Gotta love the VA
We hear all the hoopla on the problems with the Veteran's Administration and we had been pretty lucky in our dealings with them. We did have some issues on my retired husband's service-connected disability taking several years due to overlooked issues, but once found here in Tennessee it was pretty smooth.
Last September he filed for dependency status for our two youngest, his stepchildren he raised. The older of the two had his go through pretty quick, and he went back to school because the Bachelor's he has isn't worth the paper it's printed on. For our youngest daughter, what a nightmare. She is legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa. Her claim was filed at the same time, and after many months of no word, we found out they lost it. Reapplied in March and it was supposed to come through before October, and now we are told it could be another year because she's not priority. Well scuse me, she is priority. She has tried various jobs including making military uniforms until that job closed out. She recently worked for a huge internet retailer, only to be forced out because of her disability. No shock there, they've been all over the news lately. So she started a university online to get her degree in court reporting/closed captioning, a lucrative position she can do from home, which is great considering not only travel difficulties but her other medical problems. The problem, still waiting on the VA. They have no interest in the fact that she's trying to support herself and go to school and be productive and not on the goverment list of hand outs. We've called and called, done the internet contact thing, gone to the rep here who said go to the rep elsewhere. She went elsewhere, had somebody take off a day from work to take her and guess what? He called in sick. I guess when you get 13 days of sick time a year just to start and no limit on accumulation, you take off when you please. Keep in mind they don't take appointments either - my guess is because then you might have to show up. She was sent elsewhere and go the typical sorry about your luck answer.
It's no wonder we have so many vets sleeping on the street and so many families on food stamps out there. With such a huge staff it should not take this long to get something done. My son filled out his papers showing he attended classes and no surprise, didn't get his stipend. He called and was given a date it would be here and it wasn't. He called back and got somebody else who told him you have to call every month and report. This tidbit would have been pretty handy to know. There's nobody to go to for help either. I've tried our reps here and still waiting. Perhaps they should issue tents to those who are still waiting on their benefits and are in danger of not having a home.
Last September he filed for dependency status for our two youngest, his stepchildren he raised. The older of the two had his go through pretty quick, and he went back to school because the Bachelor's he has isn't worth the paper it's printed on. For our youngest daughter, what a nightmare. She is legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa. Her claim was filed at the same time, and after many months of no word, we found out they lost it. Reapplied in March and it was supposed to come through before October, and now we are told it could be another year because she's not priority. Well scuse me, she is priority. She has tried various jobs including making military uniforms until that job closed out. She recently worked for a huge internet retailer, only to be forced out because of her disability. No shock there, they've been all over the news lately. So she started a university online to get her degree in court reporting/closed captioning, a lucrative position she can do from home, which is great considering not only travel difficulties but her other medical problems. The problem, still waiting on the VA. They have no interest in the fact that she's trying to support herself and go to school and be productive and not on the goverment list of hand outs. We've called and called, done the internet contact thing, gone to the rep here who said go to the rep elsewhere. She went elsewhere, had somebody take off a day from work to take her and guess what? He called in sick. I guess when you get 13 days of sick time a year just to start and no limit on accumulation, you take off when you please. Keep in mind they don't take appointments either - my guess is because then you might have to show up. She was sent elsewhere and go the typical sorry about your luck answer.
It's no wonder we have so many vets sleeping on the street and so many families on food stamps out there. With such a huge staff it should not take this long to get something done. My son filled out his papers showing he attended classes and no surprise, didn't get his stipend. He called and was given a date it would be here and it wasn't. He called back and got somebody else who told him you have to call every month and report. This tidbit would have been pretty handy to know. There's nobody to go to for help either. I've tried our reps here and still waiting. Perhaps they should issue tents to those who are still waiting on their benefits and are in danger of not having a home.
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