Veterans Affairs
Opportunities Exist to Improve Potential Recipients' Awareness of the Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant Gao ID: GAO-10-786 July 15, 2010Adaptive housing assistance grants help eligible service members or veterans adapt or modify a residence to accommodate disabilities sustained through military service. The Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006 authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand its existing adaptive housing assistance grants to include eligible individuals temporarily living in a home owned by a family member, known as Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grants. The act also mandated GAO to issue interim and final reports on VA's implementation of TRA. This final report examines (1) the characteristics of TRA grants and grantees and (2) what accounts for low utilization of the program and how to ensure that the program serves its intended recipients. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed VA data and documents and interviewed service members and veterans who both had and had not used the TRA grant.
Use of the TRA grant program has been low--from the program's inception on June 15, 2006, through April 4, 2010, VA processed only 18 TRA grants. Therefore, only a very small proportion of the thousands of individuals potentially eligible for adaptive housing assistance have used TRA. Half of these grantees were under the age of 40 and half were over the age of 40. The average age of those under 40 was 26 years. Among those over 40, seven were over the age of 60. Of the 11 TRA grantees we interviewed, all had lost the use of both legs, and most also had other disabilities, such as brain trauma. Three of the grantees we interviewed were injured abroad while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, four grantees were injured domestically in a vehicle or sporting accident, and four grantees suffered an illness, such as multiple sclerosis. Of the 18 TRA grants that had been awarded, 11 were for the maximum allowable amount of $14,000, and 3 others were near that maximum. In some cases, the cost of adaptations exceeded the amount of the TRA grant and was supplemented by donations, other grants, or the grantee's own funds. Interviews we conducted with 50 service members and veterans eligible for adaptive housing benefits suggest that awareness of TRA may be low and that the program may not be reaching all of the individuals who could benefit from it. While most of the 50 interviewees were familiar with adaptive housing benefits in general, 38 were not familiar with the TRA program in particular and did not know that adaptive housing grants can be used to modify a home owned by a family member. In addition, while TRA was not applicable for the personal circumstances of many of the interviewees, in seven cases individuals described personal circumstances well suited for use of TRA and said they likely would have used the TRA program had they previously been aware of it. An additional seven said they would have at least considered using the program had they been aware of it. The extent to which TRA is addressed in VA's information sources about adaptive housing benefits is limited--for example, VA does not have a separate fact sheet for TRA, and it is unclear how consistently VA representatives publicize the opportunity to use TRA when conducting outreach to and interviews with service members and veterans. One of the stated core values of the VA office that administers TRA is to communicate to veterans in a timely, thorough, and accurate manner. A better understanding is needed of potential information gaps that may be occurring when severely disabled service members transition to civilian life and when veterans are informed about adaptive housing benefits. Additional efforts to make eligible individuals better aware of the TRA grant program could help ensure that the program more fully serves its intended beneficiaries. GAO recommends that VA evaluate current methods of communicating information about TRA grants to eligible individuals and take appropriate measures to improve awareness of the program among such individuals. VA agreed with GAO's recommendations and described actions to address them.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Mathew J. Scire Team: Government Accountability Office: Financial Markets and Community Investment Phone: (202) 512-6794GAO-10-786, Veterans Affairs: Opportunities Exist to Improve Potential Recipients' Awareness of the Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant
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Report to Congressional Committees:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
July 2010:
Veterans Affairs:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Potential Recipients' Awareness of the
Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant:
GAO-10-786:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-10-786, a report to congressional committees.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Adaptive housing assistance grants help eligible service members or
veterans adapt or modify a residence to accommodate disabilities
sustained through military service. The Veterans‘ Housing Opportunity
and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006 authorized the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand its existing adaptive housing
assistance grants to include eligible individuals temporarily living
in a home owned by a family member, known as Temporary Residence
Adaptation (TRA) grants. The act also mandated GAO to issue interim
and final reports on VA‘s implementation of TRA. This final report
examines (1) the characteristics of TRA grants and grantees and (2)
what accounts for low utilization of the program and how to ensure
that the program serves its intended recipients. To address these
objectives, GAO analyzed VA data and documents and interviewed service
members and veterans who both had and had not used the TRA grant.
What GAO Found:
Use of the TRA grant program has been low”from the program‘s inception
on June 15, 2006, through April 4, 2010, VA processed only 18 TRA
grants. Therefore, only a very small proportion of the thousands of
individuals potentially eligible for adaptive housing assistance have
used TRA. Half of these grantees were under the age of 40 and half
were over the age of 40. The average age of those under 40 was 26
years. Among those over 40, seven were over the age of 60. Of the 11
TRA grantees we interviewed, all had lost the use of both legs, and
most also had other disabilities, such as brain trauma. Three of the
grantees we interviewed were injured abroad while serving in Operation
Iraqi Freedom, four grantees were injured domestically in a vehicle or
sporting accident, and four grantees suffered an illness, such as
multiple sclerosis. Of the 18 TRA grants that had been awarded, 11
were for the maximum allowable amount of $14,000, and 3 others were
near that maximum. In some cases, the cost of adaptations exceeded the
amount of the TRA grant and was supplemented by donations, other
grants, or the grantee‘s own funds.
Interviews we conducted with 50 service members and veterans eligible
for adaptive housing benefits suggest that awareness of TRA may be low
and that the program may not be reaching all of the individuals who
could benefit from it. While most of the 50 interviewees were familiar
with adaptive housing benefits in general, 38 were not familiar with
the TRA program in particular and did not know that adaptive housing
grants can be used to modify a home owned by a family member. In
addition, while TRA was not applicable for the personal circumstances
of many of the interviewees, in seven cases individuals described
personal circumstances well suited for use of TRA and said they likely
would have used the TRA program had they previously been aware of it.
