CVSO Office Updates
HAPPY JULY FOLKS!! We are knee deep in the summer and I’m here living for it. I hope each and every one of you is getting outside, enjoying the weather, the water, the hiking/biking paths. Our team is prioritizing self care and cashing in on some hard earned PTO- please be patient with us if it takes a bit longer than usual to get back to you. PTO and our required training takes up a chunk of our time these days 😉
This month’s focus is on filing a claim – the basics!
If you have an illness, injury, or condition that began during military service or was made worse by your service, you may be eligible for VA disability compensation and other valuable benefits.
Who Can Apply?
You may qualify if you are:
- A Veteran
- A Service Member preparing to separate
- A surviving family member with a pending claim
- Working with an accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative
Before You File
Gather as much supporting evidence as possible, including:
 DD-214 (or equivalent discharge papers)- Military medical records
- VA medical records
- Private medical records
- X-rays, MRIs, lab results, and doctor’s statements
The more evidence you provide, the stronger your claim may be.
How to File
You can file your disability claim:
Through va.gov (this is a good website to be familiar with anyway) OR by contacting our office. You can reach us at 507-328-6355 OR by going to this website to schedule an appointment: https://outlook.office365.com/book/BookingsVeteranServicesAppointments@olmstedcounty.gov/?ismsaljsauthenabled=true
Please note, there are many people/agencies out there that will claim to “get your claim through faster and “guarantee” you a 100% rating. Please know that this is FALSE information. Only accredited Veteran Services Officers have the training and access to VA systems to give you the best well-rounded care when it comes to filing a claim. Per MN State Statute – no person or agency is allowed to charge you for a service – if you are working with someone and they expect payment, discontinue working with them immediately. A VSO can help you prepare and submit your claim at no cost – it’s what we’re trained to do.
What Happens Next?
After you submit your claim:
- VA reviews your application.
- VA may request additional evidence.
- You may be scheduled for a Compensation & Pension (C&P) exam.
- VA issues a decision and, if approved, assigns a disability rating from 0% to 100%.
What Does a Disability Rating Do?
A VA disability rating may provide access to:
 Monthly tax-free disability compensation VA health care Education and employment benefits VA home loan benefits Possible property tax exemptions (varies by state) Additional compensation for eligible dependents
Need Help?
Don’t file alone. Accredited Veterans Service Officers can help you:
- Determine if you’re eligible
- Gather evidence
- Submit your claim correctly
- Respond to VA requests
Our office is here to help you through the entire claims process—free of charge. Contact Olmsted County Veteran Services to schedule an appointment.
Enjoy every moment of this beautiful summer we’ve been given!
 Tiffany Canfield
County Veteran Services Officer (CVSO) & Manager
tiffany.canfield@olmstedcounty.gov
507-328-6358
Women Veterans Spotlight
Happy July Sisters!
I don’t have an article prepared for this month’s newsletter, so I will leave you with a recent photo from a paddle boarding adventure with my older two kids. I was gifted a paddle board last year. I’ve used it several times and loved every minute of re-connecting with nature.
This year, I took my board out while my kids fished from the dock at Chester Woods back in May, and they both decided they wanted to join me in this summer hobby. We now own three paddle boards that we take out AT LEAST once a week. It’s so peaceful and an amazing opportunity to get to connect with my oldest kids. It gives us time to talk about all the things or none of the things. Last week, when this photo was taken, we packed up a picnic dinner and headed out to Chester Woods at 6pm. We got all situated and paddled out to the middle of the lake, where we talked about life and munched on dinner together, no noise, no distractions, just each other. It was a core memory made for the three of us, and is now a weekly tradition.
PLEASE, I encourage you to get outside this summer, enjoy the water, the weather, and nature. It does something transformative to the soul.
Enjoy this month sisters, LOVE YOU!
-Tiffany
“You can’t raise the bar without raising a little hell”- so let’s raise some hell, shall we ladies??
