Milwaukee County Veteran Services and the Needy Veterans Grant
The largest county veterans service office in the state runs from West Allis with walk-in hours and a county-funded Needy Veterans Grant for rental arrears, utility disconnection and indigent veteran burial.
Also called: CVSO, Rick Flowers, West Allis, Needy Veterans Grant, 45.80, 45.86, civil service, War Memorial.
For: Veteran or service member, spouse, child, survivor.
Milwaukee County's Veteran Services office sits inside the Department of Health and Human Services at 6401 W Greenfield Avenue, West Allis, phone (414) 266-1234, open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with walk-in hours. The Veterans Service Director and CVSO is Rick Flowers, with three further staff named on the county's page. The office is one of a kind in the state in its hiring: section 45.80(4) puts the CVSO of a county of 750,000 or more under the civil service rules (sections 63.01 to 63.17) rather than ordinary county appointment, and the county code confirms the office and a veterans service commission among the appointive bodies.
The county's own money. Beyond the 45.86 levy framework every county carries, Milwaukee County runs a Needy Veterans Grant on the CVSO page: rental arrears, a We Energies disconnection notice and indigent veteran burial are the listed categories, described as one-time uses within a 12-month period for each category up to a lifetime maximum whose amount is not published.
The office's scale is recorded in the county's 2026 adopted budget, whose DHHS narrative describes the service - "providing prompt and courteous assistance in the preparation and submission of claims for benefits" - and carries a county veteran population served of about 13,000 per FTE. The county board's veteran items in the year read were parks and memorials: an agreement with the new Friends of Veterans Park for a design competition (file 26-284, signed March 23, 2026) and a $14,207 transfer on the War Memorial's Veterans Gallery Windows project (file 26-437).
The veterans service commission the code creates publishes no roster or minutes on the county's Legistar portal - its 151 bodies include none named for veterans - so the 45.86 aid process in Milwaukee runs through the CVSO office, and a veteran should start there. The register of deeds records discharges without charge under section 45.05, though the recording page does not advertise it.
Thresholds
Thresholds for Milwaukee County Veteran Services and the Needy Veterans Grant
Gate
Rule
Any veteran or family member
The office assists Milwaukee County veterans and their families with federal, state and local benefits. No rating is required, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.