Home Care In Hamilton, VA

Nearby Butler County spent $1,880,182 in 2022 to run their entire operation and Clermont County spent $2,076,790. Hamilton County, who serves three times the number of veterans, spent just $930,691. Hamilton County — who again has the highest number of veterans in the region — has a total of six people in its Veterans Service Office.

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 [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

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Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

This Wednesday was the first monthly meeting of the Hamilton County Veterans Commission since its president and executive director stepped down. It was also the first time in five years that there were documented motions made by commissioners that were voted on and passed that didn’t deal with pay increases or staff bonuses.

One of the first agenda items focused on electing new officers.

Commissioner Jean Wilson who represents the American Legion was elected as Commission President. Commissioner Jerry Rowland who represents Veterans of Foreign Wars was elected Vice President while Commissioner Urulee Watson who represents Vietnam Veterans of America was elected Secretary. The vote leaves Commissioner Steven Staniford who represents AMVETS and the empty commission seat vacated by the departure of Robert Brewster to be filled by a representative of Disabled American Veterans.

There’s no indication of a timeline for when the DAV nominee or nominees will be put up for the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to assess and interview. However, when those candidates do go in front of the court they will face a two-judge panelduring the interview and vetting process. It’s something that was implemented after the series of Homefront reports raised questions regarding the veteran commission and office operations.

The first motion by Commissioner Staniford to increase commission meetings to weekly failed to pass. A second amended motion later in the meeting did pass changing the meeting to the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of each month. In addition, the time of meetings will switch from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Staniford said his desire to increase the frequency in meetings was to give the commission more time to get necessary work done.

With the creation of committees, the commissioners are now working through a variety of issues ranging from personnel, finance and transportation among others.

One issue brought forward in a motion came from their newly formed transportation committee and addressed many veteran’s concerns when they come downtown to visit the office — parking.

The commissioners approved reimbursement for downtown parking costs when veterans come to their office for services. The commissioners realize that the additional cost can be a burden for a veteran or their loved one coming in for financial assistance.

Commissioner Wilson said they’re working on more updates to the VSC website that will include the public posting of agendas and meeting minutes to better keep the veteran community informed.

As for a future Executive Director for the office, Commissioner Staniford told veterans in attendance that the commission has no written policy on the hiring process. As such he said the Ohio Revised Code instructs them to fall back on county policy for anything they don’t have a policy in place for at the time.

Commissioner Wilson said they’re working with Hamilton County to get a job description written up and working through their procedures to get the job posted. Commissioner Staniford ensured those in attendance that while the county will handle posting the job, the commission has sole responsibility for the interviewing and hiring process of the next Executive Director.

The next meeting for the commission is March 27 at 10 a.m. at their office at 230 E. 9^th St, room 1100, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

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CINCINNATI — Strong words and lively conversations with serious undertones filled a small conference room at the Hamilton County Veterans Service Office Wednesday afternoon as veterans had their first chance to speak to Veteran Commission members following theWCPO Homefront report on commission spending over the last five years, in which we found that $31 million meant for veterans in the county was spent on projects tied to the general fund.

“It’s broken or else we wouldn’t be sitting here,” said Allison Hines, a Navy veteran.

She is one of a handful of veterans who took the time to come to the regular second Wednesday of the month meeting of the Veterans Service Commission to try and better understand how the system works and what can be done to better service veterans in the county.

“We’re questioning the system and what we can do to help buck that system,” Hines said. “That’s how laws get changed, that’s how codes get changed, is because there are human voices saying this is not working and can we as citizens, voting taxpaying citizens, veterans, help change the system whether that be at the local level or in Columbus.”

Pam Minser responded saying they will look at what is in their control and what changes can be implemented. She also said there were some things that were stopped during the pandemic that never returned.

“We did fall on getting back out there into the field, that’s a neglect on our part we did not get back into getting back out there and doing outreaches,” Minser said.

As veterans brought up concerns about the county spending $538 in 2022 on bus passes for veterans trying to get to critical doctors appointments, information that came out in the Homefront report, Minser said she’s been working 12-hour days since the story broke and she’s already reached out to get some answers on what they may be able to do by working with the VA who does provide some van transportation services.

