Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Veterans Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Veterans Assistance Commission reports higher payments and schedules follow-up with reporter on mental-health coverage
Summary
Commission representative Brooks reported increased veteran interactions and lump-sum payments and said he plans to meet with a reporter to clarify details of a Journal Star article about veterans' mental health services.
Mister Brooks, reporting for the Peoria County Veterans Assistance Commission, told the Ways and Means Committee that the commission saw 385 veterans who walked into the office and recorded 450 office and phone appointments for February.
Brooks said the office tallied 2,674 total interactions for the month, and reported lump-sum payments of $5,700,000 so far—more than last year’s $5.1 million—and total program money of $25,000,000 to date in the current reporting period. He said the office processed 10 lump-sum payments this year ranging from $69,000 up to $191,000, and reported 2,974 active claims. Those figures were given by Brooks and presented as the commission’s internal counts.
Brooks also addressed a Journal Star article about veterans’ mental health services and said he has been in contact with the reporter (identified in the transcript as Brian El Sasser) and other local contacts. Brooks said the article focused on mental-health services from the VA perspective and not specifically on the county Veterans Assistance Commission; he said he planned to meet with the reporter and staff to correct or clarify items and to share the commission’s perspective. “We’re gonna sit down and and clarify a few things and see if there's any way we can help,” Brooks said.
No formal action was taken; the item was an informational report and follow-up with the reporter was described as planned.
