Benton County Office Works For Veterans

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County officials are working to reduce frustration often felt by veterans in dealing with governmental bureaucracy.

Stele James, veteran services officer, and his staff recently were certified by the National Association of Veterans Service Officers. It's a distinction giving them more direct access to information from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs that can speed the process of filing claims and see veterans through the maze of regulations and paperwork.

"It gives us an access-only interface with the VBMS, the Veterans Benefit Management System," James said. "That allows us to access information on the disability sought and the information submitted by the veteran. It gives us an insight into the veteran's claims so if we can see that the VA is waiting on a particular form we can shoot them an email saying that was submitted to you and received on this date. It's access to data none of the other county officers have."

The Benton County office is the first in Arkansas to be certified, James said. Before that, he said, the nearest certified veteran service officers were in Little Rock, Springfield, Mo., and Oklahoma City. Having the added access to data will help his office work with veterans.

"It's the time frame," James said. "Without this information there's a lag time or a wait time that doesn't fit into the way we want to work. What we're striving for is to be a one-stop shop for our veterans. If they come in with a question about a claim we want to be able to tell them, 'Yes, you submitted your claim and this is where it is.' We've not been able to do that because of the lack of access.

"We'd have to send an email asking about their claim and then wait to hear back. Too many times we'd not hear back from someone in the VA and I'd have to email them again and cc their boss. Then we might hear back. At the end of the day we think this certification will turn 30 percent of our two-session visits into one-session visits. That's probably a low estimate."

James' office is open to all veterans, not just to those who live in Benton County.

Renona Crowden is one of the county's three full-time veteran services officers. She started working for the county in January. A retired veteran with 22 years of service in the Air Force, Crowden retired from the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith in 2011. She said learning the benefits system is a constant challenge and the certification process she's gone through and the continuing education requirements to keep her certification are valuable.

"It's a big learning curve as far as VA policies," she said. "In the certification process there's a lot of knowledge required and it's ongoing because things are always changing."

Working in the Veteran Services Office helped her get through the certification process, Crowden said.

"I hadn't encountered every situation we learned about, but most of them I had," she said. "We see so many veterans that you do encounter most situations at some point."

The office works with veterans from all branches of service, both men and women and people of all races, Crowden said. There is a high level of frustration and anger in some veterans with long-standing problems, she said.

Lee Day is a 70-year-old Army veteran who served in Vietnam. He said he had enough problems with the VA over the years he had given up on the system, including seeking out his own doctors and paying for medical bills out of his own pocket. The breaking point came when he made an appointment with a VA doctor, went to the hospital and waited for three or four hours before being told he couldn't be seen.

"I just kind of cut loose from the VA," he said.

Day and his wife, Jackie, said they've been pleased with the difference they've seen working with the Benton County office. Day said he was reluctant at first because of his experiences.

"These vets I was talking to kept encouraging me to talk to Stele," he said. "When you get that kind of word-of-mouth that means a lot from one vet to another."

Day said he wanted to find someone who would work for him.

"I asked him 'Do you work for the VA?'" Day said of James. "He says 'No.' and I said good!"

Jackie said the staff at the Benton County Veteran Services Office has helped her husband work through the system to get the services he earned and needs.

"He fell through the cracks and now he's back on board," she said.

Helping veterans is very rewarding, Crowden said. The successes outweigh the setbacks, she said.

"When you're able to help somebody it really makes you feel good," she said. "Not everyone is happy with what they get, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. Not everyone who leaves this office is happy, but at the very least they've been heard and that means a lot."