The American Legion Washington DC Office HOT ISSUES Friday July 26th, 2013

The American Legion Washington DC Office

HOT ISSUES

Friday July 26th, 2013

ACTIONS –

Ø  This week the National Alliance to End Homelessness held their annual Washington DC conference at the Renaissance Hotel.  VA&R was invited to participate in a workshop named “Helping Our Heroes Get the Benefits They Earned.”  The workshop looked at how Veteran Service Organizations, local organizations, and veteran advocates can be leveraged to assist homeless veteran clients obtain their benefits through the VA.

VA&R discussed the importance of referring a homeless veteran to an American Legion Service Officer.  It was also explained to the attendees that they need to become familiar with their Department Service Officer to better understand the services provided.  Staff also discussed TAL’s efforts to improve the Fully Developed Claims process by better educating Service Officers at the Regional Offices on the criteria for submitting a claim for consideration as fully developed..

Ø  Staff attended meetings this week at VA Central Office updating the disability claims transformation process.  VA now claims over 30 percent of the current disability claims inventory are digital and accessible in VA’s electronic claims processing system.  There is still some work to be done by VA to make the system work for all.  VA&Rs concerns are: When inside Stakeholders Enterprise Portal (SEP) and a DSO accepts a POA request (coming in from eBenefits) it is not automatically incorporated into Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS).  This current action requires the DSO to leave their office, go to the designated “super user” of VBMS and manually select an allowance block inside the software system.  When the block is checked it is at that time the DSO can access the veterans file in VBMS.  We have asked that VBA require the software contractors of SEP and VBMS to work together.  This must be an automatic communication between SEP and VBMS if it is expected to improve the process.

TAL has also asked for an easier registration process of SEP.  VBA has recognized that not everyone is comfortable using their credit card to gain access to registration.  TAL has requested VBA look into the possibility of issuing Personal Identification Verification card to accredited representatives to use.  They are meeting next week on this issue.

Ø  VA&R is finalizing all items for the second session of the 2013 Department Service Officers School at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel in Indianapolis, IN, August 1 – 3 2013.  A total of 155 Department, State, and County Veteran Service Officers from around the country and Puerto Rico are planning to attend.  The curriculum is broken out into three tracks depending on the level of experience of the attendee.  Track 1 covers basic information that targeted the full development of compensation and pension claims.  Track 2 & 3 covers the topics such as: Why is there a VA backlog and what we can do to fix it; recent court cases; theory vs. practical application; a doctor’s approach to the process of evaluating a case; Radiculopathy secondary mental condition to chronic pain or loss of lifestyle; orthopedic issues; new and material evidence; effective use of the record of a PTSD claim based on personal assault; inconsistent GAF scores; character of discharge; and the new notice of disagreement form.

Ø  On July 22, 2013, the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission Chairman sent out an email to all Department Adjutants informing them that The American Legion has established a goal of increasing our Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) hours from 925,000 to 1,000,000 hours by September 2014.  To ensure this goal is met, he informed them that VA&R is considering a number of initiatives in hope that they will assist in attracting new volunteers.  The first initiatives include a redesign of the Volunteer Web Center on The American Legion’s National Website that will include a section for spotlighting volunteers and their success stories.  To ensure there are stories ready to post when the new web page is launched, and new stories to post on an ongoing basis, he asked that each Department appoint someone to serve as a point of contact who can work with Roscoe Butler, Deputy National VAVS Representative to ensure their successful Legionnaire VAVS volunteer stories are shared and submitted to the national headquarters office for posting on the new Volunteer Web page.  The new Volunteer Web Center is scheduled to be launched in September 2013.

Ø  Staff attended a live demonstration on VA’s Mobile Applications at the VA central office. With its new VA Mobile Health strategy, the VA aims to revolutionize health care for veterans, caregivers, and VA care teams. The demonstration involved the Family Caregiver Pilot which was launched to multiple veterans in May of 2013. The pilot provides loaner iPads to nearly 1,000 Caregivers already enrolled in VA’s Family Caregiver Program for seriously injured post-9/11 Veterans. The iPads come loaded with nine Apps created to help Caregivers and the veterans they assist. The 12-month pilot features technology that allows veterans and caregivers secure access to health care information, the ability to track personal health-related information, and functionality to share this personal health information with their VA health care teams. The Mobile Applications included a Summary of Care App (active medications, vitals, lab results), Health Advocate App (allows the veteran to give his or her caregiver access to their information), Prescription Refill App, and a Scheduling App. The Veteran Appointment Request Web App is another recently launched pilot. It provides more than 600 Veterans at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center and Palo Alto, CA VA Health Care System with the opportunity to request primary care and mental health appointments from their mobile devices or desktop. The App also provides veterans the ability to select three different dates/times for appointments, choose their providers and request in-person, telephone or video conference appointments. More Apps benefiting veterans and caregivers will be tested in future pilot programs. VA will conduct research studies of the pilots to determine the impact of the Apps on veterans and their caregivers, as well as how the Apps are used. This research will then inform next steps in VA’s roll out of Apps to all veterans and caregivers nationwide. For more information about the VA Mobile Health initiative, visitmobilehealth.va.gov.

