When filling out paperwork for Veterans Administration benefits, it can often be helpful to recount the various stressors and traumatic events that happened while a service member was deployed.

“The first time a veteran fills out paperwork to claim benefits from the VA is when that vet needs to thoroughly outline his or her experiences,” said veterans disability lawyer Jim Fausone with Legal Help for Veterans. “It may have seemed like another day at the office for a vet who spent two deployments surrounded by explosions. It is important to document all of it as part of filing out claim paperwork.”

In order for a disability to be compensated, there has to be to some verification that a veteran was exposed to a specific stressor. This can be as simple as a newspaper clipping, or photos, letters or emails back home.

“It can be helpful to get corroboration from fellow soldiers who were on the scene, too,” Fausone said. “Veterans can attach letters to their paperwork from fellow service members.”

During the process, veterans will meet with a disability evaluation specialist in charge of documenting the specifics of the vet’s claim. It is here that Fausone suggests a veteran to be as specific as possible about their experience.

“There is no reason to be shy in these meetings,” Fausone said. “If a service member experienced traumatic events during classified missions, then it is important to tell them that, so that it will be recorded.”

Experiences need to be thoroughly documented for the VA benefits claims people so that a thorough evaluation can be made. If veterans are denied a disability claim or are given lower ratings than expected, an attorney can be hired to represent them as they challenge the decision.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability attorney or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

A combined effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the MacArthur Foundation to develop a system of digital badges could help veterans translate military training and experience into civilian jobs in a tough economy.

The VA Innovation Initiative is judging a contest for entrepreneurs to submit digital badges that veterans can use during a job search.

“The work our military servicemen and servicewomen do is highly specialized and requires specific technical training,” said veterans disability lawyer Jim Fausone with Legal Help for Veterans. “There is no way for a civilian employer or even a hiring manager to understand how that experience will translate into their workplace.”

The idea behind badges is to provide people a way to show their learning that has happened outside of a traditional classroom. They are envisioned to be a supplement to a resume that helps explain specialized computer skills, military experience or even online classes or museum and library experience.

“It is a smart move for the VA to get involved with the badges concept early to help veterans compete for jobs here in the U.S. when they come home,” Fausone said. “This project could truly bridge the gap between veterans with highly technical military skills and civilian employers who need those kind of employees.”

The VA’s “Badges for Vets” contest to find an entrepreneur to help develop the badge system for the military is wrapping up this spring. The contest has been narrowed to three finalists and the winner will be announced just after Labor Day, according to a press release from the VA.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability attorney or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

A government study released in March shows that many painkillers given to war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder often lead to addiction.

Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and came back from war with PTSD were twice as likely to be given prescriptions for painkillers that have proven to be addictive compared to vets with only physical pain, according to the study.

Caregivers were approximately four times more likely to give the drugs to veterans with PTSD and a history of problems with substance abuse.

The study was paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs and it was based on the VA’s data. It was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

All of the veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq who were diagnosed with physical pain between October of 2005 and December of 2010 were involved in the study, which equals 141,029 servicemen and servicewomen.

Vets with PTSD who were given morphine and other strong painkillers had a higher risk of suicide, alcohol and drug overdoses and self-inflicted injuries, according to the study. These consequences were rare, but still notable.

The study shows that it is a difficult task to treat painful injuries as well as painful memories. The study’s authors and other experts indicate other treatments including therapy and other drugs would be less risky, according to FoxNews.

Some doctors could be prescribing powerful, opium-based drugs like hydrocodone and morphine precisely because of their strength to potentially dull extreme physical pain or help reduce emotional distress. Opioids often make psychological problems worse, according to sources speaking to FoxNews.

In 2009, the VA adopted a pain management philosophy that requires opiate prescriptions be accompanied by non-drug mental health care. This came at the end of the study.

The VA distributed a press release about the study indicating that the agency’s pain management approach is a model of effective care, but “…we recognize that more work needs to be done.”

There were 15,676 veterans given opiate prescriptions in the study for physical pain. Those numbers included 18 percent of the vets with PTSD and about 12 percent of those with different mental health diagnoses. The opiate prescriptions were given to only about 7 percent of the veterans without those problems.

Since many veterans coming home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are young, they are often struggling to find their place in civilian life, according to a Yale University teacher and doctor who spoke with FoxNews. Dr. William Becker works with veterans on substance abuse problems. The best treatment in that environment is therapy and behavioral management for the PTSD and separate chronic pain management for the physical injuries of war. He said the study “…brings much needed attention to the complexity of this problem.”

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

As part of a concentrated effort to help veterans find jobs, the Department of Veterans Affairs is sponsoring a contest for an entrepreneur to create a digital badge system that will help veterans translate their experience for prospective employers in civilian jobs.

Digital badges have taken on an increased importance recently as more people try to move into the civilian workforce after some time away in the military, taking online classes or even volunteering and doing charity work.

Badges are envisioned as supplements to a traditional resume that have a digital link where prospective employers can determine their authenticity. The MacArthur Foundation in Chicago is leading the badges revolution. The foundation gave a $1 million grant to the Mozilla Foundation to develop a consistent standard for badges that can be used across platforms.

The VA contest winner will design badges to help translate military experience into classroom credit or work-related training, according to a press release from the VA.

“We are looking for ways to make it easy for employers to see Veterans for who they are: highly qualified individuals in any job applicant pool,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in the release. “We want to help good jobs find Veterans and help Veterans find good jobs.”
Along with the VA, the “Badges for Vets” contest also is being sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor and Energy. The contest is part of the larger MacArthur Foundation project called the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition.
The VA Innovation Initiative announced three finalists in the competition in March.
• TopCoder Inc. is an IT consulting company that developed a way to issue badges representing military experience and training to help qualify veterans for a specific assignment.
• Western Governors University has a program to award transfer credit to veterans who have earned badges for corresponding training in the military.
• The Manufacturing Institute has a plan to use badges to help veterans find jobs on its jobs and talent matching platform online.
A winner from among those three will be announced after Memorial Day, according to the release.

The contest calls for $25,000 in prizes for the winners in five categories for companies to design and deliver badges that are representative of veterans’ transferable skills from the battlefield to the cubicle.

Other industries using badge systems to help bridge people’s skillsets with potential employers include NASA, Disney and the library and manufacturing industries.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com