VA begins making caregiver payments

The Department of Veterans Affairs will send out more than $430,000 in stipend payments to nearly 200 family caregivers of veterans in July. These family caregivers were the first to complete their caregiver training under the program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. The first payments to 96 recipients were issued July 1.

Family caregivers will receive an average $1,600 in monthly stipend payments. The initial payments will average $2,500 because the first stipend checks are retroactive to the date of application. The amount of the stipend is based on the condition of the veteran and the amount of care they require, as well as the geographic location where the veteran resides. An additional 80 stipend payments will be released from the U.S. Treasury on July 8, bringing the total to 176 family caregivers receiving the stipend in July.

Since May 9, nearly 1,250 caregivers of veterans who were seriously injured in the line of duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001, have applied for the program. A core caregiver training curriculum is a required component of the program. This comprehensive training, which was developed by Easter Seals in collaboration with VA clinical experts, has received many positive comments from family caregivers. In addition to the training, eligible family caregivers can also access mental health services and are provided health-care insurance, if they are not already entitled to care or services under a health plan.

Veterans may review the criteria for eligibility and download the family caregiver program application (VA CG 10-10) here. The application enables the veteran to designate a primary family caregiver and secondary family caregivers if needed. Caregiver Support Coordinators are stationed at every VA medical center to assist with coordinating the training or assist caregivers in locating available services.

Support for all caregivers is also available via the national Caregiver Support Line at (855) 260-3274. Caregivers of veterans from all eras are encouraged to use the website and Support Line to learn about more than two dozen supportive services VA offers to family caregivers.

Also, VA has expanded its performance and productivity website by making additional data available to the public. VA announced last year its ASPIRE for Quality initiative, aimed at making data and outcome information available to the public in such areas as acute care, ICU, outpatient, safety and annual process measures, and how each medical center measures up to quality goals.

The expanded ASPIRE for Productivity website provides information on how VBA and its regional offices are doing in relation to department goals. The site specifically depicts how each of the regional offices measures up to productivity and other claim processing goals.The new ASPIRE performance and productivity data can be accessed here.