Ø  Staff attended a meeting on VA Mental Health Research: Improving the Lives of America’s Veterans at 334 Cannon House Office Building.  The meeting was to learn about what medical and prosthetic research the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is currently engaged in. Speakers mainly presented on their latest research on enhancements in the care of veterans in the areas of traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep apnea, and depression.  Speakers included  John McQuaid, Ph.D.  Associate Chief of Mental Health for Clinical Administration San Francisco, VA Medical Center, and Professor of Clinical Psychology for the University of California, San Francisco.  Dr. McQuaid discussed the advances in psychotherapy research such as cognitive behavior therapy (CPT) to treat mental health and how vital VA research serves providers and veterans.  Daniel Gottlieb, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Sleep Disorders Clinic, VA Boston Healthcare System and Associate Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine addressed sleep apnea in the veteran population.

Ø  Staff met with Shiree Skinner, Director, Annual Giving & Special Events, Easter Seals, to discuss their new military initiative -- the Veteran Staffing Network. This initiative is a social enterprise business developed by Easter Seals serving DC, Maryland,  and Virginia – that builds on their long experience in veteran employment programs

Ø  Staff met with Pamela Tate, CEO, the Council for Adult & Experiential, to discuss how can higher education help veterans get what they need to succeed in civilian life by working with colleges and universities to create military-friendly policies and advising structures

Ø  Staff moderated a panel at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) Conference regarding veteran homelessness issues and their reintegration back into mainstream society

Ø  Staff met with Andre Gudger, Director, Office of Small Business Programs, DOD, to discuss contracting for veteran and service-disabled veteran business owners

Ø  Staff met with Citibank to discuss their Citi Salutes program, which is aimed at providing service members and veterans with a centralized resource to meet a range of unique needs (i.e., Careers, Products, Service)

Ø  Staff met with AVUE to discuss their veterans’ preference and education initiatives for veterans

Ø  Staff served on a panel at the ‘Goodwill for American Heroes Conference’ regarding transition and employment for veterans

Ø  Staff met with Martin Simon, Director, Workforce Development Program, National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices, to discuss our current status on the state-by-state initiative on military credentialing

Ø  Staff participated in a phone conference with SBA and Syracuse University to discuss the progression of the 2-day For HEROES Entrepreneurial Course that will be piloted at our National Convention.

Ø  Staff met with the Home Depot Foundation to discuss a national partnership regarding employment and housing initiatives for veterans and their families

Ø  Staff will be participating in a couple of events to celebrate the 60^th  Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice.  Thursday night is a special Evening Parade at Marine Barracks Washington DC to honor Korean War veterans, preceded by a VIP reception at The Home of the Commandants.  There will be a wreath laying ceremony on Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery. Additionally, President Obama is scheduled to speak at the Korean War Memorial on Saturday morning.

Ø  Staff attended a luncheon at the State Department in honor of President Sang, who is on an official visit to the U.S. Secretary Kerry and President Sang both spoke of the tremendous progress both            countries have made in normalization since the end of the Vietnam War. They cited ongoing cooperation in trade, Asian security matters, and MIA remains recovery as key issues in the growing relationship. This visit  marks an important step in Vietnam-U.S. relations, especially when Vietnam is seeking to safeguard its interests in the South China Sea.

Ø  The House approved a giant Defense Department spending bill Wednesday evening that includes some limits on U.S. military action overseas, but does not include language to curb National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance activities, as many were hoping. The bill also includes language aimed at making it easier for the Defense Department to deal with the sequester next year — this year, sequester cuts led to the furlough of hundreds of thousands of civilian workers.  The defense bill is the fourth of twelve 2014 spending bills the House has approved this year, and passage sends it to the Senate. But like the other three bills the House has passed, President Obama has threatened to veto this bill unless it's part of a broader budget framework.

Ø  Staff attended Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing titled The 90/10 Rule: Improving Educational Outcomes for our Military and Veterans. A bipartisan desire to protect service members and veterans are informing larger educational  policy debates, which could have ramifications. For example, nascent efforts to collect more data and track how well colleges serve military and veteran students could be applied to all students. They are also likely to inform future debates on college prices and federal performance measures.

Ø  Staff attended a meeting with the Secretary of State on The Disabilities Treaty: Opening the World to Americans with Disabilities. At the State Department to discuss the challenges veterans face when working abroad when they have disabilities

Ø  Staff attended a Hearing at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill titled: A Study in Contrasts: House and Senate Approaches to Border Security

Ø  Staff attended a Foreign Policy Initiative forum at the Senate Dirksen Building on Capitol Hill on the topic of Next Steps for Missile Defense: A Conversation with Senator Ayotte and LTG Oberling USAF ret.

Ø  Staff attended a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific Region and Implications for US National Security

Ø  Staff attended a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Women in Service Reviews

Ø  Staff attended a congressional discussion on America’s Energy Future at the Columbus Club

HEARINGS-

Ø  July 31, 2013.  SVAC will hold a hearing entitled “Preserving the Rights of Service members, Veterans, and their Families in the Financial Marketplace.” 10:00 A.M.; 418 Russell

Ø  August 1, 2013.  HVAC will conduct a full committee markup on pending legislation.  10:00 A.M.; 334 Cannon

The American Legion Department of Michigan represents over 70,000 members in the State of Michigan. The American Legion was founded in 1919, based on “The Four Pillars”; veteran rehabilitation, Americanism, child welfare, and national security and continued above all its mission as a consumers’ advocate for veterans. For more information contact the Michigan Legion at 517-371-4720 ext 16, mark@michiganlegion.org, or visit our website at www.michiganlegion.org.