MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: It's a dark place that this young veteran knows all too well.
What have you put your wife through?
ANONYMOUS VETERAN: Oh, mate, I've put her through hell, absolute hell. I feel horrible for doin' it. The lack of help for us rebounds on our wives - indirectly. You don't mean to. You indirectly take it out on them, your family, your children. And you know that all they want to do is help, but it just seems like there's nothing they can do sometimes and sometimes you think that they'd be better without ya.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: This young man deployed to East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He completed his last Afghanistan mission in 2010.
ANONYMOUS VETERAN: Anyone who says they weren't terrified every time they stepped out the wire is a liar. Your were absolutely terrified every time you went out.
MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: After seven years in the Army he was eventually discharged with PTSD. Despite that, he's been fighting ever since to convince DVA that that is the condition he has. He doesn't want to be identified for fear he could lose what benefits and treatment he has so far managed to get, but he says his frustration is routine among his contemporaries.
While TBI and PTS have been signature wounds, they aren't the only ones. Vision and hearing injuries, spinal injuries, loss of limbs continue in the modern wars. Annmarie Fertoli (WNYC News -- link is text and audio) reports on a program to help veterans with spinal injuries, lost limbs and physical pains:
New York veterans with disabilities are discovering newfound
confidence and camaraderie through a free, weekly swim program at the
Asphalt Green Aquatic Center on the Upper East Side. Members of the
group have disabilities that range from aches and pains, to lost limbs
and spinal injuries. But many say the sport is helping them overcome
physical as well as mental barriers.
On his first day with the group, Anwar Elboustani, 30, was
working one-on-one with swim coach Neil Cook. The Navy veteran was
practicing techniques to reduce pain in his shoulder and back. He swam
out into the water with ease, practicing his breathing and arm rotation
the way Cook showed him, and it seemed to work. Elboustani said the
pressure on his shoulder is easing.Having a condition or disability that needs treatment is enough to cause stress and burdens but that's only magnified when you're unable to get needed treatment in a timely manner. Chris Mazzolini (Cleveland Heights Patch) reports:
The data found that in most regional VA offices, not only did waiting times increase, but they vary dramatically with location: about a year and five months in Baltimore, Maryland compared to four months in Fargo, North Dakota.
The national average now stands at about eleven months, which is dramatically higher than in 2009 when it was four months.
Cleveland's regional office, located on East Ninth Street, has an average wait-time for benefits of 400 days. That's double what it was in April 2011, and four times what it was in October 2010.The backlog has also partly been blamed on the VA still using paper to process their claims.
If you're a veteran trying to figure out wait times in your area (or you're interested in the issue), the Center for Investigative Reporting has developed a tool. Cole Goins explains:
In the ongoing conversation about how we can make an impact with our work at the Center for Investigative Reporting, our engagement team has developed a motto of sorts: If we want to facilitate true change, our stories should make more than a splash – we need to create a tidal wave. Through persistent reporting, smart distribution and innovative collaborations, we can build momentum that inspires a meaningful and productive public dialogue about the issues we spotlight.
That’s exactly what we’ve done through our reporting on the Department of Veteran Affairs’ benefits backlog. Not only has CIR reporter Aaron Glantz done an incredible job of documenting the problem and how it’s affecting veterans from multiple eras, we’ve also recently launched an API and dashboard for our data on the VA’s massive stack of disability claims to make it as easy as possible for journalists, developers and citizens everywhere to see how the delays are impacting veterans in their areas. Three weeks after launching the API, we're already seeing great results.
On the issue of the backlog -- the huge backlog -- Senators Rob Portman and Tom Coburn have some questions. Yesterday, Senator Portman's office issued the following:
June 05, 2013
Portman/Coburn Letter: Should 188 VA Employees Be Paid To Do Union Work Full-time While Veterans Face Backlog?
Washington, D.C. – Following White House Press Secretary Jay Carney’s comments yesterday stating that the President is “deadly serious”
about ending the claims backlog at the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Dr. Tom Coburn
(R-Oklahoma) sent a letter to VA Secretary Shinseki asking the
department to clarify its procedures, practices, and policies for
employees who are paid taxpayer-funded government salaries to perform
work not related to government duties. In this practice, known as
“official time,” government employees perform union duties instead of
official government work. In the VA’s case, employees not performing
government work could compromise the well-being of our nation’s
veterans.
