Management and Performance Review of County Government ...

Health & Welfare/Library/Veterans Services of Jefferson County
Staffing and Workload
The Jefferson County Courthouse location includes a small filing area and a
common area. The office has adapted as best as it can to the available office space, but
the layout is awkward, and too small for a staff of four that see as many as twenty
veterans on a busy day.
What space there is, is used well: the very small filing room has filing cabinets that
can be rotated so that both sides of the cabinet can be used for about 8,000 files.
Inactive files are stored in the courthouse’s air conditioning intake closet.
The Port Arthur office is run by one office specialist with help from the veterans
county service officer, who spends two days a week there. The two office specialists are
rotated between the two offices every three months. When the Port Arthur office
specialist goes to the doctor or calls in sick, someone from the main office must cover,
causing a staff shortage there. However, when the specialist goes on scheduled
vacation or other scheduled time off, a temporary worker is hired out of funds allocated
for this purpose.
VSO employees work in cramped office space assisting a veteran population that
often has physical disabilities or psychological problems. The space cannot adequately
accommodate wheelchairs. The courthouse office does not allow for VSO staff to meet
with veterans in privacy, even when veterans need to provide personal information for
benefit claim applications.
Comparison to Peer Counties
Texas counties with populations of more than 200,000 must have a VCSO,
although they are not required to provide funding for a VSO with employees and office
space. Most major counties, however, have a VSO in a county-funded location, headed
by a VCSO on the county’s payroll.
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