Veteran's Services with Milton Schoen
Posted by Steve Frazier
on Nov 08, 2011
Our Program on November 8th was a presentation by
Milton Schoen, the director of Veterans’ Services for Hennepin County. He and his staff of four provide initial and referral services to the 75,000 veterans in Hennepin County.
Most of those returning from active duty don’t know much about the benefits available to them from various sources, and Milton heads the reference center for these benefits in the county. Much of their work involves checking on eligibility for federal programs through the VA and helping eligible veterans apply for those services. Examples of established programs include VA health care, long-term disability, chemical dependency treatment, behavioral health services, and vocational rehabilitation.
New programs recently initiated include treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, Veterans’ Court, help for urban homeless veterans, and expediting access to the VA Health Care system for qualified veterans.
Their main office is in the Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, which is not a convenient location for many veterans, so they are opening up their second satellite center at Ridgedale soon. These centers make access easier for the suburban veterans. Hours at t he satellites in Brookdale and Ridgedale are currently very limited, but the high usage insures that these hours will be increased.
The VA and the Federal government are currently addressing the homeless veteran issue, and recently open was a sober house for 120 veterans near the VA Hospital. (Story by Tad Shaw and photo by Steve Frazier)