A free veterans benefits webinar scheduled for April 24, 2026, will mark the launch of a broader national initiative aimed at helping veterans better understand their rights while tracking fraud, policy developments, and representation issues in real time.
The webinar will be led by VA-accredited attorney Benjamin Krause, a veteran who founded DisabledVeterans.org. It is part of a new quarterly briefing series designed to provide veterans, families, and advocates with ongoing updates on consumer protection risks and legal developments affecting access to benefits. The event will take place on April 24 at 12:00 PM Central Time. It is free and open to the public via Zoom, and participants can register here.
Minnesota Policy Change Provides the Immediate Focus
The April webinar will center on a recent policy update from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, which revised its Veterans Benefits Disclosure form to more clearly reflect federal law governing representation in Department of Veterans Affairs claims.
Those federal rules, set out in 38 U.S.C. § 5901–5905 and 38 C.F.R. § 14.626–14.637, define who is legally authorized to assist veterans with claims and when fees may be charged. The updated Minnesota disclosure form reinforces those standards while clarifying key points that are often misunderstood by veterans.
From a Single Webinar to an Ongoing Series
Although the Minnesota update provides the immediate backdrop, Krause made clear that the initiative is not limited to one state or one event. The “Q2” designation refers to the launch window, but the effort is intended to continue beyond the quarter as part of an ongoing series of quarterly briefings.
“These quarterly briefs are intended to be an ongoing part of our advocacy and public education work,” Krause said. “Minnesota is the starting point, not the endpoint.”
Each session will summarize ongoing advocacy work, policy developments, and emerging risks affecting veterans and their families. The webinars will be hosted through DisabledVeterans.org and published by Armo Press.
Future sessions are expected to expand beyond Minnesota, covering policy changes in other states as well as federal-level developments as lawmakers and agencies respond to ongoing concerns about fraud and unauthorized claims assistance.
A Broader Consumer Protection Effort
The initiative is designed to go beyond reporting policy changes. Each briefing will also examine fraud trends, misinformation, and practical strategies for protecting veterans, alongside updates on ongoing advocacy efforts, including pending Freedom of Information Act requests under 5 U.S.C. § 552. Krause described the effort as an attempt to identify what is working and what is not across jurisdictions, with the goal of highlighting consumer protection strategies that can be replicated elsewhere.
Confusion Remains the Central Problem
According to Krause, the initiative is being launched now in response to a persistent and widespread problem: confusion among veterans about their rights.
Many veterans and their family members do not fully understand who is legally permitted to assist with VA claims, when fees can lawfully be charged, or how to identify unauthorized actors. That lack of clarity creates an opening for misleading marketing, unauthorized assistance, and fraud.
He framed the issue as more than isolated misconduct, describing it as a systemic consumer protection gap. Veterans are often required to make high-stakes decisions about benefits in an environment where the governing rules are not clearly communicated.
“Veterans are being targeted at the moment they are most vulnerable—when they are trying to secure benefits, protect their families, or recover from years of hardship,” Krause said. “That is why this is fundamentally a consumer-protection issue for the veteran community.”
Measuring Success Through Real Outcomes
The initiative’s success, Krause explained, will be measured by whether it changes how veterans navigate the system.
The goal is for veterans to become more informed about their rights, more capable of identifying risky or unauthorized actors, and more likely to seek assistance from federally accredited representatives. At the same time, the effort aims to give better visibility into emerging fraud patterns and systemic issues.
If effective, the initiative would result in fewer veterans being misled and more veterans receiving assistance from authorized sources.
“The measure of success is simple: fewer veterans misled, more veterans informed, and more veterans getting help from accredited representatives instead of bad actors,” Krause said.
As the April 24 webinar approaches, the broader initiative reflects an effort to close the gap between policy reform and public understanding. In a system where access to accurate information often determines outcomes, that effort may prove as significant as the reforms themselves.
