Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

With millions of veterans and thousands of backlogged claims, VA is challenged by the mountain of paper that it handles yearly. If you ever get behind the door of the VARO, the piles of paper in the cubicles and on the floor would surprise you. From helping hundreds of veterans, we know that sometimes VA simply cannot even find your file. They don’t know what city it is in or what floor it’s on. The answer is to use technology that is readily available to tame the flood. The Secretary of the VA has proposed a fully paperless claim system by 2015.

Compensation and benefit claims pending at VA, as of January 23, 2012 totaled 852,127 and 65 percent of them — 557,460 — had been filed by veterans more than 125 days ago, which means they are in “backlog” status.

Over the last year VA processed almost a million claims, but more than 1.3 million new claims were filed — some seeking compensation for the first time but most seeking an upgrade to current disability ratings. The number of veterans filing claims annually has more than doubled since 2000.

To read about VA’s congressional testimony about the challenges and solutions:

http://www.jdnews.com/articles/paperless-99942-secretary-achieve.html

American war veterans still are not able to get the mental health care they need and a U.S. Senate committee has taken the Department of Veterans Affairs to task a second time to find out why.

The VA has gone to great lengths to encourage veterans to seek mental health care to treat post traumatic stress disorder and other combat-related conditions. Since there are thousands of service men and women coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan over then next year, the VA is likely to see an even steeper hike in the number of veterans seeking mental health care.

The Senate’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held two hearings last year to investigate why veterans often have to wait far longer than the agency’s maximum of two weeks to be seen by a mental health care professional.

An executive with the Wounded Warrior Project testified that the VA is so understaffed and unprepared for the veterans who need mental health care, it is like watching someone treat an amputation with a band-aid.

In a November committee hearing, Senators heard from professionals within the VA as well as veterans’ advocacy groups who testified that the wait times have not shortened since the issue was brought to the committee in July.

Committee members explored many of the issues that hurt the VA’s ability to deliver appropriate mental health care to veterans. Mental health care carries a stigma among many in the military. It has historically been difficult to get veterans to seek this type of care, so the issue of wait times can compound the difficulty. The committee also explored issues with the number of health care professionals available to treat the veterans at each center and the hours that those doctors can keep in order to be available at the times that the veterans need the care.

Officials from within the VA testified that the agency has the right policies in place, but there is an implementation problem. Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said he felt like the Office of Management and Budget was restricting what the VA witnesses could say in their testimony. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said he thinks the VA’s focus on process instead of outcome restricts the agency’s ability to serve veterans.

The Committee’s chairwoman Patty Murray said mental health care is an area where the VA cannot afford to fail.

“Especially at a time when we are seeing record suicides among our veterans – we need to meet the veteran’s desire for care with the immediate assurance that it will be provided – and provided quickly,” she told the committee.

A qualified attorney can help veterans make sure they get the proper mental health care from the VA.

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

Our veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are coming home and looking for work. There is probably no better solution to the difficulty of reintegration into civilian life than having a good job. Everyone has a different definition of good job. Some look at the pay or the benefits or the type of work, or being indoor or outdoor or the hours. I believe military men and women make great employees. They bring maturity, experience and understanding the mission. By and large they are not whiners about trivial matters. Veterans have experienced real hardships and the little things don’t matter. But the reintegration challenge is not a one size fits all. Some vets have never been on a job interview or drafted a resume. We can all help veterans looking for work by advising and networking with them. The Stars and Stripes recently reported on getting hired. You may want to pass this along to a comrade in need.

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/get-hired

By Chandra Briggs

In 1982, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) completed construction of The Wall and now the VVMF is working again to complete another mission by building The Education Center. We’ve been asked to help create awareness and to get the word out about the National Call for Photos campaign.  The VVMF is trying to collect a photograph for each of the more than 58,000 men and women whose names are inscribed on The Wall. The VVMF is hoping the pictures that are collected will help to educate our children and grandchildren about the Vietnam War. The pictures will be used to help bring The Wall to life for all future generations by telling the story of the Vietnam War through the personal stories of those whose names appear on it.

 Please visit http://www.vvmf.org/pafwan to see the many ways you can help.

With ground-breaking for the Education Center set for November 11, 2012; funds are still needed for completion.  You can donate by texting WALL to 20222 to make a $10 donation to VVMF.

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

By Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

We are hearing more about and are coming to understand, the transition from military life back to civilian life for soldiers that have been deployed. There are things you get use to things in the service like routine, respect, order, and chain of command among other things. Yet when soldiers integrate back into the civilian world it’s about chaos, noise, bills, unemployment, disrespect, just to name a few. 

