Transcript Sample Veteran Organization Partnership

•Robin Paul, MSW, LCSW, Indianapolis VA Medical Center OEF/OIF
Program Manager
•Roger Peterman, Colonel (R) , Indiana Transition Assistance
Advisor for the State of Indiana
•John Myers, VR&E Officer, Indianapolis VA Regional Office
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Highly contagious and potentially chronic
Unlike any other disease seen before
Alarming incidence rate signals epidemic
Hoosier veterans and their families benefit
from communicable disease
Inoculations NOT recommended
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Interagency relationships develop
Relationships grow into trust and respect
Contacts and phone numbers are shared
freely
Synergies occur when you least expect them
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 Avoid contact with others outside your organization
(isolation may reduce risks of contamination)
 Hold tight to the “that’s not my job mentality”
 Do not question “NO”; do not investigate regulation
verses interpretation
 Allow new opportunities to pass so you don’t have to
jump through a lot of hoops
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Think outside the box
Share information
Establish relationships
Step out and take risks
Develop trust
Invest time in relationships
Be persistent
Expose leadership to the “bug”
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4th largest National Guard State--21,000 Guard and
Reserve Members
 Service members are geographically decentralized
 Limited military installations impact “corporate
citizenship” opportunities and opportunities for
family support
 Deployed 5,459 Indiana service members in 2008
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One “VA”
Indiana served by 8 VA Medical Facilities
Concept of Seamless Transition
Better access to a large, complicated system
Serving “dual status” veterans/citizen soldiers
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Collaboration involving multiple organizations in
Indiana that provide services for veterans
 Initial focus of the 19th Star Partnership was to share
information and identify gaps in services for
veterans
 Initially started in the 1990s
 Reborn in January of 2007
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One VA: Walk the Talk
 Know your VBA and VHA colleagues to make service
acquisition easier
 Veterans want and deserve seamless services between
DoD, VHA and VBA
Know your state’s Transition Assistance Advisor
Meet commanders of local bases and units
Build community collaborations
 Host a roundtable
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Other VA Medical Center Services and facilities
VA Regional Office
DoD, National Guard, Reserve Units
 Inter-service Family Assistance Council
Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve
State Department of Veterans Affairs
State Department of Labor VETS Program
Vet Centers
Small Business Administration
State Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Community Mental Health Centers
Veterans Service Organizations
Faith-based Organizations
Others with a desire to serve veterans
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The Lilly Endowment invited various partners to
submit proposals for funding opportunities to
enhance services for returning service members
and their families
October, 2007…Lilly Endowment awards more
than $20 million in grants to enhance services for
Indiana combat veterans and their families
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$9.9 million grant awarded to the Indianapolis VA
Medical Center
 $8.9 million grant awarded to Purdue University's
Military Family Research Institute
 $570,000 grant awarded to Indiana National Guard
Relief Fund
 $400,000 grant awarded to Crane Learning &
Employment Center for Veterans with Disabilities
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Operation Restoration (couples’ reintegration
weekends)
Seamless Transition Integrated Care Clinic
Veterans House
National Guard Relief Fund
Crane Learning & Employment Center for Veterans
with Disabilities
Military Family Research Institute
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Fall of 2008, 17 organizations joined together with 51 representatives
as an outgrowth of the 19th Star Partnership Forum
 Additional enhancement opportunities were identified, and
additional grant awards were provided to fund:
 Operation Restoration Mentoring Project
 Battlemind to Home Symposium
 Operation Reconnect
 Operation Hire a Hoosier Vet
 Operation Diploma
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Indiana Collaboration on Sodium Dichromate Project
Management
 Indiana Blue Star Salute/Welcome Home Program
 Development of OEF/OIF Concrete Assistance Fund (via
General Post Fund from community donation)
 Bidirectional referrals among partners
 Enhanced Yellow Ribbon/Seamless Transition Programs
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Direct VHA & VBA staff placed at Camp Atterbury
Close clinical coordination/consultation between VA
services and Reserve Component with regard to
behavioral health (suicide prevention, sexual
trauma, readjustment services)
 VBA leadership invited to VHA focus groups
 VHA leadership participation in VBA briefing
 Successful collaboration of world’s largest PDHRA
at Indianapolis VA Medical Center
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Seamless Transition in
Action
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Couple welcomed on the red carpet at
Operation Restoration
OEF/OIF couples enjoy a
campfire with VA staff
Welcome Home 2009 Event
Touch the family, touch the soldier…
Synergy in action
Hoosier bikers give $45,000
donation to Indianapolis OEF/OIF
Operation Hire a Hoosier Vet 2009—
Leadership Briefing
Operation Hire a
Hoosier Vet 2009
PDHRA at Indianapolis VAMC
Soldiers complete
2900 forms at
PDHRA
Approximately 700 soldiers per day
processed in large weekend PDHRA
event
Federal Occupational
Health team member
assists soldier at
PDHRA
Transition Assistance Advisor kicks
off Yellow Ribbon Event
Also coming soon…
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Be a lifelong carrier of the Passion Flu!
Avoid inoculations!
Love what you do, and do what you love!
It’s all about the PASSION!!
Hoosier Pride