VA’s www.va.gov/getstarted landing page makes it easier for Veterans and family members to access VA benefits and services information.

VA's www.va.gov/getstarted landing page makes it easier for Veterans and family members to access VA benefits and services information.

The website provides two newly updated booklets on information about VA benefits and services, as well as how to apply for them.

The first booklet is the 2021 Federal Benefits Handbook for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors. The handbook contains a comprehensive listing of VA benefits and services with direct links to contact benefits and services representatives. In fact, an index located on the inside cover lists both phone numbers and websites for easy reference.

Importantly, the handbook provides a legal overview on eligibility requirements to include the definition of a Veteran. Additionally, VA serves many generations of Veterans. There are specific qualification guidelines for distinct periods of service to clarify eligibility during both peacetime and wartime environments.

The handbook aligns with benefits information and services for VA’s three administrations: Veterans Health Administration; Veterans Benefits Administration; and Veterans Cemetery Administration. Also, a section of the handbook discusses non-healthcare services, such as homelessness, survivor assistance, women and minority Veterans, and many other programs.

The handbook is a one-stop resource for Veterans, family members and survivors. Limited printed copies may be available at medical centers or VBA regional offices. The website allows Veterans to access VA benefits and services information. Veterans and family members should click here or go to www.va.gov/getstarted

Welcome to VAVA Welcome Kit image for Veterans and family members

The second resource booklet, the VA Welcome Kit, complements the handbook with easy-to-understand words and graphics to better navigate VA’s many benefits for Veterans and family members.

This booklet is structured on the idea that no two Veterans are the same, and not all experience major life events and moments in the same order.

Based on where a Veteran is in his or her life, VA serves Veterans in different ways. This resource includes a journey map to help explore how VA supports Veterans both now and in the future.

This resource also reviews VA benefits and services. This includes a useful check list to help Veterans learn and organize important documents needed for application purposes. In addition, Veterans can also learn eligibility periods for certain benefits, such as education or life insurance. The best part is that one can simply crosswalk a search by benefit, how it can help, documents required and VA points of contact.

Want to apply for health care, education, compensation, assistance for care givers, or memorial benefits? These are just a few of the resources in this booklet that can save Veterans time, increase their awareness and understanding of how to apply.

VA is working to take the complexity out of navigating its myriad benefits and services. Visit www.va.gov/getstarted to learn more about the VA benefits Veterans have earned with their service.

People should click here or go to www.va.gov/getstarted

Leave a comment

The comments section is for opinions and feedback on this particular article; this is not a customer support channel. If you are looking for assistance, please visit Ask VA or call 1-800-698-2411. Please, never put personally identifiable information (SSAN, address, phone number, etc.) or protected health information into the form — it will be deleted for your protection.

62 Comments

  1. Charles Jerome Bivins Jr September 10, 2021 at 17:01

    Please send me a hard copy of both books or email them to me. There are problems with the website. Thanks.

  2. Edward H Wirth September 4, 2021 at 19:08

    Please send me a copy of each booklet since I have problems accessing them on line.

    Edward H Wirth

    Thank You Korean Vet

  3. Kevin R Washington September 3, 2021 at 21:44

    Hello is it possible to get a hardcopy of the 2021 VA Handbook mailed to me?. Thank you.

  4. Charlene Cooper Ridgway September 2, 2021 at 17:00

    Honestly, the majority of elderly veterans prefer a hard copy rather than having a website. Please email me the handbook. Several if not most older veterans don’t use computers. Trust Me! My father is 90 years old. Some will not understand the math problem at the bottom. It’s to make certain comments are human generated? Again, please send a hard copy via email.

  5. Mike September 1, 2021 at 18:54

    Your website is dysfunctional. Your “downloads” are not functional – they are just a download of the same webpage. A “download” implies you will receive a functional document, not a regurgitation of the webpage.

    If you can’t do something as simple as providing a functional website, God only knows what the rest of the VA is like. We Veterans were promised a whole lot more!

