Board orders review of Veterans Services after concerns about capacity for roughly 30,000 veterans

The Solano County Board of Supervisors during its special budget hearing directed county staff to conduct a comprehensive review of the Veterans Services Department's staffing, management structure and operations after supervisors said the office may not be resourced to serve the county's large veteran population.

Supervisor Williams said Solano's veteran population is roughly 30,000 and urged the county to ensure the department has enough certified staff to process claims and benefits. Williams recommended considering creation of a deputy director position once recently hired staff obtain required certification so the office can process claims when the director is unavailable.

Al Sims, the county's veteran services director, told the board during public comment that Solano fits in a medium-to-large veteran-county category but is staffed "about half as well" as comparable counties. Sims said the office recently served about 9,000 veterans who had never been served previously and that the department lacks management backup when the director is out of the office: "When I went out on surgery... the county administrator cannot access any of my systems in my office. They can't provide any help to the congressman when they call my office. They can't provide any help to the spouses when they call my office," he said.

County administrative staff said the department has faced turnover and vacancies and that the county has added positions in recent years, bringing staffing to one of its highest levels, but that hires and certification timing have complicated service delivery. The county administrator and other staff said they prefer to evaluate the department's workload after newly hired staff complete certification and then return with a recommendation; several supervisors also suggested a management audit and exploring whether to consolidate certain services with other county departments, such as Health and Social Services.

Why it matters: Supervisors noted Solano County's concentrations of military and veteran households, including active-duty families at Travis Air Force Base, and said insufficient certified staff could reduce the county's ability to deliver benefits and generate related revenue for department operations.

Board direction

The board did not change the budget line items for Veterans Services during the meeting. Instead, supervisors directed County Administrator staff to perform a comprehensive review of the Veterans Services Department's staffing, location, management and organizational ties and to return to the board with findings; the board gave no immediate commitment to add a permanent deputy director position.