Senators in Connecticut recently announced a bill that aims to give women veterans more benefits and provide services that they can use as they transition to civilian life. The legislation, Senate Bill 904, is reportedly a top priority in the Senate session on April 8, 2015.
Female veterans in need of enhanced outreach
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a total of 20 percent of veterans in the U.S. are women. Connecticut is currently home to approximately 16,545 retired female servicemembers. Many of these veterans feel that it is still incredibly difficult to get jobs after returning from deployment.
Shannon Lyons of Bridgeport was a U.S. Army veteran who fought in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. She told the Connecticut Post in an interview that she and her friends are still in need of help finding jobs and houses. Lyons currently lives at The PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home, which is sponsored by the nonprofit organization Home for the Brave to house homeless female veterans.
"If people go out and get a job, they're just getting by, but they're spending all their money on rent and cannot hope to save to buy a home," said Lyons.
Senate President Martin M. Looney pointed out that there are more women home from war than there have ever been in the past. The resources that have been provided for them are no longer sufficient due to the large increase in people who need them.
A bill long overdue
Democratic members of the Senate noted that the women who have been returning from war are usually younger than their fellow male veterans, but close to 84 percent of retired women servicemembers are old enough to work, according to RepublicAmerican.com.
The vast majority of these women do not know what their benefits are or which services are at their disposal. Improved outreach would make them more aware of what is available to them, explained Jackie Evonsion, the women's outreach coordinator for the American Legion Department of Connecticut. Evonsion is also a veteran herself, having served as a member of the U.S. Air Force. She explained that when she returned from war in her 20s, she too was unaware of the benefits she could have taken advantage of.
The Senate Bill 904 requires that the Department of Veterans' Services develop a program that increases the number of females aware of their eligibility for state and federal aid. If it is passed, it will also become mandatory for the department to reexamine the needs of women vets, determining which benefits and services are needed but remain unavailable to them. Existing programs will also be assessed to ensure that they have been helpful.
Program members will also have to make recommendations for the commissioner of veteran's affairs each year on how to improve benefits and services. An additional change would include how the state defines a veteran. The bill would consider anyone discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from active service an eligible veteran.