Sample of P&A/CAP Work with Veterans

Last updated: 07/25/07

Examples of the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) / Client Assistance Program (CAP) System’s Interaction with Veterans

Alaska

The Alaska P&A has been visiting the VA Domiciliary (a 50-bed domiciliary residential rehabilitation treatment program for homeless veterans) to provide information on their services and has begun to provide advocacy and services to a number of veterans with disabilities. They have been averaging 15-20 appointments at the facility a month. The a dvocacy assistance the Alaska P&A provided has encompassed activities directed at obtaining and/or maintaining housing, securing government benefits (SSI, Medicaid), and working with individuals seeking employment accommodations.

The Alaska P&A has also developed and disseminated a resource guide about educational supports for people with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Arizona

The Arizona P&A has partnered with a case manager in a veterans group to work with returning veterans with disabilities and help them obtain the services and benefits they deserve.

The Arizona P&A has worked to ensure voting access for veterans with disabilities in Arizona.

The Arizona P&A also co-sponsored a day-long conference in collaboration with the Governor’s Council on Spinal Cord and Head Injuries on TBI to provide information on benefits and services individuals, including veterans, who have suffered a TBI are eligible to receive.

California

A peer/self advocacy coordinator in the San Diego P&A office holds weekly training and information sessions with veterans. One of the sessions occurs at the P&A’s office while the other takes place at the VA facility.

The California P&A represented residents of a veteran’s hospital who had been denied access to voter registration services. The issue arose after it was learned that a VA Medical Center was refusing to allow advocates for people with disabilities to conduct voter registration on the campus. In addition, some residents were not being permitted to register, regardless of their competence. Ultimately, the VA reversed its position and allowed voter registration on the medical campus.

Colorado

The Colorado P&A is coordinating with an Army caseworker to help veterans with disabilities make the transition back into the community. They also offered voter registration at the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center to help ensure returning veterans maintain their right to vote.

Georgia

The Georgia P&A has been working with veterans with disabilities who are encountering problems returning to work. They have also reached out to the people running a program demonstrating how veterans with poly-trauma, TBI, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other mental health issues can return to work and how the P&A system could be a great resource for these veterans.

Hawaii

The Hawaii P&A has been a featured speaker at the military families Children’s Community Council on Oahu and continues to assist an ever growing number of military families who have children with special education needs. The Hawaii P&A has also done outreach to a wide group of military service programs on the island regarding benefits and services they can provide to veterans who have suffered a TBI. They have also formed a collaboration with the Christopher Reeves Foundation to help with the Foundation’s work with returning veterans from Iraq that have been diagnosed with a TBI.

Illinois

The Illinois P&A has provided training and information to VA staff and also met with VA hospital social workers and administrative staff to provide training and information to help veterans with disabilities make the transition from VA care to the community.

The Illinois P&A has also helped a veteran who was in a Veteran’s Home integrate into the community following a stroke. The Illinois P&A worked in conjunction with the local center for independent living to assist the client in finding his own apartment and getting a personal care attendant to address his support needs.

Iowa

The Iowa P&A has received a number of individual contacts from veterans in Iowa's VA Hospitals seeking help accessing veterans’ benefits and services as well as community programs.  Their staff has encountered a variety of challenges while attempting to meet directly with a client in a VA hospital.

The Iowa P&A also worked with an individual who had concerns that if he returned to work that he would lose his Social Security benefits. The Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) advocate explained that he had options available without immeadiately losing his benefits and he was eventually able to re-enter the workforce in a situation he was comfortbale with.

Kansas

The Kansas P&A has been providing information and training to the staff and veterans at the Kansas VA facilities and is working on outreach to the Kansas veterans groups to provide information and assistance to help veterans with disabilities make the transition back to the community.

The Kansas P&A also worked to help a veteran successfully move from a VA nursing facility back into the community.  Additionally, they are helping a veteran who was authorized by the VA to have a surgery at a university medical center.  He suffered complications from the surgery which required additional hospitalization and the P&A is working to get the VA to pay for the follow-up treatments related to the complications.

Kentucky

The Kentucky P&A has done outreach to the Kentucky Veterans Affairs Office, the Joint Executive Council of Veterans, as well as to all the state’s Veterans Centers, and all the state chapters of the Disabled American Veterans.

Louisiana

The Louisiana P&A helped a client successfully appeal a denial from the VA to pay a private hospital for in-patient mental health treatment. They then had to represent the same client when the hospital tried to collect the remaining balance. The Louisiana P&A was able to show that the hospital is barred from collecting additional funds from a patient whose care was paid for under a VA contract. With the help of the Louisiana P&A, the veteran was able to receive appropriate mental health services and afforded protection from the hospital’s illegal collection efforts.