An additional seven said they would have at least considered using the
program had they been aware of it. The extent to which TRA is
addressed in VA‘s information sources about adaptive housing benefits
is limited”for example, VA does not have a separate fact sheet for
TRA, and it is unclear how consistently VA representatives publicize
the opportunity to use TRA when conducting outreach to and interviews
with service members and veterans. One of the stated core values of
the VA office that administers TRA is to communicate to veterans in a
timely, thorough, and accurate manner. A better understanding is
needed of potential information gaps that may be occurring when
severely disabled service members transition to civilian life and when
veterans are informed about adaptive housing benefits. Additional
efforts to make eligible individuals better aware of the TRA grant
program could help ensure that the program more fully serves its
intended beneficiaries.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends that VA evaluate current methods of communicating
information about TRA grants to eligible individuals and take
appropriate measures to improve awareness of the program among such
individuals. VA agreed with GAO‘s recommendations and described
actions to address them.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-786 or key
components. For more information, contact Mathew J. Scirč at (202) 512-
8678 or sciremj@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
Use of TRA Has Been Low and TRA Grantees Include Both Younger and
Older Veterans:
Most Individuals We Spoke with Were Unaware of TRA, and Some Could
Have Benefited from the Program:
Conclusions:
Recommendations:
Agency Comments:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1:Summary of the Specially Adapted Housing, Special Housing
Adaptation, and Temporary Residence Adaptation Programs:
Table 2:Characteristics of TRA Grants and Grantees:
Table 3:Adaptations Using TRA Grants and Their Cost:
Abbreviations:
DOD: Department of Defense:
SAH: Specially Adapted Housing:
SHA: Special Housing Adaptation:
TRA: Temporary Residence Adaptation:
VA: Department of Veterans Affairs:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
July 15, 2010:
The Honorable Daniel K. Akaka:
Chairman The Honorable:
Richard Burr:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Veterans' Affairs:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Stephanie Herseth Sandlin:
Chairwoman:
The Honorable John Boozman:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity:
Committee on Veterans' Affairs:
House of Representatives:
As of June 2010, more than 38,000 service members had been wounded in
action as part of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi
Freedom. Congress has enacted several laws to help service members
adjust to their injuries and successfully transition to civilian life
after serving in the military. Among the benefits available to service
members and veterans are adaptive housing grants, which help eligible
individuals adapt or modify a residence to accommodate disabilities
sustained during military service.
The Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006
authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to expand its
existing adaptive housing assistance grants to include eligible
individuals temporarily living in a home owned by a family member,
known as Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) grants.[Footnote 1]
Section 101 of the act mandated us to submit an interim report by June
15, 2009, and a final report by June 15, 2011, on VA's implementation
of TRA. In June 2009, we issued our interim report, which provided
information on TRA grants, grant recipients, and VA's policies and
processes for administering TRA.[Footnote 2] This final report
examines (1) the characteristics of TRA grants and grantees and how
TRA grants have been used and (2) what accounts for service members'
and veterans' low utilization of the TRA grant program and what, if
anything, could be done to ensure that the program serves its intended
recipients.
To address these objectives, we collected and analyzed VA data on TRA
grants and grantees, reviewed VA's individual case files on these
grantees, and conducted individual interviews with the majority of TRA
grantees to learn about their use of the grants. We also conducted
telephone interviews with 50 service members and veterans under the
age of 35 who had qualified for adaptive housing benefits but had not
applied for TRA. These 50 interviewees consisted of two nonprobability
samples, one of 25 individuals who had applied for adaptive housing
and one of 25 individuals who were eligible for adaptive housing but
had not applied.[Footnote 3] We also spoke with VA staff, a veterans
service organization, and officials from the joint VA-Department of
Defense (DOD) Federal Recovery Coordination Program. For a detailed
description of our scope and methodology, see appendix I.
We conducted our work between August 2009 and July 2010 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,
appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings
and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Background:
Since 1948 VA has provided adaptive housing assistance grants to
eligible individuals who have certain service-connected disabilities
to construct an adapted home or modify an existing home to accommodate
their disabilities.[Footnote 4] Today, VA provides adaptive housing
assistance primarily through two programs--Specially Adapted Housing
(SAH) and Special Housing Adaptation (SHA).[Footnote 5]
The SAH grant program provides financial assistance to service members
and veterans who are entitled to compensation for permanent and total
service-connected disability due to the loss or loss of use of
multiple limbs, blindness and limb loss, or a severe burn injury.
[Footnote 6] In general, eligible individuals may receive up to three
SAH grants totaling no more than 50 percent of the cost of
constructing or acquiring a specially adapted house or remodeling an
existing house with adaptations. As shown in table 1, the maximum
aggregate grant amount was $63,780 for fiscal year 2010 and is
adjusted annually based on a cost-of-construction index.[Footnote 7]
Grants may be used to construct a house or remodel an existing house,
or they may be applied against the unpaid principal mortgage balance
of a specially adapted house.[Footnote 8] The SHA grant program is
similar to SAH but is for individuals with slightly less severe
disabilities and may be used for slightly different purposes; for
fiscal year 2010, the maximum amount was $12,756, which also is
adjusted annually based on a cost-of-construction index.[Footnote 9]
SAH and SHA are administered by VA's Veterans Benefits Administration.
In 2006 Congress created the TRA benefit, which allows veterans to
apply for a grant to adapt a home owned by a family member with whom
they are temporarily residing.[Footnote 10] The benefit was further
extended to active-duty service members with the passage of the
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.[Footnote 11] The TRA grant
program enables service members and veterans eligible under the SAH
and SHA programs to use up to $14,000 and $2,000, respectively, to
modify a family member's home. As shown in table 1, a TRA grant can
only be used once and counts as one of the three grants allowed under
either SAH or SHA. TRA grants also count toward the maximum allowable
amount, $63,780 under SAH and $12,756 under SHA.[Footnote 12] The TRA
grant program will expire on December 31, 2011, unless Congress
extends it before then.
Table 1: Summary of the Specially Adapted Housing, Special Housing
Adaptation, and Temporary Residence Adaptation Programs:
Grant type: Specially Adapted Housing (SAH);
Disability criteria to be eligible for the grant:
* Loss or loss of use of both legs or arms;
* Blindness in both eyes and loss of use of one leg;
* Loss or loss of use of one leg together with residuals of organic
disease or injury;
* Loss or loss of use of one leg together with loss or loss of use of
one arm;
* Certain severe burns;
Living situation: Permanent;
Ownership: Eligible individual must own the home;
Maximum number of times grant may be used[A]: 3;
Fiscal year 2010 grant amount: $63,780[B].
