Thursday, October 28, 1999
VA blamed for vets' woes
Lawyers: Claims take too long
BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Years of delays in processing disability applications at the Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing some veterans into homelessness.
That from lawyers for the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, who represent more than 100 disabled military veterans in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. They say the VA has a pattern of “nickel and diming” veterans and hoping they'll be satisfied with smaller benefit payments than they deserve.
“The VA delays cause havoc in the lives of veterans who honorably served this country,” said Trey Daly, the Legal Aid attorney who manages the agency's work on behalf of veterans.
Some of the veterans, as well as Legal Aid and other social service representatives, will be on hand today and Friday at the Drop-Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine for the shelter's annual Stand Down for the Homeless. Miss America, Heather French of Maysville, Ky., will speak on her platform of improving services for homeless and disabled veterans.
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IF YOU GO
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• What: Stand Down for the Homeless.
• When: Today and Friday.
• Where: Drop-Inn Center, 1122 Elm St.
• Miscellaneous: Miss America, Heather French of Maysville, Ky., will volunteer from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will speak at 11 a.m. The event is co-sponsored by the VA Medical Center and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.
• Information: 721-0643.
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One such disabled veteran is John Brannen, 47, of Miamiville. He served in the army in 1969 and '70, including a three-month stint of combat in Vietnam. He said he came out an alcoholic and drug user, unable to hold a job because he could no longer take orders.
He applied for disability benefits in 1992 based on post traumatic stress disorder. In 1998, the Board of Veterans Appeals in Washington, D.C., found that the VA made errors in processing his appeal and sent his case back to the regional office in Cleveland. He checked with benefits officials in Cleveland last week and was told his military records would not be available for eight months to a year because of a logjam in the St. Louis repository. He was also told it would be at least two years before he could see additional benefits.
Mr. Daly, the Legal Aid attorney, said 43 percent of appeals to the Board of Veterans Appeals in Washington are remanded but take an average five years to be resolved.
The VA's Cleveland Region, which serves Ohio, is slower than the national average on appeals resolution and on denying an appeal of disability benefits, which takes an average of two years, Mr. Daly said.
“A lot of veterans think the government is lying through its teeth,” Mr. Brannen said Wednesday. “They don't care about veterans. They're trying to cut benefits to save money.”
He lives on $683 a month in Social Security Disability income, plus $48 from the VA in what's called non-service-connected benefits. He's hoping to be classified a 30 percent disability, which would add $300 to $400 a month to his VA income.
Mr. Brannen, who's unmarried with no children and lives with his brother, said he also suffers from depression and hides in bed for weeks at a time. He sees mental health professionals at the VA Medical Center here.
“They've got me full of medicine,” he said. “But I'm stuck. I can't make any plans now. I wish they'd just tell me one way or another. The government's just dragging its feet.”
Other veterans, Mr. Brannen said, are in worse straits. They're among the 270,000 homeless military veterans nationally, according to the Legal Aid Society.
Calvin Wooten, 43, of Over-the-Rhine used to be homeless. He is activities coordinator at Joseph House, an Over-the-Rhine residential treatment facility for homeless veterans with drug and alcohol problems.
Mr. Wooten, a West End native who served with the Navy in Lebanon in the early 1980s, blames his cocaine addiction for his homelessness. He has been in recovery for four years.
“A lot of the guys have had bad experiences with the VA and don't want to go back,” said Mr. Wooten, who'll be distributing literature today at the Drop-Inn Center. “They get into drugs and alcohol to deal with the pain. They can't wait for the VA to help them.”
Charles McGill, a VA spokesman in Cleveland, said some delays occur because the VA never closes a case. A veteran can always appeal and present additional information, such as medical reports, to support his application.
“If a veteran's claim is clean and the facts are evident, they can be processed in six to eight months,” Mr. McGill said.
The appeals process can be slowed because after the claim is filed, the VA must obtain the veteran's service records and the results of a current medical exam.
“Those can take time to set up, like at any doctor's office,” he said. “We exist to serve veterans based on what Congress provides. No one in this agency gets an award or promoted for disallowing a claim.”
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