The VA had 188 employees that served in 100 percent official time capacity since January 2012. With 188 additional employees instead processing veterans’ benefit claims, the VA could do away with the current backlog of 25,372 claims at the Cleveland Regional Office in just over 3 months, and handle nearly 100,000 claims per year. Many of these federal employees also possess important skills for the medical care of our veteran population.
Senator Portman serves as the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce. Dr. Coburn serves as the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The full text of the letter is below. Read a signed copy here.
June 5, 2013
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20420
Dear Secretary Shinseki:
Veterans Affairs’ (VA) has made ending veteran homelessness, eliminating the claims backlog, and expanding access to benefits and services its top priorities for Fiscal Year 2014. We are encouraged by your confidence that these goals can be accomplished in the near future. However, in order to accomplish these challenging goals, as you might agree, it is essential that every VA employee is dedicated 100 percent to our nation’s mission of providing the best healthcare to our veterans in a timely manner.
Recently, it has come to our attention that a number of VA employees are paid government salaries, funded entirely by taxpayers, to perform work totally unrelated to their formal governmental duties. In a practice known as “official time,” taxpayers pay for federal employees to perform union duties instead of their formal jobs they were initially hired to do. Federal employees not serving veterans during official time could lead to the failure of VA’s top goals and the well-being of those who have sacrificed in the service our nation, could be compromised.
Moreover, the recent decision to overtime “surge” to help eliminate the backlog is troubling considering VA employees who should be completely dedicated to serving veterans are authorized for large amounts of official time. Accepting policies that foster poor personnel management practices in a critical period of VA’s history will undoubtedly negatively impact veterans who could have otherwise been served by taxpayer dollars now reserved for federal employee overtime pay.
Documents from your department list 188 VA employees serving in 100 percent official time capacity during the time period spanning January 1, 2012 through February 2013. During this time of sequestration and tight budgets, it is important to know how so many employees can be spared to serve the interest of outside groups, instead of carrying out jobs that are essential to the health, safety and transition of our nation’s veterans.
Documents show that your department recently employed at least 85 VA nurses, some with six-figure salaries, who were in 100 percent official time status. At the same time, the department is recruiting more people to fill open nursing positions. USA Jobs currently has openings for hundreds of nursing positions to be filled.
In addition to nurses, other medical and security personnel at the VA have been shown to be on 100% official time. They include four addiction specialists; nine pharmacists and pharmacists technicians; one Orthotist/Prosthetist; one blind rehabilitation specialist; one audiologist; five social workers; 11 health technicians; 12 medical support assistants; 10 medical instrument technicians (including one for Hemodialysis); two psychologists; seven therapists (including one specializing in readjustment); three dental lab technicians/dental lab assistants; as well as other health specialists and health support staff.
The documents also show that taxpayers are paying for six police officers and two security assistants, who should be ensuring the security of VA properties and personnel and the public interacting with them, but who are instead on 100 percent official time.
To better understand how taxpayers’ money can best serve our nation’s veterans, please provide our offices with answers to the following questions:
1) How many VA employees work official time 100% of the time? Please provide figures over the last ten years– as well as any comments or context you might have as to why the numbers have fluctuated. Please also include the employees’ title, salary, and duty station.
2) Please describe and provide the job descriptions of what these employees do in a given day for the VA. How do these activities relate to the mission of the VA?
3) If an employee is on official time 100% of the time, does the VA have to hire and compensate another employee to perform the duties the person would otherwise perform in their position of record? If so, how much did this cost the VA last year?
4) What is the process for putting a VA employee on official time 100% of the time? Does such an employee go through competitive hiring practices as do other federal employees?
5) How does your agency evaluate such employees for performance? Are employees who spend 100% of their time on official time eligible for pay raises? If so, please provide the amount of annual increases (including step increases, bonuses, incentive payments, awards, or other money in addition to base salary), broken down by year over the last 10 years, given to employees on official time. Please also explain the process for determining pay raises for employees on 100% official time.
