• Editor’s Note: Kane County is the home to 24,436 veterans, the seventh-largest county by veteran population in the state of Illinois. “Ask Jake” is a monthly series of articles written by Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission Superintendent Jacob A. Zimmerman, designed to help Kane County veterans and their families, in appreciation of their service and sacrifice.

Kane County is the home to 24,436 veterans. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently released Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures Report for Fiscal Year 2015, we know a little bit more about the veterans who call Kane County home.

Population

Kane County remains the seventh-most veteran populated county in the state of Illinois with a net decrease of 351 veterans in Fiscal Year 2015 (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30). The decrease in veterans has many causes, but the most driving factor is that the veteran population in our nation is aging.

That is primarily caused by today’s military being “all-volunteer” versus having a military consisting of both volunteers and draftees as we had during the WWII, Korean and Vietnam eras. Essentially, the United States had more veterans serving shorter periods of service back then than we do today. That correlates to having less veterans today than there were at the end of the Vietnam War.

You can see in the embedded table that our nation’s veteran population is projected to decrease by more than five million over the next 25 years.

Disability Status

Of the 24,436 veterans in our county, 2,413 of them receive disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. More specifically, 2,243 of them receive benefits because of a disability they incurred while on Active Duty.

Of those 2,243 veterans, 791 have a disability rating of 20 percent or less, 405 have a 30 percent or 40 percent disability rating, 306 have a 50 percent or 60 percent disability rating, 471 have a 70 percent, 80 percent, or 90 percent disability rating, and 271 have a 100 percent disability rating.

Another 170 veterans receive a means-tested disability pension from the VA. In Fiscal Year 2015, the VA paid out $38,971,072 in disability benefits to our 2,413 veterans. Although those numbers appear to be substantial, Kane County is actually 11 points behind the national average when you look at the total number of disabled veterans. If you are looking for veteran disability benefits, you should find a recommended VA attorney to help you in your pursuit.

Illinois as a whole is substantially behind the national average in total number of disabled veterans. There could be many reasons why these statistics are lagging behind the national average. I truly believe it has a great deal to do with outreach to the veteran community and making veterans aware of the benefits that they are entitled to.

Improving Access to Benefits

Last year, the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County was responsible for bringing in $2,610,766.59 in new VA disability benefits for Kane County veterans. Despite the overall veteran population decreasing in our county, the number of disabled veterans here actually increased by 139. The number of Kane County veterans utilizing the VA for healthcare also increased by 102.

Out of the top 10 counties in Illinois by veteran population, Kane County was one of only three counties that ranked in the top 20 in Illinois for improvement in both total VA disability expenditures (10.45 percent increase) and VA expenditure per disabled veteran (12.58 percent increase).

Some of the credit for these increases are due to an increase in outreach events throughout the county by various veteran stakeholders.

Learn More

To learn more about veterans in your area visit the VA’s National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics and the Census Bureau’s American Fact Finder.

Upcoming Veterans Outreach Events in Kane County

If you would like to learn more about your veteran benefits or just network with other veterans, consider attending one of these outreach events:

• Veterans Fellowship Breakfast — 8 a.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Abby’s Restaurant in St. Charles
• VA Mobile Medical Unit — 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at the Veterans Center in St. Charles
• Veterans Information Networking Session, — 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin
• Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club — 7 a.m. every other Thursday (June 30 is the next one) at River View Diner in Montgomery
• Veterans Fellowship Breakfast — 8 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the American Legion Post in Geneva
• VA Mobile Medical Unit — 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the fourth Friday of even months at the Del Webb Clubhouse in Huntley
• VA Mobile Medical Unit — 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the fourth Friday of odd months at the Township Building in Hampshire
• Veterans Resource and Job Fair — Oct. 27, 2016 at Elgin Community College

About the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission

The Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission exists to help veterans access the benefits they earned for serving our great nation. Whether you are looking to apply for health care, dental insurance, disability compensation, home loan, GI Bill, or state benefits — the KCVAC office can help! Don’t try to navigate the benefits bureaucracy alone: Veterans Assistance Commission help is free! For more information, visit the Veterans Assistance Commission web page, “Like” the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission Facebook page and sign up for the Veterans Assistance Commission newsletter.

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