(a) Pursuant to Section 715 of the Military and Veterans Code, the Department of Veterans Affairs shall provide one employee, trained and accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs, for every five state prisons to assist incarcerated veterans in applying for and receiving any federal or other veterans’ benefits for which they or their families may be eligible.
(b) The department shall give a Department of Veterans Affairs’ employee described in subdivision (a) access to the hardware, software, and those computer networks as are reasonably necessary to perform his or her duties while at the prison, while taking all necessary safety precautions.
(c) The department shall cooperate and collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that a Department of Veterans Affairs’ employee described in subdivision (a) has the greatest access and effectiveness practicable, while taking all necessary safety precautions, in order to assist veterans incarcerated within the state prisons.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 599, Sec. 2. (SB 776) Effective January 1, 2018.)