There were also concerns about the commission not representing veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I feel like we’re not being represented appropriately, the veterans of my age. The commissions and all the boards are made up of all the older veterans and the younger veterans we don’t have a voice in the decisions that affect us,” said Air Force Veteran Steven Staniford.

He described the current office with the absence of the Executive Director William Boettcher as a rudderless ship.

"Do you plan on replacing the executive director?" Staniford asked.

After being asked the question, Bill Froehle, the at-large Hamilton County Veterans Service Commissioner, said they had discussed personnel issues in executive session but wouldn't discuss that question any further. On Thursday, The VSC announced that Veterans Service Officer Calvin Wooten would assume the inerim Executive Director position, telling WCPO 9 that was what was discussed in executive session.

Staniford also said the fact the commission must be made up of veterans from service organizations is an outdated way of doing things.

“A lot of veterans my age have substance abuse problems, we’re not going to join the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars because they’re bars. That’s not a place we should be,” Staniford said. “What can we do to make those changes to make it represent the people they’re supposed to be serving, which is us the younger? They should have a say, but it should be equal.”

As veterans pushed the commissioners on why they don’t request a larger budget, Administrative Assistant Pam Minser said the commission could only ask for 10 percent over the previous year’s budget.

We pressed Minser on the section of the Ohio Revised Code that governs Veterans Service Commissions and Offices on the fact they could request more than 10 percent, and Minser agreed that they could.

“If there’s a need and we need to do that, we’re not going to let anybody go without it if it falls in our realm,” Minser replied.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, if a county VSC requests more than 10% of their previous year’s appropriation it would trigger the ability for the county board of commissioners to appoint upwards of six members to the VSC board of commissioners.

Marine and Navy veteran Benito Rodriguez attended the meeting having just applied for financial assistance and was denied.

“I filled out an application for myself. I’ve been a resident of Hamilton County for five years and because I don’t have a lease or home in my name they tell me I’m not a resident,” said Rodriguez. “I just voted in Hamilton County on Tuesday, so how can you say I’m not a resident?”

The VSO referred him to the HUDVASH office, which they say is the standard procedure. The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines HUD's Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans.

Veterans in attendance asked why there can’t be more of a handoff with Veteran Service Officers, calling the HUD-VASH office directly to let them know who the veteran is, their situation and to make an appointment at that time to better assist the veteran on that next step, instead of just sending them off on a referral.

Pam Minser ended the meeting with some notes that the office was going to look at some of the things they can control, from processes, community outreach and transportation.

All four current members of the Veterans Service Commission will appear in front of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners at 1 p.m. Thursday, October 9 to answer questions regarding their spending and operations as it pertains to the budget.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

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Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CINCINNATI — For the first time in months, the regularly scheduled meeting of the Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission met with a full board of commissioners and the executive director in attendance.

Executive Director William Boettcher wasn't willing to face questions tied to his office's operations for the first WCPO Homefront report that focused on the office's spending and overall services they provide for veterans. This was the first time the public had the chance to hear from him and have the chance to ask questions. WCPO was the only station in attendance.

Throughout the meeting, there were productive conversations about bus routes and wrapping Metro buses with advertising for the county Veterans Service Office. There were suggestions to change the monthly meeting to a bi-weekly meeting to more quickly advance changes or approve items to better assist veterans. There was also an update from Administrative Assistant Pam Minser on the progress of updates to the commission website.

Newly appointed Commissioner Urulee Watson mentioned the need to create committees to be assigned tasks to accomplish things tied to transportation, financial aid and other issues to assist with accountability. An issue he pointed out shortly after the meeting began as he referenced the previous meeting minutes.

“There was a list of items attached to that meeting,” he said. “There was no action taken on them in the January meeting and my concern was why were they there, and what were we going to do with them. Were they action items, were they discussion items or what kind of items were they?”

