The_Texas_Veterans_Bills_Program

Bill S.B. 34 The Texas Women Veterans Program Summary: would establish the Texas Women Veterans Program to address the specific needs of women veterans. (News Release from State Senator Judith Zaffirini) This policy would provide specific programs designed to address the needs of female veterans. These programs would include issues such as military sexual trauma, healthcare issues, and other psychological barriers to reintegration. The program will also provide individual counseling, program support and employment assistance this program may also provides services to children of veterans. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, Advisory committee on Women Veterans report 2010. In 1982 Senator Daniel Inouye conducted a study and reported that action was needed to insure that Female Veterans would have equal access to VA benefits. The report stated that women treated in VA facilities did not receive equal care, and where not informed of their benefits under that law. While pamphlets, poster, and publications where provided to service women veterans and their eligibility for VA services were developed Congress revisited the issue in 1987. Women Veterans testified to congress that while progress was being done they expressed concern on the consistency of health care that where being provided at VA facilities. In 1989 the advisory committee on women’s Veterans began site visits to VA facilities, after two years A GAO report along with Congressional hearings made law The Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. It stated that women’s health would include specific provisions to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and care for the aftermath of sexual trauma associated with military duty will be provided. In 1994 Secretary Jesse Brown established the Women Veterans Program Office and appointed Joan Furey as Executive Director. The Center for Women Veterans was created by Congress under Public Law 103-446 and The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder created a Women’s Health Sciences Division at the Boston VA Medical Center. These programs helped provide women Veterans ensure proper care and readjustment to civilian life. In 1999 Carole Turner became the second director for the Women Veteran Health program, A VA study was conducted that showed women Veterans had a higher birth defect rate who served in Vietnam. This prompted the VA to include prenatal and obstetrical care for eligible women Veterans. In 2000 The Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act was authorized to include special monthly compensation to for women and provide benefits for children with birth defects to women from the Vietnam era. According to VA’s Office of Policy, Planning & Preparedness VetPro program in 2003 based on the census of 25.6 million Veteran, 1.7 million are woman. . The number of women Veterans enrolled in VA's health care system grew from approximately 226,000 in the FY 2000 to nearly 305,000 in FY 2002. In the 2006 report there are 1.7 million women Veterans comprising 7 percent of the total Veterans population. As the number of women in the military increases, it is estimated that 10 percent of all Veterans will be women by the year 2020. The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008 which in some aspects related to improving health care services for women Veterans have passed. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report stating “VA Has Taken Steps to Make Services Available to Women Veterans, but Needs to Revise Key Policies and Improve Oversight Processes”. Currently there are over 35 research projects funded by the VA’s Health Services Research & Development Service addressing women Veterans’ issues. In 2010 President Obama signed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, part of the act requires that the VA train mental health professionals in caring for the 1 in 5 military women who have survived sexual trauma, which increases the risk of mental health issues like posttraumatic stress disorder by nearly 60% (Landmark Bill Bolsters Care for Female Veterans, 2010) Bill S.B. 34 only extends the benefits to provide women in Texas additional help by establishing the needs of women veterans, when looking at the past history one can see there are problems and concerns that are not being addressed such as where can a women veteran go for help' S.B Bill 34 can address these issues for the state of Texas. This program can provide a network to insure that women veterans can go to the proper facilities to get the right information they need such as education, health and other related issues. While this bill is still in the committee one problem that can be foreseen is the funding, considering the fiscal budget is being cut considerably. In this groups opinion we do not believe this bill will pass.