Council Grant Program

Family Grants are available to New Jersey Guard members who have been mobilized longer than 90- days within a one-year period, and their families must be experiencing financial hardship.

Business grants are available to New Jersey Guard members who have been mobilized longer than 90-days also within a one-year period and were self-employed business owners at the time of being mobilized. Such grants are for the purpose of helping sustain the business during the service member’s mobilization or helping to resume the business operations following service member’s de-mobilization.

For more information on grant criteria or to apply for a grant contact a Family Assistance Center or the Family Readiness Groups nearest you.

Bill extends education eligibility

Governor Jon. S. Corzine signed a bill which extends eligibility for higher education tuition assistance to New Jersey Guard members and increases the number of tuition-free credits available to Guard members and their dependents on Jan. 24.

The legislation allows Guard members called onto active duty to utilize state tuition assistance credits after their enlistment expires, or should they be medically discharged, prior to completing their studies. This bill extends eligibility for this higher education tuition benefit to New Jersey Guard members whose use of the free tuition benefit is interrupted by a deployment to active duty.

The new law also increases the number of credits eligible for funding from 15 to 16 per semester.

Programs for returning veterans

Helmets to Hardhats is a national program that connects Guard members with career training and employment opportunities within the construction industry.

The program is administered by the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment, and Veterans Employment. Eligibility varies but in most cases, you must be at least 18 years of age, have an honorable discharge, a high school diploma or equivalent, pass a drug test, conduct an interview and be physically fit to perform work.

For more information logon to: www.helmetstohardhats.org/ Troops to Teachers is designed to assist military personnel in pursuing a second career in public education (elementary, secondary or vocational). This program provides certification assistance, job placement assistance and may be able to provide financial assistance to assist with certification costs. Spouses are also eligible.

For more information contact Melissa Fantozzi, Program Coordinator at 1.800.680.0884 or by email at tttnj@doe. state.nj.us. For information on the State program go to www.nj.gov/njded/tttnj/ or the Department of Education website at: www.proudtoserveagain.com/

PDHRA/Battlemind Online Instructions

Note: completing both of these surveys is mandatory for returning Soldiers. To complete your Post-Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) online you must log into your AKO account and under “My Soldier Data”, click on “My Medical Readiness Status is…(more)”.

In the first box, under “Deployment Health Assessments”, click on the link at the end of the paragraph “Deployment Health Assessments”. Click on DD-2900; click on “Start New Survey”. After you submit the survey, you must speak to a provider by calling the PDHRA Call Center at 1-888-734-7299. Your PDHRA is not complete until you speak to a provider.

To complete your Battlemind Briefing online: Log into your AKO account; under “My Soldier Data”, click on “My Medical Readiness Status is…(more)”. In the fourth box under “PDHRA Battlemind II”, click on either the Powerpoint or the video version of the briefing. If you cannot log into AKO or do not have access to the internet, then you must call the PDHRA Call Center directly at 1-888-PDHRA-99 (1-888-734-7299). The staff will assist you in completing the entire DD-2900 over the phone and will then immediately conduct the PDHRA screening interview.