Illinois County Veterans Assistance Commissions

The Military Veterans Assistance Act, 330 ILCS 45, exists to provide "just and necessary assistance and services" to veterans whose last discharge was honorable or general under honorable conditions, to their families, and to the families of deceased veterans who need it (section 2). Who pays it. Under section 9, in a county with two or more veteran service organizations, the posts may form a Veterans Assistance Commission of delegates, which acts as the central service office for all veterans and families in the county and takes over the posts' assistance duties. The Commission's superintendent, who must be honorably discharged, runs an office in the county building or another central location (section 10). The county must fund that office and its services through its annual appropriation, and the assistance itself comes from a tax levied under Counties Code section 5-2006 and Public Aid Code section 12-21.13, the county general fund, or State money from the Department of Human Services (section 2). The supervisor of general assistance or the county board must provide the sums the Commission's assistance committee recommends; Public Aid Code 12-21.13 sets the minimum. What it covers is left to each Commission. The statute fixes no list of benefits or dollar amounts, so rent, utility, food, transportation and burial help, and the income and residency tests, differ county to county; see the county pages. Where there is no Commission, a post commander can draw assistance orders on the township or county (section 3). Commissions often also employ veterans service officers who help with VA claims.