Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Spotlight
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Unite NJ Veterans - Get Connected to the Resources You Need
The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has partnered with Unite Us to connect individuals and families to a wide variety of services and resources. Unite Us is a coordinated care referral network of health and social service providers. Unite Us can connect our New Jersey military/veteran community to resources to obtain benefits, food assistance, housing, education, transportation, behavioral health services, peer support and more.
Learn More »Unite NJ Veterans for Veteran Service Providers
New Jersey’s community-based non-profit providers serving Veterans and their family members can join the Unite NJ Veterans network for free and utilize the platform to coordinate social services for their clients. DMAVA is currently helping to onboard partners within the platform so the providers can receive referrals from the community for Veterans in need of services.
Learn More »SMS Alerts - Text "NJVets" to 78015
Opt-in now to receive SMS Alerts from DMAVA! Text "NJVets" to 78015. You will be immediately opted-in to receive alerts and important messages from the Division of Veterans Services. This service is provided free of charge, however, carrier messaging and data rates may apply. To opt-out at any time, simply reply “Stop”.
Flu Vaccines
VA New Jersey Health Care System is offering FREE Flu vaccines to all enrolled Veterans. Find your local VA New Jersey site using the link below.
Learn More »$250 Veterans Property Tax Deduction
Effective December 4, 2020, State law (P.L. 2019, c. 413) eliminates the wartime service requirement for the $250 Veterans Property Tax Deduction. Veterans must have active duty service with an honorable discharge. Active duty for training continues to be ineligible.
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Hotlines
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NJ Veterans Benefits Hotline: 888-865-8387 / vbb@dmava.nj.gov
Veterans Crisis Line: 988 Press 1
Vets4Warriors: 855-838-8255
NJ Vet2Vet: 866-838-7654
Vet Center Call Center: 877-927-8387
In one of the largest-ever expansions of Veteran health care, all Veterans exposed to toxins and other hazards during military service - at home or abroad - will be eligible for VA health care beginning March 5
VA News | February 26, 2024
WASHINGTON - Today, VA announced that all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military - at home or abroad - will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care beginning March 5, 2024. This means that all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 will be eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Additionally, Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States will also be eligible to enroll.
As directed by President Biden, this expansion of VA health care eliminates the phased-in approach called for by the PACT Act — meaning that millions of Veterans are becoming eligible for VA health care up to eight years earlier than written into law. This is a critical step forward because Veterans who are enrolled in VA health care are proven to have better health outcomes than non-enrolled Veterans, and VA hospitals have dramatically outperformed non-VA hospitals in overall quality ratings and patient satisfaction ratings. Additionally, VA health care is often more affordable than non-VA health care for Veterans.
Center for U.S. War Veterans' Oral Histories
The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey is the home of the Center for U.S. War Veterans’ Oral Histories. It is the Center’s mission to collect and preserve the memories of veterans through recorded oral history interviews.
The interviews are recorded on DVD formats and housed at the museum’s Sea Girt location, where they are accessible to researchers and scholars. As part of its program of providing historical information to the public, the museum posts summaries of interviews on their website.
To date, the Center’s collection contains over 600 interviews of veterans of all branches of service from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and other American military campaigns.
To access the online archives or to participate in the program, please visit the museum's website.
Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Affairs
Vincent Solomeno
Vincent Solomeno was appointed by Governor Philip D. Murphy to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), and Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the State of New Jersey in January 2023 and unanimously confirmed by the New Jersey Senate on May 22, 2023. In this role, he has led an historic expansion of state delivered veterans benefits, programs, and services alongside a team of nearly 1,600 professionals committed to delivering world-class support to over 300,000 Garden State Veterans.
Since beginning his tenure, Solomeno has overseen the expansion of the corps of trained and accredited veterans service officers and increased the number of dedicated State of New Jersey Veterans Service Offices from fourteen to one in each of the state’s twenty-one counties. He has also driven efforts to increase wages for frontline healthcare workers, upgrade medical equipment, and implement new technology and evidence-based best practices that have resulted in documented improvements in clinical care and quality of life at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Homes at Menlo Park, Paramus, and Vineland. He served on the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety and is currently a member of the New Jersey Task Force on Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness
As Chair of the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families, Solomeno has collaborated with public and private partners to deliver over 45 Mental Health First Aid trainings in every New Jersey county, training over 500 community leaders on how to identify the signs of suicidal ideation and how to intervene to help individuals in crisis.
Prior to his appointment, Solomeno served as the Superintendent of the National Guard Training Center, Sea Girt, where he managed an installation and facilitated the training environment for the New Jersey National Guard, State Police, Department of Corrections, Division of Criminal Justice, and the Juvenile Justice Commission. He was previously the Executive Officer to The Adjutant General and Commissioner of Military and Veterans Affairs. He is co-author of the 2019 and 2024 Resource Guide for New Jersey Military, Veterans, and Families.
A U.S. Army Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Solomeno is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of Scranton. He commissioned as a Corps of Engineers Second Lieutenant in 2007. In 2010, he transferred to the New Jersey Army National Guard. In addition to his overseas service, he served on active duty during Hurricane Irene, Superstorm Sandy, and as an operations officer for the National Guard’s statewide COVID-19 response. He currently holds the rank of major and is the recipient of the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal.
In addition to his Bachelor of Science from the University of Scranton, Solomeno earned his Master of Arts from the University of Amsterdam. He is the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and the J. William Fulbright Fellowship.
Solomeno is a life member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the National Guard Association of the United States. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Legion Jersey Boys State Program.
