Assessing the Needs of Veterans in Massachusetts
Many organizations are working to provide services to the military and veteran community in Massachusetts; little comprehensive information exists about their health and healthcare, education, employment, housing, and other needs.
To help fill this gap, the Klarman Family Foundation commissioned RAND’s 2017 report, Supporting Veterans in Massachusetts: An Assessment of Needs, Wellbeing & Available Resources. The report evaluated the needs of Massachusetts veterans, service members, and their families through a web-based survey of more than 900 veterans and members of the National Guard and Reserves, analysis of nationally representative data from the 2017 American Community Survey.
Massachusetts veterans were slightly older, had higher incomes, were more likely to have health insurance than veterans in other states, and were “considerably older than nonveterans” within Massachusetts. Post 9/11 veterans and members of the National Guard and Reserves had more unmet needs than veterans from earlier service eras.
Although veterans in Massachusetts tended to fare better than veterans in other states, they were not doing as well relative to nonveterans in Massachusetts.
Veterans had poorer health and higher rates of chronic health conditions than nonveterans.
Veterans had lower incomes, but were less likely to live below the poverty line and more likely to own their home. Although most reported income sufficient to cover basic expenses, nearly 40% of National Guard and Reserve members had difficulty covering basic expenses.
Veterans who served after 9/11 and current National Guard and Reserve members were considerably more likely to screen positive for depression and PTSD (and almost half reported binge drinking) and around 20 percent reported an unmet need for employment services; these rates were much higher than those of their peers from earlier service eras.
RAND’s report demonstrated service members and veterans in Massachusetts face similar barriers accessing support and services, primarily “a lack of knowledge about how to access services, a lack of awareness about eligibility, and geographic distance from service providers.”
recommendations
Implement strategies to connect veterans to existing resources by raising awareness of available services, improving coordination among service providers and veterans' organizations, enhancing navigation assistance, and integrating service providers in a way that gives veterans centralized access to resources.
Improve the quality of employment transition opportunities, with a focus on training veterans for meaningful careers in the civilian sector.
Train community-based mental health care providers, with an emphasis on promoting greater understanding of the unique experiences and needs of veterans and service members.
Promote networks among veterans.
Anticipate the future needs of veterans, service members, and their families.
a Review of Recent Veteran-Focused Needs Assessments
In 2017, the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State also published the report Supporting United States Veterans: A Comprehensive Review of Veteran-Focused Needs Assessments.
The report synthesized results from 28 needs assessment conducted over 10 years with the goal of understanding veterans’ unique needs and barriers impacting their access to available services within various geographies.
Mental health support was the most common area of need identified across all needs assessments reviewed.
Other commonly identified needs include services and supports designed to promote physical health and well-being; enhance employment and vocational success; secure and improve housing options and reduce homelessness; increase access to affordable transportation; provide high-quality service coordination and reduce barriers to services; improve financial literacy, decrease debt, and increase wealth; and connect veterans to social support.
Restricted access to specific services was the most commonly reported barrier across 13 needs assessments reviewed. Veterans and service providers reported that access to care was “impeded by limited hours, long wait times, lack of transportation options, and unavailability of certain types of specialty care.” Veterans were also concerned with “significant paperwork and lack of coordination across service providers.”
Needs assessments found veterans were “aware of many of the existing services” but were experiencing “significant difficulty navigating the complex system of veteran’s benefits,” confusion surrounding eligibility for specific services, difficulty coordinating across agencies, and a “lack of readily available information about how to access a variety of services.”
Veterans reported difficulty scheduling appointments, long wait times, and concerns about the quality of services being offered, as well as “waiting unusually long periods of times for certain claims to be processed by the VA,” which discouraged some veterans from seeking services. Women veterans also “suggested that they have been treated poorly by VA staff.”
Veterans reported concerns with other types of services, including housing and employment, such as that they “do not adequately meet the needs of returning veterans, are not well-coordinated, are not relevant, and are not readily available.”
