The VA, "baby bonds" and national service

My friend Ben Fritz, who co-edited Spinsanity with me and Bryan Keefer, has a good post up on his blog about two creative ideas to promote national service. First, Philip Longman wrote a fascinating article in the Washington Monthly about innovation in medical care at the Veterans Administration. It's so good, Longman argues, that we should consider expanding VA eligibility to the parents or relatives of young people who complete a national service requirement. And a Boston Globe op-ed by two City Year executives endorses a New America Foundation proposal for a "National Service Baby Bond" -- a fund invested at birth for children by the government that would grow over their lifetime and could be redeemed after two years of national service. Ben is a passionate advocate of national service after spending a year in Americorps' National Civilian Community Corps (read his Salon article about it). It's time to start implementing these kinds of proposals, which will encourage more people to have that same kind of experience.