Massachusetts Statutes

Section 13. Said departments shall acquire and have on hand copies of current booklets and other printed matter pertaining to the statutory rights of veterans provided under state and federal laws. They may call at any time upon any department, board, division or commission of th…

Section 14. Departments established and maintained under sections ten to fourteen, inclusive, shall be under the general direction of the secretary, and they shall be physically located independently of, and separate and apart from, any other public or private agency, board, bure…

Section 15. The director of accounts in the department of corporations and taxation shall cause an audit to be made annually of the accounts of all districts organized under the authority of section ten and for such purpose the director and the director's agents shall have access…

Section 16. (a) There shall be a veterans equality review board to ensure veterans that received an other than honorable discharge under 10 U.S.C. 654, also known as the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, or any other policy, on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gend…

Section 17. The adjutant general of the Massachusetts national guard shall request that the periodic health assessment for members of the Massachusetts national guard determine whether the guard member was deployed to a location that would make the guard member eligible to partic…

Section 18. (a) There shall be within the executive office of veterans' services a women veterans' network. The duties of the network shall include, but not be limited to: (i) performing outreach to women veterans; (ii) improving women veterans' awareness of eligibility for feder…

Section 2. The secretary shall be a veteran, and shall assist and advise veterans' agents in the performance of their duties, investigate, so far as the interests of the commonwealth require, all payments of veterans' benefits, prepare papers and expedite the adjudication of clai…

Section 2A. If the secretary decides a controversy between an applicant and a veterans' agent relative to the validity or amount of a claim for veterans' benefits, as provided in section two, in favor of the applicant, the said veterans' agent shall, forthwith, make payment to th…

Section 2B. There shall be a commission on veterans employment opportunities that shall investigate whether veterans are subjected to employment discrimination on the basis of their status as veterans. The commission shall report its findings and recommendation annually on March …

Section 2C. The secretary shall develop a comprehensive program to enhance employment opportunities and outcomes among veterans by assisting businesses to attract, hire, train and retain veterans. The program shall promote strategies for connecting employers to qualified veterans…

Section 2D. (a)(1) To the extent practicable, the commissioner shall make information on civilian licensure and certification opportunities available to members of the armed forces of the United States, members of the armed forces of the commonwealth and veterans. The information…

Section 2E. (a) The secretary, in consultation with the secretary of labor and workforce development, shall create and distribute a veterans' benefits and services notice. (b) The veterans' benefits and services notice shall include information regarding the services and resource…

Section 3. The mayor of each city, except Boston, shall and the board of selectmen of each town may appoint a veterans' agent who shall serve for a term of up to 3 years and shall be eligible for reappointment. The veterans' agent may act for the mayor or the board of selectmen i…

Section 3A. Whenever a veteran shall be required by general or special law to file or exhibit a certificate of discharge from the armed forces of the United States, the filing or exhibition of a photostatic copy of such discharge shall be deemed sufficient to comply with the requ…

Section 3B. (a) The secretary of veterans' services shall establish standards and promulgate regulations for the mandatory training and certification of veterans' benefits and services officers. Veterans' benefits and services officers shall be trained and certified within 6 mont…

Section 4. Every application for veterans' benefits shall be in writing, signed by the applicant under the penalties of perjury, and shall contain a statement of the name, age and residence of the applicant and the applicant's relationship to the veteran upon whose wartime servic…

Section 5. Veterans' benefits shall be paid to a veteran or dependent by the city or town wherein the veteran resides; provided, that no benefits shall be paid to a veteran unless he has actually resided within the commonwealth for 1 day preceding the date of their application fo…

Section 5A. In every case where the applicant for or a recipient of benefits under this chapter is a dependent parent, as defined in section one, with an interest in one or more parcels of real estate and the fair market value of such interest is more than fifteen hundred dollars…

Section 6. The amounts expended by any city or town for veterans' benefits, the names of recipients thereof, the amounts paid to or for each applicant, the reasons for granting such benefits, the names of the veterans on account of whose services the benefits were granted, the na…

Section 6B. In addition to any other aid to which a veteran is entitled, a veteran who, according to the records of the Veterans' Administration of the United States government, has suffered permanent impairment of vision of both eyes of the following status: central visual acuit…

Section 6C. Evidence of the service and disability mentioned in sections six A and six B shall be furnished to the secretary of veterans' services who shall examine the same and upon being satisfied that the service was performed and the veteran has been rendered blind or permane…

Section 7. In each city, except Boston, and in each town, the veterans' agent shall be the burial agent; and in Boston, the soldiers' relief commission shall designate a burial agent who shall be a veteran. The burial agent shall, under regulations established by the secretary, c…

