Veterans service officers discuss settlements, job descriptions

Jan. 05--It's almost lunchtime, and Hill Country Veterans Center director Alan Hill's phone hasn't stopped ringing.

A last-minute glut of requests to help Freedom's Path clients turn on the lights and the cable before they moved in on New Year's Eve kept the volunteer veterans service officer hopping throughout his vacation.

The retired law enforcement officer's brow unfurled when a tiny elderly woman walked in with a donation -- a stack of seat cushions half her size.

"Do you need some help with that?" Hill asked.

"No," she replied as she plunked her load into a chair. "I can do it by myself. I'm a big girl."

Moments later, Hill helped another woman to unload a tub full of donated men's clothing, a common sight at the center. Donations have been the center's life blood since it opened on Meadow View Lane in 2014.

A steady stream of requests and emergencies tapped their resources several times in 2015, requiring the staff to put out the call for help when funding issues became critical.

And there is no end in sight as veterans continue to move into Kerr County, according to Hill.

"It never stops," Hill said, shaking his head as he eyed a set of

statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Statistics not always a mirror image

County veterans service officers have been the VA's backbone since the position was created in 1934.

In 2014, the last year complete counts are available, about 1.7 million Texas veterans received some type of VA services for a total expenditure of $15.4 million. That includes $7,282 in compensation and pensions, $1.4 million in education and vocational rehabilitation and employment assistance, $110,141 in insurance and indemnities and

$4.3 million in medical care.

Kerr County served 4,945 veterans in that time, some through a handful of unpaid volunteers at the center.

Others have been processed by Kerr County veterans service officer Maggie Baker at the Kerr County Courthouse and Ben Rosario at the Kerrville VA Medical Center.

Bandera County veterans service officer Dennis Birchall served 2,674, and Gillespie County veterans service officer Tami King assisted 2,783.

"That number doesn't reflect veterans who aren't receiving pension or disability assistance or who aren't enrolled in the VA's medical care system," King said.

"In 2015, I'd say 3,687 received assistance of some sort," Birchall said. "I can't tell how many total are here, since there are others who don't get any assistance."

The requirements to serve are deceptively simple.

Veterans service officers must be honorably discharged veterans, said Baker, an Air Force veteran who also has worked in advertising sales and in medical care.

They also must complete a rigorous training program that stretches over several years, according to Baker and King.

"You have to be certified through the Texas Veterans Commission," Baker said.

Baker is completing her national certification, allowing her to work directly with clients referred by AmVets, American Legion, Wounded Warriors Project and other nationally recognized service organizations.

King, who retired from the U.S. Navy, said she had no idea how complicated the position would be when she was hired in 2007.

"As a service-connected, injured veteran, I expected using the system to be a breeze," King said. "It's not. It's probably one of the most complicated jobs until you learn it. It takes about two years to feel more comfortable, and three to four years before you feel pretty confident about it."

Show me the money

All cases start by creating a file containing separation papers, medical files and all other pertinent information. That information is critical to helping clients receive services in a timely manner, according to Hill and King.

It's also critical in preventing a claim from being denied and kicking off an appeals process that King and Birchall said can last up to four years.

"They have the entire United States to process, and it is a lot of work," King said.

No process is more tedious -- or heartbreaking -- for officers and families alike than the appeals process, according to Hill.

"You get a guy in here who's in a nursing home, and he's dying," Hill said. "He's got an appeal that's been going on for several years, and you have to refile it, because someone screwed up along the line, which restarts the process for another several years. What can you do?"

In 2013, the federal agency directed regional processing centers to reduce the appeals backlog from 611,000 to 79,000 -- an all-time low, according to Veterans Benefit Administration Director Marlan Waldrop.

Many settlements are in small amounts. Others are substantial and life-changing.

Final statistics for 2015 won't be available until late spring, but Hill and Baker keep a tally of their settlements.

Baker, who is a paid officer, said she settled about $115,000 in claims through late fall.

Hill and other Hill Country Veterans Center volunteers said they have settled more, including two large claims earlier this year.

"I've filed claims for prostate cancer, Agent Orange, ischemic heart disease, back and hip problems," Hill said. "We settled a claim for military sexual trauma in January for $145,000. That was for a man. In February, we settled another claim for $118,000. We've brought in nearly $2 million overall in 2015."

To qualify for medical compensation, an injury must be service-connected, King said.

Pensions are not, Hill said.

"You have a veteran who served in the Korean time frame, but did not serve in country," Hill said. "If they have a chronic problem resulting from that, they qualify for a pension."

Determining a claim's origins can be more difficult than proving a need for care, according to Baker.

"If a claim is before 1973, it is even harder," Baker said. "There was a fire at the main records facility in St. Louis, and they have to piece them together. You have children whose parents need help, and Houston won't take copies of documents. You have to provide the original papers."

