A plan to better help Arkansas veterans obtain government benefits by opening regional veterans affairs offices will likely mean delays in the short run but better access in the long term, officials said Tuesday.
The establishment of regional offices instead of one centralized location in North Little Rock will take several years to complete.
During the transition, fewer Arkansas veterans will receive direct assistance from state employees based in North Little Rock.
Matt Snead, director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, said reduced service will be necessary during the transition, when some state positions at the North Little Rock Regional Benefit Office will be eliminated and similar positions will be set up at regional offices.
The state agency's changes -- which were discussed at a meeting of the Arkansas Veterans Commission -- are an attempt to offer veterans better help, closer to their homes.
In June, 552 veterans sought help from the state employees at the North Little Rock location.
Starting Sept. 1, that number will decrease because veterans service officials in North Little Rock will begin seeing veterans or their dependents by appointment only.
Snead told the agency's oversight commission that establishing offices in regions ranging in size from four to 11 counties will eventually be more efficient than the current one-center system, but the transition "won't be smooth sailing."
"We're postured to deliver the services that the veterans in this state want, but with that, there's going to be a little bit of lag in service," Snead said. "We're going to see less veterans [in North Little Rock]. We anticipate some frustration, but we ask for patience."
Scott Bramlett, a commissioner and president of the Arkansas Veterans Coalition, expressed concern that the restriction in service was coming too soon.
The restructuring is part of a plan that Snead presented to Gov. Asa Hutchinson in June. The plan calls for establishing five regional offices by 2020.
"The part that scares me is, I talk to people every day who say, 'I called Fort Roots and left a message, and no one ever called me back,'" Bramlett said. "So now we're going to tell them they have to make an appointment. You're really turning people off out there. It's going to get worse before it gets better."
Lane Bailey, deputy director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said the North Little Rock office "will not turn a veteran away," but the agency needs help getting the message out to discourage walk-ins.
Snead said he expects "some disgruntled people" until the regional offices are established. The agency will work to staff most of the offices within two years, he told the commission.
Proposed locations for new offices include: Bentonville, Hazen, Jonesboro, Mountain Home, Barling, Warren, Texarkana and Russellville. Three veterans service officers currently assigned to the North Little Rock Regional Benefits Office will remain there, and that office will serve as the ninth regional office.
An advertisement for the position in Bentonville -- the first office to be established -- could be posted as early as Friday, Snead said.
The state's veterans service officer program designates one person in each county as a point of contact for veterans. Those officers are employed by county judges, but are trained and organized through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The state reimburses each participating county with a quarterly stipend of either $3,600 or $4,800, depending on the county's veteran population.
Before she retired in January, former agency director Cissy Rucker said the number of the county officers did not correlate to the needs in each county and that the program required a "total re-haul."
The new offices will be staffed by veterans service officers who will supervise other veterans service officers.
Four state employees in the North Little Rock office will be offered first dibs on becoming supervisors at the new locations, Snead said. If they choose not to take those positions, the agency will seek applications for the jobs.
The state Department of Veterans Affairs will pay an annual fee of $250 to house the offices in Arkansas National Guard armories in Bentonville, Barling, Russellville, Texarkana, Hazen and Warren, Snead said.
In Jonesboro, there are plans for the office to be located in either the Beck Pride Center or the ROTC building at Arkansas State University. In Mountain Home, the veterans service officer will work out of the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services office.
Snead said the shift to regional offices will require a "culture change" in the veterans community. Veterans will be asked to go first to their county veterans service officer and then to the regional location.
The North Little Rock office will no longer be the go-to place for all of the state's veterans. It will serve only veterans who live within its nine-county region.
Lisa Bruen, director of the federal operation in the North Little Rock Regional Benefit Office, said dispersing the state's veterans service officers will benefit her program.
State veterans service officers advise veterans on obtaining benefits, and federal employees file the claims. Bruen said that if the state is able to reach and assist more veterans, that will translate into more claims filed correctly with the Veterans Benefits Administration.
According to the federal Veterans Affairs Department, more than 44,000 Arkansas veterans received approximately $721 million in government benefits in fiscal 2013.
The federal department has faced criticism recently regarding its backlog of benefits claims. As of Saturday, about 120,000 claims nationwide have been awaiting decisions for more than 125 days.
During a town-hall meeting in August 2014, about 100 Arkansas veterans asked why their claims were denied or had yet to be settled.
The North Little Rock office completes claims for the entire state. Its goal is to complete 3,500 claims in fiscal 2015, which ends Sept. 30, and reduce its backlog to 1,900.
Of the reorganization, Bruen said, "I think it's a great opportunity to reach out to more veterans, which is only going to help us do a better job." She said, "I don't have the resources to send federal employees out throughout the state. I think it's going to be great for them and for us. It's a better way to serve veterans."