Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund

JOHN D. MONAHAN, Administrator

Charles R. Berry, Assistant Administrator

Established - 1919

Statutory authority - CGS Sec. 27-138 and 27-140

Central office - 864 Wethersfield Avenue,

Hartford, CT  06114

Number of employees - 9

Recurring operating expenses - $993,454

Organizational structure -                Administrator                   1

Assistant Administrator        1

                                                            Fiscal Administrative Officer           1

                                                            Veterans Aid Investigator                3

                                                            Secretary II                                        1

                                                            Secretary I                                         1

                                                            Clerk Typist                                       1

The Central Office houses the administrative staff (six employees). Branch offices are located in Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwich, and Waterbury.  Veterans Aid Investigators staff the branch offices on a rotating basis, with services available either two or three days a week (three employees). The remaining cities and towns are served by more than 100 American Legion volunteer Fund Representatives.

Mission

The Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund provides temporary assistance to Connecticut’s wartime veterans who are in need, and / or to their dependents and survivors.

Statutory Responsibility

The Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund expends the financial resources received by the agency “in furnishing food, wearing apparel, medical or surgical aid or care or relief to, or in bearing the funeral expenses of soldiers, sailors and marines who performed service in time of war, as defined in Conn. Gen. Statutes Sec. 27-103 (a)…who have been honorably discharged… or to their spouses who are living with them, or to their widows or widowers who were living with them at the time of death, or to dependent children under eighteen years of age, who may be in need…(Conn. Gen. Statutes Sec. 27-140)”. The Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund is organized as a trust, with the corpus in the custody of the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut. The administrative authority of the Fund is the American Legion Department of Connecticut. Income from the trust is utilized to accomplish the statutory mission. The value of the trust fund corpus (principal) as of June 30, 2010 was $61,698,754. Total assistance payments during Fiscal Year 2010 amounted to $1,957,720, representing a decrease of $22,028 from the previous year’s disbursals.

Public Service

The Fund provides financial assistance as mandated by statute, but also offers referrals and guidance to veterans regarding other potential sources of assistance such as:  Social Security Benefits; Veterans Administration compensation and pension; Aid to Dependent Children; Women, Infants and Children; Title XIX; Workers Compensation; Connecticut Assigned Claims, CONNPACE, and Husky Insurance, and the Charter Oak Health Plan. The agency has conducted seminars at local veteran forums in order to disseminate information in cooperation with local and state agencies, veteran service organizations, hospital administrators, labor unions and legislators. The agency has conducted briefings for all Connecticut National Guard units (Army and Air Force) redeploying from overseas service in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The briefings have focused on expanding awareness among potential beneficiaries of the assistance available. Regional Training seminars were conducted for volunteer Fund Representatives in order to improve their skills in requesting and administering assistance. A statewide training session for Fund Representatives was held in Rocky Hill in January, 2010.

Improvements/Achievements 2009-10

- The Fiscal Year 2010 agency budget reduced the level of staffing of the agency from 12 to 9 positions (-25%). Two full-time Fund Representatives (the representative in Waterbury and the Representative in Norwich) retired, one under normal retirement provisions and one under the provisions of the Retirement Incentive Plan offered in the spring of 2009. In order to retain a presence in those two municipalities, two of the three remaining Fund Representatives were assigned part-time hours (two days a week) at the Waterbury and Norwich offices, leaving the New Haven office as the sole remaining office staffed full time. The transition to this arrangement has proceeded well, with fewer problems than might have been anticipated, however, the lead times for the scheduling of appointments with Fund Representatives has lengthened, resulting in the overall time between first contact and the actual provision of assistance also being prolonged. Emergency requests during hours/days when the field offices are not staffed are directed to the Main Office in Hartford. This arrangement has worked well, but has increased telephone traffic in the Main Office substantially. The duties of the other position eliminated, those of the Financial Clerk, have been assumed by the Fiscal Administrative Officer.

- The Special Bylaws of the American Legion Department of Connecticut governing administration of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines Fund were revised by action of the Department Executive Committee. The revised Bylaws expanded the composition of the State Fund Commission, the American Legion policymaking body governing operations of the Fund, to nine members. The expansion was intended to increase the diversity of background and opinion of the Commission, with the object of providing the Administrator with more meaningful guidance. Mr. Louie Robinson of Hartford was subsequently appointed to the Commission by the Department Executive Committee for a three-year term.

- The agency conducted an information presentation to the members of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in order to expand awareness among legislators of the mission, organization and operations of the agency.

Information Reported as Required By Statute

Conn. Gen. Statutes Sec. 27-140 requires the submission of quarterly reports of activities of the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Marines’ Fund, including an accounting of the Fund’s disbursements, to the Governor and the General Assembly.