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washingtonscene Panel 1:


Community Reintegration — The Challenges Back Home


Panel 2:


Deployment to Employ- ment — Are We Re-


ally Committed to Hiring Wounded Warriors?


• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice Presi- dent Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel, USMC- Ret., cited the chamber’s work with 1,700 local chambers of commerce to correct employer misperceptions about PTSD, work with the USO to coach veterans on interview techniques, and efforts to en- ergize corporate America to a long-term commitment to hire veterans. Closing speaker Allison Hickey, the new under secretary for benefits for the VA, cited VA efforts to move online, from telehealth programs to save beneficiaries long commutes to a four-hour online tran- sition program, and an e-benefits system that already has a million benefit accounts so veterans can quickly track claims status and avoid clogged telephone lines. She has particular concerns for Reserve members who don’t have any unit support after returning and the general difficulty of en- suring Guard/Reserve medical records get transferred to the VA.


Hearing Exposes VA/DoD


Shortfalls Lack of program coordination is a problem.


C


mdr. René Campos, USN-Ret., deputy director of MOAA’s Gov- ernment Relations Department,


testified at a House Veterans’ Affairs health subcommittee hearing Oct. 6 on DoD and VA implementation of the Federal Recov- ery Coordination Program (FRCP). The hearing dovetailed with an earlier


(May) hearing at which GAO witnesses highlighted significant coordination prob- lems between DoD and VA programs. Chair Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) ex- pressed disbelief when Pentagon and VA


38 MILITARY OFFICER DECEMBER 2011


witnesses told the committee they are col- laborating to resolve program discrepan- cies. “I feel like I’m in a parallel universe,” she said. Buerkle said the GAO findings reflect the


reality that the agencies are operating sepa- rate and overlapping programs, causing un- necessary and unacceptable confusion, and creating another “burdensome bureaucratic maze” for wounded warriors and their families to deal with. During the hearing, subcommittee members heard from witnesses that “care coordination is done in silos … there is no collaboration or cooperation between the agencies … the VA and DoD secretar- ies signed agreements to establish and implement the FRCP to be the ‘ultimate resource’ for wounded warriors but aren’t operating as such … the VA has problems accessing members into the FRCP … VA and DoD program names and eligibility requirements are confusing.” Campos summed up the situation in her portion of the testimony, saying, “The two departments have been un- able to fix the issues of care coordination for this relatively small population of catastrophically wounded and disabled members and are unlikely to do so in the immediate future without outside inter- vention to address policy and program compliance, accountability, communi- cations, and oversight issues across all wounded-warrior programs.” MOAA recommended Congress:


• establish a joint DoD/VA care coordina- tion program and office; • conduct joint hearings before the Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Services committees to ensure common under- standing and guidance in addressing wounded-warrior needs; • require VA and DoD medical and benefit systems to expand outreach and commu- nication efforts; and


PHOTOS: SEAN SHANAHAN


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