The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act. Department of Veterans Affairs. Final rule

This document amends Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adjudication regulations to reflect changes made by the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act. These changes concern payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to the surviving spouses of certain former prisoners of war; the provision of health care, education and home loan benefits to surviving spouses upon termination of their remarriages; and the addition of bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma to the list of diseases that VA presumes are the result of exposure to radiation during active military service.     

Research about Reform of Veterans＇ Management System

退役军人事务管理关系国家国防建设,涉及每位退役军人及现役军人的切身利益,也影响到社会安定和秩序,因而政府有责任承担起对退役军人的就业促进、生活保障和权益维护等职能,并建构相应的法律制度予以保障。传统的与计划经济体制相适应的退役军人安置管理体制,已不适应转型中的经济社会的要求。因而有必要在厘清现行政府退役军人服务保障职能的基础上,建立统一高效的服务管理机制,以激发退役军人的潜质,并切实保障其合法权益。     

退役军人管理体制改革研究

退役军人事务管理关系国家国防建设,涉及每位退役军人及现役军人的切身利益,也影响到社会安定和秩序,因而政府有责任承担起对退役军人的就业促进、生活保障和权益维护等职能,并建构相应的法律制度予以保障。传统的与计划经济体制相适应的退役军人安置管理体制,已不适应转型中的经济社会的要求。因而有必要在厘清现行政府退役军人服务保障职能的基础上,建立统一高效的服务管理机制,以激发退役军人的潜质,并切实保障其合法权益。     

Military Veterans, Culpability, and Blame

Recently in Porter v. McCollum, the United States Supreme Court, citing “a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in recognition of their service,” held that a defense lawyer’s failure to present his client’s military service record as mitigating evidence during his sentencing for two murders amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. The purpose of this Article is to assess, from the just deserts perspective, the grounds to believe that veterans who commit crimes are to be blamed less by the State than offenders without such backgrounds. Two rationales for a differential treatment of military veterans who commit crimes are typically set forth. The Porter Court raised each, stating that we should treat veterans differently “in recognition of” both “their service” and “the intense stress and mental and emotional toll” of combat. The former factor suggests there being a “social contributions” or gratitude-based discount, whereas the latter factor points towards a “mental disturbance” discount. This Article analyzes the two accounts and raises some doubts about both. This Article then argues that a military veteran who commits a crime should not be blamed to the full extent of his blameworthiness, not necessarily because of his mental capacity nor because of his social contribution, but because the State’s hand in producing his criminality undermines its standing to blame him.     

Personality Profiles of Veterans Entering Treatment for Domestic Violence

The purpose of this study was to reveal the typical personality profiles of veterans who have been perpetrators of domestic violence. Cluster analysis revealed that the MCMI-II profiles of 183 veterans entering treatment for domestic violence at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center fell into three clusters. These clusters were labeled Subclinical Narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and High General Psychopathology/ Substance Dependence. The typical MCMI-II profile for each cluster is discussed in terms how it might be associated with domestic violence. As this typology enables a fuller understanding of veterans who have been perpetrators of domestic violence, it can provide useful information for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.     

Worthy of Justice: A Veterans Treatment Court in Practice

This article examines the purpose and practice of a Veterans Treatment Court (VTC), a new type of problem-solving court designed to connect qualifying former service members in the criminal justice system with social services. While existing studies of VTCs explain these courts by focusing on veterans' distinct needs or deservingness based on their military service, this article argues that these courts are being created because of societal beliefs about veteran worth. By revealing how court staff, participants, and volunteers in one VTC invoke beliefs about veteran worth, the findings of this study show that VTCs link worth to veteran identity, leaving participants suspended in conflicting notions of state and individual responsibility for criminal behavior.     

Predictors of Child Behavior Problems among Children of Female Vietnam Veterans

This study examined the impacts of intimate partner aggression by female Vietnam veterans and their male partners on their children’s behavior problems (N = 100 children). Veteran and partner psychological distress were also examined as potential mediators of these relationships. Results indicated that physical and psychological aggression perpetration by both the female veteran and the male partner was associated with child behavior problems. Contrary to expectations, psychological distress in the veteran and partner was not associated with child behavior problems and did not mediate the effects of physical and psychological aggression on this outcome.     