Grant type: Special Housing Adaptation (SHA);
Disability criteria to be eligible for the grant:
* Blindness in both eyes with 5/200 visual acuity or less;
* Anatomical loss, or loss of use, of both hands;
* Certain severe burns;
Living situation: Permanent;
Ownership: Eligible individual or family member must own the home;
Maximum number of times grant may be used[A]: 3;
Fiscal year 2010 grant amount: $12,756[B].
Grant type: Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA);
Disability criteria to be eligible for the grant:
* Based on eligibility for SAH or SHA grant;
Living situation: Temporary;
Ownership: Family member of an eligible individual must own the home;
Maximum number of times grant may be used[A]: 1;
Fiscal year 2010 grant amount: $14,000 for SAH eligible;
$2,000 for SHA eligible.
Source: GAO presentation of VA information.
[A] Eligible individuals may only receive up to three adaptive housing
grants, totaling no more than the maximum grant amount authorized by
law. A TRA grant use counts as one of the three grants.
[B] The SAH and SHA grant amount is adjusted annually based on a cost-
of-construction index.
[End of table]
Use of TRA Has Been Low and TRA Grantees Include Both Younger and
Older Veterans:
Only 18 TRA grants have been used since the inception of the program.
The age of these grantees and the cause of their disabilities varied,
and the majority of the grantees have used the maximum allowable TRA
grant amount of $14,000, although some adaptations have cost more than
this amount.
The TRA Grant Program Has Not Been Widely Used:
Use of the TRA grant program has been low--since the TRA program's
creation on June 15, 2006, through April 4, 2010, VA has processed a
total of 18 TRA grants. Of these, four grants were processed in 2007,
five grants in 2008, eight grants in 2009, and one grant in 2010, as
of April 4. While comprehensive data are not available on the total
number of service members and veterans who have a disability rating
qualifying them for adaptive housing assistance, our analysis of VA
data indicates that this number is well in excess of 10,000.[Footnote
13] As a result, only a very small proportion of those potentially
eligible for adaptive housing assistance have used TRA. Because VA
does not track the specific living arrangements of individuals
eligible for adaptive housing benefits, it is not known how many of
these individuals would have also met the criteria that would be
required specifically to receive a TRA grant.
TRA Grantees Include Both Younger and Older Veterans and the Causes of
Their Disabilities Vary:
As shown in table 2, the age of the 18 TRA grant recipients when they
were approved for a grant ranged from 23 to 92. Half of these grantees
were under the age of 40 and half were over the age of 40. The average
age of those under 40 was 26 years. Among those over 40, seven were
over the age of 60. In addition, of the 16 grantees for whom a
discharge date was available, 7 had been discharged prior to 1974.
Table 2: Characteristics of TRA Grants and Grantees:
Grant approval date: March 16, 2007;
Age (at grant approval): 24;
Discharge date: January 2005;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: New Jersey.
Grant approval date: April 11, 2007;
Age (at grant approval): 26;
Discharge date: August 2004;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Texas.
Grant approval date: May 22, 2007;
Age (at grant approval): 24;
Discharge date: February 2007;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Pennsylvania.
Grant approval date: December 13, 2007;
Age (at grant approval): 61;
Discharge date: March 1968;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Wisconsin.
Grant approval date: March 25, 2008;
Age (at grant approval): 87;
Discharge date: November 1945;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Virginia.
Grant approval date: August 4, 2008;
Age (at grant approval): 47;
Discharge date: February 1991;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Minnesota.
Grant approval date: September 16, 2008;
Age (at grant approval): 92;
Discharge date: August 1944;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Pennsylvania.
Grant approval date: November 17, 2008;
Age (at grant approval): 79;
Discharge date: April 1973;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: California.
Grant approval date: December 1, 2008;
Age (at grant approval): 27;
Discharge date: Unknown;
Veteran status: Unknown;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Georgia.
Grant approval date: February 24, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 92;
Discharge date: August 1946;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Hawaii.
Grant approval date: April 24, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 23;
Discharge date: May 2009;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Minnesota.
Grant approval date: June 10, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 25;
Discharge date: August 2009;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Florida.
Grant approval date: July 1, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 29;
Discharge date: September 2005;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Female;
State of residence: California.
Grant approval date: August 26, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 32;
Discharge date: May 1999;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Indiana.
Grant approval date: October 9, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 24;
Discharge date: n/a;
Veteran status: Active duty;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: California.
Grant approval date: October 13, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 42;
Discharge date: July 1994;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Female;
State of residence: Illinois.
Grant approval date: October 26, 2009;
Age (at grant approval): 63;
Discharge date: April 1968;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: Indiana.
Grant approval date: March, 16, 2010;
Age (at grant approval): 80;
Discharge date: August 1954;
Veteran status: Veteran;
Gender: Male;
State of residence: North Carolina.
Source: Interviews with TRA grantees and GAO analysis of VA data.
[End of table]
All 18 TRA grantees qualified under the SAH (rather than SHA) grant
program, which, as noted earlier, is for individuals with more severe
service-connected disabilities. According to the 11 grant recipients
or their caregivers with whom we spoke, all of the grantees had lost
the use of both legs and required the use of a wheelchair or walker.
[Footnote 14] Some of these grantees suffered from a spinal cord
injury, and one was paralyzed from the neck down. In addition, three
grantees suffered from brain trauma and one from a hearing impairment.
The cause of the disabilities varied among the 11 grantees. Three of
the grantees were injured abroad while serving in Operation Iraqi
Freedom, four grantees were injured domestically in a vehicle or
sporting accident, and four grantees suffered an illness, such as
multiple sclerosis.
Five of the 11 TRA grantees we spoke with used the grant to adapt the
home of a parent, 2 to adapt the home of a son or daughter, and 4 to
adapt the home of another relative, such as an uncle or sibling. Nine
of the 11 grantees still lived in their relative's adapted home at the
time we contacted them, and in some cases, the grantee or caregiver
indicated the grantee would likely continue to live there for an
extended period of time. Five caregivers told us the grantee was
unable to care for himself or herself and would likely require long-
term live-in assistance. Four other grantees told us that they lived
independently or planned to do so in the future. For example, one
grantee lived with his parents for about 2 months while he recovered
from injuries and subsequently purchased his own home. Another grantee
continued to live in the home owned by her brother but was able to
live independently.
