Kentucky Focus

Veteran's & Possible Benefits, plus Back To School in 2024

Are you, or do you know, a veteran? You, they or their spouse could be missing out on benefits. The Veteran's Administration wants you to apply today! Plus, it's back to school around the Commonwealth. We hear from the superintendent of the Commonwealth's largest public school district on issues they're facing as they head back.

Duration:: 29m
Broadcast on:: 11 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

[Music] Coming up on this week's Kentucky Focus, are you a veteran? Are you getting all the benefits you're entitled to? Plus, school is back in session around the Commonwealth. What are some of the biggest issues facing the state's largest public school district? I'm Scott Fitzgerald and this is Kentucky Focus. Welcome to Kentucky Focus on the Kentucky News Network. The show that looks at issues affecting the Commonwealth and its citizens. We cover state politics and history, human interest stories, sports, and even entertainment. It's Kentucky Focus on KNN. Out here, in the middle of all these acres, it can feel like you're the only person on Earth. And sometimes, that's how it feels when you're going through tough times. Stress builds up, you have trouble sleeping, maybe your mind is racing and you just don't feel like yourself. So what do we do? We get help. Lots of people are struggling with their mental health. It's more common than you think. The good news is, there are people in our community who are here for us when times are tough. Sometimes, just talking to someone can make all the difference in the world so we don't feel so alone. One thing you can do is visit loveyourmindtoday.org. For simple steps you can take to find the right solution for you. Whether it's hearing stories about what other people are going through, or finding the resources we need to navigate the stresses in our lives. Visit loveyourmindtoday.org. That's loveyourmindtoday.org. Brought to you by the Huntsman and the Twelfth Institute in the Ad Council. When it comes to making plans, you are the best. What about those round trips that you plan in advance which are perfect on your way there and perfect on your way back? Or those meetings with friends for which you make a group chat three months before so that nobody or anything is missing? Or your daughter's first birthday party? You planned it with such dedication that instead of the first, it felt like our kinesis. The same way you plan each detail for those moments. Start planning to protect you and your loved ones from a natural disaster. Sign up for local weather and emergency alerts. Prepare an emergency kit and make a family communications plan. Protecting your family is the best plan you can make. Get started at ready.gov/plan. Brought to you by FEMA and the Ad Council. Wake up and text. Text and eat. Text and catch the bus. Text and miss your stop. Text and be late to work. Text and work. Text and pretend to work. Text and act surprised when someone calls you out for not working. Text and meet up with a friend you haven't seen in forever. Text and complain that they're on their phone the whole time. Text and listen to them complain that you're on your phone the whole time. Text and whatever. But when you get behind the wheel, give your phone to a passenger. Put it in the glove box. Just don't text and drive. Visit stoptextstoprex.org. A public service announcement brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council. While many veterans don't realize that some of the most valuable benefits they've earned through their military experience do not expire. Disability compensation, home loan guarantee, just to name a few. A disability compensation claim can really be filed as early as 180 days prior to completion of active duty and throughout the remainder of a veteran's life. Well, we'll be joined by someone today who can tell us all about that. And of course, as Dr. Paul Lawrence, he oversaw veterans benefits programs and stuck personally with thousands of veterans attending virtual town halls during the COVID pandemic and while helping folks who needed a little assistance. So to help, well, his fellow veterans better access the benefits they're entitled to, Dr. Lawrence is of course the author of a couple of books, veterans benefits for you and get what you deserve. That was published in 2000 and in 23. And of course, he was nominated by then President Donald Trump to serve as the 7th Under Secretary for Benefits. So he knows a thing or two about what he's talking about and he joins us. Dr. Lawrence, thank you for taking time. It's a pleasure to talk to you. No. Hey, nice to be with you, Scott. And thanks for caring about our veterans and trying to get the word out about benefits. Well, that's no problem. Dr. Lawrence, like yourself, I'm a veteran too. So this is near and dear to my heart. And I spent some wonderful time in the United States Navy, traveling the world and my biggest benefit for me has been my VA home loan. That has helped us tremendously. We've loved that benefit, but you're a vet and have