BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1127
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Paul J. Cook, Chair
SB 1127 (Oropeza) - As Amended: May 18, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Veterans: information to family members.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Veterans
Affairs to make available to family members of veterans
returning from active duty user-friendly Internet resources that
provide information on the signs of pertinent ailments from
various conflicts and printed material regarding those ailments
at any public function of the department.
EXISTING LAW requires CDVA to aid and assist California veterans
and their families and to administer the California Veterans
Homes.
FISCAL EFFECT : No cost was identified by Senate Appropriations
Committee.
COMMENTS : According to the author, who cites several recent
studies, returning war veterans can often have problems
reintegrating to society. In the modern era, American society
witnessed the problem of reintegration in the early 1980s when
it was discovered that many of the people on skid row were
Vietnam Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, now known
as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Traditionally it is
the Federal Government's responsibility to take care of
veterans, but as more and more unseen ailments such as PTSD and
Traumatic Brain Injury are affecting veterans who are being
discharged without diagnosis and without notification to the
federal Veterans' Administration (VA).
As a result of unseen and undiagnosed ailments these veterans
then fall through the cracks of the VA health system and land on
county mental health systems, which according to the funding in
that county, may or may not cover that particular ailment.
Veterans from our current conflicts are falling into
homelessness faster than their Vietnam counterparts because of
the inability to integrate back into civilian life.
SB 1127
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When these conditions go untreated some veterans turn to drugs
and alcohol and can often lose what few benefits they have. The
loss of these benefits only continues the downward spiral. When
veterans return home undiagnosed and outside of the VA system,
their family is often the only asset left to help get these
veterans help.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Worthen / V. A. / (916) 319-3550