T-R FILE PHOTO The Iowa Veterans Home, located at 1301 Summit St. in Marshalltown, will not be affected by federal VA cuts, according to Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Communications Specialist Karl Lettow.

The Iowa Veterans Home (IVH) is not going to be impacted by proposed cuts to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workforce.

An internal VA memo was revealed at the beginning of March. The goal is to reduce the size of the workforce to less than 400,000 by cutting more than 80,000 jobs. Called an agency-wide reorganization, VA officials are asked to work with the newly-formed United States Department of Government Efficiency, better known by its acronym DOGE, starting in August.

After the reduction goal was revealed, Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Commandant Todd Jacobus attended a National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs conference alongside 200 other directors. The event included an hour and a half long session with VA Secretary Doug Collins discussing the plans.

According to Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs Communications Specialist Karl Lettow, Collins’ goal is exclusive to the federal VA.

“While we partner in our mission to serve veterans, Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) is a separate state of Iowa agency serving our vets on behalf of the people of Iowa,” Lettow said.

If a reduction in workforce decision is made, he said it will not impact IVH, IDVA, operations at the Iowa Veterans Benefits Bureau or the Iowa Veterans Cemetery.

“With that said, change is hard,” Lettow said. “We understand the concerns of our vets and empathize with anyone whose job is affected. If that happens, we’re here to help. We have many open positions at IVH, or we can connect them with veteran job placement services through Home Base Iowa or IowaWORKS for Vets.”

The 2024 cuts to the IVH workforce were not part of the federal VA reorganization plans. The facility, located at 1301 Summit St., is home to roughly 400 residents and is also one of Marshalltown’s largest employers with around 700 staff members. In July, Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs leadership announced an August restructuring which eliminated 11 positions, primarily in the activities department, and reduced four positions from full-time to part-time. The number of onsite chaplains at IVH was also cut from two to one.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.