Pennsylvania veterans seeking help at the county level should soon notice a real difference in how that help is delivered. Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed House Bill 2024 into law as Act 38 of 2026, requiring every County Veteran Assistance Director in the Commonwealth to complete new training in trauma-informed care, military sexual trauma (MST), PTSD, and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
What the New Law Requires
Act 38 was sponsored by state Rep. Melissa Shusterman (D-Chester), with companion legislation in the Senate from Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery/Berks). It grew directly out of recommendations from Pennsylvania's Women Veterans Health Care Task Force, and it targets a real gap: the county-level staff who are often a veteran's first point of contact for benefits, claims, and referrals haven't been required, until now, to have specific training in recognizing and responding to trauma.
That matters most for military sexual trauma, which remains widely underreported. Citing VA data, Military.com reports that nearly one in three women and one in 50 men in the armed forces report experiencing sexual assault or sexual harassment during their service. A County Veteran Assistance Director who isn't trained to recognize the signs of MST, PTSD, or TBI can miss the moment a veteran needs a warm handoff to care rather than a stack of paperwork.
Part of a Broader Package
The trauma-training law was one of roughly two dozen bipartisan bills Shapiro signed this week, several of which touched veteran and military family services, including expanded tuition-reimbursement eligibility tied to the National Guard's Medical and Health Officer Incentive Program. Together, they reflect a broader push in Harrisburg to modernize how the state supports veterans beyond the traditional benefits checklist — training the people on the front lines of service delivery, not just expanding the services themselves.
For Pennsylvania veterans, county veteran affairs offices remain one of the best starting points for navigating state-level support, from property tax exemptions to education benefits. You can see the full rundown of what's available in the state at /veteran-benefits/pa.
Better-trained county staff won't replace the value of community and physical activity in a veteran's recovery, but it's a meaningful piece of the same puzzle. Operation WarriorFit exists for the other piece — connecting veterans, service members, and first responders with free entries to races that help build back that sense of purpose and camaraderie. If you're eligible, /eligibility is the fastest way to find out what's available to you.