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Archive for March, 2010
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
In an attempt to curry favor with local Afghan women, female Marines are being sent to Helmand Province next month. Approximately 40 women will convoy with patrols in order to meet local women. One thing most Marines never thought they would hear in their time in the Corps: wear your pony tail out of the back of your helmet. Yet, this is one thing the female soldiers were told during a cultural awareness exercise last month.
These women will be the military’s first “female engagement teams.” The reason for using women in this role is because the Afghan women are off limits to outside men, so there is no contact between the two groups. The women plan on meeting with the Afghan women in their homes for two purposes:
- To evaluate their need for aid; and
- To gather intelligence.
Half of the women have been previously deployed to Iraq so they have an idea of what to expect. After getting permission from the village male elder, the women will move from house to house engaging the women in the homes. Once inside, they will:
- Hand out school supplies;
- Hand out medicine;
- Drink tea;
- Have conversation; and
- Gain information about the village to include local grievances and the Taliban.
Women make up only 6% of the Marine Corps and are still prevented from combat branches of the military. This ban doesn’t always work in the military’s favor though. Therefore, these women will be “attached” to the combat units from which they are otherwise banned.
While female engagement teams have been put together on an as-needed basis in the past, this group of women is the first to be specifically trained for this type of mission. While they will patrol with rifles, once they have been given permission to enter the villages, and with Marines posted on the outside, they will remove their rifles and battle gear.
In the past, the hastily constructed female engagement teams have reported that these rural Afghan women have much more influence than previously believed. The more contact U.S. troops have with them the less likely these villages are going to fear U.S. troops. Furthermore, the rural Afghan women have extreme insight into the social structure inner-activities of the villages.
For right now, nobody knows how this mission will pan out. Even if no critical intelligence is gained, if these rural villages are less intimidated and frightened of the presence of U.S. troops after these meetings, that could be considered a victory and a great first step.
Learn more about the female engagement teams being used in Iraq.
Tags: Female engagement teams, Iraq and Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom
Posted in General | No Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
There is a good chance the VA offers programs to help homeless veterans that most homeless veterans do not even know exist. The Veterans Affairs Office makes available programs, courses, and services to assist homeless veterans. For those veterans that do qualify, the VA office offers:
- Disability benefits;
- Education;
- Health care;
- Rehabilitation services;
- Residential care; and
- Compensated work therapy.
The VA makes a concerted effort to reach out to homeless veterans. The VA operates the Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program at 135 different sites around the country. Through this program the VA offers the following to homeless veterans:
- Physical and psychiatric health exams;
- Supported housing programs;
- Drop-in centers;
- Compensated work therapy;
- Treatment;
- Inpatient and outpatient care;
- Establishing community shelters;
- substance abuse counseling; and
- referrals for ongoing services when necessary.
Additionally, there are those homeless veterans that are disabled either physically or mentally who require specialized care. For these veterans, the VA provides medical care in a residential setting at a VA medical center through the VA Domiciliary Care for the Homeless Veterans Program.
The VA also runs readjustment and counseling centers (vet centers) which help veterans through various community outreach programs such as different levels and types of counseling and referral services.
Veterans around the country are issued $29 billion in disability payments every year from the VA. For many, the money they receive is all the money they have and the only thing keeping them from becoming homeless. Over 100,000 veterans might be homeless without the specialized attention they receive from the VA’s Fiduciary Program.
Finally, the VA recycles some of the properties they own through foreclosure and makes them available to homeless-assistance organizations for purchase or lease at severe discounts. This process happens via the VA’s Acquired Property Sales for Homeless Providers Program.
The VA is very focused and committed to helping homeless veterans. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s goal if eliminating homeless veterans is one stop closer with every homeless veteran able to take advantage of one of the many VA programs aimed at helping them.
Additional housing benefits are available to disabled veterans which may be based on your disability rating. If you are a disabled veteran who is fighting the VA to receive disability compensation, contact the veterans’ disability rights law firm of LaVan & Neidenberg.
Tags: Disabled Veterans, homeless veterans, VA healthcare system, VA housing, veteran housing benefits, veterans assistance
Posted in VA News, Veterans' Benefits | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
The Veterans Health Administration published a study in 2009 which found half of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan return dependent on tobacco. Tobacco use has become a quiet, ominous, and very expensive threat to military personnel.
