Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's administration recently received a national award for its work on veteran advocacy done through the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veterans Services.
The Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award was presented to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), which oversees the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veterans Services (GAC-VS), during a National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs conference.
The Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award was established in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to evaluate state programs, establish best practices for other state agencies to follow for greater success and efficiency and highlight great work being done at the state level.
“The GAC-VS is well-deserving of this prestigious honor, and the DMVA is proud of the collaborative work done in support of our valued veterans,” said Maj. Gen. John Pippy, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA. “Pennsylvania is home to nearly 700,000 veterans, the fifth-largest veteran population in the nation. Together, the council works to raise awareness and move forward key programs and services benefitting our diverse veteran population.”
The Shapiro administration has supported a broad range of veteran initiatives, including:
•Developing a Military Occupational Crosswalk, where veterans receive help transferring their military experience into occupational licenses and civilian careers.
•In 2024, the Shapiro administration helped veterans secure more than $1 billion in earned compensation and pension benefits for the second year in a row.
•Gov. Shapiro invested $1.9 million in workforce development through the Veterans Employment Program to connect veterans with job opportunities.
•In 2023, a $97 million long-term care facility opened, which offers modern skilled nursing and memory care to the state’s veterans.
•His administration has restored county mental health funding and established a Behavioral Health Council to improve mental health support for veterans.
The GAC-VS was established as Pennsylvania's first interagency cooperative approach to veterans services. The council reviews, evaluates and assesses state veterans programs in collaboration with senior staff from state agencies and commissions. It increases information sharing, ensures program fidelity, coordinates complementary programs and facilitates meaningful enhancements in service accessibility to veterans benefits and services within Pennsylvania.
The GAC-VS champions many topics to help raise awareness and protect the veteran community. This includes access to women-specific health care services, veteran suicide, pension poaching and other scams, homelessness and veteran treatment courts.
Many of its recent accomplishments include:
•Enabling jurors in various counties to donate their jury payments to the Veterans’ Trust Fund. This effort has generated more than $111,000 to date.
•Launching a one-hour accredited training course, Safeguarding our Veterans. Two sessions in 2025 drew 421 participants to expand awareness, offer resources and prevent the state’s veterans from losing their life savings.
•The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and DMVA partnered through the GAC-VS hosts nature-based events featuring Forest Bathing – an evidence-based practice that boosts mental health and resilience through time spent in natural environments for veteran suicide prevention.
•Leading an annual Pension Poaching Awareness Campaign each June, equipping 78 groups with a toolkit to protect veterans and their families from scams, raising community-wide awareness and safeguarding countless at-risk individuals.
•Producing a collaborative paper outlining the current landscape of veteran homelessness in Pennsylvania, aimed at assisting the PA Interagency Council on Addressing Homelessness and other housing initiatives.