The Majority of the TRA Grantees Used the Full Grant Amount:
As shown in table 3, the dollar amount of the 18 TRA grants that had
been processed as of April 4, 2010, ranged from $3,575 to $14,000.
Eleven of these grants were for the maximum allowable amount of
$14,000, and three others were near that maximum. Our review of VA's
case files found that in 8 of 18 cases, the cost to adapt the
relative's home, as recorded in the file, exceeded $14,000. For
example, in one case, the cost to adapt a bedroom and bathroom was
$62,115. According to the file, the TRA grant was supplemented by a
grant of $23,865 from a nonprofit organization, and the grantee paid
the remaining uncovered cost of $24,250. In another case, the cost of
adapting a bathroom, replacing a sliding door, building a platform in
the sun porch, and adding a ramp to the exterior door was $24,500.
According to the file of this grantee, $10,500 not covered by TRA was
funded by the grantee's uncle and by donations from contractors.
Table 3: Adaptations Using TRA Grants and Their Cost:
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom, replaced flooring
throughout the house, and installed a fence;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,000.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom, replaced carpeting
with hard flooring in bedroom and hallway, and installed two 36-inch
doors and transitions at front and garage doors;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,000.
Description of adaptations: Added a front porch;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,000.
Description of adaptations: Adapted kitchen;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,000.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom, replaced flooring in
kitchen, and installed a ramp;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,324.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom and installed a ramp;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,950.
Description of adaptations: Added a deck with two ramps;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $14,999.
Description of adaptations: Replaced windows and added an awning and
sliding door;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $17,052.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom, replaced sliding door,
built a platform in the sun porch, and added a pressure-treated ramp
from the exterior door;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $24,500.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bedroom and bathroom;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $62,115.
Description of adaptations: Finished basement and installed elevator
and deck;
Amount of grant: $14,000;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $168,400.
Description of adaptations: Removed kitchen cabinets, installed grab
bars and shower curve in bathroom, replaced master bedroom door,
replaced flooring in bedroom and bedroom entry, installed garage door,
and installed a ramp;
Amount of grant: $13,860;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $13,860.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom;
Amount of grant: $13,700;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $13,700.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom;
Amount of grant: $13,450;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $13,450.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom, reinstalled door,
repaired floor, replaced closet door in bedroom, moved wall in laundry
room, and moved laundry tub to new location;
Amount of grant: $12,471;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $16,571.
Description of adaptations: Installed a ramp from garage to laundry
room, installed home generator, installed electric wiring in bathroom
and bedroom, and replaced flooring;
Amount of grant: $11,690;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $11,690.
Description of adaptations: Adapted a bathroom and widened doorway in
hallway;
Amount of grant: $9,891;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $9,891.
Description of adaptations: Replaced carpeting with hard flooring
throughout the house;
Amount of grant: $3,575;
Overall cost, as listed in case file[A]: $3,575.
Source: GAO analysis of VA's TRA grantee case files.
[A] The overall cost of adaptations is based on information contained
in VA's case files for each TRA grantee. Some of the grantees or their
caregivers may have made additional adaptations prior or subsequent to
receiving the TRA grant. The additional costs for those adaptations
may not be reflected here, and thus these data may not reflect the
total costs incurred for all modifications made to the home.
[End of table]
Some TRA grantees made adaptations to a home prior to using the TRA
grant. The cost of those adaptations would not necessarily be included
in VA's case file and thus would not be reflected in table 3. For
example, a caregiver of a grantee told us that prior to using the TRA
grant, the family spent more than $50,000 installing hardwood flooring
throughout the house to make it wheelchair accessible.
We were not able to identify comprehensive and up-to-date data on the
typical costs for adapting a home to accommodate severe disabilities
like those experienced by individuals eligible for adaptive housing
grants. However, VA's 2004 Report to Congress: Assessment of the
Adequacy of VA Authorities to Provide Specially Adaptive Housing
provided some information on typical costs for making certain home
adaptations.[Footnote 15] The report cited the typical cost for
adapting a bathroom to make it handicapped accessible as $22,000,
which included installing a bidet that washes and dries, a toilet or
urinal with an automatic flush sensor, and a shower or bathtub with
automatic soap and shampoo dispensers.[Footnote 16] The typical cost
to adapt a kitchen was cited as $8,000, which included installing an
automatic shut-off stove, raising a dishwasher, lowering countertops,
and installing a side-by-side refrigerator. The report also noted that
the cost of widening four doorways, which a typical home might
require, was $2,400. The VA report did not address the TRA program in
particular, but it did note that the SHA grant amount of $12,000 would
typically not cover the full cost of adaptations needed to accommodate
a grantee's disabilities.
The median number of days from the submission of a grant application
to VA's approval of the 12 grants approved after June 15, 2006, was
299, with a range from 34 to 641 days.[Footnote 17] After a veteran or
service member submits an application for adaptive housing assistance
and decides to take advantage of the benefit, he or she must make a
number of decisions related to the project--including arranging for
mortgage and construction financing, hiring architects, working with
VA to review and approve adaptation plans, and soliciting bids from
and selecting contractors--before VA approves the grant. VA staff told
us that the length of time from application to approval is often
driven by the amount of time needed by the recipient for project
design.
After VA approves a veteran's or service member's grant, construction
begins on the project. Among the 16 TRA grants for which construction
was completed as of April 4, 2010, the construction phase of the grant
process--that is, the period between the grant approval date and VA's
final payment for services--ranged from 20 days to 233 days, with a
median of 45 days. Most of the TRA grantees or their caregivers with
whom we spoke generally said that once the grant was approved, they
did not experience any problems in the construction phase of the grant
process.[Footnote 18]
Most Individuals We Spoke with Were Unaware of TRA, and Some Could
Have Benefited from the Program:
To explore the underlying reasons for low use of TRA, we interviewed
50 service members and veterans under the age of 35 who were eligible
for adaptive housing but had not used TRA. Half these individuals had
applied for some form of adaptive housing assistance and half had not.
