KENTUCKY — On this week’s program we are highlighting National Veteran and Military Families Month. November was first declared as military family month in 1996. Since then, each November has been a time to acknowledge the tremendous sacrifices our military families make.

During this “In Focus Kentucky” segment, Millie Stevens, state programs director for the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA), joins the program to discuss how the KDVA helps veterans and their families obtain all federal, state and local veterans benefits to which they are entitled. 

“Many of them are not may not be aware of the fact that Gov. Paul Patton started the KDVA back in 1998 and the mission, the purpose of establishing this was to allow our Kentucky veterans to have a source, a resource that they could go to, to find out about all of the federal, state and the local benefits that are available. Many of them do not know, and it’s amazing how people are finding out more about our programs and what we do and how we work, to the point of we have served over 40,000 veterans last year. We have over 850 employees that go throughout the state, and that’s one thing that people were not aware of. They weren’t aware that we covered the whole state. They thought we were just in the more urban areas, but we have all 120 counties covered with our program,” said Stevens.

The KDVA offers a wide variety of programs for veterans just now returning from their tours of service, either abroad or at home, from help securing medical benefits to counseling and transitory employment programs.

The KDVA also has programs for veterans who need assistance finding housing and specific programming and opportunities for female veterans.

You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.