There are numerous reasons soldiers use to justify their smoking. Some of the more common are:
- Smoking is the only social activity soldiers are allowed during the day;
- The high-risk and high-stress situations of every day combat serve as triggers; and
- Serving multiple deployments – for the soldiers smoking on deployment, it is unreasonable to be expected to quit for the couple months they are home between rotations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must institute smoking cessation programs. The strong culture of tobacco use in the military is evidenced by the $1.6 billion the Department of Defense (DoD) spends every year on:
- Tobacco-related medical care; and
- Lost productivity.
Despite soldiers’ claims to the contrary, tobacco is not a stress reliever. Rather, tobacco is a vehicle to dire consequences. In the military, especially among troops stationed in combat arenas, possible consequences from smoking don’t seem so bad when you’re on the receiving end of enemy fire. The vast majority of combat soldiers are young and still of the mindset that they will deal with any smoking consequences once they get older.
The Army and the Marine Corps contain the highest population of smokers and unsurprisingly, they are the two branches in the military deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for the most amount of time. Soldiers that have experienced combat are twice as likely to use tobacco as soldiers that have not.
Learn more about the military’s effort to stamp out tobacco use among soldiers.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Smoking cessation, VA healthcare, veteran tobacco use
Posted in General, Iraq-Afghanistan War | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Non-combat related physical issues are becoming more prevalent among returning veterans. According to Dr. Drew Helmer, the lead primary care physician at the DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, over half the returning veterans seen at his medical center have been diagnosed with severe pain in their backs, necks, and joints. The cause seems to be overuse or accidents.
Dr. Helmer believes this issue is approaching epidemic levels. A Johns Hopkins study of 34,000 military personnel found the top reasons for evacuation out of Iraq and Afghanistan are not combat injuries but:
- Musculoskeletal disorders; and
- Connective tissue disorders.
Post-traumatic stress and depression can make untreated disorders like the ones above harsher over time. The end result is an overall poor quality of life for the affected veteran and this is why it is so critical to diagnose and treat these problems as early as possible.
The study suggests the reason for the non-combat injuries are numerous tours of duty coupled with carrying more heavy equipment than has ever been required in the past. One very big problem is soldiers refusing to admit they have reached their limit.
It’s the soldier’s mindset: theirs is not to ask why, theirs is to do or die. Given the choice between existing with pain because of the load you carry or not existing because you weren’t adequately protected from IIEDs or enemy fire, every soldier will make the same choice.
Young soldiers in combat environments are very reluctant to admit they have physical or mental limitations. To expect them to leave their men for treatment, then, is not a realistic option. Therefore, their injuries are left untreated and they end up exasperating their ailments. Soldiers are stuck in a proverbial catch-22; they need the heavier equipment to protect their lives, but this same equipment is causing their non-combat injuries.
Learn more about non-combat pain plaguing returning veterans.
Tags: non-combat injuries, Operation Iraqi Freedom, PTSD, Veterans disability
Posted in Disabled Veterans, Iraq-Afghanistan War | 1 Comment »
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki sponsored a nationwide contest for VA employees and veterans services organizations to help improve the VA claim process. There were 10 winners in the contest, and one Pittsburgh man received special recognition for his idea on how to homogenize the questionnaires private physicians use when examining veterans.
In order to be awarded disability benefits, veterans must undergo a private exam as well as an exam at a VA medical facility in order to have their condition and degree of disability properly diagnosed. The award winning idea of using standardized forms would speed up the veteran’s assessment.
The benefits veterans would take from a streamlined process would be noteworthy. Reforming this part of the claim(s) processing could end up saving veterans a month of waiting for their claim(s) making them a month closer to receiving benefits. Not only does it cut down on the time veterans spend waiting, it cuts down on paperwork.
Using standardized forms will help both the veterans and the private physicians:
- Veterans will be much more aware of the necessary required information;
- The new process will most likely lower the amount of examinations required, which will benefit those veterans finding it hard to travel; and
- The physicians will be more familiar with the veteran’s medical history.
Due to the new laws surrounding presumptive disabilities related to Agent Orange, the VA expects to see approximately 200,000 veterans becoming eligible for disability benefits. When this happens all at once, the backlog in claim(s) processing is going to be considerable. Once this happens, any part of the claim(s) processing that can be sped up will be much appreciated.
Constructing the raw templates for these forms and putting this plan into action will take a couple of months and the templates will need to comply with federal regulations. Once everything is given the green light, it is expected that this idea will have a remarkable national impact.