Maine

The Maine P&A has had meetings with the Director of the State VA Services in order to identify benefits and services available to veterans with disabilities and their families after the veteran is discharged from the VA. They have also provided trainings and information to National Guard units in the state about the resources that are available for veterans with disabilities.

Massachusetts

The Massachusetts P&A had a case of a former marine sergeant who had suffered partial hemi-paresis and a TBI. This affected his ability to speak and forced him to communicate with gestures and a special set of picture cards. This type of communication created problems and misunderstanding at his job, and his eventual termination. The Massachusetts P&A was able to work with his employer to find him another job within the company.

Michigan

The Michigan P&A has been working on a variety of issues involving veterans, including access to polling facilities and voting booths, public transportation systems, and community projects. They also worked to address community reintegration issues faced by a veteran in a VA facility far from his home when he became eligible for discharge. The P&A’s work allowed the veteran to return to his home community.

Minnesota

The Minnesota P&A has held trainings with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) at VA hospitals in the state concerning benefits and services for veterans with disabilities. They have also been contacted by some veterans with disabilities to help get the benefits and services they require. For example, the Minnesota P&A assisted a veteran with a TBI move from a state hospital back to her home with needed community supports.

Missouri

The Missouri P&A worked with a man who had spent much of his adult life in the military, but was discharged after suffering a TBI. This veteran needed help obtaining services in order to build a new career. The Missouri P&A helped him identify affordable, accessible housing and arranged accommodations from the school, VA and vocational rehabilitation as he embarks on training for his new career.

Montana

The Montana P&A had a veteran with a TBI who needed assistance getting the schools he was attending for his degree to better coordinate the Montana Vocational Rehabilitation and VA benefits he was receiving in order to afford his education. The Montana P&A was able to work out an agreement so that the institutions accepted payments from both sources so the veteran did not have any out-of-pocket cost for his tuition.

Nebraska

The Nebraska P&A has initiated contact with the County Veteran Service Officers group in Nebraska and the local VFW and American Legion representatives. They recently made a presentation at the County Veteran Service Officers group’s annual meeting about the P&A system. Their goal is to not supplant their work assisting veterans within the VA system but to be a resource for veterans with disabilities who are returning to their communities and their families.

Nevada

The Nevada P&A has been providing information and training to veterans family support groups and an organization working with homeless veterans on the services and benefits available for veterans with disabilities.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire P&A has attempted to carry out the external advocacy activities as set forth in the VA handbook, but so far has been unable to do so because of resistance of the VA staff.

New Jersey

The New Jersey P&A has been working with two veterans on employment related issues. One is an employment discrimination complaint, and the other one is a complaint against the Division of Vocational Rehabilitative Services within the New Jersey Department of Labor for services needed. The New Jersey P&A has also been holding trainings and providing information to VA hospitals in the state as well as family support groups and the National Guard.

New York

The New York P&A has been working with the New York State Department of Health to identify and address the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who have brain injuries and their families. They have also been working to create a primary advisory board comprised of veterans groups and health groups to help address the needs of veterans with disabilities. Finally, the New York P&A has taken calls and emails from veterans and their families to provide them assistance through every P&A program.

For example, the New York P&A represented a veteran in a disability claim on referral from the Clinton County Veteran Services office. Among other things, this veteran had cognitive problems caused by a buildup of fluid on his brain. Through the New York P&A’s work, his claim was allowed after a hearing.

North Dakota

The North Dakota P&A has worked with the North Dakota Legislature on state legislation to help veterans with disabilities, and has held a state wide training session to learn more about the VA system as well as provide information on community services available to returning veterans with disabilities.

Northern Marianas

The Northern Marianas P&A has been working closely with the Office of Military Liaison on training and technical assistance to help address the needs of returning veterans with disabilities.

Ohio

The Ohio P&A represented a 44 year old veteran who, while in treatment for mental illness, was threatened with eviction by his HUD-subsidized landlord. Compounding the problem, the VA withdrew the client's community services funding for a home health aide, which the client required. The Ohio P&A worked with the client's HUD landlord, multiple provider agencies, the VA community services nurse, VA case workers, the VA ombudsman, the VA psychologist, and the VA attorney regarding client's service needs and his legal rights related to his disability. Ultimately, the client's landlord agreed to withdraw eviction threat and the VA restored funding for a home health aide.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy (P&A) system organized a Brain Injury Awareness Day at the Lebanon and Coatesville Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Centers for staff and veterans. Following the success of this event, the Pennsylvania P&A was invited back for a day of in-service staff training and technical assistance at the Lebanon facility.