Veteran Service Office Snapshot
May 2026
Total claims submitted to VA:
- Compensation: 101
- VA Healthcare: 15
- DIC: 4
- Burial: 18
- Survivor’s Pension: 2
- CHAMPVA: 1
- Records Request: 0
- Special Monthly Pension: 0
Points of contact with veterans (office visits, incoming mail, phone calls
returned, emails returned, etc.): 370
Veterans in office: 88
Outreach visits: 1
Total phone calls: 186
Average number of calls per day: 6
Average call length: 3 minutes and 02 seconds
PTSD VA Ratings: What You Need to Know (Part 1)
What you need to know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), VA ratings and symptoms of PTSD.
Veterans who experienced certain traumatic events during their service may be able to receive disability compensation in the form of non-taxed monthly payments, as well as free health care, including specific PTSD treatment.
For a veteran to receive these disability benefits, he or she must demonstrate that the PTSD was caused, or made worse, by events that occurred during active military service. The adverse events could also have happened during military training, whether active or inactive duty.
Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs also reviews post-service disability claims, meaning that if the PTSD didn’t appear until after active-duty service, it may still be covered as long as veterans can show the service caused the condition.
For any disability claim, the condition can be one that affects the mind, body or both, and this also applies to PTSD.
PTSD is the fourth-most prevalent type of benefits claim the VA receives. Of the roughly 5 million veterans who receive compensation benefits, more than 1.1 million get PTSD benefits.
Eligibility begins with veterans demonstrating and documenting the effects of the trauma and submitting a claim to the government.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD, which stands for post-traumatic stress disorder, is a reaction to trauma that lasts beyond the first month after the adverse experience and negatively impacts mental and physical health, social connections, daily tasks and/or work performance.
After any trauma, it’s normal to feel sad, angry, stressed or disoriented. It’s also common to have problems focusing, sleeping or getting along with others. Most people who are exposed to a traumatic, stressful event experience some of the symptoms of PTSD in the days and weeks after exposure.
A PTSD diagnosis may be made if these difficulties persist and worsen beyond the first few weeks. Data suggest that about 8% of men and 20% of women go on to develop PTSD, and roughly 30% of these individuals develop a chronic form that persists throughout their lifetimes.
PTSD risk increases “when the traumatic event is more severe, violent, occurs over a longer period of time or involves harm to oneself or loss of a loved one,” according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
An estimated 7.8% of Americans will experience PTSD during their lives, with women (10.4%) twice as likely as men (5%) to develop PTSD. About 3.6% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a given year.
About 30% of the men and women who have spent time in war zones experience PTSD.
PTSD is treatable.
PTSD can take a major toll on mental health. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms may include:
- Flashbacks: Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again
- Uncontrollable thoughts or intrusive memories about the event
- Nightmares
- Severe anxiety
- Severe emotional distress
- Unpleasant physical reactions when reminded of the traumatic event
Left untreated, PTSD can lead to hopelessness, memory problems, relationship conflicts, feelings of numbness and detachment, and lack of interest in hobbies.
PTSD can cause symptoms in the body as well as the mind. Physical symptoms can include high blood pressure, increased heart rate, fatigue, muscle tension, nausea, joint pain, headaches and other physical pain, including back pain, according to the APA.
Some who suffer from PTSD also experience depression and may be more likely to misuse alcohol and prescription drugs.
PTSD rarely goes away on its own, so it’s important to seek help.
How Is PTSD Rated by the VA?
The VA will rate your PTSD based on the severity of your disability. The higher your rating, expressed as a percentage, the higher the amount of disability compensation you’ll receive.
Many factors are taken into account as the VA evaluates your PTSD disability claim. These factors include reports from your mental-health caregivers and results from your compensation and pension (C&P) exam, if relevant.
Under the current VA rating system for PTSD, the government considers stressful events to be contributing factors if the events are a result of combat, personal trauma or other life-threatening situations.
The veteran is evaluated partly based on the symptoms he or she is suffering as a result of the traumatic event or events These symptoms include the following categories:
- Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation. This includes witnessing traumatic events or learning of them happening to someone close to the service member.
- Intrusive symptoms such as distressing memories, nightmares and flashbacks.
- Avoidance of people, places and situations that remind the sufferer of the traumatic events.
- Negative mental states such as detachment, memory loss, distrust, hopelessness, self-blame, fear, anger, guilt, shame, loss of interest in activities, etc.
- Hyperarousal states, including irritability, angry outbursts, hypervigilance, problems concentrating, easy to startle, trouble sleeping and more.