He pointed out in his opinion that some of the items appeared to have more importance than others. The list in question is tied to the Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission website, their advertising, outreach, interviews, referrals, staffing and budget.

“Was there any action taken on these issues,” he asked.

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Commissioner Jerry Rowland and Commission President Robert Brewster responded yes, to which Watson questioned that there was no record in the commission minutes as to what, if any, action was taken on any of the issues listed.

Commissioner Jean Wilson suggested that Pamela Minser, the administrative assistant for the office, could "look at the list and go one by one what we discussed" to which Watson responded, "That should be on the record of what we did with it."

“There was no action taken on a lot of that stuff,” interjected Boettcher.

Minser and other commissioners claimed they were still reaching out for details, and nothing finalized had come about regarding many of the items.

Watson responded.

“There are a lot of items that we deal with,” he said. “Some of them are action items, some of them are information items, some of them are discussion items. How do you know which is which if you don’t have a record of what you did with those items in the meeting.”

On the point of meeting agendas and the lack of information, Commissioner Steven Staniford brought up the need to either audio record or video record their meetings moving forward to allow for better accountability and transparency of their overall operations for the general public and veteran population they serve.

“If we were able to video record and broadcast it on YouTube, it solves a whole lot of headaches for this office because it would be posted for everyone to see,” Staniford said.

Watson said he agreed with those concerns of transparency while Commission President Bob Brewster didn’t see a need for the suggestion.

“We’ve never done that before,” Brewster responded. “I don’t see the mechanics of that. I don’t see the necessity.”

The issue of violating Ohio Sunshine Laws popped its head up again at this meeting despite previous Homefront reports pointing out that the monthly meetings didn’t follow the laws that govern how public meetings are to operate.

As Brewster motioned to go into executive session, he was interrupted by Eric Munas from the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office who advised Brewster that he was there to ensure they were following proper procedure and then explained the law to the commission.

Once the corrected motions were made the executive session began.

The executive session lasted 51 minutes and upon entering the conference room following the meeting Brewster welcomed everyone back after what he described as a "heated discussion" during executive session.

While the details tied to financial aid and other items are kept within the executive session, Staniford mentioned in the open discussion following the session that he had asked Brewster, Rowland and Wilson to step down from their positions. He told those in attendance that they all denied the request.

Minutes later, a back-and-forth between Staniford and Boettcher began.

“Are you a protected employee or an at-will director as the ORC states,” Staniford said.

“At will, I’d have to be,” Boettcher said. “And more importantly at my will.”

“And also, at the commission's will,” Staniford replied.

Boettcher chuckled to himself and then mumbled under his breath, “asshole.”

“I do have hearing aids, but I can hear that,” Staniford said.

“That’s good,” Boettcher replied.

“Do you want to state in a public meeting loud enough so she can get it in the meeting minutes?” Staniford said.

“I don’t care,” Boettcher replied. “Just do what you got to do; I don’t care.”

Staniford requested that Brewster include the comment in the minutes of the meeting.

This took place in front of a group of citizens watching the public portion of the meeting including Mike Riley, Commander of VFW District 4.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said to Boettcher. “What did you call him?”

“An asshole,” Boettcher replied.

“That is absolutely, unequivocally unwarranted. You do not have the right to call this man a name in a public forum and you should step down. I believe that you’ve been here for 32 years, and maybe 30 years too long. You exude the confidence of somebody who rules with an iron fist. It’s time for you and maybe some of you other ones to step down.”

“Not a bad idea,” replied Boettcher before Rowland replied back to Riley saying he didn’t have any idea what they do.

“I request that you retire as well,” Riley said.

Anchor Craig McKee asked Boettcher directly after the meeting if he would issue an apology to Staniford for the statement.

“No, not from what I’ve seen from him and heard from him up to this point, no,” Boettcher said.

McKee then asked Boettcher if he should remain the executive director.

“I don’t know. You know I’m 77 years old, maybe it’s a good time to go to Hawaii,” Boettcher replied.

That discussion aside there were other issues discussed during the meeting.