a long history with the military. Tell us about yourself. Well, so I did my, I fulfilled my ROTC requirement. It's been three years in the army, but I grew up in a military family. My father was a career army officer. So we traveled the world, you know, and I saw him fight the Cold War. So we have and my brother served in the army too. So yeah, we're, we're kind of a military family. That's awesome. Dr. Paul Lawrence joining us now talking about veterans benefits and Dr. Lawrence, for those who have recently left the military there, you know, they pretty much leave up to speed. Thanks, of course, to the military separation workshops that they do a great job with. But what do you say to veterans who have been away from the service for a while who may not know where to turn? Yeah. Well, what happens, of course, on your way out is you get a shot of benefits. It's kind of like a fire hose. And so you quickly forget it. And so folks after a while wake up and said, I heard something about this. So I tell them all the time, please, please, please understand benefits are not an entitlement. These are something you've earned. It's very special by the nature of your service. Hopefully your honorable service in the US military. So you can start by learning about them. If you're good on the computer, go to VA dot gov. And if not, that's why I wrote the book Veterans Benefits for you because I just found there was an absence of easy to read information with all the benefits in one place. But there's a whole host of resources. But I tell folks, please don't forget your benefits. It's never too late to come back. You bet Dr. Paul Lawrence joining us now. He, of course, served as our seventh under secretary for benefits with the VA military veteran himself comes from a family of veterans. So he knows the thing or two about this. And we're talking about the benefits that are still available to you as a vet if you're listening. Doc, what are some of the common misunderstandings when it comes to benefits and what well known benefits do veterans tend to overlook the most? Sure. So one of the common misunderstandings is gee, I'm pretty good. Folks need it worse than I do. I'm not going to apply for benefits. And that's not really true. Congress has to provide the money for VA benefits like mandatory spending like social security. So your benefits don't take it away from anybody. So please, please, please don't think like that. Come and apply for your benefits. There's a whole host. People don't understand or they often know about disability compensation. Hey, I got hurt during service and I can get money for deal with expenses and maybe some foregone wages, as they say. You pointed out, Scott, the value of the home loan guarantee, the ability to purchase a home with no money down, that's a game changer. Oh, yeah. To civilians who have to save or down payment, but that can be used multiple times. So after you sell your home, you can use it again to purchase another home. And of course, the education benefits, you know, what we know is the GI Bill often thought of college, but it can be used now for certificates and credentials that can really help you in the job market. Dr. Paul Lawrence joining us, talking about veterans benefits, great information. If you're a vet and you're listening right now, VA.gov is the website or he's the author of numerous books, such as Veterans Benefits for You and Transforming Service to Veterans. You can get that pretty much anywhere books are sold. Fantastic reads that outline these. And Dr. Lawrence, well, we have you. If a vet has recently lost their job in, let's say, health insurance, are they eligible to receive care through the VA? And if so, how do they go about getting enrolled? So they may be. There's some intricacies about getting care based on your service connection and how you serve, but they can go to VA.gov and apply for, start the registration process to getting into, you know, the VHA, the Veterans Health Administration. But if they've recently lost their job and if their service can be connected, I'd ask them look to that, the benefit called VRNE, Veterans Readiness and Employment, which offers training and the like to get veterans employed. So if you sort of been downsized or your skills are not relevant, VRNE is a really good benefit to look at. That's a program I didn't even know about Dr. Lawrence. Wow, that's interesting. Okay, we'll check that out as well. And Dr. Lawrence, why is it important for a veteran spouse to be familiar with the VA benefit system? Oh, yeah, this is a really good point, Scott. Under certain conditions, if your veteran passes, the spouse and the family could be eligible for benefits. So it's really important you know about the status of your veteran and you understand what his situation is with the VA because you want to know if you'd be eligible for benefits, if something happens to him or her. So it's one of those things where again, veterans say, I'm good, I don't need benefits. What I remind them is it could have helped your family. So if you really do love and care for