“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said VFW Commander Jay Boxwell, whose mission is to protect New Jersey veterans — especially those living in state-run veterans homes, where hundreds died of COVID-19. After multiple reports and lawsuits identified glaring errors and mismanagement at the Menlo Park and Paramus facilities, run by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, or DMAVA, Boxwell is glad the state hired McKinsey consultants to help restructure the whole system.

“We hope that this is going to be a truly an unbiased look of the operation systems in DMAVA,” Boxwell said. “There’s a lot of programming that they’ve never been able to justify — how those funds are being spent or where the money is going.”

The $4M contract with McKinsey will map out how DMAVA will be split into two separate cabinet-level state agencies: military affairs, and veterans services.

DMAVA is also seeking millions to renovate and expand its vulnerable nursing homes — by building private rooms and isolation wings, and implementing hard lessons learned from both the pandemic and a scathing lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

DMAVA’s commanding officer Maj. Gen. Lisa J. Hou told Senate Budget Committee members, “This is part of our efforts to be among the best-equipped long term care facilities in New Jersey … We are investing more than we ever have, to support service members, veterans and their families.”

The McKinsey report is due in June and lawmakers hope to unveil legislation shortly afterward.