Veterans – Benefits and Organizations

Benefits Available to Veterans
Connecticut residents who have served in any branch of the Armed Forces may be entitled to state and federal benefits in health care, education, employment and training, pensions, disability compensation, and other programs available to eligible veterans. In addition, families of veterans or surviving spouses and dependents of deceased veterans may be entitled to certain benefits. Organizations that help veterans and their families with assistance and information on claiming their benefits are listed below.

Connecticut State Department of Veterans Affairs
The Connecticut State Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA) Office of Advocacy and Assistance provides advocacy and claims assistance. Veterans can visit any CT DVA district office or suboffice for:

Advocacy and claims assistance for federal VA and state VA benefits
Burial Expense Assistance – provides burial/headstone allowance for eligible veterans
Motor Vehicle Fee Exemptions – for eligible disabled wartime veterans
Property Tax Exemptions – for eligible veterans and spouses through their town’s Tax Assessor’s Office
Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund – offers temporary, emergency financial assistance for the health and maintenance needs of eligible veterans, their spouses (or widows), and their dependent children
Student Financial Aid – Tuition Waiver Program waives fees at state community technical colleges and state universities for eligible veterans and eligible dependents

In addition, the CT DVA administers the Veterans Home and Hospital, which provides medical and rehabilitative care, substance abuse treatment, transitional living, and educational and employment services for eligible wartime veterans. Further information on State of Connecticut benefit programs for eligible veterans and/or their families and dependents can be found at the CT DVA web site: http://portal.ct.gov/dva

The CTVeterans mobile app is available for both Apple and Android mobile devices and connects Veterans, current service members and their families to a directory of services the state provides for Veterans, as well as access to the Veterans Crisis hotline and information on how to support veterans in the state.

The Mobile App can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store and Google Play Store by searching the keyword “CTVeterans.”

United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) processes claims and provides information regarding benefits and benefit eligibility for all U.S. veterans. Examples of federal veterans benefit programs are:

Burial Expense Assistance – Burial benefits for eligible veterans include headstones and markers, burial flags, reimbursement of a portion of burial expenses, and burial in a VA national cemetery.
Disability Compensation – for veterans with service-related disabilities
Veteran Pensions – for low income veterans with at least 90 days of active military service (at least one day of which was during a period of war) and their widows
Prescription Expenses – free or nominal fee cost on drugs prescribed by a VA doctor
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation – compensation and pension benefits paid out to eligible surviving spouses and dependent children of veterans who died of service-related causes
Farm and Home Loans – provides guaranteed loans to buy a home, or refinances mortgages at lower interest rates to eligible veterans, some surviving spouses of veterans who have not remarried, and some military personnel

Further information for veterans, dependents, and survivors is available on the U.S. Veterans Affairs website at www.va.gov/

VA Connecticut Healthcare System
In addition, the VA administers medical centers in West Haven and Newington along with satellite clinics located throughout Connecticut that provide inpatient and outpatient medical, rehabilitative, and psychiatric services, detoxification and substance abuse treatment, and community based social services for any veteran with an honorable discharge and either 90 days of active duty served prior to 1980 or 24 months active duty served after 1980. Further information on clinic locations, specialized treatment programs, and other VA health care services can be found in the 2-1-1 database and on the VA Connecticut Healthcare System’s web site: www.connecticut.va.gov/

SAMHSA Resources for Veterans
Veterans and their families who are looking for mental health or substance abuse services can also visit the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website: https://www.samhsa.gov/smvf-ta-center
Information found on the website includes mental health facilities and substance abuse treatment facilities locators; resources for military families coping with trauma; and links to websites of other organizations serving veterans.

Veterans Advocacy Organizations

1. The State of Connecticut Veterans Affairs District Offices help veterans advocate and file benefits’ claims.

2. There are other organizations that will provide free advocacy and representation for veterans filing, or appealing, claims for veteran benefits offered by local, state and federal veterans benefit agencies:

AMVETS – http://www.amvets.org/
Disabled American Veterans – www.dav.org/
Veterans of Foreign Wars – http://www.vfwct.org/

HOW TO FIND PROVIDERS IN Connecticut’s Community Resources Database

Search “Veteran Services” in our database, by typing in veteran in the search box and wait for the dropdown list of services to select and then hit search: http://www.211ct.org/

Search 2-1-1’s on-line Special Directory: Veterans/Military Families Directory of Resources

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SOURCES: State of Connecticut Veterans Affairs; Veterans Affairs: “Federal Benefits for Veteran’s, Dependents and Survivors”
PREPARED BY: 211/nl
CONTENT LAST REVIEWED: June2024