them, really think about applying for benefits and telling them about them so they understand what's what might be available if something happens to you. Dr. Paul Lawrence, of course, joining us talking about veteran's benefits, he was nominated by then President Donald Trump to serve as the seventh Under Secretary for Benefits. He's a veteran himself comes from a military family. So knows a thing or two about this and he's authored a few books on veteran's benefits. And we'll talk about those here in just a second and tell you where he can go to get those. What are some of those benefits? Dr. Lawrence may maybe from the 50,000 foot version that spouses are maybe eligible after a service member passes. Right. Well, that's right. So you can use a spouse, surviving spouse could use the home loan guarantee. There's also an education benefit. And if they fall on hard times, their assets aren't reach a certain level, they will be eligible eligible for what's called a survivor pension, a payment to a needs-based payment to support them. So there's a range of benefits that would be available. Outstanding. And again, Dr. Lawrence joining us. Couple more questions for you, Doc, before we let you go. What are important things for a service member to know when they're applying for, say, disability? What should they have at hand? What should they do their homework maybe? Yeah, definitely do your homework. You should have a record. So here's how you get disability compensation. Something happened to you in service and it still bothers you now. So let's pull that apart. So I got injured in service. So you should have some treatment records demonstrating you got hurt. You should be able to show with your DD-214 that this happened while you were in service. And you'll have to demonstrate that now it still bothers me. So you have to have documentation as clear as possible. And then when you apply, submit a completed application. Put all the information there and make it easy to get approved. Outstanding. Dr. Paul Lawrence joining us now. He has served as the seventh Under Secretary for Benefits. He's the author of Veterans Benefits for You and Transforming Service to Veterans. You can get those anywhere books are sold. Dr. Lawrence, finally, before we go, someone's listening to this. Maybe they're on the road in a nutshell. Can they simply visit the VA's website if they have any questions at all? Yes, they can. I mean, again, you know, sort of websites are sometimes hard to navigate. That's right. VA.gov/benefits or something like that. You can search for it or you can get my book. Outstanding. Again, thank you to former Under Secretary for Benefits at the Veterans Administration. Dr. Paul Lawrence, for more information, check out his book, Veterans Benefits for You. Coming up, it's back to school for students all around Kentucky. And for the state's largest public school system, it's always a challenge and its superintendent, Dr. Marty Polio, speaks ahead of school opening. Back after this, on Kentucky Falls. Have you noticed bad behavior has become normalized at interscholastic athletic events? Some fans seem angry. They lack civility toward one another. Some even get aggressive and unruly. Time out! What is going on? This has to stop. Let's not forget, school sports aren't just about winning. And they're definitely not an excuse to take your frustrations out on the official or the opponent. They're about teaching lessons, like perseverance, respect, and empathy, so students can learn and grow as people, not just as players. We all have a role to play in setting a good example for our students and teaching them these important values. So fans, it's time to step up your game and behave positively at interscholastic athletic events in Kentucky. Brought to you by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and the Kentucky Athletic Administrators Association. Hi, I'm Peyton Manning and I'm partnering with the American Red Cross this year to tackle blood shortages. Giving blood is important because every two seconds someone actually needs blood, and unfortunately only like three percent of the U.S. population donates. So we have to step up to give and make sure there's plenty of blood available for those in need. Visit redcrossblood.org to get in the game and make an appointment to give. They are our cuddlers and co-workers, per machines and love bugs, and constant companions. They are our pets, our family, and they make life so much better. When we face unexpected challenges in life, so do our pets. That's why we're on a mission to support people who love their pets and the pets who love their people. Ensuring these families stay exactly where they belong together and you have something to offer. With an open heart and mind, there is nothing you can't do. There's no gesture too small or too big when it comes to helping. Whether donating a bag of kibble, sharing an Instagram post of a lost cat, or welcoming a foster pet into your home, every bit of kindness counts, you can help keep pets and people together. Visit petsandpeopletogether.org to learn how