Thank you, and good afternoon.
The Union of Veterans' Affairs Employees is a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. We represent over 2,800 employees within Veterans Affairs, including most of the front-line staff who deal with veterans and their families every day.
We would first like to give you an update about the challenges faced by case managers within Veterans Affairs.
We remind you of the commitment since 2015 to reduce case-manager ratios to 25:1 in order to allow for more time and focus on the needs of veterans and their families. We told you in March that the department has failed to meet that target. We are disappointed to tell you that nothing has changed. In fact, with the pandemic, things may be worse for case managers and other staff, and we know that things have not improved for our veterans and their families.
Case managers continue to carry caseloads of 40, 50, and even over 60 cases. That is not just a workload issue. These are real veterans and their families who are not getting the services they deserve, the services they have earned. It is not just case managers. The situation remains troubling across the country.
In April, UVAE carried out a survey of our members regarding their work with veterans and their families. We asked them to not only identify issues and problems, but to make suggestions for improvements. We have provided a full report from that survey in our brief to the committee. If you want a fuller picture inside Veterans Affairs from ground zero, we ask you to read the brief.
We will highlight some areas for your information. In the survey, we covered everything from initial assessment and processing of applications through to helping veterans navigate the systems. We also focused on mental health services for veterans and their families, and support for the UVAE members who work in this area.
The bottom line from this survey is that there is a high level of frustration among UVAE members, who are trying their best to serve veterans and their families. This includes frustration with having to use multiple incompatible systems, an excessive workload, and lack of communication between sections. Not surprisingly, there are many pleas, urgent pleas, for additional mental health training and support.
In intake and assessment, which is the first place the veterans access about their benefits, there are problems, including inadequate resourcing and training, and duplication of work. This is causing many problems for veterans and their families. It was even triggering mental health symptoms in some veterans as they had to explain their problems over and over again.
In first-contact resolution, where initial difficulties are supposed to be resolved, there are backlogs and delays in processing requests. The tools that staff are using also assume a certain prevalence of provincial support that is not always available in rural areas. All of this means longer wait times for veterans and the information provided is not always accurate. That, in turn, causes more delays.
With Medavie Blue Cross, the main benefit service provider for veterans, staff reported significant delays, preventing veterans from getting their medication, services or payments. This is not only an unacceptable way to treat veterans, it also negatively impacts the relationship between veterans and our staff. Our members also asked, who is in charge of benefits, Veterans Affairs Canada or Medavie Blue Cross?
One concerning finding from the survey is that about half of the staff whose work involves mental health services for veterans felt that they have inadequate resources to do their work. They noted that referrals take too much time and that resources in rural areas are very limited. Over two-thirds of those surveyed said there are delays in getting veterans access to mental health services.
Our members made numerous recommendations to improve services to veterans and their benefits. We urge the committee to take note of those. We have provided the results of this survey to senior officials at Veterans Affairs, but to date, we have yet to receive an official response. We will continue to press for positive changes for veterans and the people who have the honour to serve them.
Going back to the backlog of disability claims and the department's plan to deal with this issue, we welcome the additional resources that are coming, directed towards this problem, but there are two basic flaws with this particular plan.
First of all, it is proposing another temporary solution to a permanent problem. We have been through this process of putting in temporary or surge resources to address problems in one area and hoping to reduce the pressure on the system.
Some have called this a band-aid solution. We would agree, but our veterans and the issues they face are permanent, ongoing and growing. In fact, we refer to the current approach to dealing with the backlog as whack-a-mole: Reduce the pressure in one section and it pops up in another. Even if the backlog in disability claims could be resolved, the system would be overloaded at every other stress point in the system.
In our view, it's time to stop the public charade of announcing the next big fix to whatever backlog is in the media and deal with the systemic issues at the department. We call again for a permanent solution to all of the issues at VAC and to provide permanent and secure funding for veterans and their families. That change has to be systemic, permanent and one that accepts the reality that Canada has a growing veteran population with complex needs that requires our collective support. Our veterans deserve better. Our union and our members stand ready to do our part to make that happen.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.