House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

"As many of you know, the goal of the Independent Living Program is to ensure that eligible disabled veterans are able to maintain maximum independence in their daily living by developing learned skills that may benefit them for future employment," said Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin. "As we will hear from our panelists, many of our most severely disabled veterans’ lives have been profoundly changed for the positive as a direct result of these independent living services. Unfortunately, members of this Subcommittee have also heard from veterans that have raised concerns about this program. Today’s hearing will give the Subcommittee the opportunity to determine how we can best serve all our veterans."

The Independent Living Program was created to make sure that each eligible veteran is able, to the maximum extent possible, to live independently and participate in family and community life increasing their potential to return to work. Support services may include assistive technology, specialized services for medical and rehabilitative needs, addressing personal and family adjustment issues, independent living skills training, and connection with community-based support services.

The Office of the Inspector General at the VA issued a report on December 17, 2007, that evaluated aspects of program results, assessed reasons why veterans drop out of the program, and evaluated the effects of the annual cap of 2,500 veterans that can participate annually in the program.

Veteran Bruce McCartney offered testimony to document the difficulty and delays in obtaining services from the Independent Living Program. Four years after constant phone calls and inquiries, the process was complete. As he works with other disabled veterans, he has found they are facing similar problems. He testified, "As I network with other disabled veterans and encourage them to apply for their ILP, a benefit which they earned with their broken body and sometime spirit, I realize that not one iota has changed. Delays, failure to respond to emails, conveniently ‘lost’ paperwork, and unreturned phone messages are the rule rather than the exception. THE PROBLEM IS SYSTEMIC, from the Director’s office, the Inspector General’s Office, to Regional Headquarters, down to local case managers."

Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin discussed the need to improve services for veterans as they strive to live independently after sustaining battle injuries. She also noted that the need for these services will increase in the coming years. "It is very important that we examine these concerns, especially at a time when the VA Secretary recognizes an increase need for independent living services over the next ten years," said Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin. "Congress must continue to reexamine the development and results of this program to provide the best services in a timely manner. The men and women who serve our nation honorably deserve and should receive the best our country can offer."

"Today’s military has dramatically improved its ability to save soldiers with battlefield injuries and so many more lives are being saved," said Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. "As a result, our veterans are living with much more serious wounds than we have ever seen before. Today’s service members are returning with injuries that would have been fatal in previous conflicts. These readjustment services are needed now! I would like to see the VA expand and improve this program that has the potential to support our wounded heroes as they return to an independent life."

Prepared testimony for the hearing and an audio recording of the hearing is available on the internet at this link: http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?newsid=273