§ 15 — Powers and duties of local veterans' service agencies

§ 15. Powers and duties of local veterans' service agencies. * 1. A\nlocal veterans' service agency shall have power under the direction of\nthe state veterans' service agency, and it shall be its duty to inform\nmilitary and naval authorities of the United States and assist members\nof the uniformed services and veterans, who are residents of this state,\nand their families, in relation to (1) matters pertaining to educational\ntraining and retraining services and facilities, (2) health, medical and\nrehabilitation services and facilities, (3) provisions of federal, state\nand local laws and regulations affording special rights and privileges\nto members of the uniformed services and veterans and their families,\n(4) employment and re-employment services, including the employment of\nveterans with disabilities program under section fifty-five-c of the\ncivil service law, (5) the process of submitting an application for a\ndischarge upgrade to the discharge upgrade advisory board, and (6) other\nmatters of similar, related or appropriate nature. The local veterans'\nservice agency may also assist families of members of the reserve\ncomponents of the uniformed services and the organized militia ordered\ninto active duty to ensure that they are made aware of and are receiving\nall appropriate support available to them and are placed in contact with\nthe agencies responsible for such support, including, but not limited\nto, the division of military and naval affairs and other state agencies\nresponsible for providing such support. The local veterans' service\nagency also shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the\nstate commissioner.\n * NB Effective until March 19, 2026\n * 1. A local veterans' service agency shall have power under the\ndirection of the state veterans' service agency, and it shall be its\nduty to inform military and naval authorities of the United States and\nassist members of the uniformed services and veterans, who are residents\nof this state, and their families, in relation to (1) matters pertaining\nto educational training and retraining services and facilities, (2)\nhealth, medical and rehabilitation services and facilities, (3)\nprovisions of federal, state and local laws and regulations affording\nspecial rights and privileges to members of the uniformed services and\nveterans and their families, (4) employment and re-employment services,\nincluding the employment of veterans with disabilities program under\nsection fifty-five-c of the civil service law, (5) the process of\nsubmitting an application for a discharge upgrade to the discharge\nupgrade advisory board, (6) volunteer opportunities at the department\nand volunteer fire departments or emergency services providers, and (7)\nother matters of similar, related or appropriate nature. The local\nveterans' service agency may also assist families of members of the\nreserve components of the uniformed services and the organized militia\nordered into active duty to ensure that they are made aware of and are\nreceiving all appropriate support available to them and are placed in\ncontact with the agencies responsible for such support, including, but\nnot limited to, the division of military and naval affairs and other\nstate agencies responsible for providing such support. The local\nveterans' service agency also shall perform such other duties as may be\nassigned by the state commissioner.\n * NB Effective March 19, 2026\n 2. A local veterans' service agency shall utilize, so far as possible,\nthe services and facilities of existing officers, offices, departments,\ncommissions, boards, bureaus, institutions and other agencies of the\nstate and of the political subdivisions thereof and all such officers\nand agencies shall cooperate with and extend such services and\nfacilities to the local veterans' service agency as it may require.\n