Section 8. If a deceased person's estate has insufficient resources to pay for the cost of the funeral and burial of a deceased person covered by this chapter, the burial agent under section 7 shall expend not more than $4,000 for the funeral and burial; provided, however, that t…

Section 9. The mayor of every city and the select board of every town shall appoint a resident of such city or town who shall be a veteran as a veterans' graves officer for a term to be determined by the appointing authority; provided, however, that said term shall not exceed fiv…

Section 9A. The executive office of veterans' services shall operate, maintain and expand the Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial cemetery located in the city known as the town of Agawam and the Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial cemetery located in the town of Winchendon and may add …

Section 9D. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:-- "Aging services access point'' or "ASAP'', any agency designated by the executive office of aging and independence pursuant to section 4B of chapter 19A. "Capitation'', a set dollar …

Section 1. A person who is a veteran as defined in section 1 of chapter 115 shall be entitled to out-patient treatment at, admission to and hospitalization in a state-operated veterans' home, subject to the provisions of section 3.

Section 10. The superintendent of a state-operated veterans' home may establish a program for the training of residents in medicine, surgery, urology and such other specialties and sub-specialties of medicine as may be deemed advisable. The persons undergoing such training shall …

Section 10A. (a) The superintendent of a state-operated veterans' home may establish a program for the education and training of practical nurses and promulgate regulations to govern the program. The commonwealth may provide the education and training at no cost to the program pa…

Section 12. (a) There shall be within the executive office of veterans' services an office of veterans' homes and housing. The secretary of veterans' services shall appoint an executive director of veterans' homes and housing who shall have: (i) at least 5 years of experience in …

Section 13. The secretary of veterans' services shall promulgate rules and regulations pertaining to the operation and administration of the state-operated veterans' homes. The secretary, in consultation with the executive director of veterans' homes and housing, shall continuall…

Section 14. (a) Each state-operated veterans' home shall have: (i) a superintendent as its administrative head, who shall report to the secretary of veterans' services; and (ii) a deputy superintendent, who shall report to the superintendent. The superintendent for each state-ope…

Section 15. (a) The office of veterans' homes and housing established in section 12 shall employ an ombudsperson at each state-operated veterans' home. The ombudsperson shall be a full-time, paid position to advocate on behalf of residents and staff of the home and to receive, in…

Section 16. (a) Each state-operated veterans' home shall apply for and maintain certification by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, pursuant to subpart B of 42 CFR 483. The superintendent of each state-oper…

Section 17. The superintendent of each veterans' home, in coordination with the executive director of veterans' homes and housing, shall conduct annual reviews of the respective home's health record system and ensure the home is equipped with technology to best serve access to re…

Section 18. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the superintendent of each state-operated veterans' home may accept donations from non-profit organizations that enhance the well-being and care of residents of the home. The superintendent shall submit an an…

Section 2. Service referred to in section one shall mean service during any of the following periods, both dates inclusive: — (a) Mexican Border Service, between June nineteenth, nineteen hundred and sixteen and February third, nineteen hundred and seventeen, provided, that such …

Section 3. No person shall be entitled to the treatment, admission or hospitalization referred to in sections one and two, unless at the time of his application for such treatment, admission or hospitalization he has actually resided within the commonwealth continuously for five …

Section 4. Any person who was recruited in the United States and who served in the military service of Poland while said country was allied with the United States in World War I, between October seventh, nineteen hundred and seventeen, and January thirty-first, nineteen hundred a…

Section 6. So much of any funds known as ''Patients Funds'' as represents monies belonging to, or deposited for the benefit of, patients or members who have been discharged or voluntarily departed from, or died at, a state-operated veterans' home, which shall have remained unclai…

Section 7. If a patient at a state-operated veterans' home is discharged therefrom or dies therein while obligated to the commonwealth for support furnished him at such home and there is in the custody of the superintendent of such home a bank book representing a deposit account …

Section 8. The state-operated veterans' homes, after a determination and approval of the trustees of the respective home, that it is in the best interest of the patients, may lease, upon such terms and conditions as may be stipulated by said trustees, sufficient land belonging to…

Section 9. Domiciliary facilities within the limitation of physical facilities, are hereby authorized for the admission of female veterans at the state-operated veterans' homes. Female veterans seeking admission shall be subject to all requirements, both federal and state, as may…

Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Executive agency'', a state agency within the office of the governor, including the executive office of education, the executive office of …

Section 2. There shall be an office of the veteran advocate, which shall be independent of any supervision or control by any executive agency. The office shall: (i) ensure that veterans in the care of the commonwealth or receiving services under the supervision of an executive ag…

Section 3. The office of the veteran advocate shall be under the direction of the veteran advocate. The veteran advocate shall be the administrative head of the office and shall devote full time to the duties of the office. The veteran advocate shall be appointed by a majority vo…