Automation has streamlined the process, reducing wait times for many basic pension or disability claims to less than six months.

Appeals are another matter.

Birchall said helping older veterans to file or reopen claims is the toughest task -- one that grows more complicated when a service officer or layperson has attempted to handle it.

Computerization has created another problem, Birchall added.

"Not all veterans are computer literate," Birchall said. "Washington converted to an automated system, putting those clients at a handicap."

"I don't allow my clients to fill out the paperwork," King said. "I don't let them do anything, because we'll have to do it all over again later, and that's a problem when the claim is rejected."

Appeals numbers are down, but the process isn't as smooth as it should be, according to Hill.

"As soon as they got it knocked down, sent everyone back to regular sections," Hill said. "Now I've got people with settled claims who want to add their spouses, and it's taking about 18 months."

Many hats, many shoes to fill

Texas veterans service offices usually are bare bones, often scrunched into tiny offices barely big enough for a desk.

Baker sees clients in a brightly lit room in the Kerr County Courthouse.

As a paid county veterans service officer, Baker fills several roles, including coordinating Veterans Day and Memorial Day events, the annual Salute to Women Veterans event in February and all other service-connected events.

She also maintains an official county veterans Facebook page; attends meetings for the Hill Country Veterans Council, Recovery Oriented Systems of Care and Pathways Youth and Family Services; hosts a monthly veterans brown bag forum; and puts out a quarterly newsletter.

In 2015, Baker also began assisting with a new program at the Dietert Center to identify Kerr County veterans who qualify for the Meals on Wheels program.

"A private donor gave Kerr and Bandera $2,500 and $10,000 to Gillespie County," Baker said. "I don't have enough veterans that are low income in this office to qualify for more. Gillespie County has nine, I have three, and Bandera has one."

Baker also is starting a surviving spouse's support group, a service she said she has had several requests for in the past year.

"We haven't decided when and where it will meet," Baker said.

Birchall, who is part time but is paid, officially meets clients from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays at 503 Main St. in Bandera.

"If a veteran needs help or has an emergency, I will help," Birchall said.

King calls her office, at 102 E. San Antonio St., Suite B-2, a clearing house for services she can't offer.

"They may not meet a pension criteria, but they need help with an electric bill," King said. "I don't have money to hand out, but I can make a referral."

King also keeps abreast of legislation and other news of interest to fulfill a mandate to notify clients of benefits changes and eligibility. Helping veterans to find transportation for medical visits and other needs also is a chore, but one she said she has plenty of help with.

"I have an email list and I can put out a call," King said. "People always volunteer."

In November, King helped to coordinate a ceremony in which 12 World War II veterans received the Legion of Honor medal.

On Jan. 16, King will assist the Veterans of Foreign Wars with a Vietnam veterans welcome-home fish fry for Gillespie County residents.

"We have 500 Vietnam-era veterans here, and 250 in-country veterans," King said.

A special place

The Hill Country Veterans Center is an anomaly in the vast sea of Texas veterans services offices.

The site opened in 2014 in an old National Guard Armory, allowing the center to house and rent space for other community activities. Two other agencies are housed on its property: Family Endeavors, which assists homeless or at-risk veterans and dependents, and MHDD, which provides mental health counseling services.

A small military museum also is available.

The focus is on making all feel welcome, according to Mike Cagle, veterans services west director for MHDD.

"You can grab a cup of coffee or just sit hear and shoot the breeze," Cagle told a visitor on a recent tour.

Qualified recipients also can receive food assistance from a donation-based food bank.

Compensation figures

Hill is no slouch when it comes to figures.

His brow furrows again when he describes the financial impact VA compensation limitations place on veterans and their families.

"A single person can only earn $1,072 dollars a month if you aren't fully disabled, and receive benefits," Hill said. "If you are married, it is $1,440 a month, including Social Security. Regular Social Security and disability counts against it. Supplemental Social Security income and food stamps do not. Let's say a man's wife draws $300 a month in SSI and they are getting $72 in food stamps, they can draw the full $1,400. If she's drawing $400 in regular Social Security, and he's drawing it for $600, that's $1,000. He can only get another $72 on his pension."

Hill said he's had no takers in a challenge to politicians to survive in Kerr County on those amounts.

"I've told them, 'Lets see you live on $1,072 a month,'" Hill said. "That includes paying rent, car payments and insurance, upkeep and utilities. To find anywhere decent to live around here you'd have to pay about $1,000 a month. Forget electricity and everything else."

Compensation differentials for disabled veterans also are baffling, he said.

"The difference between someone who is 90-percent disabled and 100 percent is around $1,200 a month," Hill said. "For lower percentages, it's a few hundred a month. If you tell the government we need to raise the compensation, they act like Fred Sanford, like they are having a heart attack. 'You want us to give them about 25 percent?' If they need more, they are out of luck."

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