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VA Accountability Act update

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The Accountability Act of 2017 has brought changes to the VA.

Not enough but it is a great start.

  " Removals, Suspensions 15 days or Greater, and Demotions Effective from January 01, 2018 thru January 24, 2018"

https://www.va.gov/accountability/Adverse_Actions_Report.pdf

"Removals, Suspensions 14 days or Greater, and Demotions Effective from January 20, 2017 thru December 31, 2017"

https://www.va.gov/accountability/Adverse_Actions_Report_2017.pdf

My addition shows 1527 removals, 86 demotions, and 451 suspensions over 14 days for employees who have been charged in some way of deficiencies in their employment,from January 1, 2017 to  January 24, 2017.

But there was a recent downside to this:

https://www.disabledveterans.org/2018/01/29/va-employee-accesses-private-veteran-data-termination-caught-selling/

in part:

“Phillip Hill, of Benton, Arkansas, formerly worked as a database manager for the agency in Arkansas. He was caught trying to sell personal data in his possession after termination such as data of veterans, their family members, and VA employees.

Hill attempted to sell the information for $10,000 to a law enforcement informant after he was fired from employment December 6, 2017. Despite the termination, Hill indicated he could still access veterans’ personal information remotely. It is believed he was able to do so using either a computer he kept or a server he may have stolen.”

 

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If a VA employee is corrupt, or treats us badly and we fail to do anything to even report it, then we have to bear some of the responsibility for a corrupt and broken VA.  We can not expect bad people to "raise their hand", volunteering to be fired at VA.  

This said, I do think we should be "generous" when it comes to reporting VA employees, and only report serious obvious violations.  If they are busy seriously serving other Veterans diligently, then leave em alone.  

We also need to tell VA when an employee does a particulary nice job, too.  Remember, most/all of these we have contact with are probably earning under 60,000 per year (except doctors), and the VA execs (management) CAUSE MANY/MOST OF THE PROBLEMS, AS THEY ARE OFTEN DOING AS ORDERED.  

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Respectfully, I don't believe you understand the fundamental problem with the VA.

It's been taken over by people who have zero interest in the stated mission; purposely chosen to be furthest society could get from veterans.

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY SUPERVISORY CHAIN WAS A NON-VETERAN WOMAN. They had zero interest in Veteran's issues and only wanted you to get them a bigger bonus. Meetings were NEVER, and I mean NEVER about helping Veterans. Not one word- Zero, zilch, nada.

It made me sick.

So, what they've done is offer you a Red-Herring (firing Nursing Assistants and Clerks) while the greed cabal uses the law to enhance their power.

And sure, they've found a token quisling or two to stick in here and there. And- lots of Non-vets were super-duper- But those aren't the ones they promote.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/05/va-defies-ban-on-grilling-job-applicants-about-ptsd/

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https://www.va.gov/accountability/

If you read the pds and this report:

https://www.va.gov/accountability/Accountability_Report_101118_1.pdf

there are over 2 thousand VA employees since Jan 1, 2018 ,demoted, or suspended- and as the chart shows:

66 demotions 85 long suspensions, and 2148 removals.

These involve some Medical practioners, some VSOs, and I saw a DRO and other RO employee  on one of the lists.

These are not all low pay level employees, as some suggested here some time ago-

And a large bulk of the complaints the Office of Accountability receives do not boil down to any serious 

breach of VA regulation, or any other issue that might not have enough proof for them to investigate the charges.

However, I was surprised at the negativity here when I first starting posting about the Accountability Act.

It looks like we did 3 re-runs of the Podcast show I did on it.

If you do have a serious complaint about a VA situation, and cannot get it resolved and it falls into the Mission Statement of the AO-WP you can and should file a complaint.

"OUR OFFICE

The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) is a newly created Office within the Department of Veterans Affairs dedicated to improving the needs of Veterans across the United States. On April 27, 2017 the President of the United States established an Executive Order creating the Office to advise and assist the Secretary of Department-wide issues of accountability. OAWP is directed by Kirk Nicholas who provides oversight for the Secretary’s accountability agenda and final review. OAWP manages all internal affairs and has a broad and expansive mission to protect whistleblower rights and recommend discipline and/or termination of employees due to poor performance or misconduct. The Office is headquartered in Washington DC and has satellite resources and programs in VA facilities across the United States.  

OUR MISSION

The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection serves to improve the performance and accountability of VA senior executives and employees through thorough, timely and unbiased investigation of all allegations and concerns. Where these actions are found factually true, the Office will provide recommended actions related to the removal, demotion or suspension based on poor performance and/or misconduct. Additionally, OAWP provides the protection of valued VA whistleblowers against retaliation for their disclosures."
 
The complaint as it says, must be "factually true."
 
I had so much evidence to send to them on my complaint that I narrowed it down to some basic info , to include  evidence from some from non VA sources, and evidence of my own situation. Also my complaint involved other potential veterans or  their survivors, who could be or have been victimized by the same circumstances, regarding high level VA employees.

 

 

 

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I think I understand the problem fairly well, at least from a Veterans standpoint.  There is not much doubt in my mind there are many corrupt VA employees, and I hope as many or all of these get fired, AND have to pay restitution to the VA for every penny they ever stole from VA or Veterans.  

Still, there are many good, no great VA employees.  I dealt with a PA just today.  She was very thorough in the exam, and told me stuff I did not know about me and my health.  She is doing a great job for Vets.  Others need to be fired.  The key is teling which VA employees need fired and which are doing a great job.  I have met both extremes.  

Its a mistake to make all employees accountable for what the corrupt ones do.  

Edited by broncovet
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