Females in Combat
Shortchanging Vets
Discharged and dishonored:
Shortchanging America's veterans
CHRIS ADAMS and ALISON YOUNG
Knight Ridder
Jan 14, 2006
PICKING AN ADVOCATE
Two-thirds of the veterans who submit claims use service officers, and picking the right one can determine whether they get the full payment they're due, a fraction of it or nothing. "The best advocates can be very good and lousy ones can be awful," said Ron Abrams, the joint executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, which trains service officers for the American Legion and other veterans groups.New evidence from Washington state illustrates for the first time the odds veterans face in this service officer roulette.
Since July 2003, the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs has tracked the outcome of every claim filed by veterans groups that receive state funding. The groups' success rates range from 53 percent to 81 percent. Among the busiest individual service officers, those handling 30 or more decided claims, the success rates can range from 35 percent to 98 percent, the state's data show.
"You might be proud of the fact you filed 100 claims. But if pretty much everything you filed was denied, it would cause some concern," said John Lee, the department's deputy director.
The percentage of the Washington groups' claims being granted is on the rise - from about 50 percent overall when the program began to about 70 percent in recent months. Lee attributes it to the accountability the program requires.
Although they fought the effort for years, the state's politically powerful veterans groups now see its merit, and they've changed their training and oversight as a result. The program is "an invaluable tool to see exactly what the strengths and weaknesses are across the state," said Court Fraley, the Veterans of Foreign Wars state service director.
Veterans officials in other states said such performance disparities are certain to exist nationally because the training of service officers is so inconsistent.
That's not the way it's supposed to be.
The VA, through its national accreditation program, is supposed to ensure that all service officers are "responsible" and "qualified." But the VA program does little more than rubberstamp names submitted by veterans groups. About 11,000 service officers are currently on the VA's roster - about 80 percent are accredited through nonprofit groups.
If you are concered about your state service rep, try one of our veterans groups!
Part Six : Part Seven : Part Eight : Part Nine : Part 10
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