21 January 2010

Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:46:20 -0800 (PST)
From: roguebc <roguebc[at]yahoo.com>

MY VA ADVENTURE

So after submitting education claim paperwork for my apprenticeship program on May 19, 2009, my first benefit came thru 8 months later after much screaming/yelling/calling/emailing and frustration, 4-5 months after their target date. This was the initial disbursement with "monthly" disbursements to follow.

The latest monthly verification I sent on Dec 28 with a VA-projected turnaround of 1-2 weeks, I'm still waiting on that payment on Jan. 21. However, now that I'm in the system I should see the monthly payments 4-6 weeks after they receive the verification.

In out-of-system claims such as OJT/apprentice all paperwork is handled by human personnle, none of it is electronically scanned, which adds 2-4 weeks to the process.

After spending much time talking to VA agents and through electronic correspondence, coupled with constant scouring of the Internet for veterans' experience, I've been able to learn a great deal about the serious shagging of U.S. veterans seeking education.

The apprenticeship program is a great service the VA provides to veterans seeking education from a source other than the state-approved/sponsored/standardized "4-year college degree" that everyone feels is so important. Blacksmithing, carpentry, electrician, builder, massage, law enforcement, cabinetry, chair making, or in my case, farming, are among the many endeavors that can be sought under this program.

The idea is you receive a wage from your employer (an apprentice wage)and the VA supplements you monthly with a percentage of your education pay rate. If you were to receive $1200 a month for the G.I. Bill going to an approved university, you'll receive $900 a month for your first six months of OJT/app, then every six months you drop 20 points of rate. Evidently, learning real trades are much less important than becoming a lawyer, banker or marketing agent.

The system is heavily geared towards veterans supporting the "higher education" system. Many VA agents I talked to over the course of the last five months divulged that some veterans in the OJT/app program wait eight months to two years for their initial payment.

Now understand that when you sign up for this program you're told 2-3 months maximum until your first payment. So when you budget for your given length of time, and those payments don't come for an additional 3-21 months, things get sticky.

Coupled with that, with this program being 'out-of-system', there's no tracking of the process of your claim, i.e., you have no idea when you'll get paid until the dollars are in your account. In addition, you'll have no idea if any of your paperwork is wonky until many months into the process, with any snafus setting you back another 2-5 months as your 'place in line' has been destroyed and you go back to the beginning.

Again, the agents that answer emails and phone calls have little-to-no information they can give you on the status of your claim because the processing of OJT/app is 'out-of-system' where a small number of claim examiners handle all of the paperwork and have no avenue to give a status report until they're finished with your claim.

Now, things get worse when you look at the IHL/NCD programs. These are your 2-4-year college programs, institute of higher learning and non-college degree. The new post-9/11 G.I. Bill went into effect in 2009. I'm under the old G.I. Bill and will only comment on that.

Typically, the veteran that goes to U of main st. will go through the paperwork and expect the first payment 3-6 weeks after submission, a somewhat timely, acceptable timeframe. After all, unless you are monetarily well-endowed or have grants/scholarships, you're paying for college out of pocket. You need the education payments to start paying the college immediately, get books, etc., so even with this predicament a veteran could be paying out upwards to $2k to start the semester before receiving any payment. Considering the financial situation of most citizens these days, let alone veterans, that can be sticky. However, with the VA severely backed up now, veterans usually wait longer than the 3-6 weeks it usually takes. A VA official at the local community college said that there are veterans under his supervision who haven't received payments for the Fall 2009 semester!

Understand that even though the colleges know that you're a vet and you're under the G.I. Bill, they want their money. Veterans that haven't paid for the Fall semester won't be able to apply for the next semester, let alone pressure from the college to pay, late fees and penalties, and that you're going to school full time, maybe working part time, you don't have a lot of cash to eat/live, let alone pay off thousands in tuition before you get a VA payment.

I inquired to this community college about this Spring 2010 semester, seeing as my apprenticeship program could dry up because my employer may not be able to pay me (re, "economic downturn"). I was told 5-6 weeks after my paperwork was received at the regional processing center before my first payment, where another VA supervisory agent told me that is a very generous estimate. With this given protocol, I would've shelled out $1600-$3000 for various payments/expenses before seeing a payment, and that's if the VA doesn't get any further behind, which from indications from VA agents, certifying officials and reps, is the case as of this new year.

They project claims will be caught up by Fall of 2010. Veterans under the post-9/11 G.I. Bill are priority at this point as that's what most of the veterans are enrolled under now. I would advise that any veterans not under the post-9/11 G.I. Bill seeking education benefits to be able to stay afloat for several months before receiving a VA payment.

The magnitude of screwing our veterans are receiving knows no bounds. Thanks.

Brian