An IT system failure at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has left many GI Bill recipients without their expected payments for school and housing, and the government shutdown has shuttered the GI Bill hotline meant to help those affected.
Up to 75,000 students receiving Chapter 35 Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance have been impacted by the disruption.
“These [education benefits] are pre-appropriated funds,” Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, director of government and legislative affairs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), told reporters during a media briefing on Monday.
“So, imagine our shock when we start hearing from hundreds of students across the country who have not been paid Chapter 35 benefits,” she said, adding, “That’s when it came out that the technology didn’t work.”
The VA has been modernizing its education benefits processing system as part of its Digital GI Bill program. This summer, the agency was streamlining the processing system for Chapter 35 education benefits, moving from a legacy system to a new claims processing system.
The VA’s new claims processing system did not work in August, Haycock-Lohmann said on Monday. She said the VA notified Congress of a “tiny glitch” in early September, but the agency did not notify students of the problem.
Peter Kasperowicz, press secretary at the VA, confirmed to MeriTalk that the Chapter 35 education benefits payments “are behind schedule” due to the “effects of converting claims from the legacy system to a new claims processing system.”
However, Kasperowicz also said a high volume of fall enrollments and the government shutdown were to blame.
“VA had planned additional systems enhancements to speed up the process and automate a large batch of these claims, but the Democrats’ government shutdown prevents the department from doing so,” Kasperowicz said in an emailed statement to MeriTalk.
“Any student whose payment has been delayed will be paid in full as soon as possible, but VA anticipates it will take until late November or early December to fully resolve this issue,” he added.
The VA official noted that as of November, VA’s average processing time for Chapter 35 claims is about 49 days.
Haycock-Lohmann disputed the agency’s shutdown explanation. “The shutdown isn’t the problem. The government wasn’t shut down in August when the technology failed,” she told reporters.
“When the VA can’t pay the students, the students are the ones who suffer,” she added. “These are benefits that they are guaranteed. They are appropriated. VA needs to figure out a long-term solution to this technology, because we cannot keep doing this.”
Will Hubbard, vice president for veterans and military policy at Veterans Education Success, called the lack of communication from the VA “a real failure.”
Hubbard said his organization, along with TAPS and others, is “at a minimum” calling on the VA to reopen the GI Bill hotline.
“This is something that the secretary of VA has the full authority to do and has not yet done. We would like to see that done this week so that people can at least get some answers,” he said.
“Additionally, we’re calling on the VA secretary to unfurlough the appropriated IT staff and support to get these claims processed as soon as possible,” Hubbard added.
While he acknowledged that Congress may have a deal in the works to end the government shutdown, Hubbard said “every single day counts” for these students.
Among those affected is Jonathan Mackey, a senior at Southeastern Louisiana University who relies on Chapter 35 benefits. He said that while his payments have not stopped entirely, he has been significantly underpaid.
Last week, Mackey received $839 for the current month’s payment, which he said barely covered his rent and left him with roughly $13 “to try and pay my bills, eat, or save it in case there’s an emergency.”
“We weren’t informed about the processing delays before the shutdown,” Mackey said, adding that his calls to the VA have gone unanswered.
“We’re not asking for much – simply timely processing [and] some communication or accountability of those that use 35 benefits, so we can stay focused on our education instead of trying to survive,” Mackey said.