Cultural Competency - Serving Veteran Populations in Oregon
Monday, October 19, 2026
9:00AM - 11:30AM PDT
An introduction to Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs Special Advocacy and Outreach Programs.
Location: Online
Continuing Education: 2.5 (Applied through NASW Oregon)
Cost: Free to RVP Volunteers and partnering clinics who are listed in our directory and who have an active MOU with RVP. We also welcome our OR/WA Vet Center and VA staff to join for free. All other community providers, please pay $29 (or apply to become a RVP volunteer provider).
Who Should Attend:
This training is open to all RVP Volunteer Providers, social workers, mental health counselors, and community providers.
What You Will Learn:
Since 1945, the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has assisted generations of veterans returning home from active-duty military service and then deploying their hard-earned leadership skills and experience to significantly contribute to our state’s communities and economy. Veterans are proud, proven, trained and service-oriented Oregon citizens who benefit from earned federal, state and local programs designed to assist them in their transition back to civilian life and compensate them for their service and sacrifices on behalf of our nation.
Oregon is proud to be one of the top states in serving historically underrepresented and underserved populations, including veterans with unique needs related to their stage of life, by providing experienced, full-time special advocates and program coordinators dedicated to assisting them effectively, compassionately, and with cultural sensitivity. In this session you will meet and learn from several of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs Special Advocacy and Outreach Programs, gain understanding of each program and leave with information on how to better serve the Veterans you work with in your practice.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the ODVA Special Advocacy Initiatives and Outreach Program roles.
- Explain the ways in which Veterans and Caregivers are able to access care and Program Coordinators, the eligibility requirements to receive care and the timelines associated with care.
- . Identify special populations, initiatives to reach them across the state, and what we know/don’t know about Veteran demographics within these special population subsets.
- Develop an understanding of the most common concerns and support requested by Veterans within underrepresented and underserved Veterans populations.
CE Faculty
Lacey Carter (She/Her) – ODVA Aging Veteran Outreach Specialist
Lacey Carter earned her bachelor’s degree in Corrections from Western Oregon University before enlisting in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer. She served with the 527th Military Police Company from 2002 to 2005 in Germany and also in combat operations in Iraq, for Operation Iraqi Freedom I. Her professional career includes 10-years as a Deputy Sherriff and Sergeant with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Parole and Probation Division. She returned to the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA) as the Aging Veteran Outreach Specialist in order to serve the state’s most vulnerable veteran population. She currently works as an USDVA Accredited Representative providing benefit claims representation and support for veterans and their families served in the ODVA fiduciary programs and residing in the Oregon Veterans’ Homes. Her role at ODVA also includes passionate outreach, education and advocacy on behalf of aging veterans and their families, throughout the state of Oregon.
Jay Leffler – ODVA Houseless Veteran Coordinator
Jay manages critical initiatives to support and house veterans statewide. Prior to his current role, Jay managed Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and Grant and Per Diem (GPD) in Lane County. A former U.S. Army Armor Officer and Intelligence Analyst, Jay’s military service included assignments in Germany, Washington, D.C., and Fort Irwin, complemented by his participation in the Army’s Green to Gold program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Baldwin Wallace College (2011) and a Master of Philosophy from Case Western Reserve University (2020).
Joe Mah – ODVA Campus Veteran Coordinator
Born and raised in the Seattle, Washington area, Joe is a U.S. Army Veteran with over four years of active and reserve service, including a 2013 deployment to Afghanistan as part of a Route Clearance Unit.
After moving to Oregon in 2014, Joe worked a variety of jobs while pursuing higher education, ultimately earning a B.S. in Organizational Communication from the University of Portland.
Joe previously served as the Veterans Resource Coordinator at Portland Community College before joining the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs in April 2020. Now serving as a Campus Veteran Coordinator, Joe is dedicated to connecting and supporting Veterans and military‑connected students across Oregon’s institutions of higher learning. Joe lives in Newberg, Oregon with partner Jess, two kids, and two cats.
Patrick McGuffin – ODVA Incarcerated Veterans Coordinator
Patrick (Pat) McGuffin grew up in Woodburn, Oregon, and went on to serve a 30-year career in the United States Air Force. During his military career, he served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Air Force Weather Agency and later as the Air Force Weather Career Field Manager at Air Force Headquarters. In that role, he established and implemented joint policies and oversaw workforce development for approximately 2,900 troops supporting both Air Force and Army operations.
Following his retirement from the Air Force, Pat continued his commitment to serving veterans through the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA), where he has worked for more than 11 years as a Veteran Service Officer and Incarcerated Veterans Coordinator. In this role, Pat works to minimize the negative impacts incarceration can have on the earned benefits of veterans and their families. He assists veterans in navigating U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs programs and works to help ensure they maintain access to the benefits they earned through their military service.
Pat holds a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Public Administration. His professional and personal interests include serving veterans, outdoor activities, and woodworking.
