Are Vietnam Veterans Eligible for Va's Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers Program

Changes to the Family Caregivers Programme

Posted in Uncategorized on November 28, 2017

The number of U.S. service men and women seriously injured Postal service-9/xi is slowly changing the face up of caregiving in the Us, as about xx% of the v.five 1000000 "military machine caregivers" today are caring for younger loved ones injured in conflicts over the past 16 years. While caregivers for older veterans – an estimated 4.4 million who served prior to 9/11 – tend to resemble noncombatant caregivers, those taking care of Post-nine/11 veterans appear to face a unique prepare of challenges and circumstances.

The Family Caregivers Plan

According to recent inquiry by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, caregivers for Mail service-9/11 veterans tend to exist younger, ofttimes caring for a younger individual with a mental wellness or substance use condition. They tend to even so be employed merely not connected to a back up network. They are more than likely to use mental health resources and services, and to use them more often.

Currently, these Post-ix/11 caregivers (defined every bit a child, parent, spouse, footstep-family fellow member, extended family member, or an private who lives with the veteran but is not a family fellow member) who encounter certain eligibility requirements take the do good of additional support from the Department of Veterans Diplomacy (VA) Programme of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.

Established as part of the Veterans Motorcoach Wellness Services Act of 2010, the programme provides a monthly stipend (upward to $2,500), access to comprehensive VA caregiver training, health intendance insurance, mental health services and counseling, respite care and travel reimbursements.

While this additional support is especially helpful to these military caregivers, critics of the program, along with several caregiver advocacy groups, have been pointing out shortcomings of the programme. For example, at that place are numerous complaints of inconsistencies, such as some caregivers not qualifying despite coming together requirements, other caregivers existence dropped without explanation and veterans beingness approved for the plan at some VA facilities and not at others.

To apply for the Comprehensive program, caregivers must currently fill out and mail a newspaper awarding, participate in a series of evaluations at home and at a VA facility, and exist periodically reviewed to see whether they notwithstanding authorize (their monthly stipends tin can exist reduced based on these evaluations).

Feedback from some advocacy groups pointed out that, due to the nature of many of the post-ix/11 injuries, responses oftentimes varied during these evaluations, making information technology especially difficult to consistently apply benefits. Others cited that the VA's requirements on the blazon of care needed on a daily ground made it difficult for veterans with these "invisible" types of injuries to go the assistance they needed.

In response, the VA temporarily suspended the programme in early on 2017 to carry a three-week review of the program, and released updates and changes to the program when the programme was reactivated. While many advocacy groups agreed that 3 weeks would not yield a substantial amount of research, it was a stride in the right direction.

Some of the resulting updates to the program included:

• Boosted staff training to ensure that all personnel working with veterans and caregivers are electric current on all requirements, regulations, and types of help bachelor
• Standardizing outreach materials used besides equally the advice between facilities and veterans
• Updates to the VA caregiver website to include links to home- and customs-based services and resources

More than in-depth changes to the programme – like those addressing approvals and eligibility issues, and ensuring they are consistently applied beyond all VA facilities – are continuing to exist evaluated and improved by the VA based on the research conducted during the review.

An additional major alter to the program being called for by advancement groups – and from some VA leadership itself – is the extension of the program to military caregivers caring for veterans of all eras, not simply Post-9/11. Currently, caregivers of veterans injured in conflicts earlier 9/11 are eligible for the VA'southward Program of General Caregiver Back up Services, which offers back up and training, only no financial stipends, specialized mental health counseling services or travel reimbursements.

Previous efforts to expand the Comprehensive program have stalled out during legislation due to the forecasted fiscal touch on, with estimated costs ranging between $3-4 billion over the start five years. The VA estimated that as many as an additional 80,000 veterans from previous eras would authorize for the expanded program (the current program covers about 36,000 Post-9/11 veterans). Notwithstanding, proponents of expanding the programme explain that helping pay for in-habitation intendance for veterans, provided by family caregivers, is essentially less-expensive than wide-spread institutionalized care for the same number of veterans (a recent report by Disabled American Veterans estimated paying a family caregiver costs around $37,000 a year, while it costs $333,000 per-patient at a VA nursing domicile).

To larn more most the VA's programs of support for military caregivers, visit: world wide web.caregiver.va.gov or call the Caregiver Back up Line at 1-855-260-3274.

Written by Megan Hammons

shawfainjusly.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.veteranaid.org/blog/changes-to-the-family-caregivers-program/

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