View more details about these categories of PTSD symptoms here.
Steps to Making a VA PTSD Claim
Studies show that between 13.5% and 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans meet the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis, as do 12% of Gulf War veterans and 15% of Vietnam veterans.
The VA defines what is considered a traumatic event, also called a “stressor,” for the purposes of veteran disability claims.
The veteran must have either “suffered a serious injury, personal or sexual trauma or sexual violation” or, in a second broad category that also falls under PTSD, the veteran was “threatened with injury, sexual assault or death.”
Nearly half of the claims denied for PTSD related to military sexual trauma were not properly processed, according to a 2018 Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation.
For disability benefits eligibility, the stressor must have happened during a veteran’s military service and — as a result of their PTSD symptoms — they cannot function as well as they did before.
Veterans who received an other-than-honorable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge may not be eligible for VA disability benefits.
In addition to the other requirements for a VA disability claim, a doctor must diagnose the veteran with PTSD in order for this type of claim to move forward.
For a successful PTSD claim, a veteran must not only have a medical diagnosis, but must also provide evidence that the disorder is associated with a stressor that occurred during military service.
“For PTSD purposes, a stressor is a psychologically traumatic event that the person experienced, witnessed or was confronted with that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of themselves or others,” according to the VA.
When filing your VA PTSD claim, you will be asked to document the details of any incidents that occurred that caused your PTSD.
Generally, the veteran must provide “credible supporting evidence of a specific in-service stressor,” according to the VA. This requirement differentiates PTSD claims from other types of claims.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule:
- A diagnosis of PTSD was made during service.
- The veteran engaged in combat with the enemy.
- The stressor is related to a fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- The veteran was a prisoner of war.
- Other evidence exists to support the occurrence of an in-service personal assault.
Presumptive Conditions
Some veterans may have what’s called a “presumptive condition.” According to the VA, presumptive conditions include:
- A chronic illness that appears within a year after discharge. Examples include high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes or peptic ulcers.
- A few conditions may take longer to manifest and therefore are exempt from the one-year rule. These include Hansen’s disease, or leprosy; tuberculosis; multiple sclerosis; and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
- An illness caused by contact with toxic chemicals or other hazardous materials
- An illness caused by time spent as a prisoner of war (POW)
For presumptive conditions, the burden of proof is taken off the veteran, because the VA automatically assumes it was caused by your military service.
“If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition,” according to the VA. “You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.”
Your VA disability claim for PTSD includes medical records you provide, a claim exam report if relevant, statements from you and others about your claim, and your military medical and personnel records.
You’ll need to fill out this form:
- VA Form 21-0781: Statement in Support of Claim for Service Connection for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
After receiving your claim, the VA will review your medical records and ask you to submit more evidence if needed.
To learn more about filing a PTSD disability claim and see all the steps, go to the VA.gov website here.
As part of your disability benefits claim, you’ll likely be asked to undergo a compensation and pension exam, also known simply as a claim exam or C&P exam.
Veteran in Crisis: What to Do
If you or someone you know is a veteran in crisis, you can use any of these methods to connect to the Veterans Crisis Line, 24/7:
- Call 988.
- Text 838255.
- Start a confidential chat online here.
- If you have hearing loss, call TTY: 800-799-4889.
You can also:
- Call 911.
- Go to the nearest emergency room.
- Go to the nearest VA medical center, regardless of discharge status or enrollment in VA health care.
How to Identify and Avoid Scams
Veterans have served our country with honor and deserve to be protected from threats to their benefits and personal information. Unfortunately, scammers often pose as employees of the Department of Veterans Administration (VA) and contact veterans by mail, phone, email, and social media offering to help them access or file for benefits, for a fee.
If you’re a veteran, here are 7 ways you can protect yourself:
- Be cautious of companies that advertise that you can only get VA benefits with their help. These companies may charge illegal fees for services that you can get for free. You can check their credentials using VA’s online Accreditation tool.
- If a company pressures you to sign a contract right away or take some other immediate action, that’s a red flag. If they insist “You must act now,” ignore them.
- Disregard advertisements that promise an immediate or overly generous payout. Claims like these are also red flags. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Be alert to “phishing” and requests for personal information about you, your benefits, medical records, and finances. The VA, like Social Security, will generally not call you to request information unless you have pending agency business. When we need to reach you or to update your record, we’ll mail you a letter with instructions.
