Is There Any Real Penalty For The Va Not Complying With Vcca?

[Ascomdepot68]

Currently I have five (5) outstanding requests made under the Veterans Claim Assistance Act which total 174 "records" in the hands of Federal agencies. The oldest 2 were made in October 2012 and the youngest will be 1 year old on 7/26/2014. Have not received one

document requested. From recent copy of C file I can locate no requests made by VA to anyone for these records although the actual

VCAA requests are in the C file.

On 7/17/2014 the VA denied SC for 4 issues that had been deferred since 9/2012. To me this is a gross violation, denying before

producing the requested records.

I have read the actual "law" that was passed by Congress. There is no penalty mentioned for not complying.

What recourse does one have??

[Philip Rogers]

Basically there isn't any. You can appeal based on their lack of doing it but the response is "that if it wouldn't materially change the decision then it doesn't matter." jmo

pr

[Berta]

PR is Right.

I used to discuss the VCAA at length every time former H VAC Chairman Bob Filner was on our old SVR radio shows.

My point was that since the VCAA became law in 2000, VAROs were failing to comply with it to the extent that it became part of the growing backlog at that time.Filner knew I was right but the VCAA didnt change.

I even wrote an amendment to the VCAA, for him to ask Congress to support it.

That went no where.

My evidence to him for my gripe was the BVA, in their annual reports to Congress ,since 2000 , would note how many VCAA violations had caused multiple remands, for a re do of what VAROs were supposed to do in the first place.

I got a very deficient VCAA latter for my 2003 AO DMII death claim.I had reps at that time but they refused to contact VA to correct it. I complained to the OGC.

Still, the deficiency remained and I noted it right away on my I-9 form.

BVA agreed my VCAA letter was definitely defective, but since my evidence was so probative, the faulty VCAA letter did not negatively impact on the award they made.Thus, as PR said, "it did not materially change the decision."

I learned from that.......because BVA is still remanding claims for VCAA deficiencies (many of them are widows claim, that fall into a different VCAA criteria then veterans claims do)

what I learned is that regardless off what a VCAA letter says or VA says they will do, under Duty to Assist, it is far better for the veteran or widow to do it themselves.

This means contacting JSRRC or NARA themselves, writing FOIAs to DOD,researching all they can on unit histories,, getting buddy letters ,if needed, and getting all private and VA medical records themselves,if VA has failed to do that. .

"From recent copy of C file I can locate no requests made by VA to anyone for these records although the actual

VCAA requests are in the C file."

They did that to my husband, never requesting his SSA records and they said SSA had refused to release them.

I spent over an hour on the phone with SSA's main office in Baltimore, who said they had never gotten any VA request.

They processed the request right away ( I think we had to fax them the authorization form my husband had signed and sent to the RO)

The records arrived at the RO but by time they adjudicated his claims, his was dead.

As an accrued award the VA gave me a proper EED, 100& P & T SC ,3 years prior to his death, because of the SSA records, but that didn't do the dead veteran any good.

I cant tell from this post if these records you requested were as significant as SSA records would be.

If they involve SSA records or private medical records that VA has your signed authorization for,

if I were you I would file an IRIS complaint on that.

And as I mentioned here before many times, if VA says JSRRC cannot verify the circumstances of a stressor, it might be 'as likely as not' the VA didn't even write to JSRRC.

A VCAA letter is the first thing the BVA looks at.Our rights are violated from the git go if the letter is prejudical and the BVA has no probative evidence to overcome it's errors with.

SInce VA is so snafued these days with all of the latest serious scandals, it is even more imperative for us to collect the evidence we need ourselves.

And then hope it isnt in some of those boxes they found in VA mailrooms (like in Philadelphia) mail from veterans, unopened for years.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Berta

[Navy04]

As Phillip and Berta stated there is no actions due to timeline. The VA can take 6 months or 6 years, and as per their Regs as long as you claim is processed there is no strict timeline. We always hear about Vets on this site that have fought the VA for up to 20 years. Problem is as disabled Vets, we either don't have the patience, or we want claims done on our time, and it just don't work that way bud. Try to be patient, God Bless, and you can always ask for help on here or Vent every now and then.

