Commissioner James Hendon of the New York City Department of Veterans Services told a joint City Council hearing on Oct. 29 that the agency is expanding outreach and services for older veterans while continuing to face staffing and budget constraints.

Hendon said DVS runs programs that connect older veterans to VA benefits, emergency rental assistance and home‑and‑community mental health services; maintains a network of Department of Veterans Service veteran service officers and Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion liaisons in all 51 council districts; and funds peer‑support programming through the Joseph P. Dwyer initiative. "It's scalable. And for many older New Yorkers, it's the difference between not asking and finally getting help," Hendon said of the agency's volunteer check‑in effort, Mission Vet Check.

The testimony summarized multiple DVS efforts that target aging veterans: in‑person veteran resource centers in each borough, a claims team that assists with VA enrollment and intent‑to‑file submissions, a veteran outreach mailing that reached about 52,000 households and generated "400 plus calls," and plans to expand cultural‑competency training for health and aging service providers. The agency also described partnerships to connect older veterans to SNAP, emergency rental relief and utility assistance through HRA and other city programs.

Why it matters: Council members and advocates told Hendon that many older veterans do not self‑identify as veterans when they access city services, so non‑digital outreach and cross‑agency referrals are critical to ensure they receive benefits. DVS and Department for the Aging representatives said better data and routine identification at intake would let the city measure whether older veterans are being reached.

Most important facts: Hendon said DVS mailed 52,000 postcards after a council request and received more than 400 responses within a week; he described the agency's new VetConnect technology as a tool that will let staff track client demographics more precisely going forward; and he said DVS is accredited by the New York State Department of Veterans Services to help submit claims and, when available, can pull Department of Defense records for recently separated veterans.

Discussion and concerns: Council members pressed DVS on barriers that older veterans face, including digital exclusion, social isolation and difficulty navigating VA records for older service eras. DVS staff said some records for veterans who served before certain dates must be requested from the National Archives, a process that can take weeks if done by paper. Staff also described local programs that send volunteers to make regular check‑in calls and peer activities such as veteran pickleball and filmmaking through the Dwyer grants.

Budget and capacity caveats: Hendon and other panelists repeatedly described DVS as a small agency with limited staff. At points in the hearing DVS staffing and budget figures differed: speakers referenced a headcount authorized at about 49 positions and figures described in testimony as "just over $5,000,000" and later as the "most recent approved budget" of about $7,600,000. The agency said limited funds constrain outreach frequency and follow‑up capacity.

What DVS will do next: The agency plans to roll out an expanded cultural competency training for municipal and provider staff, to continue the VetConnect implementation this fiscal year so age groups can be tracked more accurately, and to promote a citywide schedule of veteran resource officers in council district offices under the Volone Veterans Initiative.

Ending note: Council members and several witnesses urged more consistent non‑digital outreach — recurring mailings, phone calls and in‑person presence — and asked the council to consider funding increases or policy changes that would require city contractors providing veteran services to register with DVS so outreach and referrals can be coordinated.