to be a helper in your community. This has been a public service announcement brought to you by Maddy's Fund, the Humane Society of the United States and the Ad Council. I'm Scarlett Johansson. My family relied on public assistance to help provide meals for us. These meals fueled my involvement in theater and the arts as a child, which fostered my love for acting. The Feeding America network of food banks helps millions of people put food on the table. You can join the movement to end hunger by donating, volunteering, and advocating because when people are fed, futures are nourished. Join the movement to end hunger at FeedingAmerica.org/actnow. Brought to you by Feeding America and the Ad Council. As the state's largest public school system, things can pretty much be a challenge all the time and its superintendent, Dr. Money Folio, is of course no stranger to the public spotlight throughout the Commonwealth and continues to be a lightning rod, but carries on. Amid the challenges, perhaps the biggest issue facing Dr. Folio that's garnered national attention is of course the busing issue. And from already, he admits changes needed to be made. You know, admittedly, one of our errors we made, one of the major errors we made last year, was making changes to bus stops and routes all the way up to the first day of school. So, last year at this time, we would have been adding bus stops and changing routes. That cost a whole lot of confusion for bus drivers who were doing new times and new schools and all new routes, and then adding those just caused a lot of problems. So, we started the process much earlier. We started communicating with parents about transportation really in June, with a pause period that said after July 22nd, you know, we may be able to find existing stops for you, but we're not going to change the routes. And then once we get school off and going, if we need to make some changes, we will. And I think that has been a huge improvement for us. We're getting a lot of positive feedback from bus drivers about that, that they've been able to practice their routes, you know, for the past two or three weeks. We've got a couple of scrimmage days and they've gone very well. So, I think it's, you know, unfortunately lessons learned from difficult times, but I think we've been getting good response from parents and our 485 ride number has been up for weeks now. And it will still, it will be up around the clock, you know, almost 12 hours a day over the next few days. Staying with the transportation issue, many parents have said they would love to send their children to some of the magnet programs, but simply can't get them there to which Dr. Polio responds. Well, once again, you know, we still offer this stipend and we'd encourage parents that, you know, I know the first few weeks of school are not going to have those TARC drivers. We believe we'll be bringing back some services when we get, you know, it's still dependent upon those 70 TARC drivers getting the certification that they need, but we think they'll get those since they're CDO licensed. And then so we should have some improved or some additional routes coming for our magnet schools and those will be for free and reduced lunch students. You know, once again, we're giving the stipend to all families to transport their kids if they transport their kids on a monthly basis, you know, $5 a day for non-free and reduced and $10 a day for free and reduced. So, understand completely the challenge that is with parents. Once again, though, I still believe we have great reside schools that families can go to. But the bottom line is we just, we're past a point in our time where we can transport 64,000 kids. And it was probably three years ago and maybe four years ago when we passed that time. So that painful change had to make. We had to get down to about 40,000. Again, we're talking back to school as the largest public school system in the state gets back at it Jefferson County Public Schools. And we're hearing from Dr. Marty Polio in a sure sign of the time schools around the nation are putting weapons detectors in place ahead of yet another school year. That is now arrived in the Commonwealth, Dr. Polio on the JCPS plan. You know, it's one of the things I'm very proud of. I mean, you know, we talked several years ago about the elimination of SRO's in JCPS and at our peak, we only had 28 SRO's for 155 schools. And now, you know, we just knew that that model wasn't, you know, right or wrong, that model wasn't sustainable where we outsourced it to police departments who are having shortages of police officers as well. And so we created our own police department like a lot, some other major school districts have done. We had two police officers to start last year because of our great leadership. We now have 40 police officers, well, 55 in the next couple of months, which really makes it about one officer per school, per three schools, which is where we're going to be. We're never going to be able to hire 155 officers in today's day and age. But 55 is incredible feat. And then along with weapons