete reports and paper workdurin~gnormal business hours.
• vsO riii~stcompete with other Human Servicesorganiza~ttQ\~nsfor resources
• Being a part~oj~Human Services creates perceptionthat Veterans a~r~considered“welfare cases.”
• No time to maintaii~current information via theInternet, where Veter~àn\s can obtain information //
online — preventing a ca //
4/13/2005
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Success
Dedicated County Veterans Service Officer iswilling\~to work beyond normal office hours.
VSO handling increasing workload of claims eachyear (only rrnnirnally).
Interact with Veteran Service Organizations onmonthly basis.
• Currently bringing in~7~.9Mannually to Wake ,~“County economy through/VA compensation //
4/13/200511
Areas
N
No. of Veterans
Claims in 2004 “\
No. Phone Calls
Staff
Annual Budget
ReportsTo
Wake Mecklenburg Cumberiand Guilford
52,804 57,582 42,304 37,181
691 2549 4162 517
‘\
\11,595 65,565 19,433 4,159
i.&V$O.5 Admh~
N“
6 VSO2 Admin
I VSO4 interviewers
2Admin2VSO
/~‘
/
$91,228 \ $440,000‘N
$228,231 $90,89~,“
Human Svc.‘N
‘Càunty Mgr.‘~.
N
AssistantCounty Mgr.
,/As”sistant,,O’bunty Mgr.
N’‘\
N /‘
N,
4/13/200512
Wake Co~untyVSO ComparedTo Oilier Counties
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/
VSO Budg~
VA Compensatio~i\
Cost per Veteran
VA Compensationper Veteran
Wake Meckienburg Cumberiand Guilford
$91,228 $440,000 $228,231 $90,898
$78,957,000 tN
$75,772,000 t $219,154,000 t* $58,861,000 1-
\\$1.73 $7.14 $5.40 $2.44
$~‘5\ $1,316 $3,774 $2,132 //
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t FY 2003 Data~\\\ /
N /4/I 3/2005
/
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Expend ‘~jjres/Com pensation// ______________
//
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//
/
ran’s/
40,00,0”
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
served per VSOVete
34,851
18,591
9,591 9,461
/
4/13/200514
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/
What is NJeeded to ProvideAdequate Service?• Rea’Iign VSO to report to County Manager’s office, rather than
to ‘Human Services
• Increase staff to support current needs
• Sufficient ii’r~ivate space to conduct interviews.
• One or more \ISOs assigned to outlaying areas of County.
• Provide ability for Veterans to obtain information online— List of services offered, frequently asked questions, online
request for service, online forms, etc.• More time to increase public”awareness, and to conduct,~~~’
analysis of current and future Oounty Veterans needs/
4/13/200516
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/
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Recommendations/
/
• Realign VSO to report to County Manager’s office.
• I n crè’as e Cou n ty VS0 Staff to:— I VS~~~Director— I Asst. S~e~rviceOfficer per each 15,000 Veterans— I Administrative Assistant per each 2 Service Officers
• Sufficient work arid interview space
• Central VSO office anct satellite offices— accessible to local bus rôu~tesand/or sufficient c!j~eiit
pa rki ng
4/13/200517
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What W’ifl it Cost?/
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• Fund VSO at $7.50per Veteran\\ $7.50 per Veteran
\52,804 Veterans
$396,030 Annual Budget
• Current Budge ipcrease of
Current return to WakG.economy is/$7819MN
NN
NN
‘N”’
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4/13/200518
What//
if/we don’t fix it?//
• N~’edsof Wake County Veterans will not beme~dueto:
— Dem~bJ~izationof currently serving troops
— County ~~puIationcontinues to grow
• Sends mess~ethat Wake County is notVeteran-friendly ce to live
4/13/200519
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/
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Benefit to’~”Wake County
• VA’compensation currently brings in over $78.9Mper~yearto Veterans in Wake County — which isp~ County.
— lmprovinQ services to Veterans will increase Veteranscompensation paid by VA
— This means even more revenue brought into the County‘\
• Positive image of County as a Veteran-friendlyplace, encourages economic growth of Cou nty/..~~~”
‘N\ /~/
N. // 4/13/2005~ /~ 20
‘N ~
N, N,
//
,//
/
//Su m mary
• Outlined Council assessment of WakeCounty Veterans Service Office.
• Presented Comparison of County VSO withthree other County VSOs.
• Identified Co~untyVSO problems areas
• Made recommendations for improving
services to the Veterans of Wake Countyz”
4/13/200521
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Breakdc~wn of VA Compensation/
/
,~“ Wake Mecklenburg Cumberland Guilford
Compen’sation &Pension ‘N,
$42,870K $43,952K $140,628K $32,938K
Education & ~‘N
Vocational Rehab\$7,328K $5,082K $16,523K $4,837K
lnsurance&Indemnities
$3,028K‘N
‘N
$3,392K $2,510 $2,301K
Construction‘N
$~QK‘N,
$0 $1 ,442K $0
General OperatingExpenses
‘N\
$69K ‘NN $0N
//
Medical $25,652N
\~23,346K‘N
$58,051K
‘/‘
$18,786K/
Total $78,957KI
N,
$75’~772K\
$219,154K/
$,5’~,861K,,,/‘
~N\N
NN
N ,“
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4/13/200525
//
/ N
/
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/
/
Breakd~~’A’nof VA Compensation$K
$250,000 -~
‘N$200,000
$150,000
$100,000 -
$50,000 -~
/
4/13/2005
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Wake Mecklenburg~NNN,NCumberLand /
Guilford~/
26
/
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N
N,N_______
N,
N
N
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Budget vs Compensation
$600,000 - —
$-400.000 -
$~300.000 -
$~00,000 -
$100,000 - —
$250,000,000 /
$200,000,000 / ___________$150,000,000 / ___________sioo,ooo,ooo “ _________ ___________
$50,000,000 / ___________ ___________ ___________$0
LiNN~~O kI ~fl tDL~Irg
‘N ‘N
~u ni b~rl ~r,d
N
I ~ ~j~t]
~_
kVAC~ /
Cumberland N Guifford /‘N, /
NN,/
Wake Mecklenburg
I
4/13/200527
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