VA failsto protectvulnerable veterans
A Times EditorialPublished September 5, 2007
For years, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allowed guardians to overcharge for their services to military veterans deemed incompetent to make their own decisions. Instead of limiting compensation to 5 percent of the veteran's VA check as Florida law allows, the agency gave guardians 5 percent of all income. For veterans with Social Security and other income, the reduction in income could be significant.
There are few individuals more vulnerable than those determined to be incompetent because of age or disease. Without family involvement, those veterans rely on the courts to protect their financial assets and quality of life. There is another layer of oversight: the VA.
Instead of protecting its vulnerable wards, however, the VA ignored the law until a watchdog caught the mistake. No one knows how it happened, said Matthew DesRoches, manager of the VA's Fiduciary and Field Examination unit in St. Petersburg. However, "there's no debating that a certain percentage of those funds have gone in a direction they shouldn't have," DesRoches told the St. Petersburg Times.
DesRoches figures the excessive fees cost veterans $24-million over the past decade. Last year, the VA began following the law again until some guardians complained that they weren't being adequately paid for their work. The VA caved, allowing guardians to file a petition with the courts to take a cut of veterans' Social Security benefits, too, for "extraordinary" services.
The problem is that those petitions are pretty much rubber-stamped by the courts. "Technically, I guess we're responsible but the VA has made it very clear that it's their money," said Lauren Laughlin, chief probate judge in the Pinellas-Pasco circuit.
That's not very reassuring, though apparently common practice around the state. Susan Sexton, a probate judge in Hillsborough County, acknowledged that she "accepts the VA's representation that the accountings and fees are accurate."
Which brings us back to the VA, a broken agency that has let military veterans down in so many ways. While the VA is understandably concerned that trustworthy guardians might quit if they aren't adequately compensated, this isn't a service that should be motivated by profit. And while DesRoches, who is currently in a personnel dispute with the VA himself, might be disgruntled, the VA hasn't questioned the accuracy of anything he has said.
Someone needs to provide a knowledgeable, unbiased review of compensation claims by VA guardians. Both the courts and the VA should step up to their responsibilities, and the Legislature should make sure that they do.