VETERANS ISSUES
Delgado, Ashby, speak on reintegration panel in Brunswick
BRUNSWICK, N.Y. » A veteran reintegration panel was held at the Brunswick Elks Lodge Friday. Joining Rep. Antonio Delgado, who hosted the panel, were Assemblyman Jake Ashby and representatives from various veteran organizations.
Leading up to Veterans Day, the discussion centered around issues focused on aiding veterans in their transition to civilian life. Topics included employment opportunities, mental health support, VA benefits, and community engagement for veterans following military service.
“I wanted to spend this week during the indistrict work week making sure that we get to as many places as possible to talk about this issue, particularly reintegration and what options are out there for our veterans when they come home to find work,” Delgado remarked on helping veterans make the shift.
With more than 40,000 veterans in NY-19, Delgado, who’s working with farmers in the district to help find steady work for veterans, noted the importance of numerous stakeholders helping veterans.
“What I have tried to do from the very beginning is establish a real feedback chain from local to federal. After I was elected I created the veteran’s advisory council. It’s made up of members from all over the district, 11 counties, bipartisan,” Delgado noted of the committee.
"Veterans issues are an opportunity for bipartisan efforts and it’s something that I think we desperately need to focus more on in New York State." — Assemblyman Jake Ashby
“A lot of the information that I’ve been able to glean and pursue in Washington has come from the committee and that to me is Democracy at its best when you are able to take information from local constituents, those who care on the ground, and bring it back to Washington and pursue opportunities,” Delgado added of the ground up support effort.
In addition, Delgado commented on legislation he introduced to help disabled veterans and their spouses.
“There still is a situation where if you are disabled or were a disabled veteran to a certain percentage point, spouses were able to get certain benefits and those benefits were limited based on the percentage of disability, which I found a bit offensive. I don’t think we should put a percentage on disabilities,” Delgado said.
“So we put a bill forward that would lift that cap on the percentage and let any spouse of a deceased services member who’s been disabled to receive the full benefits so we were happy to get that introduced,” Delgado noted regarding benefits.
“We have allowed tax credits for our employers to hire veterans and we want to do the same for the spouses of veterans. We talk a lot about and rightfully so, the sacrifice our veterans make but their loved ones, their family members just as well are the ones who are looking out for them when they’re overseas and help them cope with both physical and invisible scars when they come home. So I think it’s critically important that we help in that regard,” Delgado added on tax credits for helping spouses of veterans find employment.
Ashby, himself a veteran who served admirably completing combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and a humanitarian mission in Africa noted how veteran’s issues are near and dear to his heart.
“Veterans issues are an opportunity for bipartisan efforts and it’s something that I think we desperately need to focus more on in
New York State,” Ashby said.
Ashby added how he’d like to see the Division of Veteran Services elevated to a state agency.
“I’m proud to sponsor a number of veteran-related bills, one of which I’m going to be putting forth would take the division of veteran services and actually make it a state agency department and elevate its ability to provide care for our veterans,” Ashby said. “Why this hasn’t happened yet I’m not quite sure but I think it’s important to do that and allow this department to actually allocate more resources and provide for the veterans of New York State. But it’s not going to happen without bipartisan support.
“So that’s why I think it’s important that we have events like this to garner strength, get support for it and to bring these issues forward.”
Nicole Caquias, who serves as Community Engagement Coordinator at the Utica/Catskill Veteran Outreach Center, spoke to the need for more funding and less red tape for veterans to gain access to the services they need.
“The toughest thing is when we go out underneath the bridges and find our veterans, our heroes living in the lifestyle, they are and bringing them in just to tell them that the grants that we’re working off of, that they do not qualify under. That is the most devastating thing to have to tell them,” Caquias said.
“We do a lot of fundraising. We deal with a lot of other locations and organizations as well but they’re also dealing with the same red tape. It’s very difficult to have to turn our veterans away after we just brought them in,” Caquias noted of the bureaucracy.
In addition, Caquias described some of the other obstacles they face in attempting to help veterans.
“We also provide housing for our homeless veterans. We provide job security. Transportation is another big one that we’re having issues with for our veterans. It’s hard to find wheelchair vans that we can actually afford as a not for profit. There’s very few grants out there for transportation,” Caquias said.
Caquias also noted the need for greater access and ease in finding information and services online to help veterans.
“It’s very difficult being that we have 15 staff members that cover over 16 counties. It’s pretty difficult but it’s such a rewarding job, it really is, we love what we do, we wish we could do more and that’s why we’re here today,” Caquias added.