“The Department of Veterans Affairs’ effort to implement provisions within the Forever GI Bill are still ongoing, but slow. Signed into law in January, the bill in part removes a 15-year expiration date for veterans to continue their education, and provides housing allowances. VA Inspector General Michael Missal said despite agency enthusiasm, the VA has yet to meet a single deadline.”
“Missal said his office received a number of requests — about 13 — from Congress in November 2018 to look at the agency’s failure to pay veterans proper housing stipends while implementing the law. The Veterans Benefits Administration in particular failed to meet key requirements of the bill…”
“One issue arose when VBA didn’t change the base for calculating stipends, an issue statement from the IG said. The agency was supposed to modify their systems to calculate stipends based on where a veteran is studying, not where the main campus is located. In other words, sometimes veterans studied at potentially more expensive satellite campuses.”
“VA initially hired Booz Allen Hamilton to do the programming and fix the housing allowance issue — but the communication…” Read or listen here.
Source: VA IG: Decentralization to blame for housing stipend, IT shortfalls – By Steff Thomas, April 19, 2019. Federal News Network.