6) If an employee is on 100% official time, is this employee expected to report to his or her work station on a daily basis? How many of these employees work at VA facilities and how many do not? Can employees on official time work from home? If so, please report the number of hours employees on official time worked from home or away from their primary duty station.
7) Of the employees who are on 100% official time, do any of their positions of record reflect positions the VA is currently seeking to fill, “hard to fill” positions, or positions which the VA has a critical need to fill? Could this result in any service disruptions to veterans?
8) Has the VA agreed to any current collective bargaining agreements that include language on official time? If so, what did the VA agree to? Who approved these provisions?
9) Have any members of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals been on 100% official time over the past 10 years? If so, how many?
10) Have any personnel assigned to processing disability claims been on 100% official time over the past 10 years? If so, how many? How might official time affect VA’s efforts to eliminate the backlog?
The VA had 188 employees that served in 100 percent official time capacity since January 2012. With 188 additional employees instead processing veterans’ benefit claims, the VA could do away with the current backlog of 25,372 claims at the Cleveland Regional Office in just over 3 months, and handle nearly 100,000 claims per year. Many of these federal employees also possess important skills for the medical care of our veteran population.
Senator Portman serves as the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal Workforce. Dr. Coburn serves as the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The full text of the letter is below. Read a signed copy here.
June 5, 2013
The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20420
Dear Secretary Shinseki:
Veterans Affairs’ (VA) has made ending veteran homelessness, eliminating the claims backlog, and expanding access to benefits and services its top priorities for Fiscal Year 2014. We are encouraged by your confidence that these goals can be accomplished in the near future. However, in order to accomplish these challenging goals, as you might agree, it is essential that every VA employee is dedicated 100 percent to our nation’s mission of providing the best healthcare to our veterans in a timely manner.
Recently, it has come to our attention that a number of VA employees are paid government salaries, funded entirely by taxpayers, to perform work totally unrelated to their formal governmental duties. In a practice known as “official time,” taxpayers pay for federal employees to perform union duties instead of their formal jobs they were initially hired to do. Federal employees not serving veterans during official time could lead to the failure of VA’s top goals and the well-being of those who have sacrificed in the service our nation, could be compromised.
Moreover, the recent decision to overtime “surge” to help eliminate the backlog is troubling considering VA employees who should be completely dedicated to serving veterans are authorized for large amounts of official time. Accepting policies that foster poor personnel management practices in a critical period of VA’s history will undoubtedly negatively impact veterans who could have otherwise been served by taxpayer dollars now reserved for federal employee overtime pay.
Documents from your department list 188 VA employees serving in 100 percent official time capacity during the time period spanning January 1, 2012 through February 2013. During this time of sequestration and tight budgets, it is important to know how so many employees can be spared to serve the interest of outside groups, instead of carrying out jobs that are essential to the health, safety and transition of our nation’s veterans.
Documents show that your department recently employed at least 85 VA nurses, some with six-figure salaries, who were in 100 percent official time status. At the same time, the department is recruiting more people to fill open nursing positions. USA Jobs currently has openings for hundreds of nursing positions to be filled.
In addition to nurses, other medical and security personnel at the VA have been shown to be on 100% official time. They include four addiction specialists; nine pharmacists and pharmacists technicians; one Orthotist/Prosthetist; one blind rehabilitation specialist; one audiologist; five social workers; 11 health technicians; 12 medical support assistants; 10 medical instrument technicians (including one for Hemodialysis); two psychologists; seven therapists (including one specializing in readjustment); three dental lab technicians/dental lab assistants; as well as other health specialists and health support staff.
The documents also show that taxpayers are paying for six police officers and two security assistants, who should be ensuring the security of VA properties and personnel and the public interacting with them, but who are instead on 100 percent official time.
To better understand how taxpayers’ money can best serve our nation’s veterans, please provide our offices with answers to the following questions:
1) How many VA employees work official time 100% of the time? Please provide figures over the last ten years– as well as any comments or context you might have as to why the numbers have fluctuated. Please also include the employees’ title, salary, and duty station.