Other common barriers decreasing veterans’ access to services generally included issues surrounding awareness, eligibility, and transportation; delays and excessive paperwork; concerns regarding stigma and lack of confidentiality; and lack of services tailored for women, racial/ethnic minority groups, students, those residing in rural areas, older versus younger veterans, and other underserved groups.
recommendations
Offer evidence-based treatment for mental health, without overlooking other needs.
Provide support for veterans seeking employment focused on skills (ie, interviewing) and reducing barriers to employment (ie, transportation).
Decrease obstacles to services.
Focus on physical health and disability.
Build community.
Provide support specifically for family members.
Provide specialized services and programs for subgroups of veterans (ie, women, ethnic/minority groups).
In conjunction with Brighton Marine, CNAS published Massachusetts Veteran Needs Assessment: During the Pandemic and Beyond in 2020 examining some of the challenges facing veterans in Massachusetts, including challenges related to the pandemic.
Veterans reported concerns over benefit application processes (including navigating the processes between multiple offices and sources) and a need for direct financial assistance during the pandemic, most critically for rent waivers and assistance with utilities and other basic living expenses.
This project focused on interventions that could benefit veterans; barriers, challenges, and inequities; national and comparative data on topics including the changing demographics of veterans across Massachusetts, their education, employment, income, homelessness, health care access, and VA health care spending; and the infrastructure available to support veterans across domains.
recommendations
Implement a one-stop shop for support services
Revamp outreach efforts to be more proactive and targeted
Streamline veterans’ benefit application processes
Provide direct financial assistance during the pandemic
Tailor support for specific subpopulations
Implement veteran-specific mental health care benefits
Develop housing networks for newcomers to Massachusetts (for veterans and nonveterans)
Phase in veterans’ service officers with language skills (especially Spanish)
In 2022, Massachusetts DVS worked with ASG on this Final Report for the MassVets Financial Benefits program’s 7-week outreach campaign rebranding Massachusetts’ Annuity and Chapter 115 benefits into one benefit package offered to qualifying veterans and their families in Massachusetts.
The purpose of the initiative was to develop a campaign to bring awareness to the benefits veterans have earned through their service and connect them with local veterans’ agents for future assistance. This report summarizes the strategies used in the campaign and emergent findings and current census data.
ASG analyzed the American Community Survey’s 5-year estimates for 2020, breaking down the Veteran Status and Poverty Status tables to identify those likely to be eligible for benefits at the local level. The tool focuses on 50 target towns––use the sliders on the bottom right to explore the rest.
ASG also conducted in-depth interviews with five local veterans’ agents, who shared that few eligible veterans and families know about MassVets Financial Benefits; they also reported struggles with outreach and locating the hardest to reach veterans and their families.
To minimize the number of direct phone calls coming into the DVS office, ASG also developed a lead generation form, creating a list of inquiries for local veterans’ agents to follow up on. This form generated 642 leads just during the 7-week outreach campaign.
ASG found that adults over age 55 were more likely to receive their information through traditional radio and television outlets rather than through smartphones and social media; outreach was tailored based on the age demographics in certain areas.
explore the most recent census data
Three questions specific to service in the armed forces are asked during the census in order to create estimates of veterans and their needs at the community level. Click here to learn more about these questions. The US Census Bureau began releasing the most recent data from the 2021 American Community Survey in September 2022.
The Census Reporter is an independent project that makes data from the American Community Survey easier to navigate and use. Check their Veterans & Military page for an overview of the most recent estimates available specific to current and past service members.
Estimates are available based on veteran status, including by sex, age, poverty status, employment status, VA service-connected disability status and ratings, periods of service, median incomes, and educational attainment.
Health Insurance tables include TRICARE/military health coverage and VA health care coverage among other types. Employment and other tables include “armed forces” as a sector within the labor force, allowing estimates for how many people are in active service in an area.
Group Quarters tables include estimates for people living in dorms, nursing facilities, and correctional facilities by veteran status at the state level; additional tables break out more detailed information and include military barracks as a type of quarter at the national level.
The goal of the Census Reporter is to help people understand how to use Census data; let them know if there are specific topics you’d like to see them explain.