- Limit the personal details you share on social media. The more you post about yourself online, the easier it may be for criminals to use that information to access your VA accounts, steal your identity, and more.
- Be careful about the websites you visit. Before doing business online, check for https:// at the start of the website address. The “s” stands for “secure” – these sites use extra measures to keep your information safe.
- Watch out for common red flags in emails, texts, and on social media. You should be suspicious of communication which:
– Come from a public domain, such as gmail.com or yahoo.com.
Emails from government agencies will generally end in .gov, like
va.gov or ssa.gov.
– Contain suspicious or random links or attachments and “urgent”
requests for action.
– Have misspellings and grammatical errors.
Where to get help and more information
- Report and learn more about Social Security-related scams at ssa.gov/scam.
- Sign up for free consumer alerts from the Federal Trade Commission and, if necessary, file a complaint at Reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Report suspected fraud to the VSAFE Fraud Hotline at 833-38V-SAFE and find resources at VSAFE.gov.
- Subscribe to MilitaryConsumer.gov/blog for the latest news on scams.
- Visit Operation Protect Veterans, a joint program of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and AARP.
Please help us spread the message by sharing this important information with other veterans and loved ones.
MACV Veterans Pantry
MACV has opened a new Veterans Pantry inside our Rochester office to support low-income Veterans in the area. The pantry helps fill a gap for Veterans living at MACV’s Ultima House and other Veterans across the Rochester community who may need access to basic food and household items. For many Veterans living on limited incomes, having a place to pick up everyday essentials can make a real difference in maintaining stability.
Typically, the pantry serves 3 Veterans per week, and Veterans who connect with MACV’s Rochester team are welcome to take what they need, whether that is food, hygiene products, or other basic supplies. The space also creates an easy way for MACV staff to check in with Veterans. A quick stop to grab groceries or household items often leads to a simple conversation that helps the team stay connected and offers support when needed.
Several community partners are helping spread the word and support the effort. Organizations, including The Landing MN, VFW Post 1215, Sons of the American Legion – Squadron 92, and the Elks Club, have helped ensure more Veterans in Rochester know this resource is available and provided essential donations.
Since opening in February, the pantry has continued to grow and relies on community donations. Current needs include dairy products and other food items, feminine hygiene products, women’s clothing, trash bags, and laundry detergent. Please call the pantry at (507) 225-2022 to learn more.
By creating a simple, accessible resource in the Rochester office, MACV is helping ensure that Veterans have another place to turn for support. It is a small but meaningful step toward helping Veterans maintain stable housing and stay connected to the services that help them move forward.
ID Cards at the Rochester VA Clinic
VA ID Cards may be obtained at the Rochester VA Clinic by appointment only on the following dates:
July 16, 2026
September 17, 2026
November 19, 2026
Please call the VA at 1-866-414-5058 to make an appointment in Rochester.
*The Minneapolis VA Medical Center issues ID cards daily.
Click HERE for more information on veteran ID cards.
JOBS
Olmsted County Veterans Organizations
Get involved! Support a local chapter! Check out these veteran organizations for becoming a member and member resources:
Local organizations
American Legion Post 551 (Eyota)
American Legion WM. T. McCoy Post 92 (Rochester)
American Legion Ivan-Stringer Post 164 (Stewartville)
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) – Mayo SE Minnesota Chapter 28
Honor Bound Veterans
Marine Corps League – THOR #606
- Address: PO Box 8490, Rochester, MN 55903
- Telephone: 507-251-6919
- Email: SemperVince@hotmail.com
- Point of contact:
- Mark Shuster
- Vince Reynolds
Minnesota POW / MIA Riders Association (Rochester)
Order of the Purple Heart – Chapter 7110, Rochester MN
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Purple-Heart-Chapter-7110-Rochester-MN-100079537844682/
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9647 (Oronoco)
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1215 (Rochester)
Local Service Organization Meetings
For a full list of local organizations and meetings, please click on the blue button.
“To promote the interests and welfare of veterans, their dependents and survivors and to enhance their quality of life through counseling, claims assistance, education, advocacy and special projects.”
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