Learn more about speeding up veteran disability claims.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: speeding up disability claims, VA claims process, VA medical center, veterans disability claims
Posted in Veterans' Disability | No Comments »
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony Wednesday about the poor condition of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) suicide support system. Daniel Hanson, a Marine deployed to Iraq, sought help from the VA following his brother’s suicide. Testifying before the Senate Committee, Hanson called the VA’s suicide prevention program “not beneficial” and offered suggestions as to how it could be improved.
Hanson completed an outpatient program at the St. Cloud, Minnesota VA medical center, attempted suicide a month later, and was held for 72-hour observation in a psychiatric ward. Following his discharge, Hanson said there was almost no follow up from the clinic.
Hanson classified the VA system as uncaring and devoid of any accountability. The VA staff never followed up on missed appointments or even after losing contact with patients. Hanson said he felt like he was just along for the ride as he was processed through the clinic speaking with doctors.
According to Hanson, the problem is the lack of long-term treatment available through the VA. A program lasting a couple of months is not going to undue years of behavior and thought processes. This idea was supported by Dr. Rudd, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Science at the University of Utah and Scientific Director of the university’s national Center for Veterans Studies.
Rudd also suggested the VA expand their mental health services to college campuses to reach the soaring number of veteran students. Student veterans are some of the most reluctant to actively seek mental health care. The initial care is not enough though, proper aftercare is necessary to help veterans readjust, especially those suffering from PTSD.
While the committee says they are considering all options, the numbers don’t lie. On average, 18 veterans kill themselves every day.
Learn more about better VA care for suicidal veterans.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: mental health treatment, veteran suicide, veteran suicide prevention programs, Veterans’ Mental Health
Posted in General, VA News | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has something to worry about in HR 3813 (The Veterans Training Act). HR 3813 looks to expand benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include vocational and technical training. The Post-9/11 GI Bill does not currently include these types of training as the previous version of the GI Bill does.
The VA, however, is asking congress not to make any changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill until next year. While there may be very good recommendations for changes to the bill, the VA is currently developing an automated benefits system and they feel changing anything before December will interfere with the system’s functionality.
The VA’s main concern is changing the Post-9/11 GI Bill before December, prior to a successful test of the system, will interfere with veteran students drawing benefits this summer and fall. Numerous changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill have been suggested to The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, such as:
- Increased fees paid to colleges for processing veterans’ education claims;
- Expand vocational education; and
- Pay for college preparatory courses.
It isn’t that vocational training for veterans is not supported. The VA’s issues with vocational and technical training are:
- How the VA pays for vocational schools when the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays benefits based on term-by-term tuition; and
- Possible repayment issues should a student veteran fail out of a vocational program.
No matter what happens, according to VA Secretary Shinseki, veteran students have earned the best possible education this country can provide them. Hopefully these benefits will one day be available to all those who deserve them.
Learn more about possible changes to Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
Tags: Post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans education, Veterans' Benefits
Posted in General, Veterans' Benefits | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Not all veterans return from deployment with visible wounds. Many veterans suffer from what can be debilitating internal wounds, like brutal and haunting visions and nightmares. This is where “dreamwork” therapy is being applied.
The Portland VA Medical Center offers free treatment to all veterans suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Lori Daniels is a PTSD therapist at the Portland VA Medical Center using dreams as therapy. Daniels’ “dreamwork” therapy is based on the idea that people plagued by nightmares have the ability to rewrite them and in turn make them less disturbing.
Daniels stresses one thing her therapy is not: dream interpretation. Rather, it is taking time to understand what is happening within your dreams and nightmares and finding something to work with in order to change the dream or nightmare itself.
According to Daniels, the story embedded in a person’s dream can be used to help the veteran get around the PTSD symptoms. By confronting their nightmares and facing the trauma that manifests itself in their dreams, the nightmare will eventually cease to be overpowering to the trauma survivor. The therapy then, serves to put the veteran in charge of their trauma, as opposed to the other way around.
Once the trauma is drawn out into the open and recognized for what it is, PTSD sufferers can form a plan of action of how to deal with the nightmares. While the therapy may not be conventional, it seems to be a much better avenue of approach to dealing with PTSD than self medicating, which is common in veterans suffering from PTSD.
Learn more about dreamworks therapy and how it is used to treat veterans with PTSD.