[Berta]

"Currently I have five (5) outstanding requests made under the Veterans Claim Assistance Act which total 174 "records" in the hands of Federal agencies. The oldest 2 were made in October 2012 and the youngest will be 1 year old on 7/26/2014. Have not received one"

Have you also used FOIA to gain this info?

Every Federal agency has at least one main FOIA officer . VA has plenty.

Some Federal Agencies accept FOIAs now via email.

This is a FOIA template but most Federal agencies have templates at their web sites:

http://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-letters#foireq

Be as specific as you can as to exactkly what info you need and where you believe the information can be found.

I have always been granted a fee waiver but I always state how much I am willing to spend for copy fees. (usually I state I am willing to spend up to 100 bucks)

If you mail the FOIA, make sure you get a USPS Proof of mailing.

They will probably acknowledge the request within 20 days. The actual information however might take many weeks or months to get.

You have appeal rights if they deny the request.

Many years ago I had a FOIA once to get statistics on deaths from a specific drug that VA had prescribed my husband.Dont know where I sent that request to.... Maybe US Department of Health. It was to support my FTCA case.The FOIA info arrived 3 years later. I had already succeeded in the FTCA case, and by then this info was starting to appear on the internet..

[Ascomdepot68]

Thanks to those who have responded.

To Philip Rogers - "that if it wouldn't materially change the decision then it doesn't matter." Well 170 of the 174 mainly have to do with AO and 6 issues, all were denied.

The 4 remaining are medical audiology related test results from the furnishing Army hospitals, none are in STRs. I think it would materially change the decision from denial to granting SC on the hearing loss.

To Berta- I am painfully aware of the FOIA been using it since December 1967 while I was still in the service, the Privacy Act since early 1977. I am also aware of the

costs and shortcomings of the law. Amendments have helped but more is needed.

I am on a fixed income. Money means something to me more than most, but on the other hand I am "richer" than some I guess.

I made the requests under the VCAA due to the following

#1 It is supposedly the duty of the VA to assist me in proving my claim. IT"S THEIR JOB. At the same time I acknowledge that I am my best advocate and it is ultimately in my best interest to gather the needed evidence.

#2 Knowing I am dealing with the VA, I felt it best to have the documents be provided directly to them from the source that way they could not claim I have fabricated any evidence.

#3 Cost is a factor as stated above. Just to mail all the requests to different federal agencies by certified mail would cost a small fortune.

#4 Cost is a factor as stated above. The VCAA places the cost (searching, reviewing, copying, declassifying, postage, etc) on the responding agency, the FOIA and PA places the cost or at least the chance of costs (perhaps considerable) on the requester

#5 To the question of whether or not I have tried to acquire the documents using the FOIA, in some cases the answer is "yes". I could give many examples but suffice it to say that many had "problems"

#6 Depending on what it is I promise to pay from $25.00 to $500.00. True most times there is a minimal charge. I don't mind paying for what I need, just hate promising to

pay for whatever they want to throw my way without knowing what it is. I presently have posted a $25,000 reward posted online for documentation but that is contingent on the VA accepting it as evidence and being paid retro.

#7 The FOIA covers and is limited to federal agencies in the executive branch. The VCAA simply states "federal agencies". Although admittedly it might meet with some

resistance it can be argued that the VCAA also includes ALL federal agencies such as the White House, the legislature, the courts, etc-there is a basic difference.

Other thoughts will probably be remembered later but that is all I can think of now.

Unfortunately I didn't get any "hope" here in the way of a different recourse. After considerable thought I have come up with a plan. Will keep you posted. Thanks.

[john999]

VCAA violations are grounds for appeals. That is about it.