Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2015

[Mélanie Witty]

Yes.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

That's a good thing.

With regard to the MFRC, there have recently been some changes. The MFRC was for military members and their families, and so on. I think that in eight MFRCs we're starting a pilot program to make it available to vets and families. I'm not sure that's actually in place yet. Have you any comment on how that will help the veteran community?

[Mélanie Witty]

All I can tell you is that the MFRC has employees working with us at the IPSC, and they're looking to hire more. A posting went out for another officer to help with the families. That's my only experience in terms of that.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

On the vocational training, and so on—and Mr. Lemieux covered that—if someone were in a frame of mind to accept training, he could actually take $25,000 worth of training through SISIP and then two years later start $75,800 training through VAC.

[Mélanie Witty]

Yes.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

In an ideal situation, the person or spouse would have access to over $100,000 worth of vocational training.

[Mélanie Witty]

Yes.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

You talked about being eligible for benefits, financial and so on, the day after release. That's a good thing. Do we have any tracking on when they actually get their first cheque after release?

[Michel D. Doiron]

It depends on which cheques you're talking about. Yesterday I was informed at the committee that the pension cheque can take many months, which I was a little bit surprised to hear. That's not my responsibility, by the way. I just want to be clear.

There can be delays. When they come into our programs, if they've done the SCAN and they've had the transition interview, and they've done all the work with the Mélanies, I won't say it's always seamless, but the delays are minimized. If they have not, and they come to us and give the 30-day notice and they're gone—and people do that—then there is a delay.

Every case is different, depending on when they come to us.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I just want to touch on the Legion for a moment, because they are an important component of service to veterans.

[Michel D. Doiron]

Absolutely.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

There are 1,400 or so Legions across the country, and they all have, or have the facility to have, a Legion service officer. I'm not sure if all do or not. I looked at Brad to nod his head. They do.

We recently doubled the amount of financial support to the Legion for visits and so on. Are you looking at anything with the Legion from VAC for additional training for those Legion officers, or in the areas where Legions are more accessible, to have Veterans Affairs people work together with the Legions to say here's some extra training we can give?

Are you hearing from the Legion that they are interested in doing that?

[Michel D. Doiron]

I don't think we're doing additional training, but we do training on a yearly basis with the service officers with the Legion. Actually, I've attended the training myself—not the full training, but I went to speak. They are a cherished partner to us. They're in the locations; they know the services. So they're a close partner.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

The Legion would be a pretty important partner in this from a pure numbers point of view.

[Michel D. Doiron]

They're very important partners in this.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

You said folks are available 24-7 to talk, but you also talked about the PTSD app on a device. Obviously, that's 24-7 because it's electronic. Is there somebody on the other end of that app, or is it electronic queuing—

[Mélanie Witty]

It's queueing and prompting: “What happens if?” So if the member, wherever they're at, feels their symptoms are not well controlled, if they don't feel safe, the queuing and prompting from the application will ground them and bring them to a safe place. There's nobody on the receiving end.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I would assume that one of the prompts from that would be, “Here's a number. Call and talk to somebody.”

[Mélanie Witty]

That's correct.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

The next speaker is Monsieur Chicoine.

Mr. Chicoine, I'll be lenient, but we should try to keep the speaking time short because it is important that everyone have a chance to speak.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will try to be brief.

I have a few questions.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here to explain the transition services to us.

What happens to someone who is released from military service for non-medical reasons and realizes a few years later that he does have a service-related injury? I'm thinking of someone with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Is it difficult for him to obtain all the services when he gets in touch with you? What happens to someone like that?

[Michel D. Doiron]

We assess his condition and a psychiatrist, psychologist or health care professional determines whether he has a mental health problem, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or another illness. In 72% of cases, people who come to see us are suffering from PTSD.

We have accelerated processes to ensure that they have access to the appropriate services. If they take part in the rehabilitation program, they are provided with mental health services. If they have never applied for a veterans' disability award, they need to do so, because that opens up a whole other set of doors.

In October, we introduced an accelerated process for PTSD. In the case of mental health problems, it is well known that the faster care is provided, the better the chances are of success. We therefore accelerated access to service. This is known as evidence-based accelerated service. We want to make sure that people have access to service.

Even if we cannot make the connection, it is important to remember that many services are available within communities. If they are not, case managers or service agents can help the veteran find help locally, even though we do not cover the cost.

Mélanie did not talk about this, but when she conducts the transition interview, one of the main questions has to do with where the person will live and whether appropriate care will be available there. In some parts of the country there are no psychologists or psychiatrists. I come from northern New Brunswick and I know it is not always easy.

In short, our people help these individuals find someone, even though we do not cover that cost. We help them or we put them in touch with mental health communities or psychologists. We try to include them in our process. If they served in a special duty area, the decision is much easier.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

If I understand correctly, they are entitled to all the same services, in a timely manner, even for non-medical reasons.

[Michel D. Doiron]

The big difference is that they can go to our operational stress injury clinics. They can use the 1-800 number and they can also have 20 sessions that we will pay for. Whether the person was diagnosed or is suffering from a service-related problem, we will pay for him and his family. Veterans Affairs Canada pays for up to 20 sessions per incident. We put the person in touch with a psychologist or psychiatrist, usually within 48 hours, all across the country. The family is also covered in that case.