[Footnote 19]
Awareness of TRA May Be Low:
Our interviews suggest that awareness of the TRA grant program may be
low among service members and veterans eligible for adaptive housing
benefits. Of the 50 service members and veterans we spoke with, most
were familiar with adaptive housing benefits in general, but 38 of the
50 were not familiar with the TRA program in particular, and they did
not know that adaptive housing grants can be used to modify a home
owned by a family member. Ten individuals--nine of whom had applied
for adaptive housing--were familiar with TRA, and two said they were
unsure as to the extent to which they were familiar with the program.
There are a variety of mechanisms through which individuals can learn
about adaptive housing benefits. VA benefits counselors, SAH agents,
and military services coordinators--who work directly with offices on
military installations that provide education, medical, family and
personal counseling--may speak individually with injured service
members and provide information on adaptive housing. VA military
services coordinators also typically assist in conducting Transition
Assistance Program and Disabled Transition Assistance Program
briefings, which may cover housing benefits, among other things, to
service members in the process of being discharged. Participation by
service members in these briefings is voluntary and consists of 3-day
seminars conducted by VA, DOD and the Department of Labor at military
installations for personnel within 1 year of separation from the
military or 2 years of retirement. Additionally, DOD Recovery Care
Coordinators and Federal Recovery Care Coordinators, both of whom
oversee recovery plans for injured service members, also provide
information about relevant benefits, which could include adaptive
housing.[Footnote 20] Further, DOD's Wounded Warrior programs offer
recovering service members and their family assistance with medical
and nonmedical support, the latter of which can include information
about adaptive housing benefits. In addition to these federal
agencies, veterans service organizations--such as Paralyzed Veterans
of America and Disabled American Veterans--offer a wide range of
assistance to veterans and their dependents, which can include
informing veterans about benefits available to them and assisting with
the application process.
The Veterans Benefits Administration's mission is to provide benefits
to veterans and their families in a timely and responsive fashion and
one of the agency's stated core values is to communicate to veterans
in a timely, thorough, and accurate manner. With regard to adaptive
housing, VA sends annual letters to eligible individuals reminding
them of the availability of adaptive housing benefits and offering the
opportunity to speak with a VA representative. When an eligible
individual applies for adaptive housing benefits, a VA representative
typically visits that individual to conduct an interview and provide
additional information. In addition, VA's Web site includes fact
sheets on the SAH and SHA programs that provide information on topics
such as eligibility requirements, use of the grants, and how to apply
for the benefits.
However, while eligible service members and veterans have various
means through which they can learn about adaptive housing in general,
the extent to which they are informed about TRA in particular is
unclear. Of the 50 individuals we spoke with who were eligible for
adaptive housing but had not used TRA, 43 said they could not recall
ever receiving information about the program from VA or other sources.
Even among those who had applied for adaptive housing--and thus
presumably had been briefed on the options available--the majority
were not familiar with TRA.[Footnote 21] As noted earlier, we also
spoke with 11 service members and veterans who had used TRA grants. In
those interviews, we found that 8 of the 11 grantees learned about the
TRA grant through VA--for example, through a case manager or
representative providing documentation describing the grant--and the
other 3 grantees learned about the program while conducting their own
research on adaptive housing assistance.
The extent to which TRA is addressed in VA's information sources about
adaptive housing benefits is limited. VA's Web site includes fact
sheets for SAH and SHA, but there is no separate fact sheet for TRA.
Fact sheets for those two programs do list TRA as an option for how
the grants can be used, but the specific information provided is not
comprehensive. For example, the fact sheets include the maximum TRA
grant amount available but do not mention that the grant may only be
used once. Additionally, the grant is referred to as a "temporary
grant," but the fact sheets never provide the formal name of the
benefit, Temporary Residence Adaptation, which could limit potential
applicants' ability to find the program using an electronic word
search. As noted earlier, VA sends annual outreach letters to
individuals eligible for adaptive housing assistance reminding them of
the availability of their benefits, but a recent sample outreach
letter we reviewed did not contain information on TRA. VA officials
told us that when TRA was created in 2006, a one-time letter was sent
out to individuals eligible for adaptive housing notifying them of the
availability of the benefit.
VA officials told us that when VA representatives conduct an interview
with an individual who has applied for adaptive housing assistance,
they typically provide information about the TRA option. However, the
extent to which this information is consistently or comprehensively
provided is unclear. For example, until recently VA did not include
TRA in the checklist of items that representatives were to cover when
conducting the interview.
Additionally, VA conducts comprehensive annual surveys of SAH grantees
to measure their satisfaction with various areas of the program. VA
also conducts annual surveys of individuals who are eligible for an
SAH grant but have not applied, focusing on the reasons these
individuals have not applied for a grant and the barriers they may
face in learning about the program. In 2009 survey results provided to
us by VA, 88 percent of respondents said they had been aware of SAH
prior to receiving the survey. To date, these surveys have not
specifically included questions about TRA because, according to VA
officials, the agency must obtain approval from the U. S. Office of
Management and Budget prior to changing its survey tool. VA officials
told us that they anticipate including questions about TRA in the 2010
surveys.
Our Interviews Found Veterans Who Could Have Benefited from TRA:
In our 50 interviews with service members and veterans who had not
used TRA, 7 individuals or their caregivers described personal
circumstances well suited for use of TRA. In five of the seven cases,
the individuals were not aware of TRA until we described the benefit
to them. In the other two cases, the individual or caregiver became
familiar with TRA only after adaptations to a relative's home had
already been made. In all seven cases, including the following
examples, the individual or caregiver told us that they think they
would have used the TRA program had they previously been aware of it.
* A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who was injured in an ambush
attack said that he lived in a home owned by his mother and father
from November 2006 through March 2009. He said that his parents paid
to adapt part of the bathroom and add a ramp to the home, and that had
he known about TRA he would have used it to help pay for the
adaptations.
* A service member lived with his mother for a little over a year
after sustaining injuries in a motor vehicle accident and becoming
paralyzed in July 2008. He told us that his mother made $15,000 in
adaptations to her home and that, had he been aware of TRA, he could
have used the grant to help pay for the adaptations.
