Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Red Shirts and Friday
Every Friday for the past year, the staff and volunteers at USA Cares wear red shirts. The reason is simple, it is one more way to demonstrate remembering the 180,000 men and women who are serving in harm's way today.
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The good part about our wearing our "I Care Too!" shirts is that proceeds from the shirt go toward helping USA Cares continue its mission of assisting our military families who sometimes need just a little help.
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We are currently receiving over 100 new requests for help every week, and we have expanded our staff to four full teams of trained and compassionate staff who work tirelessly to make a little difference to the family, not "in a few weeks" but right now.
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As USA Cares prepares to start a six year of service to the Warriors and their families, I am very proud of what they accomplish, day in and day out. As we approach 10,000 requests (by name) and over $4 million of resources, we can only hope that you will care too.
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If you would like to join the thousands of USA Cares "I Care Too!" campaign, please don't hesitate to call us at 1-800-733-0387. To the folks with Huddle House, South Orlando Kiwanis, Kentucky Neighborhood Bank, Nolin Electric, Pioneer Services, and thousand of Americans, thanks for showing them that you care!
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Roger
Last day of 2007
We are updating our I Care Too!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Empowered Advocate for Wounded Warriors
While assisting one wounded warrior through the system, I think I was working on my PhD in the field of Wounded Warrior Transition. Kind of like the commercial about the guy with the knife talking to the doctor on the phone, and the doctor says, "Make a three inch incision..." and the guy says, "Shouldn't you be here?".
Somebody should be there.
These warriors and their families should not be asked, nor expected to negotiate the obstacle course that involves the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration and Social Security by themselves. Ever.
If you go for a ride in a small private plane, you watch the pilot go through a very detailed checklist before he ever lines up on the runway, this is not counting hours and hours of training with an instructor pilot sitting next to him and constantly correcting and demonstrating how to do it correctly. All that for a one hour flight for dinner. This is all mandated by the FAA, who watch over pilot training and students like hawks. After all, we don't want one to crash, right? So why are we willing as a nation to allow our wounded warriors to "crash"?
A wounded warrior is allowed to wander through the process depending on luck as to how the rest of his life turns out. If he is lucky enough, he (or she) runs across a Veterans Service Officer from one of the Service Organizations like the VFW, American Legion, DAV or other, statistically, they will be much better off than the warrior that doesn't. Should it depend on luck?
We get calls from wounded warriors who have been in the obstacle course for 19 months without a Veterans Service Officer. How does that happen? Because he wasn't "lucky". And because everybody else thinks someone else has it.
Recently Sen Dole gave a report to the President about caring for the wounded. He wants to see an enhanced coordinator assigned to a wounded warrior. Good, what we need, another level of bureaucracy (and another government contract) to better care for these warriors.
Who has the responsibility for these wounded warriors?
We have the unit itself and the leaders assigned and responsible for the soldier, the military medical system, we have a government contractor (each branch as their own version, I will stick with the Army) working a contract called Wounded Warrior Program, there is a Wounded Warrior Hot Line (operated by yet another private contractor) there is Military One Source (operated by another government contractor) and then you wander into the VA system. If you are lucky.
So what does all that mean, after all "look what our government has done for these guys and gals!". Right. What all this means is that look how much blame you can spread around, and the beauty is each can claim that it was the "other guy" who failed to make all this happen.
So my naive solution? Establish an "Empowered Advocate" (EA) one that has an established timeline of acceptable and reasonable effort concerning a wounded warrior in the obstacle course. One that has teeth.
This EA, be he or she from an existing contract, assignment or whatever, would be assigned a warrior as he or she enters the medical review board of the military who is determining the fitness of staying on active duty, and follow and support them through the entire process.
This EA would have the authority to contact whatever agency is involved, ask for answers or decisions and have the force of law on his side having a timeline involved. For instance, if you contacted a VA rating official, that official would have XX days to answer fully the question or be held personally liable for the failure to do so. Or, they could provide written and signed documents saying they aren't going to do something or that it will take as much as 600 days to complete the requirement.
And if he or she doesn't answer the mail or the question, would they be liable?
Yes Martha, personally liable, yes, a Civil Servant employee, personally liable for failure. I am not saying go to jail, but I am saying go to the unemployment office.
Harsh? I don't know, but what would have happened to the young Army Specialist who didn't do what he was told to do? Or didn't go somewhere he was told to go?
