Clinician’s Guide

Clinicians’ Guide Menu Military Health History How to take one Health Risks by Service Era VA/DoD Clinical Practices DBQ’s (Disability Benefits Questionnaires) Lookup Alternatives Index and Alternative Methods Afterword Bibliography Question Six Have you received medical care for this condition from any other provider,  including military or VA? By asking Read more…

LVMAC Tidbit: VA Caregiving Assistance is finally going to expand

Long overdue, the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC), formerly reserved to only those who served during the “Global War on Terror” for improper reason, will expand sometime in October, with a launch date to be announced in mid-September.

PCAFC expansion will open up the program to eligible WWII, Korean and Vietnam Veterans. In addition, eligibility will change: veterans must have a single or combined VA service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher. This applies regardless of whether the disability is the result of an injury, illness or disease.

One welcomed addition is that family caregivers will also have access to financial planning,legal services in addition to robust educational and supportive services, such as workshops, self-care courses, a caregiver support line, psycho-educational group calls, and peer support mentoring. (more…)

LVMAC News: Businesses! We Need Your Help and Thinking

The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, working with the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council and others, intends to create a formal Veterans and Military Affairs Council.  More immediately, it is in the process of making a baseline assessment of those chamber of commerce initiatives most needed.   It realizes it must get beyond anecdotal experiences to have informed efforts.  Therefore, as part of the assessment, it must conduct a short survey to uncover what problems — if any — local employers are facing in finding, hiring and retaining veterans as employees. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbit — DMVA Announces Funding Availability for 2017 Veterans Trust Fund Grants

DMVA LogoOn 19 September the Office of Veterans Affairs, Department of Miltiary and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) announced it was seeking grant applicants for 2017.  Suspense for submissions is 18 November.  Note that those who submit electronically have a time edge on those who submit by paper, if mailing time is considered.

Once again up to $500,000 in grants to nonprofits (defined this year as 501(c)(19) Veterans’ service organizations or 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations with a mission of serving Pennsylvania Veterans); and up to $150,000 in grants to County Directors of Veterans Affairs or the Pennsylvania Association of County Directors of Veterans Affairs. (more…)

Forward Observer — Important Funding Opportunity from Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

Request for Proposals Finally Issued

 LVMAC Poster Art 2005On 8 January, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), after unexplained foot-dragging resulting from the budgetary impasse, finally announced the availability of up to $550,000 in competitive grants.  It gives the Lehigh Valley community of nonprofits an opportunity to do more for its military veterans and their families.  The suspense for submitting a proposal is 5 February 2016, 4 p.m.

The source of the funding is through the Veterans Trust Fund, which was created to expedite or expand services to veterans and their families using an alternate source of PA DMVA VTF Logofunding.  Over the years, the gears of state government have ground far too slowly to be responsive to their needs. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbit — New Edition of PTSD Booklet Available

PTSD Recovery Booklet Cover, 7th Edition, 2013To meet the demand, a reprinting of Stephanie Laite Lantham’s Veterans and Families’ Guide for Recovering from PTSD is now available upon request at no cost to those who want to learn more about PTSD and want to know how to help a loved one or a friend.  The booklet has also proven unexpectedly useful to the local judiciary and municipalities as well.

“The Guide” was at one time distributed by the Military Order of Purple Heart (MOPH) to the VA Vet Centers in all 50 states. That’s how it came it first came to our attention.  We believed booklet could fulfill an additional, special need in our community if tailored to it. Fortunately, the author was willing to work with us. (more…)

LVMAC News — Veterans, Reservists and the National Guard Should Worry About a Pennsylvania Payday Lending Bill

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In this Issue

Pending Payday Lending Legislation: A Debt Trap for Military Veterans
General Announcements
Homelessness
Scholarship Program
Community Educational Outreach
PTSD Booklet for Families
Healthcare in Our Community
Veterans Supportive Colleges Initiative
DoD/VA News

Pending Payday Lending Legislation: A Debt Trap for Military Veterans

Go to the Forward Observer article on payday lending to read what Kerry Smith told the Council at its 20 March business meeting. (more…)