I am proud to announce that we have entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Suquamish Tribe.
It allows your Washington Department of Veterans Affairs to extend our VA accreditation as a Veteran Service Organization to the Tribal Veterans Representative Program of the Suquamish Tribe.
This agreement is made possible by recent Federal rule changes that allow VA accredited agencies, such as WDVA, to extend accreditation to Tribal Veterans Representatives and Service Officers in the same way that we may accredit Service Officers in individual Counties.
This is the first state/tribal agreement that WDVA has entered into under the new Federal rules. I am excited about our partnership because it expands our statewide network of accredited Veteran Service Officers who can help connect veterans and their families to their earned benefits.
The Suquamish Tribe also recognizes the importance of this agreement because it allows their Tribal
Veterans Representative, LaVada Anderson, to better advocate for veterans and their families by developing and representing VA disability claims as an accredited Veteran Service Officer.
Ultimately, more veterans and their families will receive their earned benefits, such a VA disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and survivors benefits.
I look forward to working with each of our State’s Tribes to determine whether a similar agreement would benefit their members. If you’d like to learn more about the new Federal rules or this agreement, please contact Steven Gill, WDVA Veteran Services Administrator and Tribal Liaison, at 360-725-2235 or
steveng@dva.wa.gov.