Two Carroll County Supervisors and a member of the Carroll County Veterans Affairs (VA) Commission sat down Tuesday and worked out protocols for documentation and distribution of additional county veteran benefits. At the beginning of June, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced VA Offices across the state could reallocate unused funds in their training and education accounts to veterans who have lost a job or had their income stream impacted by COVID-19. Of the state-issued $10,000 for Carroll County, $5,500 was freed for this support. The VA then developed a plan for the distribution of gift cards to qualifying veterans. The plan was approved by the supervisors, but was brought back at a later date to discuss accountability steps they would like to see put into place. Supervisor, Gene Meiners, explains they were seeking clarity to ensure benefits are thoroughly tracked.
Supervisor Chair, Rich Ruggles, says the board had requested a statement on the applications that said they were subject to a professional audit. This request, he explains, was driven by previous experiences in other county departments.
Meiners stresses this is not a singling out of any one department and there has been absolutely no inkling of any wrongdoing. The county departments run smoothly, but with fewer employees than in other, larger counties. The segregation of duties becomes difficult and these types of measures are being reviewed and adapted for all departments. Landers says she understands and they too work on that accountability by having the commission oversee the budget and other initiatives like this one. She presented a spreadsheet they have developed to track the disbursements. One of the main issues the VA faced in creating the tracking sheet is the ability to keep the veteran’s identity secure. She says it is very difficult for many veterans to ask for help and the thought that this could be revealed may be keeping some from seeking assistance. Lander explains this system, in which no name is revealed outside of their office, using a case number system instead.
The veterans then sign a sheet documenting the distribution and that they are aware a professional audit may be conducted. That sheet, however, is kept in a separate location and only accessed by authorized personnel of the VA or by the auditors. All agree this is the best solution. The main points that both the supervisors and the VA Commission want to make clear is that the identities of those receiving these special COVID-19 support funds will not be released to any unauthorized person, but also that if the funds aren’t used, they will go back to the state. Both Meiners and Ruggles told Lander they absolutely do not want to see that happen, they want our veterans to get every dime of benefit available to them. For more information, contact the Carroll County Veterans Affairs Office at 712-792-1234 and select option #3.
