Va disability & C&P question regarding veteran with suicide risk

[Lagin02]

So my husband is going though the VA disability process. He began treatment in April doing CPT which aggravated his symptoms immensely. In May, he was fired from the job he has held for 8 years. In June, he was put on disability leave from his National Guard unit after command became aware of his suicide risk and they have mandated that he continues the therapy which is only making the situation worse. He has been in for 15 years and most likely will be medically chaptered out which has worsened his depression significantly. Due to his suicidal thoughts I am trying to manage this financial crisis as best I can because I’m afraid he is being pushed over the edge. He just stares off into space and sits in our basement. I filed for VA disability at the beginning of June because prior to all this he was our only source of income. I left my job a couple months before he was fired because my income was not enough to cover daycare after our son was born. I can’t leave him alone with the kids in the state he is in right now. I payed off our bills for a couple months with our savings but we only have a month left before we will be homeless. I also expedited his claim due to financial hardship in June. His claim seems open and shut to me. He did is C&P exam in July 31st but the VA still haven’t received the report (it was a VA doctor that did it not a contractor).  I called on Thursday to ask where it is and was told “it’s not ready yet” by the office where it was conducted. 

My understanding is you must prove three things:

The stressor:

His stressor occurred in Iraq in 2007. There was a CID investigation due to the circumstances around the event and there are still people in his unit that were in Iraq with him and knew what happened. I don’t want to write details because it would defeat the purpose of confidentiality but there is no denying that it was extremely traumatic and involved death and serious injury of service members in a small convoy. I also have a memorandum signed by the commander sending my husband to the combat stress unit in Iraq after the incident when he became suicidal. In my mind there is no denying the stressor. 

A current diagnosis: 

He is currently under treatment for PTSD at the VA doing CPT and is on medication. His team wants him to do an in-patient program in Chicago but as it stands with our impending homelessness, it just isn’t an opinion right now. 

The Nexus: 

He marked off symptoms of ptsd on his demobilization paperwork and stated he encountered stressors. In his periodic health assessment 6-month and also 1 year follow-ups for his Iraq deployment it shows he endorsed every symptom of PTSD and one Depression question. He was supposed to be referred to mental health according to this form but for whatever reason it slipped through the cracks. His current treatment is focused on the events that occurred during his first deployment. 

I called the VA homeless assistance line and was told that they will place my husband in transitional housing but me and our children (6-month-old and 9-years-old) will need to “find somewhere else to go.” I called the White House VA line and was told “I am so sorry but I don’t know what else I can tell you to do” His ebenifits portal broke 6 weeks ago due to duplicate files and was supposed to be fixed 3 weeks ago but is still broken. I have called veteran resources but all in our area require we have a “resolution” if they assist which we don’t because I don’t know if or when he will start to improve. 

So if your still with me, I have a couple questions: 

How long does it take for the doctor to send a C&P exam? Is it normal that it wouldn’t be don’t weeks after the exam? 

What are the chances that this will be resolved before the end of September when we will be homeless? If we do become homeless how do we follow up with the case with no address? 

Will the transitional housing be able to make sure he doesn’t follow through with his suicidal thoughts? I’m afraid that separating our family and having to toss everything we have build over the last 10 years will push him over the edge and I won’t be there to make sure he is okay. 

Is there anything else I can or should be doing? 

Is there any chance he could get better soon? Like it gets really bad but than starts then better? He has a bachelor’s degree and if he stops staring off into space and having these episodes he could get a job paying good money or I can work and he can watch the kids. I can’t imagine throwing everything we own in a dumpster, having my family torn apart, and taking my kids to a homeless shelter. I don’t even know how to explain it to my 9-year-old. He always struggled but at least he was functioning by numbing everything and isolation prior to opening this can of worms. We were financially comfortable so I just don’t understand how things got so bad so fast.

[ShrekTheTank]

Sounds like you found what you needed to make it work!  very proud of you!  

I am glad you are going to go there as this is what the White House is looking for is an easy win.  If they catch wind of it they will want some good news and they can flip that thing on its head.  I think your strategy is good!

Keep fighting never give up!

 

 

[GeekySquid]

24 minutes ago, Lagin02 said:

t is pretty clear this is going to take a lot longer. The initial estimated completion date was October. When I expedited it, they changed it to November. Tonight they said it changed to January of 2020.

Cold black ink sac here, chiming in once again.

Tomorrow at 0'dark 30 start speed dialing the numbers on these two pages

https://www.va.gov/oig/hotline/

https://www.va.gov/OGC/DistrictOffices.asp

Scream your bloody f'ing head off if you have too!!!!!!

Have a melt down if that is what it takes.

You account is flag as imminently homeless  there is ZERO xxxxxxx REASON for your status to jump ahead 5 months. NONE NADA NYET No xxxxxxx way Jose...

am I being clear?

24 minutes ago, Lagin02 said:

I have been writing out a letter to send to all the local and national news organizations that I can find. I figure at least one may pick up the story. I

MAIL THEM.. call the local affiliates. Call the local "I can fix it" news person. Call the most famous anchor in your neck of the woods. Make this LOCAL and LOUD!

