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VA » Veterans Benefits Administration » Congressional Toolkit
Congressional Toolkit
We would like to assist you in serving your Veteran, Survivor and Servicemember constituency by offering to you this digital toolkit that contains links to resources within VA. We encourage you to support this effort by distributing this toolkit to your state offices and adding any links you find beneficial to your congressional websites.
The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Dial 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is available.
The VA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization aims to enable Veterans with access to economic opportunities by leveraging the federal procurement system and expanding the participation of procurement-ready small businesses. Information is available on starting a business and assistance is given for applying to the Vets First Verification Program.
In coordination with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Labor, we provide comprehensive support through the Transition Assistance Program to help Service members transition to civilian life. Transition classroom materials are accessible to all Service members, Veterans, and their spouses at any time through the Joint Knowledge Online system.
We provide a variety of benefits and services to Servicemembers, Veterans, and their families. VA benefits include disability compensation, pension, education and training, health care, home loans, insurance, vocational rehabilitation and employment and burial. Additionally, you can find out more about the services offered by your local VA regional benefit offices, VA hospitals and clinics, and VA national cemeteries and state Veterans cemeteries.
We have numerous media products to assist individuals in learning more about Veterans benefits. These products range from videos to various publications which may be printed for local use.
We conduct proactive outreach to Veterans in need of assistance, connect homeless and at-risk Veterans with housing solutions, health care, and community employment services, and we work with several stakeholders on employment and affordable housing options for Veterans leaving homelessness. The Homeless Veterans website is your first place to look for information and resources.
VA.gov provides access to a variety of military and Veteran benefit and health information. Account users can check the status of their disability-related claims, download their Post 9/11 GI Bill Statement of Benefits, refill their VA prescriptions and much more. Additionally, Veterans can download letters verifying military service and benefit information. VA.gov also provides several other options related to applying for and managing numerous benefits and services online.
Through the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, members and staff can research VA facilities by Congressional district and view Veteran profile data. The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides weekly updates on data covering the claims inventory, claims backlog, claims accuracy, and Fully Developed Claims Program. The ASPIRE dashboard shows how VBA is performing nationally and at the state and local area.
We have a collection of fact sheets that includes a variety of benefit topics. The benefit fact sheets are updated and revised on a quarterly basis. Additional fact sheets on health and cemetery topics and VA information at the state level are available.
Some of your constituents may be limited in their English speaking skills. We offer information about benefits and services in Spanish. Additionally, the Veterans Benefits Administration provides all of its fact sheets in Spanish.
