CINCINNATI — If you heard tens of millions of dollars were being sent back to general funds in counties all across Ohio instead of being spent on veterans for whom the money is designated, would it pique your interest?
It piqued our interest, but it wasn’t the reason WCPO first started looking into Veterans Service Offices (VSO) within our region in Southwest Ohio. Complaints from some veterans on how they were treated, and online chatter seemed to raise concerns and WCPO wanted to take a closer look at the eight VSOs in our viewing area.
“I kinda was turned off,” said Army veteran Ernest Coleman.
He paid a visit to the Hamilton County VSO to get guidance on how to navigate the VA system for benefits after he separated from the Army. He said he served as an interrogator between 2009 and 2013. A Cincinnati native and graduate of Purcell Marian High School, he was looking for a hand up from the very office mandated by state law to help him.
“I was having different medical issues and stuff. And I was told that 'hey, you might go back up there, because those claims are related to a what is called the PACT Act,'” Coleman said.
He said the receptionist was "dismissive and rude" because he didn’t have an appointment.
“I then asked to speak to someone who may have been higher than her, and then an older white gentleman came in from the back and he kind of had similar energy, reiterated what she was, you know, saying and, you know, just pretty much sent me on my way,” Coleman said.
Every veteran has an office within their county in Ohio to get help with everything from transportation to financial assistance, to filing paperwork with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) tied to benefits and compensation. When WCPO asked online if any veterans had issues with Hamilton County or any other local county VSO there was an immediate reply by one user.
“Drive up to Butler County,” typed Reddit user Orangecatbuddy. “Hamilton is overloaded. To (sic) many Veterans, not enough Service Officers to handle the load. Too many opportunities to fall thru the cracks.”
We asked the executive director of the Butler County VSO, Mike Farmer, if he had any veterans, or their family members come from Hamilton County to Butler County to file claims.
“Yes,” Farmer said. “It could be that the veteran is what we refer to as benefit shopping. They didn't like the answer they got, or they just want to check up on the facts. It could be that they weren't happy with the service or that there was some type of conflict.”
A public records request filed by WCPO shows 634 veterans or their family members from Hamilton County are in the Butler County system tied to claims filed.
Clermont County has seen Hamilton County veterans as well. Tom Scovanner recently took over as the Clermont County VSO executive director and is focused on expanding services they offer, particularly in the realm of transportation.
He has a plan to have six drivers and four dedicated vans to pick up veterans from their home and take them to doctor’s appointments.
“They just came in yesterday and said they've got a veteran who the VA says they want to send to Louisville, and says, 'can we drive on?' I said yes. Because that's what we do,” Scovanner said.
The service officers in Clermont County are also very busy helping veterans file pension and compensation claims.
“So far this year, we've helped about $5 million worth of compensation for Clermont County veterans,” Scovanner explained.
WCPO reached out to the Ohio Department of Veterans Services to a get a clearer look at the numbers.
Clermont County has the third highest number of veterans in our local area with 12,255. They processed one of the highest number of claims last year at 2,054, according to self-reported data required to be filed annually with the state DVS.
Offering a transportation program is part of the state requirement for a County VSO, however, the execution is up to the executive director. Scovanner said his transportation program is critical to the service they provide to the veterans in his county.
“I think it's essential, because especially when you start thinking about the ages of the folks that we're dealing with,” he said. “The policy used to be where you have to get to a certain place, and we'll pick you up. My goal is to pick them up at their homes, because if they can't drive to their appointment, they can't drive to that collection point.”
Clermont County sits in the middle of our eight-county region when it comes to transportation, spending $11,012 in 2022 on their fleet of vans and other contracts.
Warren county tops the list on transportation spending with a total $1,039,130 spent in 2022, transporting 6,938 veterans.
Hamilton County sits at the bottom when it comes to spending to help veterans with transportation. In 2022, the Hamilton County VSO spent $538 dollars on bus passes, according to their own reporting to the state.
“Other counties that don't spend as much money for whatever reason, they don't and that's their choice,” Scovanner said. “But I want to maximize the effort that we can do for our veterans.”
WCPO took a closer look at the data we requested from the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, specifically the overall budgets and how much each VSO was spending on their mission to help veterans. Each VSO receives .5mil of the property value in their respective county. While it’s clear that not every VSO gets to play in the same pool of money, the numbers show that those with less appear to be doing more for veterans than Hamilton County.
For example, Butler County spent $1,880,182 in 2022 to run their entire operation and Clermont County spent $2,076,790, while Hamilton County, who serves three times the number of veterans, spent $930,691.
Butler County’s VSO Executive Director Mike Farmer was asked if he could run the operation in Butler County with the budget Hamilton County was spending.
“I don't think so,” Farmer said.
Butler County is serving the second highest number of veterans in the eight-county area, according to the data.
“Even with the staff that I'm fortunate enough to have, sometimes our wait times for appointments are four to six weeks, which is why we have budgeted for another County Veteran Service Officer in our budget,” Farmer said.
That would bring their total to 12 people in the office. For comparison, Hamilton County — who again has the highest number of veterans with 41,199 living within the county — has a total of six people in the office.
Once again, we asked Farmer if he could do what his Butler County office does with just 6 people.
“I'll be honest with you, there's no way we could do it,” Farmer said.
As for their transportation program?
“We have found it best to contract those services out and they provide door-to-door transportation,” he said.
His office spent $226,079 transporting 2,229 veterans to medical appointments in 2022.
WCPO reached out a total of four times to sit down with Hamilton County’s VSO Executive Director William Boettcher, who was appointed in 1991. We asked to talk about what they offer veterans and their overall operations. The VSO’s Administrative Assistant Pam Minser left a voicemail saying Boettcher didn’t have time to do an interview and that he suggested we go look at the VSO’s website.
An email to Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission President Bob Brewster resulted in a reply that they would not agree to a sit-down interview with a camera. A final phone call also didn’t result in any further insight in to their operations and we were told they didn’t see any benefit in speaking on camera.
In a follow-up email following a commission meeting to discuss whether they would speak with WCPO, Brewster typed the following referring to the Executive Director’s availability:
"Unfortunately, he has a medical issue and with recuperation it will be after the first of the year before that decision can be made.”
Hamilton County VSO Executive Director William Boettcher was paid a $123,891 salary in 2022. His office was allocated $7,084,700 to spend on services for veterans. His office spent less than one million, or just 18%, of the allowable expenditure which sits at the very bottom of other area counties.
Boettcher’s own annual reports show over the past five years they’ve given over $31 million back to Hamilton County’s General Fund to be used on a wide array of projects instead of spending it on veterans — information not found on their website.
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