Release of information from Department of Veterans Affairs records--VA. Proposed rule

This document proposes to amend Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations governing the confidentiality and release of VA records subject to the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (including the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996), and the veterans' records confidentiality statute. The proposed rule sets forth a mechanism for the public to obtain information from the VA. The proposed rule is intended to maximize public availability of VA records to the extent permitted by law and considerations such a personal privacy or law enforcement. Essentially these provisions consist of restatements of statute, interpretations of statute, interpretations of case law, interpretations of Executive Orders, and clarification. The proposed amendments also would implement the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, court decisions and Executive Branch guidance issued since the regulations were originally published. Further, this document proposes to delegate authority to the Assistant General Counsel for Professional Staff Group IV for making final Departmental decisions on appeals under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and 38 U.S.C. 5701 and 5705. This would simplify decision making by allowing the highest level individual with direct responsibility for decision making to issue decisions.     

Ethical, Legal and Risk Management Considerations in the Neuropsychological Assessment of Veterans

This article examines the ethical and regulatory issues facing neuropsychologists practicing within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system, either as Veteran Health Administration neuropsychologists or as consultants. The focus is proactive, with an emphasis on preparation consistent with a positive approach to ethical practice and risk management. Given the sheer magnitude of applicable Federal regulations and guidelines, the scope is limited to an overview of select ethical complexities involved in the professional practice of neuropsychology with veterans within VA settings. The article uses a top-down structure, with each section (a) identifying the relevant core biomedical ethical principles, followed by (b) an elaboration of the relevant ethical requirements as defined by the American Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics, and (c) applicable Federal regulations. Suggestions for translating core ethical principles and relevant ethical requirements into pragmatic action consistent with Federal regulation follow. Topics include (a) establishing professional competence, (b) understanding the type of assessment, (c) understanding consent requirements, and (d) understanding the ethical and regulatory issues in assessing veteran symptom presentation.     

Can the government govern? Lessons from the formation of the Veterans Administration

The federal hospital system for veterans, established in the aftermath of World War I in a context of decentralization, privatization, and rejection of compulsory health insurance, seems an anomaly in health care policy-making. It is actually a good case of how the federal government achieves results in an area fraught with conflict: via normalization of crisis, containment of political decision making, and the association of the program with previously accepted goals (in this instance, workers' compensation). In the veterans' case, political judgments were transformed into scientific and bureaucratic decisions via the pragmatic use of experts. The system worked; the federal government governed.     

Participation in the National Practitioner Data Bank--Department of Veterans Affairs. Final rule

This rule sets forth the policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for participation in the National Practitioner Data Bank (Data Bank). VA will request information from the Data Bank concerning physicians, dentists and other health care practitioners who provide or seek to provide health care services at VA facilities and will also report information to the Data Bank regarding malpractice payments and adverse clinical privileges actions. The intended effect of this policy is to participate in the Data Bank for the purpose of promoting better health care at VA and non-VA health care facilities.     

Experiences of Incarcerated Veterans in an All-Veterans Housing Unit: a Qualitative Study

Many US veterans leave military service with a variety of psychosocial risk factors stemming from readjustment to civilian life, and there is increased public concern about the incarceration of veterans given ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prisons are playing instrumental roles in developing interventions to address the problems justice-involved veterans face both psychologically and environmentally in the form of veterans’ service units (VSUs), dormitories developed to assist with community reintegration, and connecting veterans to medical and mental health services. This study uses qualitative data from 87 veterans on a VSU who participated in a program improvement survey asking about their programming and reentry needs, experiences on the unit compared to other units, and any suggestions for improvement. Qualitative analysis of responses identified several themes including veterans’ needs around physical fitness, job training, education, and mental health and substance abuse treatment; positive experiences on the VSU compared to traditional units; the positive partnership role with the State Department of Corrections and the local Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center; and concerns on the unit about VA eligibility, combat status, and “real veterans.” These results are some of the first to capture the experiences of veterans on a VSU and the findings highlight potential benefits and challenges with implementing VSUs. Greater research and evaluation are needed to develop more treatment-oriented, rehabilitative models of justice and to continue to refine the VSU model.