DATE:
September 27, 2022
29
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
PRIORITIZING OUR VETERANS: ESTABLISHING A CENTER FOR MILITARY AND VETERAN REINTEGRATION IN EAST COUNTY (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
San Diego County has the largest concentration of military personnel in the world with 120,000 active-duty personnel, and almost 250,000 veterans, according to the California Association of County Veterans Service Officers. The majority of our active-duty service members are split roughly evenly between the Navy and the Marine Corps, serving among our eight military bases in the County. The military is directly and indirectly responsible for 340,000 jobs in the County, which makes up almost 10 percent of the total local civilian labor force. Our region's history is closely linked to the military; however, this connection extends beyond active-duty service, resulting in military personnel and veterans collectively accounting for approximately 35 percent of the entire San Diego County population. The regional economy and community are linked to both the military's presence and our ever-growing veteran population.
Through government agencies and public and private veteran support organizations, our region's veterans have a vast range of assistance programs available to them. Many of these services directly address primary barriers to veteran employment, through technical skill development and job placement, and by addressing broader issues of psychological and cultural reintegration into both the work world and private civilian life. Several local organizations assist in housing and resource navigation, education, behavioral health services and specialized counseling.
The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responsible for providing benefits such as health care and other services to military veterans after they leave the service. Additionally, the County of San Diego has made it a priority to serve our veterans through initiatives such as our V...
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