* The mother of a veteran who was also injured in a motor vehicle
accident told us that her son lived with her for about 6 months and
that she paid approximately $2,000 to $3,000 to add a ramp and widen
doorways in the mobile home she owned. She said that she would have
had her son apply for TRA to pay for the adaptations.
* A veteran of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom who was
paralyzed in a training exercise said that he lived with his parents
for about a year while recovering from his injuries, and that his
parents spent between $40,000 and $50,000 to widen doorways and add a
ramp, chair-lift, and roll-in shower. The veteran said that had he
known about it, the TRA grant probably would have been useful to
offset the cost of the adaptations.
In addition to those cases, another seven individuals, including the
following examples, told us that had they been aware of TRA, they
would have at least considered using the grant.
* A quadriplegic veteran we spoke with was in the process of jointly
purchasing a house with his parents so he could use an SAH grant,
which requires the veteran to be at least partial owner of the home.
However, he said that had he been aware of TRA, he would have
considered using it to make adaptations to his parents' current home,
where he presently resides.
* Another quadriplegic veteran said that had he been aware of TRA, he
would have considered using it to modify his father's home, which
wasn't wheelchair accessible, instead of living with his grandmother
for 8 months.
* A service member who was injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is
in the process of retiring from the military stated that he would have
considered using a TRA grant to live with his mother for a period of
time.
An additional three veterans or their caregivers, including the
following examples, told us they could envision using TRA at some
point in the future, and two of these three had not been previously
aware of TRA until we described the program to them.
* The mother and caregiver for a veteran who was paralyzed in a car
accident told us that her son needs constant care and will continue to
live with her for an extended period of time. She said she could
envision using the TRA benefit now that she was familiar with it.
* The grandmother and caregiver for a veteran who suffers from an
immune system disorder told us that her grandson's condition will
likely worsen. She said he will continue to need to live with
relatives and might use TRA at some future time.
Of the 50 individuals we interviewed, many told us that TRA was not
applicable to their personal circumstances. For instance, a little
less than half of the interviewees said they did not use TRA--or would
not have used it had they been aware of it--because they owned their
own home, did not live or want to live with family, or did not need or
want to make adaptations to a family member's home. Additionally,
three veterans we spoke with said that they did not use TRA in part
because it would have counted against the overall maximum amount
allowable to them for adaptive housing. They said they would rather
use their adaptive housing benefits on a home they owned than on a
temporary residence. Finally, one veteran and one caregiver each said
they had not applied for adaptive housing benefits in general because
they believed VA's process could be difficult or very time-consuming.
Conclusions:
Use of the Temporary Residence Adaptation grant program among
individuals eligible for adaptive housing remains low. Our interviews
with 50 individuals who had not used TRA, while not statistically
generalizable, suggest that many eligible individuals may not be
familiar with the program. The Veterans Benefits Administration's
mission is to provide benefits to veterans and their families in a
timely and responsive fashion and one of the agency's stated core
values is to communicate to veterans in a timely, thorough, and
accurate manner. While VA has a variety of mechanisms to provide
service members and veterans with information about adaptive housing
benefits in general, it is unclear to what extent the agency provides
information specifically on TRA. As a result, the program may not be
reaching all of the individuals who could benefit from it. Moreover,
several of the individuals we interviewed appeared to be in a position
to use and benefit from the program. More information is needed on why
eligible service members and veterans may not be familiar with the TRA
program. Specifically, a better understanding is needed of potential
information gaps that may be occurring when severely disabled service
members transition to civilian life and when veterans are informed
about adaptive housing benefits. Additional efforts to make eligible
individuals better aware of the TRA grant program could help ensure
that the program more fully serves its intended beneficiaries.
Recommendations:
To help ensure that the TRA program serves its intended beneficiaries
to the greatest extent possible, we recommend that the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs direct the Under Secretary for Benefits to:
* evaluate the current methods of communicating information about the
TRA grant to eligible individuals, and:
* take appropriate measures to improve awareness of the program among
such individuals.
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report to VA and DOD for their review and
comment. In its comment letter, which is reprinted in appendix II, VA
said that it concurred with our conclusions and recommendations. The
agency stated that in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010, it will
conduct an evaluation of its internal and external communications with
service members and veterans about the TRA grant, as well as the media
and technology used to communicate with potential grant recipients. VA
also said that beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, it
will identify ways to improve service members' and veterans' awareness
of TRA grants, which will include an investigation of the
applicability of marketing and communication tools employed by other
agencies and companies to disseminate information. VA also provided
technical comments that we incorporated as appropriate. DOD had no
comments on the draft report.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretaries of Veterans
Affairs and Defense and interested congressional committees. In
addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site
[hyperlink, at http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-8678 or sciremj@gao.gov. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major
contributions to this report are listed in appendix III.
Signed by:
Mathew J. Scirč:
Director, Financial Markets and Community Investment:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
To describe the characteristics of Temporary Residence Adaptation
(TRA) grants and grantees and how the grants have been used, we
analyzed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data on selected
characteristics of TRA grants and grantees for the period between June
15, 2006 (the date TRA was created) and April 4, 2010. In responding
to our data request, VA headquarters staff gathered information on
approved TRA grants from the VA Regional Loan Centers and compared it
to the information in its SAHSHA system to ensure the grants were in
fact approved and processed.[Footnote 22]
To estimate the number of service members and veterans who may be
eligible for adaptive housing assistance, we analyzed data from VA's
SAHSHA system on the number and selected characteristics of
individuals who applied for such assistance between October 1, 2000,
and October 31, 2009. We also analyzed data from VA's Veterans Service
Network on the number and selected characteristics of service members
and veterans who had not used the benefit but who received a rating
that qualified them for adaptive housing assistance between October 1,
2003, and October 31, 2009. VA could not provide the number of
individuals who received a rating that made them eligible for adaptive
housing assistance from fiscal years 2001 through 2003 because VA did
not consistently track such information until fiscal year 2004. In
addition, because VA does not track the living arrangements of
individuals eligible for adaptive housing benefits, we could not
estimate the number of individuals who may have met the criteria
specifically required to receive a TRA grant--that is, individuals who
lived or planned to live with a relative who owns a home. We assessed
the reliability of the data we received from VA by reviewing relevant
documentation, interviewing knowledgeable officials, and performing
electronic testing of the data. We determined that the data were
reliable for the purposes of this report.
