The OAG is correct. There are a multitude of reasons—and I wouldn't want to speculate on all of them—but the points that were raised were correct. Sometimes it's just a matter of organizing themselves. There's a multitude of things. Why would it take so long to send it to us? Our responsibility, once we get it, is to get it out as fast as we can. I don't want to speculate on all the reasons.
But you're correct. We are modifying our forms. The forms are very complex. Our programs are complex. When I arrived at Veterans Affairs, I was very surprised at the complexity of the programs and eligibility for the programs. If I, after 25 years in the public service, have a hard time sometimes figuring out the eligibility, then some of our veterans...so we have to simplify that.
Our deputy minister and our new minister have been very clear that they want us to be more veteran-centric. We're working very hard on that to show that care, that compassion, and that respect for the veteran not only in our forms but also in the services we are offering. So we are looking at the forms.
We are also doing some things that may resolve some of the issues with the appeals process. We're actually calling the veteran now with regard to disability. Before saying “no”, we tell the veteran that, based on what we have in front of us, the answer is going to be “no”, and we ask them if they can provide us with anything that may bring us to a “yes”, to allow us to give the benefit of the doubt to the veteran within the confines of the act .
We've seen an increase in our approval rates since we started doing that. Around the time the OAG was coming in, probably in July, I implemented that. Since then, our first-level approval rate went from 71% to 79%. We touched 80% in one month, but I'll say 79%. So we're taking steps to be more client- or veteran-centric in the way we are doing our business. It's not an easy business. There are a lot of avenues for the veterans and navigating this is difficult. That's why we want to reinstall or reimplement—I hate saying the personal touch because then people expect that every veteran will have somebody, but at least help for individuals to complete a form and help for individuals to get the services.
At the end of the day, employees at Veterans Affairs care a lot for the veterans. They are totally committed. They have hard jobs. I know some of you have been to our offices. Our offices deal with veterans on a day in, day out basis, as do our mental health clinics, and that's not an easy job. They care for the veterans. We want to move that care to make sure it shows up in the forms, in the calls, and in other places, and that's what we're really working on.
