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Improving Service Delivery to Canadian Veterans

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Improving Service Delivery to Canadian Veterans REACHING OUT: IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY TO CANADIAN VETERANS Report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs Neil R. Ellis Chair DECEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. The absolute privilege that applies to the proceedings of the House of Commons does not extend to these permitted reproductions. Where a reproduction includes briefs to a Standing Committee of the House of Commons, authorization for reproduction may be required from the authors in accordance with the Copyright Act. Nothing in this permission abrogates or derogates from the privileges, powers, immunities and rights of the House of Commons and its Committees. For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca REACHING OUT: IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY TO CANADIAN VETERANS Report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs Neil R. Ellis Chair DECEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS CHAIR Neil R. Ellis VICE-CHAIRS Robert Kitchen Irene Mathyssen MEMBERS John Brassard Alaina Lockhart Bob Bratina Jean R. Rioux Doug Eyolfson Cathay Wagantall Colin Fraser OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED James Bezan Yves Robillard Chris Bittle Sherry Romanado Alupa A. Clarke Kim Rudd Matt DeCourcey Mark Strahl Peter Fonseca David Sweet Linda Lapointe Filomena Tassi Bryan May Dan Vandal Ron McKinnon Dave Van Kesteren Christine Moore Nick Whalen John Oliver CLERKS OF THE COMMITTEE Hugues La Rue Grant McLaughlin LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Jean-Rodrigue Paré, Analyst iii THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS has the honour to present its THIRD REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the Committee on Thursday, February 25, 2016, the Committee has studied service delivery to veterans and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS REACHING OUT: IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY TO CANADIAN VETERANS .... 1 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 2. A TURBULENT DECADE ..................................................................................... 2 2.1 From the Pension Act to the New Veterans Charter ...................................... 2 2.2 The transformation of Veterans Affairs Canada and the disappearance of traditional veterans ................................................................................... 4 3. VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA: AN UNPOPULAR DEPARTMENT ................... 5 3.1 Complexity of the system............................................................................. 10 3.2 Delays.......................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Communications .......................................................................................... 20 3.4 The appeal process ..................................................................................... 23 4. THE PROCESS OF TRANSITIONING TO CIVILIAN LIFE ................................. 28 4.1 The period leading to medical release ......................................................... 28 4.2 Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) .......................................................... 30 4.3 Determining the relationship between medical condition and military service ........................................................................................................ 32 4.4 Cooperation between the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada ............................................................................................ 37 4.5 Programs provided by third parties .............................................................. 40 4.6 Veterans’ condition following their medical release ..................................... 43 5. SPECIFIC ISSUES ............................................................................................. 47 5.1 Secondary injuries or illnesses .................................................................... 47 5.2 Long-term care ............................................................................................ 48 5.3 Professional training .................................................................................... 49 5.4 Case managers ........................................................................................... 51 5.5 Families ....................................................................................................... 52 5.6 Mental health ............................................................................................... 55 5.7. Sexual Harassment ..................................................................................... 57 6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 58 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................. 61 APPENDIX A: LIST OF WITNESSES ........................................................................... 65 vii APPENDIX B: LIST OF BRIEFS ................................................................................... 69 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............................................................. 71 viii REACHING OUT: IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY TO CANADIAN VETERANS 1. INTRODUCTION On 25 February 2016, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (the Committee) adopted a motion to study “the service delivery to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VAC), including the issue of mental health.” This broad objective reflects a desire for consultation following the fall 2015 election. The members wanted to meet with as many interested parties as possible in order to gauge the relationship between the veterans’ community and the government, and determine their respective expectations for the direction the Committee should be taking in the 42nd Parliament. The Committee members agreed that 10 years following the coming into force of the New Veterans Charter (NVC), the associated programs and services had already been substantively analyzed and evaluated and had been the subject of numerous recommendations. Rather than launch another study of specific programs and services, members agreed to examine VAC’s approach to service delivery. This approach, supported by veterans’ organizations, including the Veterans Ombudsman, involves evaluating all programs and services from the perspective of veterans and their families. This approach is reflected in the mandate of Veterans Affairs Canada’s Service Delivery Branch, which is responsible for “delivering benefits and services and for providing social and economic support that respond to the needs of Veterans, our other clients and their families.”1 The current study involves analyzing the quality of the interactions between the Department providing the services and the individuals receiving them. To better understand these interactions, the Committee also wanted to look at communications between VAC and its clients, various aspects of the organizational culture, and how these interactions might have been affected by the Department’s transformation process. Accordingly, the goal of the study is not to assess whether to recommend legislative or regulatory amendments to a specific benefit or service, but rather to examine whether existing benefits and services, as designed, can achieve their objectives, as perceived by the intended beneficiaries: veterans and their families. That said, the very nature of the programs, as defined by the statutes for which the Minister of Veterans Affairs is responsible, sometimes can create constraints, notably through eligibility criteria and reporting requirements that may be inconsistent with other program objectives. For example, the Committee members quickly realized that the 1 Veterans Affairs Canada, “Organization.” 1 complexity of some programs could interfere with the attainment of their objectives and hinder the effective delivery of services, thereby negatively influencing veterans’ perception of them. This report is divided into four sections. The first presents a look back at the last decade, which saw profound changes take place within VAC. The second section describes what could be called the departmental “culture,” which was highly criticized during this study and is, according
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