Welcome!
The Sonoma County Veterans Service Office is a unit of the County of Sonoma, Human Services Department, Adult and Aging Services Division. The county Veterans Service Office program was established in Sonoma County in 1944 to provide assistance to veterans and their families.We are not part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“The VA”). We are a county agency dedicated to serving veterans and their families. We are knowledgeable about the huge array of programs, benefits and services that are available today.
Dudley has retired effective August 14th 2009!
While we are saddened by the retirement of a dedicated County employee; we are happy to announce that Dudley intends to continue to serve “her Vets” after retirement as a volunteer with our office. Thank you for your service!
Dudley’s passion for serving Veterans has been her life for the last 37 years. As a tireless advocate for all who have served in our Nation’s armed forces, she has helped thousands of Veterans and their families get tens of millions of dollars in benefits during her many years of selfless service. Her pioneering work in advocacy for Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has benefited Veterans both in this county and throughout our nation. Dudley’s dogged determination to represent Veterans in their claims with the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has empowered many Veterans and families who had given up or lost hope in the “system” to renew their fight for the benefits that they rightfully earned. As her loyal clients will tell you… most of the time she was successful. I remain awed by the number of Veterans who tell me “Dudley saved my life.” Send Dudley retirement wishes at: veterans@scvets.org and we will ensure that she gets them. The Sonoma County Veterans Community is planning a formal recognition ceremony… we will update you when we know the details.
Services at Veterans Services being restored.
The Sonoma County Veteran Service Office is slowly returning to normal Services. We regret any inconvenience that the temporary layoffs caused to our county Veterans and their families. We hope to return to full services soon. We are in the process of hiring new staff to fill a vacancy that has existed since May, and to fill a position that was vacated by Dudley’s retirement.
If you need an update on the status of your claim, please call the VA at 800-827-1000. For the many of our clients who have the California Department of Veteran Affairs as your Representative, you can reach them for status updates at 510-286-0627. You can also request the status of your claim online via the VA’s IRIS system at https://iris.va.gov/scripts/iris.cfg/php.exe/enduser/home.php ; Click on the “ask a question” link, and the website will walk you through a script to ask your question to the VA. We have found that the VA is very responsive to questions asked through this system.
If you have an urgent issue that needs immediate help, please call 565-5960 to leave a message with our receptionist. We will attempt to help as many clients as possible but it may take us several days to get back to you. You may also leave us questions via email at veterans@schsd.org. Please send us your name, address, phone number and question you need help with. Do not put your social security number in the email We will get back to you as quickly as we can, but please be patient as we only have one person serving the clients that were previously served by a staff of four.
If you need VA forms, you can download them at http://www.va.gov/vaforms/. There is a keyword search as well as links to the most commonly used forms on the left side of the web page.
Thank you in advance for your patience… we look forward to resuming full services soon.
Enhanced VA Mortgage Options Now Available for Veterans
Of Potential Benefit to Those in Financial Distress. For more details, select the link here (pdf 34kb)
A Note from the Veterans Service Officer:
Thank you for taking the time to visit our site. I invite you to look around, explore our links, and most importantly, make use of our services.
I am proud to be a member of a dedicated team of professionals. Dudley, Mark, Michael, Jody and I stand ready to provide information, assistance and referral to veterans and their families.
All too many veterans are unaware of the services and benefits to which they are entitled. In fact, often a veteran will visit our office for assistance in submitting a claim for one specific ailment and discover during an in-depth interview that there are other issues to be addressed. Our goal is to ensure that every Sonoma County Veteran we serve receives, or is at least made aware of his or her entitlements.
I have immense regard for our country’s Veterans, and I pledge the support of myself and the other members of the Sonoma County Veterans Service Office.
Again, thanks for visiting us. Now take a look around.
Christopher D. Bingham, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
Sonoma County Veterans Service Officer
