The Mid-Atlantic Regional Group
Blinded Veterans Association
Legislative News
November 30, 2009
For all BVA key contacts, Chairman Bob Filner sent out this press release on a hearing that BVA was invited to provide testimony before the subcommittee on VA economic opportunity. We continue to work on raising awareness with key members of congress on the benefits and health care needs of blinded veterans and families.
VA Must Work to Ensure that Wounded Veterans Have Access to Adaptive Housing Grants
Washington, D.C. - On Thursday, November 19, 2009, Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) conducted a hearing to review the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Specially Adapted Housing Grants Program (SAH), Special Home Adaptation Grants Program (SHA), and the Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant Program (TRA). Veterans or service members who have specific service-connected disabilities may be entitled to a VA grant for the purpose of constructing an adapted home or modifying an existing home to meet their adaptive needs. The goal of these programs is to provide a barrier-free living environment that affords the veterans or service members a level of independent living that he or she may not normally enjoy. The hearing specifically addressed the flexibility and sufficiency of the existing grants to address the current needs of veterans.
“According to the Defense Manpower Data Center, at the Department of Defense, approximately 35,000 service members have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin. “Today, we will receive timely testimony that foreshadows the increased need for adaptive housing grants. In caring for our injured men and women in uniform, we must continue to address their needs so they may live as independently as possible after their honorable military service.”
There are three types of grants, administered by VA, which are available to assist severely disabled veterans in their adaptive housing needs. The Specially Adapted Housing Grant is generally used to create a wheelchair accessible home. The Special Home Adaptations Grant is generally used to assist veterans with mobility throughout their homes. The Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant is available to eligible veterans temporarily residing in a home owned by a family member.
Thomas Zampieri of the Blinded Veterans of America provided testimony about the need for sufficient adaptive housing grants for veterans. He said it is “important that adaptive housing basic grant adjustments keep pace with residential home cost-of-construction index for each preceding year for labor and construction materials… If disabled veterans are not able to make adaptive changes to their homes, they run the risk of falls and injuries that result in expensive emergency room and costly hospital admissions. Further if accessible housing grants are not sufficient to allow disabled veterans to live independently at home, the alternative high cost of institutional care in nursing homes will occur.” Zampieri also reported that current blindness standards are overly restrictive, hurting those “returning OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom] and OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom] functionally blinded veterans and some TBI veterans with visual impairments requiring assistance and adaptive technology because they would never qualify for this current 5/200 standard leaving them with no grants.”
Mark Bologna, Director of Loan Guarantee Service at VA, discussed recent improvements: “Congress changed the program from a one-time to a three-time use program. This change has allowed individuals to make additional adaptations to their homes or upgrade existing adaptations. If they move to other homes, and have remaining eligibility, they may now use the program to adapt the new homes as well. These legislative changes have significantly improved the benefits available to severely injured Veterans and service-members and have increased the overall flexibility of the SAH program.”
We will keep everyone updated as to what changes if any might occur with this Special Adaptive Housing program as a result of the hearing. The following explains the current program and the argument that the grants are not enough to cover many home modifications with the high cost of labor and construction materials.
Testimony included “Further if accessible housing grants are not sufficient to allow disabled veterans to live independently at home, the alternative high cost of institutional care in nursing homes will occur. The average private room charge for nursing home care was $212 daily, ($77,380 annual), and for semi-private $191 ($69,715) annually according to MetLife 2008 Survey. Even assisted living centers charges of $3,031 month ($36,372) rose another 2% in 2008. BVA would point to these more costly alternatives than VA providing sufficient adaptive housing grants for a veteran to remain in their home functioning independently. The caregivers of these severely injured veterans often already give up there employment to stay at home and then must confront these additional out of pocket expenses of making modifications to adapt their homes adds to the socio-economic pressures on these veterans lives if these grants are not sufficient.”
CURRENT SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOUSING SERVICES
Special Home Adaptation Grant (SHA). The Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant, on the other hand, helps service-connected veterans with specific mobility problems within the home. The SHA grant is for $12,756. The disability must be permanent and total due to:
§ Blindness in both eyes with a 5/200 visual acuity or less, or
§ Anatomical loss or loss of both hands and extremities below the elbow.
Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) The SAH grant, currently $63,780 used to assist veterans with mobility throughout their homes. It can be used for minor or major construction projects. BVA’s experience has been that very few blinded veterans meet the criteria to obtain the larger SAH grant. To be eligible are service-connected veterans with a permanent and total disability due to one of the following:
§ The total loss, or loss of use, of both lower extremities as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, canes, or a wheelchair.
§ Blindness in both eyes (having only light perception), plus a loss or loss of use of one lower extremity.
§ The total loss, or loss of use, of one lower extremity together with (1) residuals of organic disease or injury, or (2) the loss, or loss of use, of one upper extremity which so affects the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, canes, or a wheelchair.
§ The loss, or loss of use, of both upper extremities such as to preclude use of arms at or above the elbow.
Temporary Residence Grant (TRA) This grant is now available to eligible veterans temporarily residing in a home owned by a family member. Under the VA program veterans eligible for an SAH grant would be permitted to use up to $14,000 and those veterans eligible for an SHA grant would be permitted to use up to $2,000 of the maximum grant amounts. BVA has limited experience with how this program meets the needs of disabled veterans who may initially return home to live with family and they need home modifications. However the recent GAO report “Implementation of Temporary Residence Adaptation Grants” (GAO-09-637R) should raise concerns about whether this program is assisting disabled veterans as intended and if the low participation rate is because any amount received is then subtracted from the total amount they are eligible for under the SAH grant. But because of current restrictions, and the limits of SHA of $2,000 it would offer little assistance in any construction renovations considering costs to install new ceiling lighting or additional electrical outlets in any older home.
Take care,
Tom Zampieri
Blinded Veterans Association
BVA's Legislative Alerts Group
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