    Semper Fidelis

    • Mike September 1, 2021 at 19:07

      UPDATED COMMENT: It’s even worse. The links provided for the so-called “download” do not work. They only produce the following: ” File not found. It may have been moved, edited, or deleted. ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND”

      There is no way to “download” either of the VA Benefits files advertised on the VA website.

      Please send me hard copies of both!

      Semper Fidelis

      • Randy September 2, 2021 at 22:35

        Hi Mike,

        It took me quite a few tries and a couple of different browsers, but I finally got the VA Benefits Book and the VA Welcome kit downloaded to PDF format.

        Semper Fi

  6. Dale September 1, 2021 at 15:48

    Sight. It’s sad when you have all your body parts and you cannot get any help. Now, I am an amputee, I cannot even get physical therapy; I have no one (just me, myself and I.) I have learned to: “Pray about everything and worry about nothing.” May, I request for a hard copy of the book to be mail to my home address?

    Thank you

    Miss Dale Baptiste

  7. lori S. September 1, 2021 at 10:19

    i would like a hard copy of this booklet. three if i could, and kit.

  8. Jackie Mills August 31, 2021 at 16:56

    I would like a hard copy of the New VA benefits book. Thank you

  9. Elizabeth H Wilson August 31, 2021 at 09:15

    I would also like a hard copy of this book. Please let me know how I can request a copy.
    Thank you and I appreciate your help.

  10. Linda Voorjees August 30, 2021 at 23:19

    I would like a hard copy sent to me, please.

  11. Julie DeGolier August 30, 2021 at 18:59

    I would also like a hard copy of this book. Please let me know how I can request a copy.
    Thank you.

    Quenton DeGolier

  12. James E MacDonald August 29, 2021 at 09:27

    I would also like a hard copy mailed to me. Also never filed for my diagnosed ptsd. Would like to learn how to file.

  13. stanley l kosmatka August 28, 2021 at 22:45

    I also would like a printed copy of the handbook and the VA handbook. Not only for myself but for my wife who knows little about computers; websites etc. I am a vietnam veteran. Thanks.

  14. Pat Dickson August 28, 2021 at 20:44

    Hello, I would like a copy mailed to me for my husband who is a disabled vet.

  15. Wayne Parsons August 28, 2021 at 13:03

    I would like to have hard copies of both books

  16. William Harkness August 27, 2021 at 17:03

    Hard copy, please.

  17. Ed Marree August 27, 2021 at 12:03

    How do we go about getting hard copies? Not all of us are into this on line BS.

  18. Ron Ciceri August 27, 2021 at 11:25

    I would like a hard copy sent to me by US Post Office please.

  19. Carolyn Mayes August 27, 2021 at 05:27

    I would also like a kit and booklet. Maybe I am not getting all that I was suppose to get . He died over 2 years ago. Agent orange exposure was also on his death certificate. He had lung cancer. He was 100 percent connected. Had all kinds of health issues.

    • Leslie Ross August 27, 2021 at 12:20

      Mrs. Mayes,

      Are you receiving DIC-Disability and Indemnity Compensation? This would be $1357 dollars a month? Do you have a DOD issued ID Card? Are you enrolled and accessing CHAMPVA as your health insurer 2nd payer to Medicare and in addition depending on your State you may be eligible for a host of additional benefits.

  20. A.B. Soleta August 26, 2021 at 23:44

    How can I get a hard copy of this Booklet?

  21. Joseph Carricato August 26, 2021 at 20:00

    Can I pick up a hard copy at a VA clinic?

  22. Katherine (Kitty) Carretti August 26, 2021 at 17:07

    I get File not Found when I try to download the “HELLO. Welcome to VA. Let’s get Started” pamphlet
    Please update the links.

    Thank you!

    • Adam Stump August 27, 2021 at 15:40

      If you click on the link, it should take you to the document. We verified earlier today.

  23. Harold E Beck August 26, 2021 at 16:53

    I would like a hard copy of the benefits book. It’s very hard to keep up with changes and navigate the VA. I’m a 100% service connected disabled.