At that time, the Pennsylvania P&A hopes to meet the veterans and see who would like advocacy assistance. They feel this is especially needed because veterans need to be connected with and aware of the community based services they can access and use.

The Pennsylvania P&A has also successfully worked for a veteran who had suffered a service connected brain injury which left him unable to walk or perform activities of daily living on his own. The VA ratings Board contested that he is 100% disabled, and refused to offer special compensation. The Pennsylvania P&A helped the veteran obtain the necessary documentation to connect the brain injury to his physical disabilities so that special compensation could be provided.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island P&A has formed an internal veterans’ outreach work group which has met with individual veterans organizations in the state and has participated in the state’s “Veterans Task Force of Rhode Island”, providing information and training on the benefits and services available to veterans with disabilities.

South Carolina

The South Carolina P&A has provided training and technical assistance to administrative staff at the Richard M. Campbell Veterans Nursing Home in Anderson, SC. The training focused on the legal rights of people with disabilities, including veterans.

South Dakota

The South Dakota P&A has been establishing contact with VA medical centers, outpatient clinics, and a VA sponsored support group for veterans to provide information about available resources. They also participate in the Veteran’s Services Officers' Congressional Forum. The South Dakota P&A shares the same concern that the Pennsylvania P&A has that beyond its health care services the VA does not provide a lot of community-based services other than vocational.  As a result, they have been working with the patient advocate at the VA hospital to help veterans with disabilities make the transition into long-term care and housing following discharge from the VA hospital.  

Texas

The Texas P&A has been working on several cases for veterans with disabilities to access VA services.

One of the cases was a veteran living in a state hospital that had her lump-sum VA benefits unlawfully taken by the hospital without her knowledge or consent and applied retroactively to pay for her support, maintenance, and treatment while she was at the state hospital. The Texas P&A was able to recover these funds and arrange for a new representative payee for the client.

Utah

The Utah P&A has been providing training and information at the VA facilities in Utah on the resources, services, and benefits that exist for veterans that have suffered a TBI.

Vermont

The Vermont P&A has held trainings at the White River Junction VA facility for staff and veterans. They are also in the midst of presenting veterans, National Guard, and family groups information about TBI resources at four sites around the state. They have also collaborated with personnel at the VA to support a project to identify veterans who are inmates who might qualify for benefits upon release.

They have also recently been contacted about three issues they are pursuing on behalf of veterans with disabilities. One is a veteran in the psychiatric unit at Rutland Regional Medical Center who had been turned down for VA care. Another case is a veteran at the VA who had concerns about his medications. The third case is a woman veteran from the Northeast Kingdom who has a mental health issue, referred from the Mental Health unit at the VA.

Virginia

The Virginia P&A, to the extent they are being allowed to, are providing education and advocacy services at Virginia’s VA facilities.

Washington

The Washington Protection & Advocacy System has investigated allegations of abuse and neglect at a veterans’ inpatient mental health facility, advocated for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to maintain vital mental health services, and assisted veterans seeking access to outpatient VA mental health services. They have also advocated for veterans regarding assistive technology and Tricare coverage. In addition, they have provided information and referrals to veterans on issues of housing, access to medical care, employment, guardianship, and the VA appeal and grievance procedures.

One of those cases was a veteran who received physical and mental health services from the VA but wanted to be able to choose who his mental health provider would be.  He was initially told that if he changed mental health providers, he would lose his other healthcare services. The Washington P&A provided the veteran with self-advocacy strategies about how to request his preferred service, how to go through the chain of command, and how to utilize his supporters.  Ultimately, the veteran was allowed to change his mental health provider without threatening his other healthcare services.

In 2005, the Washington P&A system created a project to conduct outreach to underserved veterans with disabilities.  This project focused on issues of access to benefits and assistance, housing, employment, and assistive technology issues. They have also attended a variety of assistance fairs conducted by the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and worked with a number of veterans’ service organizations and the VA on staff training sessions and outreach to veterans with disabilities.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin P&A has provided training and information to the State Veterans Administration, as well as veterans with disabilities. These trainings address the barriers veterans with disabilities, who also receive Social Security benefits, face, as well as suggest possible solutions.

Wyoming

The Wyoming P&A has been working with the National Guard State Family Assistance Center to address the needs of returning National Guard members with disabilities. They also attend the Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee meeting where they gave presentation on P&A services and distributed information packets. The Wyoming P&A has also been helping military families at bases located in Wyoming with matters related to special education.