(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and John Boozman (R-AR), senior members of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, reintroduced the Helping Heroes Act of 2023, legislation to support the families of disabled veterans, including children who take on caregiving roles.
The Helping Heroes Act recognizes the work done by the approximately 2.3 million children under the age of 18 living in a household with a disabled veteran and seeks to provide critical support and assistance to these children in accessing local, state, and federal resources. These children provide invaluable support to their veteran family members. In doing so, these children face unique challenges and often take on responsibilities that their peers do not carry. More about this issue can be found in the Elizabeth Dole Foundation commissioned 2021 report from Mathematica on supporting the healthy development of children from military and veteran caregiving homes here.
“Our country has a serious obligation to support all of our veteran families, and that means making sure those who’ve stepped up as caregivers for their family—including our kids—aren’t shouldering that responsibility alone,” said Senator Murray. “I’m reintroducing this bipartisan legislation to make sure VA delivers much-needed care and support for our disabled veterans and their youngest caregivers.”
“This legislation is an investment in the families of our veterans,” said Senator Boozman. “Expanding the VA’s resources to better support the education, health and other needs of young caregivers is a critical part of our commitment to those who have served and sacrificed for our country and their loved ones.”
Senators Durbin (D-IL), Reed (D-RI), Shaheen (D-NH), Sanders (I-VT), Kaine (D-VA), Wyden (D-OR), and Murkowski (R-AK) are original cosponsors of the legislation.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) currently has limited authority to support veteran families with healthy development, especially when it comes to children who take on these caregiving roles. Veteran families could benefit from access to mental health care, peer support, and recreational opportunities, and other experiences that can help these children lead healthier lives.
The Helping Heroes Act of 2023 would help meet the unmet needs of these children and would:
- Require a full-time Family Coordinator at each VA medical center to assess the needs of veteran families in their catchment area and refer them to available local, state, and federal resources;
- Establish a Family Support Program to provide supportive services to eligible family members of disabled veterans;
- Ensure transition assistance curriculum includes information on services for children in veteran families adjusting from Active Duty to veteran status;
- And require VA to collect data on the experiences of disabled veteran families to better identify and understand their needs.
The Helping Heroes Act is supported by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), The American Legion, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Blinded Veterans Association (BVA), and American Veterans (AMVETS).
“Generations of veteran children have witnessed first-hand the physical and emotional effects of war when their parent returns home. They experience more stress, anxiety, and isolation than most of us will see in our lifetimes,” said Steve Schwab, CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. “Today, with the reintroduction of the Helping Heroes Act, we take an important step in acknowledging the load these caregiver children carry is heavier than our nation should let them bear. On behalf of the millions of hidden helpers across America, we thank Senators Murray and Boozman for driving this critical, bipartisan legislation.”
The following groups signed a letter of support as part of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s Hidden Helpers initiative:
- American Red Cross
- American Association for Caregiver Youth
- Armed Services YMCA
- The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes
- Easterseals, Inc.
- Easterseals DC MD VA
- Elizabeth Dole Foundation
- Military Child Education Coalition
- Military Family Advisory Network
- National Association of Counties
- National Military Family Association
- Nemours Children’s Health
- Project Sanctuary
- Rally Point
- UCLA Health Operation Mend
- United Through Reading
- PsychArmor
- Partners in PROMISE
- Mathematica
Senator Murray, the daughter of a WWII veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during her childhood, has been a longtime advocate of veterans and has placed an emphasis on expanding benefits and support for veteran caregivers. During her time as Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator Murray oversaw the initial implementation of the Caregiver Support Program in 2011 and has been following its implementation closely since then—Murray’s Helping Heroes Act builds on her longtime efforts to support veteran families.
Click here to view the full bill text.
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