Violence Against Women Act Analysis

assistance” can all be expected as a result of the veterans treatment courts and they “will surely have long-term benefits for local communities and the country overall” (Totman, 2013, p. 452).

A multitude of investigations were conducted in response to the 2014 VA Scandal with reports and audits showing manipulation of records, long wait times, delays in treatment and overwhelmed caseload by VA practitioners (Wikipedia, n.d., para. 3-7). There are also concerns about the VA’s lack of accountability once

Keywords: veterans, Veteran Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, H.R. 3230, Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act of 2014, Clay Hunt SAV Act, Justice as Fairness, vulnerable population, healthcare disparities, healthcare reform, social justice

In the past few years there has been increasing discussion about how to provide adequate care for the increasing number of veterasn who are eligible for care through the Veterans’ healthcare administration (VHA). There are concerns is that the VHA is not providing the level of access, efficiency, and quality of care that veterans expect. Lee & Begley, (2016) suggest access to care for the veteran population may be resulting in poor health outcomes. In response to these concerns, the Veterans ' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act (VACAA) of 2014, also known as the Veterans Choice Act, was created to improve Veterans’ healthcare. The VACAA proposed to do this by expanding the number of options veterans have for receiving healthcare, by providing access for healthcare at non-VA care centers as well as providing for an increase in staffing at VA facilities (U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016).

These rural veterans face numerous barriers in quest for access to health care, including: long travel distances to VA hospitals, limited provider choice, lack of specialty services, and inadequate provider supply. Rural veterans and non-veterans will benefit from this bill if they are allowed to receive treatment from delivery systems that allow nurse practitioners to practice with full authority

Illegal, Latina immigrant women experiencing domestic violence are highly unlikely to report this violence to law enforcement and are unable take legal action against their husbands. These women live in constant fear of being discovered and deported and consequently are unlikely to view law enforcement as a helpful resource. Immigrant women are more likely experience domestic violence due to a number of factors. Because of their illegal status, these women are more likely to live in poverty which, according to Bergen, means that they are more likely to experience male to female interpersonal violence (Bergen 2005). High in-home stress coupled with the constant fear of being discovered and deported also leads to a higher likelihood of violence (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, Perrin, 2011). Even if these women want to leave their home and take action against their husbands, most are economically dependent on their partners. While the United States has the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, which can aid illegal immigrants experiencing domestic violence in obtaining a visa, the fear of deportation keeps many women from seeking aid from social services and law enforcement. The lack of resources and fear ultimately allows domestic violence to perpetuate amidst an already vulnerable, invisible population.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 3230) have been put in place to provide funding as well as other services to veterans in any form of VA medical facilities. With this legislation, various programs have been established to provide funding and ensure care (Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014, 2014).

Each change that has been made to VAWA over the few decades has made some attempts to fill in the holes left by the previous enactments. However, recent executive orders have arguably begun to strip away what VAWA had built. These recent changes are only making this already vulnerable group of women even more vulnerable.

VA Accountability Act of 2015, H.R. 1994 is a bill that has 98 cosponsors, only two of which are democrats. “The bill passed the house on 7/29/2015 and was received in the Senate, read twice and was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on 07/30/2015 (Congress.gov (1) n.a.).” The intent of the bill is to ensure that employees of the VA are held accountable and held to a high standard at work, those that are unable to fulfill the requirements will be subject to demotion or will be terminated as a result. The bill also calls for an 18-month probationary period for new employees. “Employees have the right to appeal any demotion or termination before the Merit and Systems Protection

During this time frame only administrative funds from STOP 14 were used; the award was made during the reporting period. Dues for the Association of VAWA Administrators (AVA) were paid, there were no association fees and no training costs were incurred. The Maine Department of Public Safety paid for the subgrantee monitoring function. The funds were used to pay 50% of the office space occupied, 50% of the technology costs, 50% of the telephone costs, and postage incurred by the STOP program by the Senior Planner.

The mandatory arrest law, falling under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), though originally passed in 1994, has been reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. With the VAWA expiring in 2011, reauthorization of this act, including its

Service Delivery – VA provides a broad range of the quality and accessibility of primary care, specialized care, related medical and social benefits through a nationwide network for Veterans and their eligible beneficiaries, such as vocational rehabilitation, service members' group life insurance, traumatic injury protection, the Post-9/11 GI-Bill, the VA home loan programs, and

The article stresses the fact that the interviews were conducted without the presence of PAS providers and that alternative assistance providers were offered on site. I’m recalling personal visits to the Emergency Department and having my friends/significant others/parents being asked to leave the room momentarily while the attending asks me questions about whether I feel safe at home or if I’m afraid that someone might hurt me. I’ve always felt silly about it, but this article demonstrated to me the importance of that practice. If the person abusing me had been in the room, I never would have told the doctor about my problem. Before this class, I felt very strongly that my social work path was not one that led to public policy. However, the more I learn and read, the more I’m realizing that public policy is not a choice, but a necessity of this field. In that regard, this article invokes in me two thoughts. First, the women interviewed reported “constantly” that they withstood abuse from PAS providers because finding and keeping providers was difficult and that there was a huge lack of emergency back-up PAS supports. For many of these women, firing an abusive provider could mean being admitted to a nursing or foster home because they did not have assistance (p. 408). Public policy wise, it seems obvious that the gap that needs to be filled there is funding and support for emergency back-up PAS providers. The second public policy or education that feels necessary is on behalf of battered women’s shelters and crisis lines. None of the interviewees reported ever considering utilizing these resources. This could be a tremoundous resource, but disabled women don’t know it. I also don’t know if most battered women’s shelters would be

Armed force MWR Victim Advocacy Program is aggressive behavior at home casualties. I say these casualties advantage most from these projects in light of the fact that these projects are particularly for those sorts of casualties.

The VSP, essential role within their agency is serving residents of the District of Columbia who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual offenses, traffic or alcohol related crimes, or property crimes. The VSP overall goal is to be committed to responding to victims of crime with compassion, respect, and understanding. Over the few months that I have interned with the VSP I had the ability to tackle tasks that I assumed would be above my criteria or potential, but I mastered each duty that was given to me. During my time there I observed and learn they way VSP works with Community Supervision Officers (CSOs) to decrease the incidence of recidivism and re-victimization and partners with victim service agencies to identify crime victims,