December 31, 2014
George Altman | Military Times
The students who walk into the veterans office at the University of Nebraska Omaha find several university staffers who can assist with school matters, a full-time Veterans Affairs Department employee who can help with benefits questions and other resources.
The problem: Not everyone walks into the veterans office.
"We have a big self-sorting issue, where the people who need our services probably the most don't use those resources," said Mike Connolly, director of the school's Office of Military and Veteran Services.
December 18, 2014
LINCOLN — Nearly 2,700 Nebraska military veterans have obtained special driver's licenses available through a new state program.
“I'm proud Nebraska continues to find unique ways to recognize our veterans,” Gov. Dave Heineman said during a press conference called Wednesday to promote the service.
A law that took effect this summer allows Nebraska veterans to have the word “veteran” printed in bold letters at the bottom of their driver’s licenses or state identification cards. Heineman, a U.S. Army veteran, said he has a special operator’s license.
December 17, 2014
A special web page has been launched to assist veterans seeking to upgrade punitive discharges related to behavior problems caused by post-traumatic stress.
The web page provides information and applications to seek an upgrade to discharge from service. The page can be found at http://arba.army.pentagon.mil/adrb-ptsd.cfm.
December 15, 2014
by Leo Shane III | Military Times
Supporters of a sweeping veterans suicide prevention bill suffered a major setback Monday when retiring Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., blocked the measure in the waning hours of the year's legislative session.
The move likely means the end of the effort for this year, and potentially months of rebuilding work for advocates who championed the bill as a critical step forward in veterans mental health care.
December 15, 2014
by Lance Ulanoff | Mashable
IBM's Watson beat the odds on Jeopardy! Now the big question: is it smart enough to help solve what ails the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs?
The past couple of years have been pretty rough for the V.A.. In June of this year, it got blasted for underreporting veteran complaints, which ran the gamut from slow response time to poor care. Eventually the Secretary of the V.A., Eric Shineski, resigned.
December 4, 2014
WASHINGTON, DC - NAVSO's CEO, Chris Ford, served among distinguished colleagues today on Capitol Hill as part of a panel discussing the power of data-driven collaboration. The event, hosted by the University of Southern California's Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (USC CIR) and Deloitte, unveiled the results of the recent LA Veterans Survey. Other panelists included Philip Brozenick (Deloitte), Phillip Carter (CNAS), Terri Tanielien (RAND) and Casey Littlefield (Social Finance).
November 12, 2014
Patricia Kime | Military Times
Psychiatrists have long known that a patient's risk for suicide spikes after hospitalization for a mental health disorder.
But being able to predict who may be at the most risk has proved elusive: Few patterns have emerged from the thousands of post-hospital suicides in the U.S. to determine who might need extra support once they've been discharged.
November 12, 2014
Brett Molina | USA Today
Google unveiled a new website on Tuesday hoping to lure military veterans to work at the tech giant.
The Veterans hubs is an extension of Google's career page, offering information on available jobs and how military service can translate to working at the company.
November 12, 2014
Most community-based mental health providers are not well prepared to take care of the special needs of military veterans and their families, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation that was commissioned by United Health Foundation in collaboration with the Military Officers Association of America.The exploratory report, based on a survey of mental health providers nationally, found few community-based providers met criteria for military cultural competency or used evidence-based approaches to treat problems commonly seen among veterans.
November 11, 2014
Maral Tavitian | Daily Trojan
USC is one of 24 private colleges and universities in California to join the One More Veteran Pledge, an initiative that aims to make higher education more accessible to veterans.
Through signing the pledge, the institutions vow to recognize veterans as assets to their educational communities and to take into account veterans’ service in the admissions process.