Thank you for your question.
Thank you. The issue of the lump sum being mismanaged in certain circumstances has been a concern for the department. About 18 months ago, the department looked at that question very seriously. We conducted a survey of veterans who were receiving the benefit to try to determine how it was being spent.
For the most part, it would appear that the money was being spent wisely. There were a few cases, particularly cases in which individuals may have been suffering from serious mental health issues perhaps or had other issues in their lives, where that might have put the individuals at risk.
The decision at the time, and what has led us to make enhancements to the lump-sum payment award, was basically predicated on the assumption and principle that veterans have the right to choose. It's a fundamental principle that veterans should be able to choose how they spend their money, unless they are not competent legally. If they are competent legally, they should fundamentally have the right to choose. That's one principle.
In that process, we determined that that some individuals would profit greatly from having financial counselling about managing the money. The department provides up to $500 for any individual receiving the lump-sum benefit to receive counselling on how it is spent.
Another consideration is that these large awards are only paid at the point in time that the individual's health conditions supporting the award are stable. There are checks and balances in play to try to ensure that the money is used appropriately and that we don't find ourselves in the situation you described, which would be most regrettable and unfortunate.