VA Conducts Bloggers Roundtable over GI Bill Problems

by: Richard Allen Smith

Thu Sep 24, 2009 at 17:24:34 PM EDT

First off, all of the VA staff on the call noted that the processing goal for GI Bill benefits is 25 days. Currently, the average is 35 days. The Secretary and Directors on the call all noted that this is unacceptable and indicated measures they are taking to fix the problem.  This weekend alone, VA will have 900 employees working 3000 hours of overtime to process GI Bill claims.

The Department expressed extreme regret over not effectively communicating with Veterans on what to expect with GI Bill processing. They are preparing a "Survival Guide" document for the Spring 2010 and future semesters. The VA is promising that future semesters will run smoother, now that the Department knows what to expect.

Also, some schools are waiting to submit Certifications of Enrollment until after the add/drop deadline at that particular school. There is no requirement to do this. Speak with your school's VA representative if they are practicing this, and inform them that this is not a requirement.

Now that the nuts and bolts of the call are out of the way, I'll opine.

As acknowledged by the VA staff on the call, what has happened with the implementation of the new GI Bill is with out a doubt unacceptable. The bright spot here is that the Department is taking proactive steps to fix the problem. The level of action in the bureaucracy and the outreach the Department is conducting with Veterans groups to communicate the problems and what they are doing to correct them is something I doubt we would have seen at the VA a year ago. Acknowledging their inadequacies and doing everything within the power of the Department to correct them is all we can ask for at this moment, and that is exactly what is happening.

Of course, were going to continue to keep them honest and ensure that the changes they're making are enough. At this point they've admitted fault, acknowledged shortcomings, and moved to fix it.  It's been a long while since we've seen an Administration agency actually do that.