Almost 44% of the troops find returning home to be difficult.  A recent survey provides some surprising insights. According to the Pew Research Center study, being married during deployment is one of the variables that can make the transition back more difficult.  But attending religious services regularly made the transition easier. The Pew Research Center looked at a total of 18 variables and found that race, age at the time of discharge, having children under 18 while serving, length of service and number of deployments did not affect a veteran’s transition.  This research may help Department of Defense (DOD) target and understand the troops that may need additional help while in the transition.  Furthermore the general public should also be made more aware of these results so that they too can provide the necessary support that is needed during the transition.

 http://www.stripes.com/news/study-transition-to-civilian-life-harder-for-married-troops-1.162892

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

By Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer

We get asked about how to obtain a Purple Heart by veterans on a regular basis.  This issue has even infiltrated pop cultures.  The CBS show “Harry’s Law” about a quirky law firm recently had a story line about an Iraq veteran who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), but did not get a Purple Heart.  Since this is the military, it starts with filling out a form.  DD Form 149 is a request to correct military records. The veteran is asking the Department of Defense (DOD)  to adjust its military records to reflect that a combat injury was received, sufficient to require medical treatment, and that a Purple Heart was earned.  You must explain, document, and prove the nature of the injury.  As you start the process you should obtain a copy of your discharge papers, otherwise known as a DD214, and see if it reflects wounded in combat.  If not you will have to gather service or medical records to prove the combat injury.  A recommendation for the citation from your unit commander will go a long way or a buddy statement about the conditions under which the injury was received. It is a long process but worth it to prove ones status and obtain the recognition and benefits that go with the Purple Heart. Once the forms and evidence are sent into your service branch for review and the waiting will begin.  A veteran service organization (VSO), or other veterans advocate, should be contacted to help you.  The link to DD149 is below.

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd0149.pdf

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

By Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

As a national firm helping veterans with disability claims, we use a lot of different tools to fill in the facts on fuzzy memories.  Often the veterans need buddy statements from guys they simply recall by first name “Bruce” or nickname “Curly”, “Lefty” or “Hoosier”.  We check unit records and other service records and help the veteran jog their memory so than can find that long-lost friend or that unlucky soul that died in the attack.  It is with that experience in mind that an article about Ancestry.com caught our attention.   You know Ancestry as the web based company that helps people doing genealogy. 

The Provo, Utah, based website has been adding historical records to its site for the past 15 years, accumulating more than 7 billion records. It normally charges a monthly fee to its users but until December 7, 2011 it is free.  Of particular interest for those searching veterans’ records are the World War II Navy Muster Rolls, which include 33 million quarterly reports filed from 1939-49, detailing the location, rank and other information about nearly all enlisted personnel who served aboard ships during those years. Previously unreleased draft cards, cemetery records, photos, and information about various ships are also available.

You can read more at  http://www.stripes.com/news/us/website-makes-wwii-records-available-for-free-through-dec-7-1.162316

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

By Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Attorney

The number of troops that return with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), can range as high as 30% of the force in combat.  Some veterans suffer mild PTSD and with counseling and support can get past it. Many others are debilitated by the effects of war and post-traumatic stress.  A Chicago based anesthesiologist has proposed that a shot of a local anesthetic in the neck, a stellate ganglion block, can and will provide relief. 

Dr. Lipov explains there is a group of nerves in the neck called a stellate ganglion that is a part of the sympathetic nerve system; which among other things sends pain messages to the brain and controls stress, including the fight-or-flight response. When someone experiences trauma, the stellate ganglion produces an increased amount of nerve growth factor, which causes excess nerves to sprout in the brain, according to Lipov. This leads to overactive stress response and anxiety, Dr. Lipov hypothesizes.  By injecting the stellate ganglion with anesthetic, the nerve growth factor returns to normal levels, the excess nerves die off and the symptoms subside.  The shot settles down the sympathetic nervous system, resetting the brain to where it was before the trauma.  Dr. Lipov has tried this on 12 PTSD patients with success while an Army doctor, Lt. Col. Sean Mulvaney, replicated those same results with 15 PTSD patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

But a full scale clinical trial costs money and the DOD (Department of Defense) has not agreed to fund his research.  An extensive report on this idea was recently discussed in the attached article.  This country owes our veterans to give this research a try and not wait decades as veterans suffer the effects of PTSD.

http://www.stripes.com/doctor-ptsd-injection-can-work-miracles-but-dod-won-t-fund-it-1.156866

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

Today is double your donation day at Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.  Gleaners serve millions of hungry and homeless people in Southeastern Michigan and have been doing so for over thirty years.  Ninety-six cents of every dollar you donate goes directly to food purchase.  As you may be aware, nearly 1in 5 of our homeless population are veterans.  If you donate today by clicking on the link, your donation will have double the impact.  Please donate today to help those who have already given so much!

Gleaners Community Food  http://www.gcfb.org

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

by Kristina Derro
Veteran Disability Lawyer

With unemployment rates for veterans well-above the national average of 9 percent, President Obama announced three more executive actions to help veterans to find work. This piggybacks on two tax credits that are part of the President’s proposed jobs bill. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides firms that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran. The Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran.

The three executive actions include making a new online service to help veterans find work, creating a veterans job bank, and a veterans’ “gold card” which grants them special services and care at career centers. Unemployment for veterans stands at 11.7 percent, versus the national rate of 9.1 percent. With the remaining 40,000 U.S. troops being pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year, and some of them being discharged and returning to the U.S. job market, something needs to be done to help our most deserving population.

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