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Welcome to the San Benito County To provide the most efficient and
effective counseling and assistance San Benito County is partnering with the Monterey County
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs headed by Jack Stewart.
The historic Veterans Memorial Building in
Hollister in downtown Hollister is currently undergoing major
renovation, and consequently our office has been temporarily
relocated to the Fremont School on 4th Street
across from the County Sheriff’s Department. We regret any inconvenience this may cause our clients. If you are physically challenged,
please call ahead for assistance with parking. 3rd Street
4th Street
OFFICE HOURS:
MEET THE STAFF: The San Benito County Veterans Services Office
provides advocacy, assistance and services designed to enhance the lives of
the County Veterans, their families, and their survivors, who served their
Country in the Armed Forces. We assist in obtaining Veterans Entitlements and
Services from the U.S. Department of Defense, State Veterans' Affairs, and
local programs for eligible Veterans and their families. We are dedicated
to providing these services in a customer friendly environment with quality
second to none. SERVICES AVAILABLE: San Benito County Veterans Services Office
offers information and referral, claims assistance, and client advocacy to
veterans, vidows of veterans, children of deceased or disabled veterans, or a
parents who lost a son or daughter in military service. The state and federal governments
administer programs providing a wide variety of benefits to veterans and
their dependents. Eligibility for most VA benefits is based on
discharge from active military service under other than dishonorable
conditions for minimum period specified by law. Active service generally
means full-time service as a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
Coast Guard, or as a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service, the
Environmental Services Administration or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. Benefit Programs For Veterans
Monetary benefits, called
disability compensation, are paid to veterans who are disabled by injury or
disease incurred or aggravated during active military service in the line of
duty.
Veterans whose
service-connected disabilities are rated at 30 percent or more are entitled
to additional allowances for dependents from $16 to $164 a month according to
the number of dependents and the degree of disability.
Former prisoners of war who
were incarcerated for at least 30 days are entitled to a presumption of
service connection for disabilities resulting from certain diseases or
ailments if manifested to a degree of 10 percent at any time after active
service.
Veterans may be eligible for
support if they have limited income when they have 90 days or more of active
military service, at least one day of which was during a period of war.
VA administers a number of
education and training programs for veterans. For the Montgomery GI Bill
program, the discharge must be honorable.
Veterans and service members
who served in the Armed Forces on or after Sept. 16, 1940, are eligible for
vocational rehabilitation if three conditions are met:
Veterans may call the VA
Insurance Center in Philadelphia where specialists are available to discuss
premium payments, insurance dividends, changes of address, policy loans,
naming beneficiaries and reporting the death of the insured or a beneficiary.
Dependency and
Indemnity Compensation-Death Due to Service-Connected Disability Dependency and Indemnity Compensation payments
may be authorized for surviving spouses, unmarried children under 18,
helpless children, those between 18 and 23 if attending a VA-approved school,
and low-income parents of service personnel or veterans who died from:
VA provides headstones and
markers for the graves of veterans anywhere in the world and for eligible
dependents of veterans buried in national, state veteran or federal
cemeteries.
The Presidential Memorial
Certificate is a parchment certificate with a calligraphic inscription
expressing the nation's grateful recognition of the veteran's service and
bears the signature of the President.
VA provides an American flag
to drape the casket of a veteran who was discharged under conditions other
than dishonorable and to a person entitled to retired military pay, including
reservists. The flag may be given to the next of kin.
Assistance is provided
in-person at our office, by phone, or by e-mail. Web Resources for Veterans: Revised: 4/25/02 |
