Chester County veterans office outlines services, outreach and 2024 caseload

Director Fink, director of the Chester County Department of Veterans Affairs, told the Board of Commissioners on March 5 that the office provides benefit information and application services to veterans, their spouses and dependents and is preparing a slate of outreach events for 2025.

Fink said the office is a “small but mighty team” and listed staff and 2024 activity numbers. “We have 3 full time veteran service officers,” she said. She told commissioners the office handled more than a thousand walk-ins and appointments last year and completed more than a thousand new intakes from veterans who had not previously used the office.

The department’s work includes filing disability claims, coordinating burials and grave marker distribution, and staffing a veteran treatment court mentor program coordinated with the Department of Probation and Pretrial Services. Fink said staff submitted disability claims on behalf of veterans, processed county veteran burials and distributed flags and grave markers for Memorial Day and other needs. “We distributed 47,000, almost 48,000 flags in 2024,” she said.

Fink described the department’s advisory council, which she said has 15 members appointed by the commissioners and which helps plan outreach events. She said the council and department will hold a resource fair on May 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Greencastle Inn in Malvern with “50 plus vendors,” and that a veterans seminar and breakfast is planned for fall 2025. The office also participates in the Operation Green Light campaign around Veterans Day.

On the department’s role with the courts, Fink said the veteran court mentor coordinator interviews and trains volunteer mentors who support veterans participating in the county’s veteran treatment court program.

No commissioner questions were recorded during or after the presentation, and the meeting moved on to other agenda items.