Veterans Services seeks modest additions for parking, claims staff and suicide review work

Dave Lewis, executive director of the Veterans Services Department, presented the department’s FY2027 priorities and modest funding requests to Commissioners Court. He emphasized three core lines—claims and benefits, suicide prevention, and justice‑involved veteran services—and said the office is on track to help more than 3,000 veterans and family members access earned benefits this year.

“We are on track to serve over 3,000 veterans in our claims and benefits team,” Lewis said, adding that the economic impact of secured benefits exceeds $100 million annually for the county’s veterans and families (not county coffers). He described operational shortfalls: the department’s claims team currently has six staff (one lead wearing multiple hats) and would face longer lines if proposed offsets remove positions.

Lewis requested small operational support—covered parking for staff near a leased office in a higher‑risk area—and flagged programmatic asks: retaining claims and benefits PCNs (to avoid increasing wait times), an enhancement for an additional veteran service officer (VSO) to shorten queues, and a legislative analyst to track and respond to hundreds of veterans-related bills. He said the Texas Veterans Commission provided three jail-focused PCNs but cuts to a state emergency financial assistance grant this year reduced capacity.

Precincts probed the department’s capacity and the expected return on investment for a legislative analyst and ServiceNow CRM investments. Lewis said ServiceNow will improve cross‑office visibility for crisis and claims cases and help prevent “throwing a suicidal‑risk veteran over the wall” between agencies. The court did not take votes on these items during the session; the requests will be evaluated alongside other departmental budget proposals.