If you are a veteran and suffering from PTSD and fighting the VA to get disability compensation, contact LaVan & Neidenberg, a veterans law firm located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We represent more than 5000 disability claimants. Our disability attorneys have experience with cross examining agency-appointed medical and vocational experts and take time when speaking with you about your disability claim. Call us today at 1-888-234-5758 for a FREE legal consultation. There is NO OBLIGATION to hire our firm and there are NO FEES unless one of our trained disability lawyers wins your case.
Tags: dreamwork, PTSD, Veterans’ Mental Health
Posted in Disabled Veterans, General | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
If you are a veteran in Montana requiring access to a VA mental health center, your options are currently limited to: (1) traveling out of state; or (2) not getting treatment. In 2009, Montana sent 252 veterans out of state for treatment of mental health issues.
When veterans did travel out of state, there were no guarantees they would receive any treatment at all. Often, there were waiting lists for available beds in treatment centers.
This issue, however, has just recently been addressed. The Fort Harrison VA medical center, just outside of Helena, is receiving an addition: a new $6.7 million mental health care facility. This will be the first VA mental health facility in Montana.
Family support is imperative for helping veterans suffering from mental conditions like Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Traveling out of state for mental health treatments not only adds stress for family members, but the veterans themselves. As a result, many veterans simply chose not to get treatment as traveling out of state would just be too much of a strain on their required support systems. Having a more localized mental health facility will make the transition into a family care environment following VA treatment much easier for both the veteran and the veteran’s family.
The facility of itself will consist of 24 beds. It will be connected to the existing VA medical facility in the chance emergency aid is needed. The 34 member staff will include:
- Psychiatrists;
- Psychologists;
- A medical doctor;
- Counselors; and
- Nurses.
The VA is also offering two-acres of land at Fort Harrison to develop housing for homeless veterans. This development could also provide a transitional housing for veterans between inpatient and outpatient care.
24 beds may not seem like a lot to a State with one of the highest ratios of veterans per capita, but it is a start. This new facility will be used only for those veterans in the most need. The projected rotation will be approximately one month per veteran. It may not be much, but for veterans in Montana, it’s a step in the right direction.
Learn more about Montana’s first VA mental health center.
If you are a veteran and suffering from PTSD and fighting the VA to get disability compensation, contact LaVan & Neidenberg, a veterans law firm located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We represent more than 5000 disability claimants. Our disability attorneys have experience with cross examining agency-appointed medical and vocational experts and take time when speaking with you about your disability claim. Call us today at 1-888-234-5758 for a FREE legal consultation. There is NO OBLIGATION to hire our firm and there are NO FEES unless one of our trained disability lawyers wins your case.
Tags: mental health treatment, PTSD, VA healthcare system, Veterans’ Mental Health
Posted in Disabled Veterans, VA News | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
In 2005, Ohio’s disabled veterans received less money on average than veterans in any other state. In a move that should help some Ohio veterans, recent reform measures have moved Ohio’s ranking to third from last. A 12% increase over the last two years brings the average amount of money an Ohio disabled veteran receives up to $9,047.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki recently visited Ohio and heard the long standing complaints from veterans that the VA does not give disability claims in Ohio the same treatment as the rest of the country. Secretary Shinseki answered these complaints by reiterating one of his main focus areas: fixing VA’s disability-claims process.
Ohio disability claims are processed through local county offices and then passed through the regional Cleveland office. Every VA office has the same standards and ratings yet Ohio claims have consistently fallen below the national average.
A 2005 study blamed the discrepancies on veteran population, i.e., older veterans with more severe disabilities most likely will be granted more money. Conversely, the study found regional offices applied VA standards inconsistently.
The VA has initiated standardized national training of people who review and make decisions on disability claims as opposed to regional office training under standards possibly twisted by learned bad habits.
2008 was a productive year for policy changes that help disabled Ohio veterans. First, a 2008 Ohio law now requires:
- Audits of the regional offices; and
- Performance evaluations of personnel charged with deciding disability ratings.
Second, the Ohio Department of Veterans Services placed a state employee at the Cleveland regional office. This employee’s purpose is to help people preparing disability claims at the local level prepare and file them effectively.
There are concerns that claims processing has slowed down and the focus being placed on the younger disabled veterans detracts from the older veterans’ claims. While Ohio disabled veterans are getting more money than they were in the past, only time will tell if Ohio will continue to improve their treatment of their disabled veterans.
Learn more about Ohio’s disabled veterans and their disability payments.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: disability claims reform, Eric Shinseki, Ohio veterans, veterans disability claims
Posted in Disabled Veterans | 2 Comments »
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