2) Please describe and provide the job descriptions of what these employees do in a given day for the VA. How do these activities relate to the mission of the VA?
3) If an employee is on official time 100% of the time, does the VA have to hire and compensate another employee to perform the duties the person would otherwise perform in their position of record? If so, how much did this cost the VA last year?
4) What is the process for putting a VA employee on official time 100% of the time? Does such an employee go through competitive hiring practices as do other federal employees?
5) How does your agency evaluate such employees for performance? Are employees who spend 100% of their time on official time eligible for pay raises? If so, please provide the amount of annual increases (including step increases, bonuses, incentive payments, awards, or other money in addition to base salary), broken down by year over the last 10 years, given to employees on official time. Please also explain the process for determining pay raises for employees on 100% official time.
6) If an employee is on 100% official time, is this employee expected to report to his or her work station on a daily basis? How many of these employees work at VA facilities and how many do not? Can employees on official time work from home? If so, please report the number of hours employees on official time worked from home or away from their primary duty station.
7) Of the employees who are on 100% official time, do any of their positions of record reflect positions the VA is currently seeking to fill, “hard to fill” positions, or positions which the VA has a critical need to fill? Could this result in any service disruptions to veterans?
8) Has the VA agreed to any current collective bargaining agreements that include language on official time? If so, what did the VA agree to? Who approved these provisions?
9) Have any members of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals been on 100% official time over the past 10 years? If so, how many?
10) Have any personnel assigned to processing disability claims been on 100% official time over the past 10 years? If so, how many? How might official time affect VA’s efforts to eliminate the backlog?
Still with us? That's longer than I'd like to include in the middle of an entry but if I'd cut it someone would have said, "You never cut Democrats!" We try not to cut Senator Patty Murray who has worked on veterans issues for a very long time but even her press releases have been cut from time to time because there wasn't room. I have no idea about the issue Portman is raising. I didn't know a thing about it, had never heard about it, before checking the public e-mail account this morning. At a time when there is a backlog, I think they're right to ask questions to ensure that those who should be working on it are working full time. Whether or not this is a problem or a misunderstanding? I'm sure Portman will announce the results of the VA's replies.
Senator Patty Murray has worked on a lot of veterans issues including on the issue of veterans unemployment. Her remarks on the problems with unemployment and her work with private-public partnerships were, for many, their first encounter with the issue. (This is an issue that arises after every war. You can check then-President Jimmy Carter's public speeches and you will find him making remarks about the veterans' unemployment crisis and how addressing it was a priority for him.) Murray's leadership on the issue can be felt today as job fairs for veterans take place across the country. Omaha's 1011 Now notes that next Wednesday, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, the Nebraska Department of Labor will hold a job fair at Omaha's CD Centre. Here's the full info:
Hiring Our Heroes
June 12, 2013
10:00 AM Central Time - 1:00 PM Central Time
DC Centre
11830 Stonegate Drive
Omaha, NE 68184
| Event Contact: | Harvey Hudson (402) 595-3154 or harvey.hudson@nebraska.gov |
| U.S. Chamber of Commerce | U.S. Department of Labor | |
| Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce | Nebraska Dept. of Labor | |
| ESGR |
Description:
Join us Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 for a job fair for veteran job seekers, active duty military members, guard and reserve members and military spouses. We are expecting over 75 veteran friendly employers. The DC Centre is located on 120th street between Maple and Blondo.
And it's part of the Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes job fairs taking place across the country. This month alone, job fairs will take place in the following:
* Event date may be subject to change.
June 6, 2013 – Orlando, FL
June 11, 2013 – Washington, DC
June 12, 2013 – Omaha, NE
June 12, 2013 – Albany, GA
June 13, 2013 – Orland Park, IL
June 14, 2013 – Ashland, KY
June 14, 2013 – Meadville, PA
June 17, 2013 – Atlanta, GA
June 18, 2013 – Green Bay, WI
June 19, 2013 – Rapid City, SD
June 20, 2013 – Memphis, TN
June 21, 2013 – Cleveland, OH
June 22, 2013 – Greater New York City
June 25, 2013 – Savannah, GA
June 26, 2013 – Tulsa, OK
June 27, 2013 – Collinsville, IL
June 27, 2013 – Lansing, MI
June 27, 2013 – Boston, MA
Yesterday, Kendra Eaglin (WKBW -- link is text and video) reported on the Hiring Our Heroes job fair Buffalo had Wednesday and notes "70 local and national employers" were at the job fair to speak to "350 local veterans and their spouses."
