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??

[TiredCoastie]

The only recourse to address an Executive Branch department or agency which fails to carry out the law in a situation like this is for Congress to hold the agency accountable. The other option is to find an attorney and file a civil lawsuit, but that's not a viable solution for us disabled veterans...we don't have millions of $$$ at our disposal.

If you want to continue to use the VCAA, I recommend you engage your senior senator's staff and ask for help, unless either your congressman or junior senator actually sit on one of the VA oversight committees. You might also want to send a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate oversight committees separately if they are not your elected representatives. I can't guarentee much, but those are the people who are supposed to do something about it.

[Wayne TX]

I found this on U.S. Veterans Compensation Programs - Hidden VA Money, it stated: Veterans 65 years-old or older, are presumed to be disabled. It does not have to be proven.........can anyone explain what this means? I am 30% and just turned 65.

[Berta]

I think you mean the VA Wartime pension regulations and I posted the eligibility requirements in another topic somewhere here , that you posted in.

[Berta]

BTW, I think I gave some VA FOIA links here,or in another topic.

I wanted to send a FOIA to the BVA ( not regarding any appeal...something else) and could not find any FOIA address,although many VA FOIA offices now accept FOIAs via email..

The BVA Ombudsman however gave me the BVA FOIA fax number:

202-343-1422

Just for FOIAs, not for specific appeals status questions.

And oddly enough it seems they took the BVA ombudsman email contact info off the VA contact page and they refer you to IRIS instead.

I dont speak to IRIS anymore or to Peggy It is an exercise in futility .

But here it is anyhow. Last time I used it was about a year ago and it still works.

bvaombudsman@va.gov

[Ascomdepot68]

To Berta and everyone else below is a link (as of 9/2013) to all FOIA officers (and usually dual hatted as Privacy Act Officers), hope cut and past works for links(?):

http://www.foia.va.gov/docs/VBA-FOIA-Officers-Sept2013.pdf

To Tired Coastie: I have approached several senators and representatives on the matter. Currently I have a lame duck representative aide you at least is trying to help.

To Wayne TX; OK if you are at 30% you are getting $400, single without any dependents from the VA . Since you are 65 you can draw or are drawing social security. Just about everything counts as income. I am on a wartime pension draw $190 a month versus $130 for the 10%. Any other SC award and the pension goes away and I just draw the % as then the % will be the larger amount. You get one of the other, not both. Yes, if you are over 65 you are automatically considered by the VA to be disabled

I forget what the maximum income is right now ( I think its around $1,105 per month) but you can get a deduction from income of medical/dental expenses for you and any minor dependents or maybe parents if dependent on you.

.

[TiredCoastie]

To Tired Coastie: I have approached several senators and representatives on the matter. Currently I have a lame duck representative aide you at least is trying to help.

And there lies the problem. It's a long term problem that obviously impacts so many but getting traction anywhere is difficult. I feel you're in a long, difficult battle to get a very large bureaucratic agency to do the right thing by you and follow through on the promises, laws, etc. I really wish the world would work that way. The government sure isn't. It hasn't ever, and it's not going to. I hear you about the expense, difficulty, etc. In the end, if you want it done right, you're going to have to do it yourself.