• Email this story
• Print this story
• Comment on this story

FAYETTEVILLE - There's no state-level coordination between local groups and government agencies that assist veterans returning from overseas, the Arkansas' Veteran's Commission members discussed Friday.

That's about to change, the commission was told. Gov. Mike Beebe and 3rd District Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, among others, are cooperating on forming a coordinating committee modeled on a program from Minnesota. The commission was told of this by Nicole Hart, the governor's liaison for veterans. The commission met Friday at the Fayetteville Veteran's Home.

A number of local groups sprang up independently to support veterans after National Guard deployments overseas in recent years, committee members said. There is no one place veterans can call and find what services - such as medical services and job training - are available in their area. While the state Department of Veterans Affairs keep track of services the state government provides, they can't advise veterans on what local volunteer services are in their area because there is no centrally prepared, updated list, members said. Hart said the proposed new coordinating committee would gather such information.

Veterans are reluctant to avail themselves of some of the services available, commission members said. For instance, prescriptions to relieve combat-induced stress can preclude the recipient from driving a commercial truck or operating equipment, reducing the chances for the would-be beneficiary to find a job, members said.

In other matters, the commission will seek $7 million in the next legislative session, which starts in January, to replace the department's veterans home in Little Rock. The cost of the project is estimated at $23 million, but the department needs a state appropriation before it can qualify for any federal funds. "Even if we get the appropriation in January, it will take another four years at least" to get through the federal program, the waiting list for similar projects and construction, said commission chairman Rex Roark.