detection in all high schools, which dramatically reduced our, you know, weapons in schools last year. And then we'll have them all in middle schools by the middle of the year. So, you know, our sometimes, you know, as we know, nationally, things happen and it's difficult to stop. But we've got to take every preventative measure possible. And I think we're doing that. A hot button issue in the schools this year, of course, our cell phones in schools. ABC's Mike Daboski takes a look starting next year. Public school students in Virginia may have to leave their smartphones at home. Governor Glenn Yunken has signed an executive order directing the state's Department of Education to draft guidance for how to establish a cell phone free education. The order cites rising rates of depression and suicide in adolescence. The guidance is said to be adopted January 1st. Virginia joins Florida, New York City, and Los Angeles County schools in moving to ban phones like Daboski, ABC News. And as far as implementing them here, Dr. Marty Polio. Yeah, we do not have that policy right now. I mean, right now what is tried to done is we try to do is teach kids when and where they're able to use it, not able to use it. But it is a huge challenge for teachers. I mean, it gets more difficult by the year as the technology increases. It really does. And I mean, when I first started as a principal, I mean, kids might have had a flip phone, but they didn't have, you know, the smartphones. And so it's become without a doubt for students across this country, a major distraction. And so we're watching that. I mean, there's a lot of difficulties when it comes to having kids give up their phones and put them in a pouch or something like that to start the day. And some workarounds that kids are pretty darn good with technology. I'm better than the adults a lot of times. And so they figure things out. So, you know, it's a step that I could see probably happening in the future. I think we got to do it the right way and take our time with it. But you know, the way kids it's hard enough to engage kids and teenagers as we know that much less now with cell phones. So I think it could be something that's coming. Something all school districts are dealing with, especially this time of year, is navigating a sometimes busy parking lot as walking to school has pretty much become a lost art for most kids. How is a large school district like JCPS handling their parking/traffic issues this year? Whether it's private school, public school, county school, we know when all kids are, you know, being dropped off at school at the same time and being picked up at the same time, it's going to cause traffic jams. I mean, there's no other way around that. But we did know that of the 25 schools that are magnet schools, there's going to be an increase in cars. So we did hire a traffic coordinator, someone who has experience in developing traffic patterns effectively and brought them in to look at those 25 schools and really changed a lot of the things that we can do to make it more efficient, to have more cars on campus, to get in and out. So there will be traffic. There is no doubt. And trust me, the first couple days, three or four days, it'll be worse because, you know, new kids coming to a school parents don't know where to go. But, you know, it takes a little bit of time, but we made a lot of changes to parking lots and traffic patterns at schools to support that. Again, we're hearing from Dr. Marty Polio, Superintendent, for the largest public school district in Kentucky. Now, next year, we'll mark the 5th anniversary of COVID. It changed so much for so many to include education. So are things starting to resemble normalcy prior to COVID? Let's say you, Dr. Polio, you still have a lot of kids in, you know, school district that have obviously the vast majority of kids have been affected in one way or another by COVID and virtual learning and all of those things. And so, you know, that's not easily replaceable. But I think over time, as I said, then it's going to take several years, you know, our intentional focus on, I mean, we've got a laser-like focus on reading and math since that time. And it's been, you know, really intentional to say if we're going to recover anything, the most important we're going to recover is literacy and numeracy skills. And so having that focus has helped us out a lot and making sure we get additional learning time for our kids of summer learning after school, learning all of those things. And, you know, slowly but surely, I think we're seeing kids rebound from that. Not completing high school is more of a social thing than it was an academic thing. I came out in the 11th grade. Nobody was embracing you. The kids were cruel. It was very difficult to be gay. Even though all these years have passed, I still had that longing to have my diploma. The hard part was determining that I was going to do it. But I definitely didn't do it alone. At age 30, with the help of her mentor, Carissa finished her high school diploma. I have a mentor, Maria. She convinced me to