  24. gregory anderson August 26, 2021 at 15:40

    Thank you. I clicked on the initial link you provided and downloaded both documents. My father served starting 1959, and I’m just getting him around to apply for VA health. I’ve used it since 1998.

  25. sandrarae Headley August 26, 2021 at 14:09

    I would like a copy also. It would be nice if the military would give you a copy of what you have available. Every step of the way you have to find things out for yourself. I was suppose to receive spousal money every month from the day of my husbands disability and the person who wrote up his information put not married. We have been married 56 years including the time he was in Viet Nam and I got 6 months back pay when they realized this typographical error.

    • Melisa August 26, 2021 at 15:53

      Good afternoon I would like a hard copy of this book and kit please. Thank you

  26. JAMES DUNKER August 26, 2021 at 13:46

    I’m 70% disabled and would like copy of book sent to me.

    • Cynthia Morris August 26, 2021 at 20:11

      I would like a hard copy of both books mailed to me.

    • Cynthia Morris August 26, 2021 at 20:17

      A hard copy of benefits book will be helpful. It is so discouraging every time you file to be denied.

  27. Cheryl August 26, 2021 at 12:54

    WHAT IS THIS AT THE END OF COMMENTS WHERE YOU HAVE TO SOLVE A MULTIPLICATION PROBLEM ? AND IT WON’T LET YOU POST TILL YOU PUT IN AN ANSWER ! I EVEN TRIED A WRONG ANSWER !
    NOTHING IS TOO GOOD FOR THE VET,
    AND THAT’S WHAT THEY GET !!!

    • ALVIN August 26, 2021 at 21:49

      No that is what you get. If you have not been in the military then you need to keep your mouth closed and quit talking out of the side of your neck. If it was not for the veteran’s of this country you would not have a place to live.

  28. Michael McCann August 26, 2021 at 12:26

    I would also like a print copy of this book. I cannot print so many pages

  29. Phillip Templin August 26, 2021 at 12:16

    I would like a hard copy of this new VA benefits book and kit sent to me.

  30. Delores Dudgeon August 26, 2021 at 11:27

    I would like a hard copy of the Veterans Book explaining benefits.

  31. Carolyn Price August 26, 2021 at 11:14

    Carolyn Price Requests a 2021 Federal Benefit and Kit package please

  32. Douglas Jacobs August 26, 2021 at 10:49

    After almost 6 years of inaccurate responses, no responses or only getting call backs after days and then only on their schedule, never when I could take the call (hmmm, maybe I could have spoken to a real person when I called them), I flat gave up on the VA. Lost a significant portion of my hearing 3.5 years working around jet engines in helicopters in the 70’s. I’d just like some help with the cost of hearing aids. Submitted a packet of documents along with hearing test after getting help from Multnomah County only to be told that I didn’t qualify for VA healthcare because I earned too much. When I finally got to speak to someone a few years later, he said that was BS because I would never have been told that. (Basically calling me a liar without even looking up my records.) End of message. Good luck on getting help from the VA.

    • Mike August 26, 2021 at 14:15

      I have worked for the Portland VA for many years in Audiology, To get hearing aids you don’t have to be enrolled in the VA health Care System but you do have to have a comp and pen claim for hearing loss or/and tinnitus. File the claim, and once approved get your free hearing care and a couple of extra bucks every month. Thanks for your service.

  33. Joe Hearon August 26, 2021 at 10:01

    Where can I get a hard copy?

  34. luis ramos August 26, 2021 at 09:52

    How can I rexeive a bookelet and kit?

  35. Randall Kent August 26, 2021 at 09:07

    Where can I get a hard copy? Do you mail them out?

