Veterans Affairs Committee on May 6th, 2022

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Earlier, Mr. Ledwell mentioned that 34% of last year's budget went to service excellence. What is service excellence going toward? Is it salary or made out as a payment? Can we have a breakdown of how that portion of the budget was spent?

Further to that, if the 34% is not being spent this year, is it available to be spent in other areas?

[Steven Harris]

Sara, did you want to take that question?

[Sara Lantz]

Yes. Service excellence is the term that we use for the hiring of additional staff to tackle the backlog, majorly. In the previous two years, it was the 518 new employees to directly support and address the backlog. There is a small portion that we've also dedicated in previous years to automation, to some innovation on automating some of our processes and gaining some efficiencies in the process, so that, as Mr. Harris mentioned earlier, as we tackle the backlog and reduce it to a manageable level, we can sustain that into the future, not just with manpower but through technology.

As for continuing the percentage of spending, we expect that, because of the extension of those 518 employees into this new fiscal year.... They are fully trained. They will have a few new employees, because of some of the departures we experienced. They're expecting the same percentage of spending on the backlog, if that was your question.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

I understand the $140-million budget will allow VAC to hire more staff to address the backlog. Do you feel there are any other areas we can look at to minimize that process and speed it up, so that we can help more veterans throughout the process, not just by only hiring more staff?

[Steven Harris]

That's a really great question. I'm happy to reassure you and the committee as a whole, Mr. Chair, that's exactly what we're doing.

We're working through innovation and automation in all aspects of the disability adjudication process to make sure that if there are system changes that we can make, we make it easier. To the earlier point that the other member made about incomplete applications, there are things that we can do to help veterans make sure they are able to do that. There is a range of additional measures that we're taking beyond just the additional staff being brought in to help with the reduction of the backlog.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Miao.

We are now going to continue with two short speaking times.

Mr. Desilets, the floor is yours for two and a half minutes.

[Luc Desilets, Bloc, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question is for Ms. Meunier. Given how very sensible she is, I'm sure she will be able to give me an intelligent answer.

I'm coming back to the table setting out the total number of disability benefits waiting for a decision. I ended my last comment by saying that there were 2,147 applications ready for assignment, and, at the same time, 12,381 incomplete applications that were sent back to the veterans.

Ms. Meunier, can you help me understand this significant discrepancy?

[Amy Meunier]

I'm happy to take this question, although it does fall under my colleague's responsibility now.

We actually undertook.... You're right to say there is a large volume of applications that are incomplete. The incompleteness can range from a missing signature, sections not filled out, medical questionaries missing. There is a range of reasons an application might be incomplete.

We did undertake a consultation with veterans recently through our Let's Talk Veterans platform to better understand what is happening, and why we're receiving so many incomplete applications. There were a number of findings, and I may have touched on this briefly the last time I was here. Many applicants didn't know about the My VAC Account, which does provide an opportunity to prompt people and remind them to fill out each section.

Additionally, we may have thought we were providing a sufficient amount of information in a clear and easy to understand manner up front in terms of the full process for applying. That consultation has helped us to see that we need to do a better job of clearly laying out the process.

Those are some of the insights into why we do see so many incomplete applications. We are also taking steps at the front end with our intake officers to reduce and identify incomplete applications early on, so individuals can be made aware there are missing pieces of information in one to two weeks versus a much longer or protracted period of time.

[Steven Harris]

Mr. Chair, may I add a comment?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'll allow you 20 seconds, Mr. Harris.

[Steven Harris]

I'd like to make a quick clarification.

There aren't just 2,000 applications that are ready for assignment. At the moment, there are 11,000 applications that are overdue, but there are others that are ready for assignment so we can make a decision. That is what we're working on.

It isn't just 2,000 applications, it's about 15,000 applications that are ready for assignment for a decision to be made. However, yes, there are about 12,000 incomplete applications.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Harris.

Mr. Desilets, you'll have an opportunity to return to this question in the next round of questions.

Ms. Blaney, the floor is now yours for two and a half minutes.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I guess my question has to go to Mr. Harris now. I always enjoy that, as he well knows.

I'm wondering if he could tell us what the standards of care for veterans are with this new rehab contract and if we can have a copy of the standards of care.

[Steven Harris]

I'm not specifically clear on the standards of care. The new contract is not yet in place. It will only go into place in November. We're in an interim period whereby the existing contract is still being used, and there will be a transitional element to the new contract that was procured.

In terms of the operations of the contract and the kinds of expectations we would have of the contractor, I'd be happy to share that with you.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

All right. I'll let you know if I like it. If I want something else, I'm sure you'll hear from our office, as you know.

In the conclusion pilot, I'm just wondering, what the process is of determining when the veteran moves from case management to a veterans service agent. You talked about what you were looking for, but I also know that sometimes people do better for a while and then they struggle again. I'm wondering how that relationship works between those two roles, and if the veteran has to see a new person.

This is something that I am very concerned about. A veteran has a case manager or may have a veterans service agent, but something changes and they have to go back to the case manager. Do they have to go to a new one, or do they get to stay with the one they already know, and vice versa as they move through the transition period?

[Steven Harris]

I'll I try to answer as quickly as I can. There were a couple of questions.

Very quickly, in terms of a conclusion, what we want to see is if the veteran has successfully met his or her rehabilitation goals and if they are in a good place, that their well-being is assured. It doesn't mean they will not need assistance from Veterans Affairs in the future, that they may not need to call in and get some guidance or seek additional supports, but they don't need the high level of touch that a case manager is able to provide.

With respect to whether they can come back, of course they can come back. If their needs change and need to be reassessed and they need to come back to a case-managed situation, that's a possibility. Whether they would go back to the same one will depend on the caseloads in those offices and whether those case managers are still there—

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

I'm sorry to interrupt, but I only have 10 seconds.

Have you done any work on what happens to a veteran when they have to retell their story to whomever they are getting their supports from? We definitely heard about this for caseworkers not understanding about what happened to the queer community prior to that.

I'm just wondering if there is any research within your department around that specifically, what it does to veterans when they have to retell their stories to yet another worker.

[Steven Harris]

I wouldn't say there is specific research. In this case there is a lot of evidence, as you've noted, that people can become frustrated having to respond or tell their story again. It's known, and so that's why we try to minimize it and ensure that there is consistency in terms of the supports for veterans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Blaney and Mr. Harris.

Ms. Wagantall, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you so much, Chair.

I'm really pleased to have you here. I have a number of questions, 10 of them. Don't let that scare you off. They should be fairly succinct answers to these.

Who would I get the best results from to ask specifically about the VAC benefits navigator tool? Are you familiar with it?

[Steven Harris]

I could answer those question, yes.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Could Ms. Meunier as well? Okay, great.

Can you tell me on what date it was established? If you can't answer these right now, feel free to come back with the answers. That's fine. We'll keep the list.

[Steven Harris]

I don't think I have the date that it was established right with me, but it's been up for about 10 years.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Actually, I believe it was established just as this government took power in 2016, but regardless, there are circumstances and decisions that led to it being established. Do you have any insight into how it came about?