Tuesday,the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on assault and rape in the ranks of the military. We covered the first panel -- made up of the top military brass -- in Tuesday's snapshot, Kat covered it in "Senator Kirsten Gillibrand didn't come to play," Wally covered it in "Senator Bill Nelson sets the tone " and Ava covered it in "Saxby Chambliss' gross stupidity." The first panel was chiefly Gen Martin Dempsy (Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Gen Ray Odierno (Chief of Staff of the Army), Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert (Chief of Naval Operations), Gen James Amos (Commandant of the Marine Corps), Gen Mark Welsh (Chief of Staff of the Air Force) and Admiral Robert Papp Jr. (Commandant of the Coast Guard). In yesterday's snapshot, we covered the third panel -- Protect Our Defenders' Nancy Parrish, retired Capt Anu Bhagwati who is executive director of Service Women's Action Network, retired Maj Gen John D. Altenburg Jr. (Chair of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Armed Forces Law) and retired Col Lawrence J. Morris (General Counsel, Catholic University). Senator Bernie Sanders is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. His office issued the following statement yesterday:
June 5, 2013
WASHINGTON -– With the Pentagon embroiled in criticism over its handling of sexual assault cases, Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders said today that he will remain steadfast in his commitment to ensure that veterans who suffered military sexual trauma during service are provided the care and compensation to which they are entitled.
The House yesterday passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) expressing a sense of Congress that VA should update regulations for veterans seeking disability compensation for mental health conditions resulting from service-connect military sexual trauma. The bill that the House passed is named after Navy veteran Ruth Moore. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
Sanders (I-Vt.) said the Senate committee will hold a hearing next Wednesday to consider Tester’s legislation and other bills.
Moore, a Maine resident who once lived in West Danville, Vt., was raped twice in 1987 by her supervisor in the Navy. After she left the military, Moore’s life spiraled downward and her marriage ended. She struggled for 23-years to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Her long battle for benefits finally was successful after she contacted Sanders’ office for help.
“In my final effort, I called the Honorable Bernie Sanders and his staff agreed to investigate why the VA was taking so long and denying part of my claim,” Moore said in testimony last July before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Within two weeks, my claim was finally adjudicated … I was so grateful for a favorable determination.”
“What happened to Ruth shouldn’t happen to anyone else,” Sanders said. “I look forward to next week’s hearing when the committee will consider ways to ensure what happened to Ruth doesn’t happen to another veteran.”
The problem of sexual assault in the military has been under a spotlight recently after the Pentagon in May released a survey estimating that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. The Department of Defense report said only a fraction of the incidents are reported and result in prosecutions that go to trial.
Burn Pits 360 is a great resource for veterans and contractors (and their families) who were exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. They worked hard for a national burn pit registry for veterans. Secretary of the VA Eric Shinseki has had the following announcement published in the government's Federal Register:
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed new collection, and allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments for information needed to ascertain and monitor the health effects of the exposure of members of the Armed Forces to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes caused by open burn pits.
Table of Contents Back to Top
DATES: Back to Top
Written comments and recommendations on the proposed collection of information should be received on or before August 5, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Back to Top
Submit written comments on the collection of information through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at www.Regulations.gov;
or to Cynthia Harvey-Pryor, Veterans Health Administration (10B4),
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20420 or email: cynthia.harvey-pryor@va.gov.
Please refer to “OMB Control No. 2900-NEW, Open Burn Pit Registry
Airborne Hazard Self-Assessment Questionnaire,” in any correspondence.
During the comment period, comments may be viewed online through FDMS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Back to Top
Cynthia Harvey-Pryor at (202) 461-5870 or Fax (202) 495-5397.
Please note that public commenting ends August 5th.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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