Veterans Corps Announces Team to Study Racial Disparities in Veteran Benefits

of Department of Veterans Affairs We have a new team and office responsible for addressing health and welfare inequalities among veterans as a result of discrimination based on race, sex, and gender.

A VA official said Friday that the agency’s new equity team, which was directed as part of an executive order issued in February by President Joe Biden to address disparities across the federal government, has “historically provided adequate service. It announced that it would create and implement the “improvement in outcomes for veterans who were denied access”. VA Equity Action Plan.

The commission, called the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Council (I*DEA), will also seek to address disparities in recruitment, hiring, promotion and retention of VA staff, according to a ministry press release. .

Read the following: Fifth SFAB Commander Fired, Other Executives Face Misconduct Investigation

In addition, the VA will create a new Equity Assurance Office within the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to work with the Council to close the gaps in benefit decisions such as disability compensation, housing and education benefits. bottom.

The department already has several offices overseeing diversity efforts, including the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans Affairs and the Minority Veterans Center, which support minority veterans and provide access to health care and wellbeing. Established to provide ideas on policies that provide support and improved access to welfare.

However, the I*DEA Council and the Office of Fairness Assurance will specifically consider inequities in the provision of benefits and will establish policies to ensure that all veterans are treated fairly.

“This new agency’s equity team will work to ensure that all veterans receive the world-class care and benefits they deserve, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual identity. , will help us deliver on that promise,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough said in a statement. “The team’s first task is to identify and close gaps in veterans’ health care and benefits.”

A lawsuit filed in Connecticut last November The department claims it has discriminated against black veterans for decades.

Conley Monk, Jr., a Vietnam veteran and former Marine, filed a lawsuit claiming he was wrongfully denied disability benefits, housing assistance, and livelihood assistance. GI Building Thanks to his skin color, he has benefited from an education over the decades.

Monk finally received compensation in 2020, but found statistically that claims decisions against black veterans were denied at nearly 6 percent higher rates than white veterans. Monk said discrimination goes back decades.

According to Associated PressThe VA data also showed that 30.3% of claims filed by Black veterans were fully approved, compared to 36% of claims filed by Hispanic veterans, with approval rates dropping among white veterans over the period. was 37.1%.

The VA released data on Friday that counter the statistics cited by Monk. According to the department, “a higher proportion of black veterans receive disability benefits than white veterans” (10.5% and 6.6% for post-traumatic stress disorder). For mental health he was 18.7% vs. 11.2%. In all conditions he was 36.5% vs. 28.4%.

Veterans Administration officials noted a lower acceptance rate for disability claims for black veterans, 65% compared to 75% for white veterans for post-traumatic stress. For all mental health conditions he was 69.3% vs. 75.4%. We noted that black veterans applied for disability benefits at a higher rate than white veterans, with 84.8% and 89.4% across all conditions.

“On average, black veterans receive slightly more Disability grade VA personnel higher than white veterans (65.7% vs. 62.2% for post-traumatic stress, 80% vs. 78% for all mental health conditions, 68% vs. 58% for all symptoms) ‘ said a veteran official. Average annual benefit payments for black veterans are slightly higher than for white veterans ($37,591 vs. $34,763 for post-traumatic stress, $36,563 vs. $36,563 for all mental health conditions) $33,321, $27,446 vs. $21,867 for all symptoms). “

Nonetheless, McDonough said the department’s mission is to serve all veterans, families, caregivers and survivors, and that the two new agencies will be “in the provision of benefits to veterans.” We will work to close the gap,” he said.

Assistant Secretary of Human Services Josh Jacobs and Assistant Secretary of Human Resources and Administration Gina Grosso will lead the department’s equities team effort in the first year, according to Veterans Affairs spokesman Terrence Hayes.

According to the VA, the I*DEA Council will report to the VA’s deputy director. Guy Kiyokawa, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enterprise Integration, currently fills that role, while Tanya Bradshere is awaiting a vote in the Senate.

The VBA’s Equity Guarantee Division is led by Lauryn Carson, who has been with the division for 31 years and is now Deputy Executive Director of Policy and Procedures for the VBA’s Compensation Services. She will report directly to the Office of the Undersecretary for Benefits.

In an executive order on February 16, Mr. Biden Requires all Cabinet departments to form impartiality teams And we will launch new efforts to advance racial equity and support across the federal government.

Biden said the federal government has a “responsibility to remove barriers” to those who have historically been discriminated against.

“Residents of underserved communities, many of whom have endured generations of discrimination and deprivation of investment, still stand a significant part in fully realizing the promise of a great nation,” Biden said. We are facing barriers,” he wrote.

– Patricia Kim can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on her Twitter @patriciakime.

Related: House committee approves defense bill with biggest wage hike in decades after culture war brawl

View full article