Friday, September 14, 2012

VA Says No Service Dogs Benefits for PTSD Sufferers

Though I'm really not a big (personal) fan of social media, I do rely on it for news bites.  And I saw something shocking on Facebook yesterday.  Canines with a Cause posted a link to an article about service dog benefits no longer being allowed by the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).

What?!

You read that correctly.  If you are a veteran with vision, hearing or mobility related injuries, you may receive service-dog benefits.  However, veterans who only suffer with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) or another mental health disability, will not qualify.

The VA justified its decision by saying that they'd not been able to determine that service dogs provide medical benefit to veterans with mental illness.  They also cited nationally established and widely accepted training protocols for sight, hearing and mobility assistance dogs and the lack of similar training protocols for mental health service dogs.

According to an article written by Christine Stapleton of The Palm Beach Post:
“Veterans with service dogs were baffled by the rule.
“You get doctors and people telling you that you’re not disabled enough,” said Jim Stanek, an infantryman in the U.S. Army who served three tours of combat duty in Iraq. Stanek, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury, helped found Paws and Stripes, a non-profit group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that provides service dogs and training to veterans with PTSD and mental health disabilities.
“What do I have to do? Have my leg amputated?” Stanek asked. “Is that what I need to do to get what I need to recover?
"Service dogs are individually trained to perform tasks for a specific person. Some of the tasks performed to assist veterans with PTSD include surveying darkened rooms, turning on lights, re-orienting their owner during nightmares or flashbacks, navigating through crowds, sensing anxiety, enforcing boundaries for personal space and retrieving a cellphone, said Sally Chester, secretary of Genesis Assistance Dogs Inc. of West Palm Beach.”
You can read the final draft of rules concerning veterans in need of service dogs here.

Canines With a Cause is a non-profit organization that helps shelter dogs find homes by training them to work as companion, therapy and service dogs for veterans in need.  According to them, a Pentagon study found that one in four veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, depression or anxiety.



11 comments:

  1. From the mom of Team Beaglebratz - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS! I am a long-time VA employee and I am also a Facebook follower but I must have missed this. This disturbs me very much. I don't want to say more right now since I am at work but I will be checking on this further. I also have physical disabilities as well as a few mental health issues - I KNOW THE BENEFITS of having a dog in the house - I am much more willing to socialize when I have a dog by my side. There are a few basic things that all service dogs, whether it be for physical or mental disabilities, should be required to possess such as a calm nature, aptitude to perform basic commands, willingness to perform whatever the task is that is required of them.

    I will try to be back later this evening when I am home and I WILL follow-up on this issue.
    Kim

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    1. Kim, I was absolutely stunned to learn this. I'll be blogging some more about this next week. Please do some follow up of your own and you may want to write the VA. I know I'm going to!

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  2. Sue - I also posted about this on Bunny's Blog. It just makes no sense. I hope that if the VA will reconsider if it gets enough push-back. So many veterans with PTSD and other mental disabilites rely upon their service dogs for support!

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  3. Hi Y'all,

    I'm so glad y'all came by! I just wanted to thank y'all for stoppin' to visit and say "hi".

    Glad y'all posted about the Vets wi PTSD allowance for service dogs. This is just another promise to our Vets that is not being kept by our government. If we want young men to go out and protect us, we need to care for their needs when they come home.

    Hope y'all are havin' a wonderful week.

    Y'all come back now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  4. That is just crazy!! Maybe whoever made that decision should go over and fight for awhile.

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  5. I could be wrong, but I"m fairly certain that federal law as pertains to service dogs says that PTSD is covered. I'm ot sure the Department of Veteran Affairs is able to make a ruling like that. Hopefully that gets thrown right out.

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  6. I just posted the following news article on my Facebook wall->

    http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/stories/veteran-affairs-wont-cover-costs-of-ptsd-service-dogs

    Kim

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kim!! This weekend I did some research and found more info about the clinical study. Currently there are 350 participants, all in Florida. And I've found at least 3 service dog groups participating. Regardless, the bottom line is that it is outrageous that the VA is suspending service dog benefits to those veterans with PTSD.

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  7. Thanks for your comments everyone. Unfortunately, this really is a new VA rule. I've blogged about it again today, Monday, Sept 17.

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  8. I have used the VA myself only once and that was over 30 years ago. Currently, I am a licensed therapist and have had a couple of clients on my caseload who were combat vets (Vietnam and Iraq). Dealing with trauma and PTSD is a challenge for the client and the therapist. If therapy dogs will help a vet deal with their trauma, anger and PTSD, then I believe the VA should cover the cost and approve that treatment. Sometimes I am just dumbfounded as to the lack of common sense displayed by the VA Administration

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  9. With the suicide rate spiraling, baffling all the "experts," you'd think that pulling the rug out of PTSD veterans like myself for whom all anti-depressants failed and conventional therapy is of limited effectiveness, at best. Most times, it's just a waste of my time. I wouldn't be alive today without my highly trained service dog.

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