Have you thought about military veterans lately? While Veteran’s Day happens only once a year, communities should be committed to helping veterans 365 days a year. However, it isn’t always easy with local governments planning reductions in services and staff at the same time that many veterans are returning home to their communities. What can your local government do to help veterans throughout the year?

Start by educating yourself about today’s veterans and the issues they face when coming home and reentering the workforce. In so doing, you will be able to create a community that is veteran friendly all year long!

• Post your local government jobs on the Veteran’s Job Bank, a job bank exclusively for veterans.
• “The Role of Local Government in Veterans and Military Family Issues” is an article about the differences between post-9/11 veterans who are currently returning home and past veterans and about the role that local government can play in military family issues.
• A major issue that veterans face is homelessness: roughly 30% of young veterans are homeless, and the percentage is even higher for women and minority veterans. The article Reintegrating our Veterans explains the federal programs that are focused on this issue and provides a list of best practices released by the government.
• Consider sharing the military veterans group with any local government officials you know who are veterans. It is an open group, so anyone can join, even if he or she is not an ICMA member.
•  “Arlington County, VA Participates in Regional Partnership to Connect Veterans to High Demand Jobs” is a recent article about how Arlington County used a grant from the state to train military veterans for high-demand high-growth IT jobs.
• Breaking Into Local Government: A Guidebook for Career Changers can be provided to veterans who are interested in pursuing a career in local government and are looking for a starting point.

Comment below to share how your community will be celebrating Veteran’s Day on Monday and how your community plans to help veterans in the coming year!