Outside of his professional responsibilities, Pat enjoys spending time with his wife, Lynae, their five children, and their ten grandchildren. His commitment to service—first through his military career and now through his work with veterans—continues to be an important part of his life.
Kim Darren McKandes – ODVA Incarcerated Veterans Coordinator
With a passion for “at-risk” youth, veterans, fathers from marginalized communities, and the local community’s health, Kim navigates life in the state of Oregon, focusing on the southern counties of Jackson, Josephine, and Klamath.
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Kim settled down in Medford, Oregon, in the latter portion of 2007 after marrying his wife, Wendy. Wanting to raise their “Brady Bunch-esque” family in an environment that would be safe, and expose all to a different form of diversity, the McKandes’ believed that Jackson County was the perfect place. There, he works with nonprofit organizations in the region, and he is also a non-denominational pastor, serving his community.
As a former troubled teen from the South Side of Chicago, Kim felt it necessary to give the youth of this generation the equivalent opportunities and chances that were provided to him, which allowed him to change his life for the better. As a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he also saw firsthand the challenges and barriers that exist for service members upon their transition back into civilian life. These two aspects of Kim’s life journey have aided in forming him into the man that he is today, and also why he serves these communities so diligently.
Kim is currently employed with the State of Oregon’s Department of Veterans Affairs as the Statewide Incarcerated Veterans Coordinator. Before that position, he served as the Multicultural Services Coordinator for the State of Oregon with the Oregon Youth Authority. He has worked in the career fields of law enforcement, community corrections, and juvenile corrections for over 30 years. Kim also travels the country as a motivational/empowerment speaker, having presented at times for more than four thousand individuals in attendance in religious circles, civic forums, schools/universities, prisons, and conferences.
Kim draws his life motto from a song penned in 1945 by Alma Androzzo, a Black pianist, songwriter, and lyricist. That seemingly poignant quote is “If I can help somebody as I travel along, then my living will not be in vain!”
Ian Michael (he/they) – ODVA LGBTQIA+ Veteran Coordinator
Marine Corps veteran and the LGBTQ+ Veteran Coordinator with the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA), where he works to improve access to benefits, services, and culturally responsive support for LGBTQ+ veterans across Oregon.
Ian served in the United States Marine Corps during the era of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” attaining the rank of Sergeant before separating from the military in 2004. His experiences during and after military service have helped shape a career centered on veteran advocacy, access to care and benefits, and strengthening the systems that serve veterans whose experiences have not always been fully recognized or understood.
Following military service, Ian continued his education at the University of Oregon and built a career working with veterans across healthcare, behavioral health, benefits, and community-based settings. His work has included helping veterans navigate complex systems, advocating for access to earned benefits, and supporting veterans whose military service, discharge history, trauma, identity, or other circumstances created additional barriers to receiving care and services.
Ian joined ODVA in October 2021 and has spent nearly five years developing and expanding the agency’s statewide LGBTQ+ Veteran Program. His work includes individual veteran advocacy and benefits assistance, outreach and education, community engagement, professional training, discharge and military records upgrade advocacy, and building partnerships among federal, state, county, Tribal, nonprofit, healthcare, and LGBTQ+ community organizations. Through the program, Ian has worked to increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ veterans throughout Oregon while helping veteran-serving organizations better understand how military history, identity, trauma, institutional trust, and past policies can influence a veteran’s willingness and ability to seek support.
Ian’s approach to this work is grounded in the belief that effective veteran services require more than knowing what resources exist. They require understanding the person seeking them, the history they carry with them, and the systems they have had to navigate along the way.
Jon R. Taylor – ODVA Tribal Veteran Coordinator
Jon was hired in February 2023, as ODVA’s first Tribal Veteran Coordinator. In this role, Jon serves as ODVA’s liaison on Tribal veterans’ support between Oregon’s nine federally recognized Tribes and other state agency partners. He also conducts outreach to help identify Tribal veterans and assist in connecting them, and their families to earned state and federal benefits.
Before to coming to Oregon, Jon served in the United States Navy for 30 years, retiring as the Command Master Chief for the United States Fleet Cyber Command and United States TENTH Fleet at Fort George G. Meade, MD. From Kansas City, Kansas, Jon entered the Navy in San Diego, California in June of 1986. While in the Navy, Jon earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems.
He is married to his wonderful wife, Lauren, who hails from McMinnville, Oregon. Together, they have four children—two daughters and twin sons—and are proud grandparents to a joyful two-year-old grandson, Riley, and are expecting their first granddaughter in 2027.
Since joining the ODVA team, Jon has been focused on connecting with and enhancing relationships with Oregon’s nine federally recognized Tribes, to better support their veterans and any veteran or family member looking for help navigating through the VA benefits process. Jon completed his U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs, Veteran Service Officer certification in February 2024.
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503-954-2259
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