    • Larry Gramlin August 26, 2021 at 10:22

      would like to have a hard copy

    • BOBBY STROCK August 26, 2021 at 10:49

      I WANT ONE ALSO, I GET 100% PLUS CAREGIVER AND WANT TO SEE THE BENEFITS THAT VA SAYS I HAVE. ALL I GET FROM VA IS $ AND BS. TO PRINT THE BOOKLET IS IS ABOUT 150 PAGES

    • Bertram Ralph August 26, 2021 at 14:15

      Agrees 100% w/RANDAL. Whereas I TOO WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE RECEIVING A HARD/SOFT COPY OF ALL THESE BENIFITS. ASAP. Can’t take it with you!!!

    • Maggie S. August 26, 2021 at 14:37

      Me too….I’d love a copy to see what my husband’s 20 year service is entitled to.

      Too bad we can’t just automatically get it mailed/emailed to us. After all, we dedicated our whole families lives to the military-with no regrets.

      Thank you to whoever can get us a copy.

  36. Jule Westcott August 26, 2021 at 09:00

    I am asking that the Manila Philippines clinic treat all veterans. This is the only VA clinic that does not treat non-service connected vets,

  37. Gerald Donnafield August 26, 2021 at 08:53

    I agree with above comment about community care not anwsering the phone. Over three hours on three different days. Bring back Tri West, at least there is a live person you can talk to. You need a shot of reality.

  38. Ted Parrish August 26, 2021 at 08:40

    Pavios is right…one of the weakest services in the VA is communications. It’s horrible. When I call to renew a prescription (among other issues), I have to explain the same story to 4=5 different people before I get to the right person, if I ever do. Often get cut off before reaching the right person, and have to re=dial and listen to all of that automated BS all over again.

  39. Walter R Hopkins August 26, 2021 at 07:31

    You can write all of the books and pamphlets that you want, but if you can provide the services those books and pamphlets aren’t worth the paper that they are printed on. The Federal Govt. has come a long way with helping VETS, but not far enough yet. Just a note to the FED’s, (You Owe Us, We don’t Owe You) Don’t write checks with your mouth that your a** cant cash.

    • Raymond E Scott August 26, 2021 at 08:51

      Agree 100%. You tell them.

  40. Naomi Love August 25, 2021 at 22:30

    Where can you get hard copies?

  41. Ronald Brink August 25, 2021 at 22:16

    I’m a Vietnam era vet and was told when I got out of the army that I would have free health benefits for life. In 2019 I got injured and went to the VA and was told that I would have to pay. What ever happened to the government keeping their word to vets?

  42. Ronald Brink August 25, 2021 at 22:11

    I am a Vietnam era vet and was told that I would have free health benefits for life. In February 2019 I got injured and was told that I made too much ! What ever happened to the government keeping their word to our vets?

  43. BENJAMIM GABIJAN August 25, 2021 at 21:12

    IAM 90% RECIEVED PERSONNEL HAND BOOK AT 60% IS THIS A NEW BOOK? DOES IT SUPERSEED MY BOOK? OR CAN I REQUEST
    UP DATE TO MY BOOK?

  44. Pavlos Xorofas August 25, 2021 at 19:47

    Very nice to prepare this booklet in “easy to understand language”. Trouble is, it is impossible for veterans to get Community Care on the telephone for help. The phone is constantly busy and to add insult to injury, there is a stupid inane message that repeats and repeats. I have waited over an hour for someone to answer and just gave up.

    You can print a nice pretty booklet in easy to understand language, but you can’t even get your phones to work.

    Shame.

    • Jp August 26, 2021 at 08:34

      Word

  45. James Hudson August 25, 2021 at 18:33

    Requesting Federal Benefit and Kit package please.

  46. Robert Stephens August 25, 2021 at 18:07

    I’m the service officer for American Legion post 361 in South Daytona FL. I’ll take as many booklets you will send me because I meet with and help Veterans and their families on a regular basis.

    • Rick Baum August 26, 2021 at 16:51

      You can contact your County Veterans Service Officer who may help you identify and apply for benefits you may be eligible to receive, or, file a service-connected disability compensation claim and also file an appeal if you disagree with a VA decision for a benefit you filed for. Unlike most attorneys, CVSO’s do not charge for their services.

Comments are closed.

More Stories