continue my education and to finish what I started to get my diploma. She just never judges. She's a true role model. If you're even considering getting your high school diploma, go get it. You can do it. No one gets a diploma alone. If you are thinking of finishing your high school diploma, you have help. Find free adult education classes near you at finishyourdiploma.org. That's finishyourdiploma.org, brought to you by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the Ad Council. You say you'd never give in to a meltdown. Never let kids toys take over the house and never fill your feet with kid photos. You'd never plan your life around their schedule. Never let your bum to clean their face. And you'd never let them leave the house looking like less than their best. You say you'd never put a pacifier in your mouth to clean it. Never let them stay up too late. And never let them run wild through the grocery store. So when you say you'd never let them get into a car without you there, no it can happen. One in four hot car deaths happen when a kid gets into an unlock car and can't get out. Never happens before you leave the car. Always stop. Look, lock. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. Tech trends. On this vote, the eyes are 91, the nays are three and the motion is agreed to. Two pieces of tech legislation are now one step closer to becoming law. You know, if these past these would be the sort of the biggest pieces of any kind of tech regulation that we've seen in years. And Gadgets Carissa Bell says the first bill that passed out of the Senate is the Kids Online Safety Act, which is aimed at giving parents and kids more control over what they see on social media. You have teens' ability to disable algorithmic feeds that requires companies to provide parental supervision tools. The other bill is the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, a modernization of a 1998 privacy law. It's really around the collection of personal data and information about teens, prevents companies from targeting advertising to minors. What requires consent for the collection of personal information. The bill's next head to the House of Representatives. With Tech trends, I'm Mike Diboski. Don't drive distracted. A message brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Project Yellowlight, and the Ad Council. Welcome back. I'm Scott Fitzgerald and you're listening to Kentucky Focus. That will wrap it up for us this week. Again, thank you to former Undersecretary for Benefits at the Veterans Administration. Dr. Paul Lawrence, for more information, check out his book Veterans Benefits for You and see if you're missing out on benefits or maybe a vet you know and/or their spouse. Also, thank you to Dr. Marty Polio, Superintendent for the state's largest public school district, Jefferson County Public Schools, as schools all around our great state are heading back for the new school year. That said, I know I speak for all of us here at Kentucky Focus and the Kentucky News Network, while we wish all students here in the Commonwealth heading back to school and/or college this fall all the best. We look forward to bringing you stories that help shape education in our state throughout the upcoming school year. As always, make it a safe and great week. We'll talk to you next time on Kentucky Focus. Kentucky Focus on the Kentucky News Network, the show that looks at issues affecting the Commonwealth and its citizens. We cover state politics and history, human interest stories, sports, and even entertainment. It's Kentucky Focus on K&N. Hi, we're the Gugudals. We're fortunate that our daughters have what they need to grow and learn, but that isn't the case for nearly 13 million kids in the U.S. that struggle with hunger. Childed hunger is a heartbreaking reality that Feeding America is working to change. Each year, the Feeding American Network of Food Banks rescues billions of pounds of good food that would have gone to waste and provides it to families and children in need. You can help kids in need in your community by visiting FeedingAmerica.org. Brought to you by Feeding America and the Ad Council. The Alzheimer's Association and the Ad Council present the story of Tom and Levi. Tom is the smartest man I know. He's been a professor at two major universities. He's been a teacher for over 40 years. One day, he told me that he was having problems in his classes. I think one of the students had asked the question and he didn't remember the answer. And I also noticed that he was letting his class out earlier than they were supposed to let out. And he was telling them that he was doing it as a favor to them. But I think in reality, he just wanted to get out of there. I was really certain to worry because I saw something that's wrong. Levi and I talked about how it would change our lives. But he was there beside me and my love for him was just immense. When something feels different, it could be Alzheimer's. Now is the time to talk. Visit alz.org/ourstories to learn more. A message from the Alzheimer's Association and the Ad Council.