Issues and Campaigns

Support Caregivers of Wounded Warriors

Several thousand veterans are returning home from OIF and OEF with serious injuries that require years of care and recovery.  Many will never fully recover.  Family members have had to act as primary advocates and caregivers through out the treatment and recovery process, often leaving their education, career or retirement to care for an injured loved one. Last year, IAVA helped spearhead passage of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to help our nation's full-time caregivers for wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

• VA Caregivers Program: The Basics
• Eligibility Requirements
• How to Apply
• Additional Resources

THE BASICS

Starting Monday, May 9th, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin accepting applications from eligible post-9/11 veterans and servicemembers to designate family caregivers if they elect to receive care in a home setting.

Under the program, services for primary family caregivers will include a stipend, mental health services, and access to health care insurance, if they are not already entitled to care or services under a health care plan. The program will also offer comprehensive caregiver training and medical support.

Applications can be done over the phone (1-855-260-3274), at a VA Medical Facility, or online at http://www.caregiver.va.gov.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

In order for a veteran to enroll their caregiver into the program the injured veteran must meet all 6 of the following criteria:

1)    The individual is either a veteran or a member of the Armed Forces undergoing a medical discharge from the Armed Forces who has a serious injury, including traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma, or other mental disorder, incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service on or after September 11, 2001.

2)    Such serious injury renders the individual in need of personal care services for a minimum of 6 months (based on a clinical determination), based on any one of the following clinical criteria:

• Inability to perform one or more of the following Dressing/Undressing; Personal Hygiene; Grooming; Toileting; Feeding Oneself; Mobility; Prosthetic/Orthopedic adjustment
• Supervision or assistance due to TBI/neurological impairment: Seizures; Difficulty Planning/Organizing; Sleep Regulation; Delusions/Hallucinations; Memory Deficit; Mood Regulation Problems (agitation, aggression)
• 90 day period of psychological trauma or mental disorder scored at 30 or below on Global Assessment of Functioning
• Veteran rated 100% service connected disabled with Aid & Attendance allowance included

3)    A clinical determination has been made that it is in the best interest of the individual to participate in the caregiver program.

4)    Personal care services that would be provided by the Family Caregiver will not be simultaneously and regularly provided by or through another individual or entity.

5)    The individual agrees to receive care at home after VA designates a Family Caregiver.

6)    The individual agrees to receive ongoing care from a primary care team after VA designates a Family Caregiver.

HOW TO APPLY

Veterans and their caregivers may file a joint application for the Caregivers Program beginning May 9, 2011. Applications can be done over the phone (1-855-260-3274), at a VA Medical Facility, or online at http://www.caregiver.va.gov.

Once a veteran and their caregiver files the joint application, the VA will screen the veteran for eligibility, conduct and initial in home visit and schedule training for the veteran and the caregiver.  Then, the veteran’s primary care team will work with the caregiver and the veteran to develop a treatment plan.  Once this is complete, the caregiver will begin to receive the benefits.  Stipend payment will be backdated to the original application date.  Those who apply on May 9th will expect to see their first payment in July at the earliest. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Caregiver Support Line: 1-855-260-3274
• Caregiver Support Coordinators at each Medical Center
• Caregiver Website with Social Media Capabilities (Launch Date: May 30, 2011)
• Evidence-Based Support Programs and Peer Support-Mentoring Program (Launching over the next 12 months)