24 minutes ago, Lagin02 said:

Maybe some bad news coverage will make them reevaluate how they handle these situations in the future. 

we all like to think that, but make it LOCAL AND LOUD first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who manages the TSP and did you tell them you are in hardship? about to be on the street begging with your two sick kids and a mentally helpless spouse? do you see where I am going? even bureaucrats have family and heart strings. If you get them on your side they can move mountains. If they are unwilling then bring out the proverbial flame thrower and burn that mother down in the press and social media.

The roof! the roof! the roof is on fire, we don't need no water let the ...........

if you know the rest of that lyric you know my opinion on what you should do to anyone who pulls this BS on a family about to be kicked to the curb by bureaucratic nonsense.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by GeekySquid

[Lagin02]

35 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

Cold black ink sac here, chiming in once again.

Tomorrow at 0'dark 30 start speed dialing the numbers on these two pages

https://www.va.gov/oig/hotline/

https://www.va.gov/OGC/DistrictOffices.asp

Scream your bloody f'ing head off if you have too!!!!!!

Have a melt down if that is what it takes.

You account is flag as imminently homeless  there is ZERO xxxxxxx REASON for your status to jump ahead 5 months. NONE NADA NYET No xxxxxxx way Jose...

am I being clear?

MAIL THEM.. call the local affiliates. Call the local "I can fix it" news person. Call the most famous anchor in your neck of the woods. Make this LOCAL and LOUD!

we all like to think that, but make it LOCAL AND LOUD first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

35 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

Who manages the TSP and did you tell them you are in hardship? about to be on the street begging with your two sick kids and a mentally helpless spouse? do you see where I am going?

even bureaucrats have family and heart strings. If you get them on your side they can move mountains. If they are unwilling then bring out the proverbial flame thrower and burn that mother down in the press and social media.

The roof! the roof! the roof is on fire, we don't need no water let the ...........

if you know the rest of that lyric you know my opinion on what you should do to anyone who pulls this BS on a family about to be kicked to the curb by bureaucratic nonsense.

 

 

 

35 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

You account is flag as imminently homeless  there is ZERO xxxxxxx REASON for your status to jump ahead 5 months. NONE NADA NYET No xxxxxxx way Jose...

am I being clear?

They said there are other veterans with hardships as well. I did ask to speak to a supervisor and they said one would call in 24-48 hours. I’m definitely calling the numbers you posted because the representative said the supervisor will just repeat she already told me, which was essentially nothing. 

35 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

Who manages the TSP and did you tell them you are in hardship? about to be on the street begging with your two sick kids and a mentally helpless spouse? do you see where I am going?

It’s a Thrift Savings Plan through the military. Apparently we can borrow from it but have to pay it back (they take out a portion of his drill checks) or the IRS will charge us 10% tax on it. They didn’t need proof of hardship to take it out. They just sent me a form to fill out and it had to be notarized and sent back. 

36 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

even bureaucrats have family and heart strings

Do they though? I don’t know. They seem to be the ones with the “cold, black, ink sac hearts.” When I told the representative that my kids are going to be homeless, she offered to reconnect me to the VA homeless hotline to get “family housing.” The same line that told me they could put my husband in transitional housing but me and my kids “would need to find somewhere else to go.” Ugh! So frustrating! It’s like a maze that leads to the same dead end. 

38 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

if you know the rest of that lyric you know my opinion on what you should do to anyone who pulls this BS on a family about to be kicked to the curb by bureaucratic nonsense

Careful, your going to ruin your reputation saying stuff like that. 

 In all seriousness though, this must happen quite frequently. I have never encountered a situation with any bureaucracy quite like this. I had an easier time dealing with an IRS audit a couple years ago. No one will tell you anything! I asked the woman what they were still trying to determine so I could see what I could do to get additional evidence and she said “they will contact you if they need anything.” 

[Lagin02]

18 minutes ago, shrekthetank1 said:

Sounds like you found what you needed to make it work!  very proud of you!  

I am glad you are going to go there as this is what the White House is looking for is an easy win.  If they catch wind of it they will want some good news and they can flip that thing on its head.  I think your strategy is good!

Keep fighting never give up!

 

 

I’m just taking it one day at a time. Thank you! I’m not giving up! 

[GeekySquid]

5 minutes ago, Lagin02 said:

“they will contact you if they need anything.” 

burn it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lagin02]

The senators office got back to me today. They requested documents to prove what I was saying and I sent them everything. The DHS notice of cancellation of our food assistance over $10, the VA homeless note out of my husbands blue button report, past due bills, and case status with completion date on VA.gov. I sent everything and including  a form for my husband to sign allowing the senator to do a inquiry. Under the section asking for details I wrote “a news organization is interested in doing an interview but they want to do it while we are throwing our stuff out to go to a homeless shelter and I would prefer not to humiliate my children and husband if I can prevent it. They called my 10 minutes after I faxed it and said they are requesting a “dire need decision” and senators aid said she already spoke with her VA lesion to let her know that the paperwork would be sent by tomorrow morning and this needs to be resolved quickly.  She also said that someone from VBA (I think) would be contacting me soon to assist with past due bills.