By Malcolm Glover
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-903424.mp3
Little Rock, AR – As veterans return from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Veterans Administration in Little Rock is in the homestretch of a 10-month pilot program designed to transform the way it does business. Malcolm Glover from KUAR in Little Rock reports.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki started the program to tackle the backlog of 1.1 million claims nationwide that makes veterans wait months and even years to get monetary help. For many years the slow claims process has been a huge hassle for Arkansas vets.
"We had poor customer service .that was unacceptable," Cheryl Rawls said.
Rawls is an Army veteran and the director of the V-A Regional Office in North Little Rock. Rawls says even though the Arkansas V-A processes 12,000 claims a year she realizes that a few vets with bad experiences casts a negative light on the whole system. She says the pilot program aims to streamline the claims process.
Thirty-five-year-old Specialist Jacob Mitchum puffs on a cigarette while standing outside the VA Regional Offices trading war stories with other vets. Mitchum was a gunner in the National Guard responsible for clearing supply routes of IED's in Iraq. He returned in September of 2007, but waited more than a year before going to the VA.
Even though Mitchum sustained injuries from a bomb blast, his father's post war stories made him skeptical about finding help at the VA.
Back inside the VA Regional Offices, Veteran Services Officer Jeena Chandler says the pilot program is making it easier for her to help vets navigate the claims process.
Former Marine Terry Black is 63-years-old and says the slow processing of claims was never his biggest concern.
VA Director Cheryl Rawls concedes implementing reforms takes time, but she says her 209 employees are committed to improving veterans' services.
The VA in Arkansas isn't alone in efforts to reform the claims process. Pilot programs are underway in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island and one just ended in Maryland. VA Secretary Shinseki says the goal is to cut through the bureaucratic red-tape and dramatically reduce the backlog by 2015.