November 17, 2015
CNAS Needs Assessment
Veterans in Southwest Pennsylvania
An assessment by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) finds that Southwest Pennsylvania veterans are struggling with issues pertaining to education, access to benefits and economic security immediately after leaving military service. The report, “Needs Assessment: Veterans in Southwest Pennsylvania,” also finds that the region’s 235,000 veterans differ dramatically in how they feel about veterans benefits and their own well-being depending on whether they served before 9/11 or after. The study was authored by CNAS researchers Phillip Carter and Katherine Kidder.
This mixed methods study provides a comprehensive portrait of veterans in Southwest Pennsylvania, one of the nation's largest and densest veterans communities. CNAS researchers used cutting-edge analytical tools from the Veterans Data Project to better understand the population, leveraging public data sets made available by DoD, VA, and the Census Bureau to understand macro-level trends in the area. In addition to this data, the CNAS team conducted interviews and working group discussions with individuals representing more than 50 public, private and nonprofit sector organizations serving veterans in the region, and conducted surveys of area veterans as well.
CNAS researchers conducted this study with a grant from The Heinz Endowments, which commissioned this assessment of veterans community needs to assist in planning future philanthropic investment.
Authors
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Katherine L. Kuzminski
Deputy Director of Studies, Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program
Katherine L. Kuzminski (formerly Kidder) is the Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS. Her research special...
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Phillip Carter
Former Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program
Phillip Carter was the former Senior Fellow and Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security. His research focused on issu...
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