Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission’s August driver’s license event at the Kane County Government Center was a huge hit, but it also highlighted the need for more such events.

Veterans Assistance co-hosted the event when the new veteran designation for driver’s licenses was a little more than a month old.  The idea to host the event came from Jacob Zimmerman, the Kane County commission’s superintendent, who is also a member of Secretary of State Jesse White’s Veteran Advisory Council.

“When this designation became available on July 1, we knew there would be issues,” Zimmerman said. “The designation requires a veteran to go to two separate state agencies: the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs to get a special stamp on your DD-214 and then to the driver’s facility operated by the Secretary of State to get the actual license.”

At the last Veterans Advisory Council meeting, Zimmerman learned that the Secretary of State has a mobile unit that can come to off site locations to issue driver’s licenses.

“After we arranged everything for the two state agencies to be under our roof and we started advertising, we were getting 10 to 20 calls a day asking about the event. We contacted the Secretary of State about the demand, and they tripled the resources they were bringing to the event and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs doubled their resources also.”

It was the first time since 1998 that three of the secretary’s mobile units were at the same event.  It was also the first time that the Secretary of State and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs operated at the same event to issue the new veteran designation.

One veteran who attended the event, John Reece, who is also the 11th District American Legion commander, said the Aug. 3 effort was hugely successful because it was organized for veterans by veterans.

“It was great to see so many veteran service officers side by side with the Secretary of State personnel helping veterans obtain the veteran designation for their state ID card or driver’s license,” he said.

By the end of the day, 366 driver’s licenses and/or state ID cards were issued to 234 veterans.

“We knew the event would be successful, but the incredible turnout was overwhelming at first, even with all of the resources the state made available,” Zimmerman said. “Everyone was very happy that we streamlined the process for them. There were a lot of questions before this event about the special certification that is required and what paperwork is needed.”

The event now is being duplicated by other veteran organizations across Northern Illinois to continue to simplify the process for veterans.

“This was another great example of Kane County bringing services to our veterans,” Zimmerman said.

The next event planned for Kane County where both state agencies will be on hand to issue the veteran designation will be at the Veteran Job and Resource Fair at Elgin Community College on Oct. 30.

Until then, the commission will be working with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs to bring resources to the County to help with the certification process.

“Right now, the state is the only one who can certify a DD-214 for the driver’s license,” Zimmerman said. “Unfortunately, our office can’t do that under the current law. That means that there is only one office in Kane County that is being operated only two days per week by only one of their employees that can issue the certification to Kane County’s almost 25,000 veterans.

“We will be working with our local state legislators to find a better solution for the long term. We thank the Secretary of State and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs for bringing a record number of resources out for this event especially when those agencies are operating without a budget, it is a testament to how much they really care about our veterans.”

SOURCE: Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission press release