I know, I know. He gets, "personally" in trouble. He doesn't get to complain about not enough resources. Not enough "help". He gets in trouble. So what happens? Every morning, around the world, young Army Specialist get up and do their duty! What a concept.
So regarding our Empowered Advocate and why he might make things different, well if you have ever raised a child you know that reward and punishment are just some of the tools that are needed to get them through the system called "growing up". But it works.
I suspect that once the word gets out that you better take care of these guys before "they" (The EA) calls, you do the right thing, because it is the right thing to do. (And you don't get in trouble)
A wounded warrior deserves the same treatment and consideration that he received laying in the hospital bed with VIPs all around and receiving a Purple Heart.
I have already asked my Congressman about an Empowered Advocate program. More on that later.
Roger
Somebody should be there.
These warriors and their families should not be asked, nor expected to negotiate the obstacle course that involves the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration and Social Security by themselves. Ever.
If you go for a ride in a small private plane, you watch the pilot go through a very detailed checklist before he ever lines up on the runway, this is not counting hours and hours of training with an instructor pilot sitting next to him and constantly correcting and demonstrating how to do it correctly. All that for a one hour flight for dinner. This is all mandated by the FAA, who watch over pilot training and students like hawks. After all, we don't want one to crash, right? So why are we willing as a nation to allow our wounded warriors to "crash"?
A wounded warrior is allowed to wander through the process depending on luck as to how the rest of his life turns out. If he is lucky enough, he (or she) runs across a Veterans Service Officer from one of the Service Organizations like the VFW, American Legion, DAV or other, statistically, they will be much better off than the warrior that doesn't. Should it depend on luck?
We get calls from wounded warriors who have been in the obstacle course for 19 months without a Veterans Service Officer. How does that happen? Because he wasn't "lucky". And because everybody else thinks someone else has it.
Recently Sen Dole gave a report to the President about caring for the wounded. He wants to see an enhanced coordinator assigned to a wounded warrior. Good, what we need, another level of bureaucracy (and another government contract) to better care for these warriors.
Who has the responsibility for these wounded warriors?
We have the unit itself and the leaders assigned and responsible for the soldier, the military medical system, we have a government contractor (each branch as their own version, I will stick with the Army) working a contract called Wounded Warrior Program, there is a Wounded Warrior Hot Line (operated by yet another private contractor) there is Military One Source (operated by another government contractor) and then you wander into the VA system. If you are lucky.
So what does all that mean, after all "look what our government has done for these guys and gals!". Right. What all this means is that look how much blame you can spread around, and the beauty is each can claim that it was the "other guy" who failed to make all this happen.
So my naive solution? Establish an "Empowered Advocate" (EA) one that has an established timeline of acceptable and reasonable effort concerning a wounded warrior in the obstacle course. One that has teeth.
This EA, be he or she from an existing contract, assignment or whatever, would be assigned a warrior as he or she enters the medical review board of the military who is determining the fitness of staying on active duty, and follow and support them through the entire process.
This EA would have the authority to contact whatever agency is involved, ask for answers or decisions and have the force of law on his side having a timeline involved. For instance, if you contacted a VA rating official, that official would have XX days to answer fully the question or be held personally liable for the failure to do so. Or, they could provide written and signed documents saying they aren't going to do something or that it will take as much as 600 days to complete the requirement.
And if he or she doesn't answer the mail or the question, would they be liable?
Yes Martha, personally liable, yes, a Civil Servant employee, personally liable for failure. I am not saying go to jail, but I am saying go to the unemployment office.
Harsh? I don't know, but what would have happened to the young Army Specialist who didn't do what he was told to do? Or didn't go somewhere he was told to go?
I know, I know. He gets, "personally" in trouble. He doesn't get to complain about not enough resources. Not enough "help". He gets in trouble. So what happens? Every morning, around the world, young Army Specialist get up and do their duty! What a concept.
So regarding our Empowered Advocate and why he might make things different, well if you have ever raised a child you know that reward and punishment are just some of the tools that are needed to get them through the system called "growing up". But it works.
I suspect that once the word gets out that you better take care of these guys before "they" (The EA) calls, you do the right thing, because it is the right thing to do. (And you don't get in trouble)
A wounded warrior deserves the same treatment and consideration that he received laying in the hospital bed with VIPs all around and receiving a Purple Heart.
I have already asked my Congressman about an Empowered Advocate program. More on that later.
Roger
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