We also reviewed VA's case file, which included construction contracts
and invoices describing work performed, for each of the 18 individuals
who had received a TRA grant as of April 4, 2010. In addition, we
interviewed 11 of the 18 TRA grantees, or their caregivers, to obtain
information on their use of the grant, the nature of their
disabilities, their living circumstances, and any barriers they may
have faced in using the grant. Five of the interviews were with the
grantee and six were with the grantee's caregiver. In addition to the
grantees we interviewed, three grantees were deceased and four others
declined to speak with us. We obtained information on those seven
grantees, as available, from their VA case files and VA data.
To determine what accounts for service members' and veterans' low
utilization of the TRA grant program and what, if anything, could be
done to ensure that the program serves its intended recipients, we
conducted telephone interviews with 50 service members and veterans
who had qualified for adaptive housing benefits but had not applied
for TRA. These interviews were comprised of (1) a nonprobability
sample of 25 individuals who had applied for adaptive housing between
July 1, 2006 (after the creation of TRA) and October 31, 2009, and (2)
a nonprobability sample of 25 individuals who became eligible for
adaptive housing between July 1, 2006, and October 31, 2009, but had
not applied for the benefit. We limited our selection to individuals
who were under the age of 35 because we believed that younger veterans
would be more likely to potentially live temporarily with a family
member, as required to receive a TRA grant.
Applying these criteria resulted in 516 individuals who had applied
for adaptive housing benefits and 97 who had not.[Footnote 23] From
each of these two categories, we randomly selected 50 individuals and
began contacting these individuals (up to 3 attempts per individual to
reach them and conduct an interview) until we completed our target of
25 interviews from each list, resulting in a total of 50 interviews.
Forty-three of our interviewees were veterans, 5 were service members,
and 2 were service members on the Temporary Disability Retired List.
In addition to our interviews, we reviewed documentation from VA,
including the agency's policies and procedures on use of adaptive
housing benefits, examples of outreach and informational documents,
and its annual surveys of the Specially Adapted Housing Grant Program.
In addition, we reviewed documentation on the Department of Defense's
Recovery Care Coordinator and Wounded Warrior programs, as well as the
Federal Recovery Coordination Program. Finally, we conducted
interviews with staff from VA, a veterans service organization, and
the Federal Recovery Coordination Program.
We conducted this performance audit between August 2009 and July 2010
in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe
that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Department of Veterans Affairs:
Office of the Secretary:
June 25, 2010:
Mr. Mathew J. Scire:
Director:
Financial Markets and Community Investment:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street, NW:
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Scire:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reviewed the Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report, VETERANS AFFAIRS:
Opportunities Exist To Improve Potential Recipients' Awareness of the
Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant (GAO-10-786) and agrees with
GAO's conclusions and concurs with GAO's recommendations.
The enclosure specifically addresses GAO's recommendations and
provides technical comments to the draft report. VA appreciates the
opportunity to comment on your draft report.
Sincerely,
Signed by:
John R. Gingrich:
Chief of Staff:
Enclosure:
[End of letter]
Enclosure:
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Comments to Government
Accountability Office (GAO) Draft Report VETERANS AFFAIRS:
Opportunities Exist to Improve Potential Recipients' Awareness of the
Temporary Residence Adaptation Grant (GA0-10-786):
GAO Recommendation: To help ensure that the TRA program serves its
intended beneficiaries to the greatest extent possible, we recommend
that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs direct the Under Secretary for
Benefits to:
Recommendation 1: Evaluate the current methods of communicating
information about the TRA grant to eligible individuals.
VA Response: Concur. VA will evaluate its current methods of
communicating information about the TRA grant to Veterans/
Servicemembers. Our evaluation will examine our internal and external
communication plans, as well as the media and technology used to
communicate with potential grant recipients. VA will begin this
evaluation in the fourth quarter, Fiscal Year 2010, and will complete
it within 90 days.
Recommendation 2: Take appropriate measures to improve awareness of
the program among such individuals.
VA Response: Concur. Beginning in the first quarter, Fiscal Year 2011,
VA will identify ways to improve Veteran/Servicemember awareness of
the TRA program. VA will use information garnered from our evaluation
of current communication methods and technologies, and investigate the
applicability of marketing and communication tools employed by other
agencies and companies to disseminate information.
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Mathew J. Scirč, (202) 512-8678 or sciremj@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact named above, Jason Bromberg (Assistant
Director), Rudy Chatlos, Tarek Mahmassani, Cory Marzullo, John
McGrail, Josephine Perez, and Jennifer Schwartz made key contributions
to this report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] P.L. 109-233 (June 15, 2006).
[2] GAO, Veterans Affairs: Implementation of Temporary Residence
Adaptation Grants, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-637R] (Washington, D.C.: June 15,
2009).
[3] Nonprobability samples cannot be used to generalize or make
inferences about a population. In this instance, we cannot generalize
the results of our interviews to all service members and veterans
under the age of 35 who had qualified for adaptive housing benefits
but had not applied for TRA.
[4] P.L. 80-702 (June 19, 1948). A service-connected disability is an
injury or disease that was incurred or aggravated while on active
military duty.
[5] 38 U.S.C. sec. 2101(a); 38 U.S.C. sec. 2101(b).
[6] Specifically, the veteran's or service member's disability must be
service connected and rated as permanent and 100 percent disabling due
to at least one of the following: the loss or loss of use of both legs
in a way that precludes locomotion without the aid of braces,
crutches, canes, or a wheelchair; blindness in both eyes and loss of
use of one leg; the loss or loss of use of one leg together with
residuals of organic disease or injury or the loss or loss of use of
one arm affecting the functions of balance or propulsion in a way that
precludes locomotion without the aid of braces, crutches, canes, or a
wheelchair; the loss or loss of use of both arms so as to preclude the
use of the arms at or above the elbows; or a severe burn injury (38
U.S.C. sec. 2101(a)(2)). The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of
2004 (P.L. 108-454) added the loss or loss of use of both arms so as
to preclude the use of the arms at or above the elbows to the list of
disability criteria for SAH, and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act
of 2008 (P.L. 110-289) added severe burns to the list of disability
criteria for SAH and SHA. VA issued proposed regulations on these new
criteria on December 18, 2009, and the comment period ended on
February 16, 2010.
