Veterans are seeking answers as to why the position has been vacant since 2021.
The state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs encourages Pennsylvania members of the armed services to meet with their local director of veterans’ affairs when discharged. The DMVA’s website says, “One of their first stops should be to the local director of veterans affairs.”
State law requires that every county in Pennsylvania have a local director of veterans’ affairs. They exist to help veterans navigate local, state, and federal benefits and programs. Philadelphia County currently lacks such a director.
It is the only county of Pennsylvania’s 67 that does not have a local director as required by law, and the position has been vacant since 2021.
The City Council president is responsible for hiring the director in Philadelphia. In 2022, it announced that it was planning to hire one to fill the vacancy from the year prior. Since then, the Council president has changed and still, the position remains vacant.
Veterans in the Philadelphia area are left without easy access to important resources to help them navigate life after being discharged from the armed services. “It sends the message that they don’t care. It’s sad,” said Len Johnson, a U.S. Marine and commander of the American Legion post in Juniata Park and a local chapter of Disabled American Veterans.
The city of Philadelphia is home to over 52,000 veterans, second in Pennsylvania to Allegheny County.
The state DMVA said it does not know why Philadelphia is lacking a state-mandated local director. “We’re just as befuddled,” said DMVA spokesperson Angela Watson.
Kenyatta Johnson is the councilperson currently responsible for filling the role. Spokesperson Vincent Johnson said, “continuing his search to find the right person for the position and he has not set a deadline” for making a hire.
In the absence of a director in the Philadelphia area, thousands of veterans reportedly struggle to find assistance in meeting their needs after serving in the military.