Sure, absolutely.
As I think Mr. Ferguson is suggesting to you, the process is not one size fits all. It really depends a great deal on the severity of the injury the individual is dealing with.
Certainly while they continue to be in uniform, they're primarily the responsibility of DND. Once they're out of uniform, they are primarily ours. However, when it becomes apparent that we're dealing with a serious injury, as Mr. Ferguson says, we do receive a notification. If it is quite a serious situation, then our case manager begins interacting with the case manager on the DND side. At some point there would be a decision within DND that this individual would likely be medically released. At that point they become our primary responsibility.
To carry on, the transition interview is the point in the process where all the various needs and issues are identified. That can happen before or after release. It really depends on the circumstances.
In the situation of a serious injury, the norm would be that it would happen before release, as a preparatory step, so that in fact our professionals within Veterans Affairs are ready to start providing the help. In other words, we really don't want a gap between the benefits to the injured veteran from DND and those that continue with Veterans Affairs after release.
They would develop a relationship with a primary counsellor in our district office, closest to where they live. Their needs would be assessed. If they are a candidate for rehabilitation, as most individuals with a serious injury would be, then they would commence those benefits immediately. Those decisions happen very quickly. I forget the exact number, but in a period of about four weeks from the time we first see an application—and with serious injuries, much faster—we can have those benefits in place.
Keep in mind, too, that under the new Veterans Charter, we don't have to have an entitlement to a disability award or a disability pension in order to start those benefits. They become quite immediately available.
While somebody is in that program, they are eligible for the earnings loss, which is 75% of their pre-release salary. Those benefits would start flowing to the veteran at that point.
A normal track would be that over a period of time—typically over a course of two years, although there is no fixed time limit on it—a person would rehabilitate. First they would stabilize medically, then they would deal with psycho-social issues, and then they would gain vocational rehabilitation—interventions they need to reintegrate. That assumes they're capable of reintegration. If they aren't, and they're permanently disabled, a decision has to be made by the rehabilitation professionals that they've helped them along as far as they're likely to go. At that point, then, they would become eligible for the ongoing long-term earnings loss that continues to age 65, and any other health benefits or supported benefits available to them.
There are very different scenarios, depending on the severity. For the most serious, we try to get in there as soon as we can and make the benefits available as soon as we can.