US Military Service Indicator

Overview

The Department recognizes that veterans, active duty military personnel, and their families may face many unforeseen barriers to participation in DTA programs and often have difficulty accessing non-DTA community programs. To aid in the identification of this unique population, BEACON captures the military status of each household member through the US Military Service page. By capturing each household member’s military status, DTA is better able to assist clients with program referrals and maximizing potential benefits.

BEACON requires staff to answer questions regarding US military service and current military status for all TAFDC, EAEDC, and SNAP pending, active, and ineligible household members age 16 and over at application, reevaluation, and recertification.

Answers to US Military Service and Status questions are not subject to verification and may be updated at any time.

Entering US Military Service in BEACON

  1. access the US Military Service page in the Assessed Person Nonfinancials workflow
  2. ask the household member if they have current or previous US military service:
    1. if yes, click the Yes radio button and continue to step 3
    2. if no, click the No radio button and skip to step 4
  3. select an appropriate status from the Status dropdown menu
  4. click Next to save and go to the next page in the workflow, or click Finish to save and to exit the page and the workflow view/hideview/hide

    Entering US Military Service in BEACON

Important: When a client indicates that they or a member of the household has prior US military service/status, the possibility of income received based on military service and/or vendor payments made by a veterans’ service organization on behalf of the household member must be explored.  If they are not currently receiving state veterans’ benefits for which they may be eligible, they must be provided with the contact information for their local veterans’ service organization (VSO).

For a complete list of Massachusetts VSOs, please visit the Local Veterans' Service Officers list available on mass.gov

Note: US Military Service is available in the Reports Analysis & Protected Information Dashboards (RAPID) under BEACON Reports Field Ops Staff TAO Reports > Military Status Report. For instructions for using RAPID please see: RAPID Reports

Last Update:  June 16, 2022