Lawmakers in Washington are not happy about findings from an audit on veterans affairs offices. The report looked at 16 centers. Nashville’s center was among the worst.
The VA‘s inspector general wanted to know how regional centers were responding to veterans’ disability claims. How quickly and how accurately. They picked Nashville’s regional office at random to inspect from April 2009 to September 2010.
The Nashville center was only in compliance with five out of fifteen claims categories.
VA auditor Brent Arronte told a Congressional panel late last week staff usually has good intentions, but he says untrained supervisors often are to blame for shortcomings.
“We promote technicians into supervisor positions that don’t have the skills or understanding all the time what it takes to supervise.”
As a result, Arronte says veterans’ claims for things like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury can languish for weeks. Sometimes they get lost altogether.
The VA now is working with personnel in Nashville and with centers nationwide to bring services up to federal standards.
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