1. IOWA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS IOWAccess Concept Report

2. P ROPOSED P ROJECT Provide for the complete redesign of the IDVA website  Update the site to reflect current technology  Add interactivity for forms  Provide a secure link for counties to access department information and fill out forms  Establish read only documents  Include vital information for mental health, PTSD, counseling, and treatment  Create a new page for families seeking help

3. WWW. IOWAVA. ORG Current site is antiquated and difficult to navigate  Links to veterans programs require user to scroll through the page and are difficult to find  Program links are not individually cited and difficult to find  Links such as “Commission” and “Counties” require downloading Word documents that can be manipulated by the user. Also, downloading documents in a rural area can take a significant amount of time

4. www.iowava.org

6. O UTDATED L OOK The IDVA homepage is not visually appealing  The homepage does not fill the screen and has considerable wasted space  The homepage has too much text and requires scrolling to access more importa  nt information  Need a link for “About the Department” and make the homepage a portal to other pages The contrast with the Iowa Veterans Cemetery is significant

8. O THER S TATES When contrasted with other states, IDVA’s is lacking  Style  Information  Interoperability Examples of other states  Illinois  Kansas  Minnesota

12. F ORMS IDVA has applications for many programs These forms are currently on the website but require printing and mailing them in Establishing an interactive form system will expedite the application process Counties have expressed a desire to have a secure link to submit forms and access information  This would be similar to the nursing home reporting system, currently available through our website

14. V ETERAN O UTREACH As part of 2007 legislation, IDVA was charge by the General Assembly to establish an outreach effort to veterans This will be an effort to link local, state, and federal recourses to ensure veterans have easy and immediate access to vital information related to counseling and treatment programs Hopefully, reducing the incidence of drug abuse, chemical dependency, and suicide among our heroes A portion of this outreach would be to include this information on our website that is available around the clock Currently, there are no health or counseling related links on the website, nor information on PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or other combat related conditions

15. F AMILY S UPPORT Additional outreach is needed to provide information to family members who are supporting their veteran Often, a veteran is unwilling to seek help as a soldier and families are the first point of contact for providing help to an afflicted veteran Links and information are essential to guide families to appropriate counseling, clinical, or hospital settings Again, these links are currently not available and need to be added

16. R EQUEST IDVA is requesting initial funding of up to $15,000 to perform a scope analysis study for our site redesign

17. W HO W ILL T HIS N EW S ITE S ERVE Our main priority… T HE V ETERAN AND T HEIR F AMILY The counties providing direct services to veterans The public interested in what the State of Iowa is providing to veterans The department, by expediting the application process and promoting veteran services

18. T HANK Y OU A redesigned website will enhance the department’s ability to provide essential services to veterans