[7] The Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of
2006 (P.L. 109-233) expanded the SAH and SHA benefits by increasing
the number of grant usages available to eligible individuals from one
to three, up to the maximum grant amounts. The Housing and Economic
Recovery Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-289) increased the maximum allowable
SAH and SHA grants from $50,000 and $10,000, respectively, to $60,000
and $12,000, respectively, and adjusted these grant maximums annually
thereafter based on a cost-of-construction index.
[8] 38 U.S.C. sec. 2102(a)(1)-(4).
[9] Specifically, to qualify for an SHA grant, the veteran's or
service member's disability must be service connected and rated as
permanent and 100 percent disabling due to at least one of the
following: blindness in both eyes with 5/200 visual acuity or less;
the anatomical loss or loss of use of both hands; or a severe burn
injury (38 U.S.C. sec. 2101(b)(2)). In addition, SHA grants may be
used to adapt a house that an eligible individual or a family member
plans to purchase or which the eligible individual or a family member
already owns, provided the house is one where the eligible individual
intends to reside. SHA grants may also be used to purchase a
previously adapted house (38 U.S.C. sec. 2101(b)(1), (3)).
[10] Veterans' Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of
2006 (P.L. 109-233), June 15, 2006. A family member is a person
related to the grantee by blood, marriage, or adoption (38 C.F.R. sec
36.4401(h)). There is no definition for temporary.
[11] P.L. 110-289 (July 30, 2008).
[12] H.R. 4319 proposes that TRA grants made during fiscal year 2011
not count against the maximum amount allowable under adaptive housing
assistance. The bill was introduced on December 15, 2009, and was the
subject of a hearing by the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity,
House Committee on Veterans Affairs, on June 10, 2010.
[13] As previously discussed, in order to be eligible for VA adaptive
housing assistance, a veteran's or service member's disability must be
service connected and rated as permanent and 100 percent disabling due
to certain disabilities. Since an individual's disability rating can
change over time, it is difficult to estimate the total number of
service members and veterans who have been eligible for adaptive
housing assistance within a given time span. According to our analysis
of VA data, from October 1, 2000, to October 31, 2009, approximately
10,700 service members and veterans applied for adaptive housing
grants (i.e., SAH or SHA). Further, from October 1, 2003 (the date of
the earliest available data) to October 31, 2009, an additional
approximately 2,400 service members and veterans became newly
eligible, but did not apply, for adaptive housing assistance. These
data do not include an unknown additional number of individuals
eligible for adaptive housing assistance who applied for assistance
prior to October 1, 2000, or became newly eligible prior to October 1,
2003.
[14] We interviewed 11 of the 18 TRA grantees or their caregivers to
obtain information about the grantee and his or her circumstances.
Five of the interviews were with the grantee, and six were with the
grantee's caregiver. In addition, three grantees were deceased and
four others declined to speak with us. We obtained additional
information on grantees, as available, from VA records.
[15] Department of Veterans Affairs, Report to Congress: Assessment of
the Adequacy of VA Authorities to Provide Specially Adapted Housing
(Washington, D.C., 2009).
[16] In the Means ADA Compliance Pricing Guide, which provides
estimates on common modifications made to provide accessibility, the
cost of installing a grab bar in a bathroom was estimated at between
$225 and $345, and the cost of replacing a bathtub with roll-in shower
ranged from $3,652 to $4,116. RSMeans, Means ADA Compliance Pricing
Guide, 2nd Edition: Cost Estimates for More Than 70 Common
Modifications (2004).
[17] Among the 18 TRA recipients, 6 submitted applications for
adaptive housing assistance before TRA went into effect on June 15,
2006. Our calculations on the amount of time from application to grant
approval are for the 12 grants submitted after TRA went into effect.
[18] The disbursement schedule for a grant usually contains five
phases, which coincide with the phases of the construction process.
The disbursement schedule typically calls for 20 percent of the total
funds to be paid out for each stage. Prior to making the final payment
for services, VA must review the adaptations to ensure that all work
conforms to the Specially Adapted Housing Minimum Property
Requirements and VA-approved plans and specifications and includes all
special adaptive features, as required.
[19] Since our interviews focused on the reasons why service members
and veterans had not used TRA, we selected individuals who became
eligible or applied for adaptive housing assistance from July 2006,
after TRA went into effect, through October 31, 2009.
[20] The Federal Recovery Coordination Program was created in 2007 to
assist service members, veterans, and their families with access to
care, services and benefits provided by VA, DOD, other federal
agencies, states and the private sector. The program is administered
by VA and operated jointly with DOD. Individuals referred to the
program typically have severe or catastrophic injuries, are highly
unlikely to return to duty, and will most likely be separated from the
military. The Federal Recovery Coordination Program has served about
800 service members in a little more than 2 years, according to
program officials.
[21] Of the 50 individuals we spoke with who had not used TRA, 25 had
applied for adaptive housing and 25 had not. Of the 25 who had applied
for adaptive housing, 15 were not familiar with TRA, and of the 25 who
had not applied for adaptive housing, 23 were not familiar with TRA.
[22] VA's SAHSHA system, which was launched on March 22, 2009,
collects data on all adaptive housing assistance grantees, including
TRA grantees. Prior to launching SAHSHA, VA collected data on adaptive
housing assistance grantees in The Appraisal System.
[23] After we applied the criteria, VA's data initially resulted in 99
individuals who became eligible for adaptive housing but had not
applied for their benefits, and 522 individuals who had applied for
adaptive housing benefits. However, we removed from the list of 99 the
names of 2 individuals who were determined to be deceased, and we
removed from the list of 522 the names of 6 individuals who had used
TRA.
[End of section]
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Web site: [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm]:
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov:
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Congressional Relations:
Ralph Dawn, Managing Director, dawnr@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4400:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7125:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
Public Affairs:
Chuck Young, Managing Director, youngc1@gao.gov:
(202) 512-4800:
U.S. Government Accountability Office:
441 G Street NW, Room 7149:
Washington, D.C. 20548:
