HomeMy WebLinkAbout20201266.tiffSTATE OF COLORADO
COLORADO BOARD OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS
Members
Jack Rudder, Chair
Patricia Hammon, Vice Chair
Sheila Scanlon, Secretary
Hollie Caldwell
Duane Dailey
Longinos Gonzalez
Norm Steen
Division of Veterans Affairs East
1355 S. Colorado Blvd, Bldg. C Suite 113
Denver, Colorado 80222
Phone: 303-284-6077
FAX: 303-284-3163
Brey Hopkins, Deputy Executive Director
Jared Polis
Governor
Major General
Michael A. Loh
The Adjutant General
April 29, 2020
County Commissioner, Weld County, Colorado
County Commissioner Freeman,
Thank you for your long-standing commitment to the military veterans that live in our state and
the County Service Officer working in your county. As you know, veterans are hard workers,
come with great skills and discipline, are an asset to anyone that they work for and are willing to
volunteer in their local communities. We have approximately 400,000 veterans in our state who
in FY2018 brought in estimate $3.81 billion to our state from VA benefits alone. County
Veteran Service Officers are the primary local contact to assist those Colorado veterans to
receive those federally authorized benefits. These benefits bring significant economic benefit to
your county. The more veterans the County Service Officer assist with claims, the more we the
State of Colorado benefits financially. Additionally, we get a great veteran work force.
The federal authorized benefits that veterans in your county receive do three significant things:
1. Brings economic benefit to the county and State.
2. Provides the veteran with benefits they have earned, including financial and medical.
3. Moves veterans off county and state resources onto federal resources. For example, it
reduces veterans' dependency on State Medicaid and related financial programs.
We believe there are 20-30% of the 400,000 veterans who have not signed up for federal
benefits, and who may be eligible. This is where the County Service Officer comes in. County
Service Officers which according to the Department of Human Service regulations 1(2 CCR
2511-1) "shall assist claimants in the proper completion of applications for veterans' benefits,
assist in the development and securing of all evidence and documents necessary for the
adjudication of claims...." By State Law, each county is reimbursed by the state (full or part
time) for the work being done by the County Veteran Services Officer. In order to be
reimbursed, each county must file a Monthly Report (Form CVA-26) with the Colorado Division
of Veteran Affairs detailing its Veterans Service Officers activities and hours.
For County Veteran Service Officers who work full-time, the county is reimbursed $29,400 per
year and $14,700 for those working part time.
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2020-1266
We would like to ask two things from you:
1. Adequately fund your County Service Officer. They should earn a salary or wage
consistent with the prevailing wage for similar work. Were possible, we ask that you
augment the State funding, although we are cognizant that this is not always possible in
rural areas. Each State dollar spent on the County Service Officer brings $5,672 in
federal benefits to Colorado.
2. If your County Service Officer works part-time, we ask that you increase their
commitment to full-time or hire another part-time CVSO so that you can enable your
County Service Officers to spend more time with a larger number of veterans, increasing
their benefits, and in turn each County's merchants/municipalities. This is a reasonable
step to take to ensure our veterans have access to the benefits they are authorized by
federal law which will bring more federal dollars into your area.
On behalf of the more than 400,000 proud veterans in Colorado, thank you for your support
of Colorado veterans and their families.
Jack Rudder
Chairman Colorado Board of Veteran Affairs
Cf: County Treasurer
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