Staniford suggested the commission approve the hiring of more Veteran Service Officers, stating that according to the Ohio Revised Code, the office should be operating with eight officers and support staff to match the increased work. He said that number is directly tied to the veteran population in the county. The office he says currently operates with 4 VSO members. Boettcher replied that they had budgeted for this year to increase by one.

There was also a discussion about the lack of space within their current location at 230 E. 9^th St. to be able to expand personnel. Boettcher and Staniford signaled they had both been in contact with Hamilton County regarding a possible new location. The specific location of the building was not mentioned.

Despite discussion of these topics, there were no formal motions officially voted on and passed, other than approval of the previous minutes, current agenda, and voting in officers.

Commissioner Jean Wilson and Commissioner Urulee Watson agreed verbally to discuss with one another outside of the meeting on the types of committees they believe would be necessary to form. They confirmed to Anchor Craig McKee that the meeting would only involve two commissioners.

Brewster said they’ll meet to discuss that at the next meeting which is set for March 13 at 2 p.m.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

More Homefront:

New NKY memorial will honor 36 people who sacrificed everything in Vietnam Veterans play a key part in Ohio nonprofit's mission to tame wild mustangs Hamilton County Veterans Commission makes changes with new leadership

Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CINCINNATI — Just days after going in front of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners saying they’ve appointed an interim director to oversee operations of the Veterans Service Commission and office, the director is back at the helm.

Bill Froehle, Hamilton County VSC Commissioner at-large, told the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners during last Thursday’s meeting that the VSC met in executive session during their regular meeting the day before to discuss personnel decisions.

“Some of the thing’s veterans brought up that we need to have an interim executive director in that position so we can fulfill the duties and requirements of the office,” Froehle said.

He went on to announce the result of that conversation was to install Veteran Service Officer Calvin Wooten as interim executive director, while William Boettcher was recuperating from medical issues.

Pam Minser the Veterans Service Office Administrative Assistant says VSC Commissioner Jerry Rowland came to the office since then and notified each individual employee at the VSO of the decision to pull Wooten from the position and that Boettcher would remain in control but work from home.

William ‘Bill’ Boettcher has served in the role as executive director since the commissioners in 1991 appointed him.

WCPO 9 filed numerous requests to sit down and speak with Boettcher about the office's operations and what they do to serve veterans in Hamilton County as part of a Homefront story focused on Veterans Service Offices in Southwest Ohio. Each request was denied or not returned. WCPO 9 has sent another request for a sit-down interview with Boettcher now that he has taken back over the position.

An email from Minser to WCPO states that Boettcher, "calls in several times a day to check on things and to go over the daily schedule, he checks his emails and voicemails." She goes on to say that he likely won't be back in the office until after his doctor clears him and the soonest date mentioned was December 12th.

The Hamilton County Commission has no oversight of the operations of Hamilton County Veterans Service Office nor its commission. Their appearance in front of the county board of commissioners was at the request of Hamilton County Commission President Alicia Reece. She wanted them to speak about their operations after the Homefront story showed over a five-year period the Veterans Service Commission didn’t spend more than $31million available to them to provide services to veterans in the county. The leftover funding not requested absorbed back into the general fund for other projects.

Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto said there’s always been the offering from the county to the VSC that if more money than requested is needed, the VSC would receive any additional monies requested. To date the VSC has not requested additional funds outside of their approved budget, which for 2022 they were appropriated $1,280,405 and spent $930,691. The total spent includes $478,945 for salaries for the executive director, staff and commissioners.

The Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas says it is closely following the ongoing public discussions surrounding the Veterans Service Commission. The only role the Court of Common Pleas plays in the process is serving as the appointing authority for the members of the VSC commission as nominated by service organizations.

Veterans Service Commission meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month at 2pm at their office inside the William Howard Taft Center at 230 E 9th St, 1st Floor, Room 1100, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

More Homefront:

New NKY memorial will honor 36 people who sacrificed everything in Vietnam Veterans play a key part in Ohio nonprofit's mission to tame wild mustangs Hamilton County Veterans Commission makes changes with new leadership

Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.