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I had my first appointment with a Vocational Rehab counselor yesterday and learned that VR&E education benefits have an upper limit of 48 months. I was then told I only have 22 months of VR&E, however, because I've used 26 months of my GI Bill. Basically, GI Bill benefits eat into possible VR&E benefit time. I was also told that as of December 2015, the opposite is not true and VR&E benefits don't eat into GI Bill time. So if you used VR&E before GI Bill, your total potential benefits time would be 96 months (with GI Bill Yellow Ribbon), but if you use GI Bill first, your total time is just 48 months. Over the course of the morning I sensed there is a stigma regarding veterans using VR&E only for school. At first I assumed it meant I would be in for a rough morning of accusational comments from the VR&E counselor, but as it turns out they just prefer you don't come across as being an education benefits seeker. Because, as they explained, the primary goal is to rehabilitate veterans for employment, and that doesn't automatically equate to a degree. I sought out VR&E because I recently considered working as an artist and found all the reputable job listings included a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree as a mandatory prerequisite. Rather than going to school for another two or three years I'd like to start working and learning on the job. Truly, I'd just be thankful to be working as an artist because it would be an indoor environment with a predictable amount of physical exertion every day. My hope for VR&E was getting my foot in the door at an employer. My rating is well above the 20% minimum and it is for Insomnia and general neurosis. So the connection between why not continuing in one of my military trades is clear. With my employment disability established, my counselor made it clear that if I'd prefer, I can return to school to complete that BFA in order to be hired as an artist. After proving my credibility as an honest job seeker, and not someone just there for the good stuff (education bennies), I sensed that it was much easier for the counselor to take me through the education benefits process than the straight-to-job-hunting route. I have a follow-up appointment date and some information to gather about jobs that list a BFA as a requirement and schools with the corresponding BFA program that will take me this Fall. Overall there is a lot of information and counseling available to veterans at a VR&E office, and I suggest you go if you're looking to work somewhere else or change your profession to something that is easier on you. And if that involves returning to school, I expect you will find the VR&E counselor will want to grant you the opportunity. Your motivation just has to be in the right place.
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Jun 22, 2016 10:28
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I forgot to mention it's easy to make a case for an employment disability. Just keep it simple. If your past employment involves physical labor at all, it's a safe bet to say a four-year degree is your best shot at working in a better environment. Indoors, air conditioned, and with no physical labor in the job description. If you are also required to work irregular hours or overtime based on the employer's needs that's a pretty clear case too. I also have a failed work history over the past six months. That's bad in itself but a great reason for seeking professional retraining. I worked for a small government contractor in HVAC and pretty much burned out and was constantly sick before I quit. I started off just making myself useful where I could and found myself doing every drat thing within a couple months. I was reading legalese and changing policy, drafting contract proposals, and basically running the drat place, in addition to performing physical labor if it was necessary. You don't get raises or promotions just because you deserve them though, and the stress and irregular schedule meant I was hours late to work at least twice a week. But my work was still good, so my employer was more than happy to keep me on at the same basic starting rate. With a rating like Insomnia it's pretty easy to say there is a direct connection between it and working conditions that are physically difficult. Therefore I would like to work as a ____________ if this program will help me.
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Jun 26, 2016 01:21
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you qualify for unemployment after separating and should apply for it unless you can earn more doing something else, but chances of that are slim unless you have a job lined up and you can earn at least $15/ hour.
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Jul 14, 2016 12:07
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Oh, right. I'm assuming you have an honorable discharge and completed a full term of active duty service. Other than that, it's a federal program and you start by applying in your state. Program is called The Unemployment Compensation for Ex-service members (UCX) and there is a lot of information available with a google search.
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Jul 14, 2016 15:54
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Utah seems to have the same basic requirement as other states.
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Jul 14, 2016 17:02
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Godholio posted:All I'm saying is, YMMV because every state is different. I can personally vouch that just leaving the service and being unemployed is not sufficient in at least one state. Would you share exactly why you were ineligible, and say which state you were disqualified in? It's a federally mandated program and from what I can tell it is a very basic set of requirements: quote:UCX is available to ex-service members of all ranks who meet the following eligibility criteria: quote:physically able to work, available to work, actively looking for work, etc.
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Jul 14, 2016 17:38
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Godholio posted:Utah. Because I had sufficient savings to be disqualified from any Dept of Workforce Services services besides job hunting assistance. You list the federal requirements, but the states administer the program and can create their own rules. Don't you think you might be the exception? And how did they screen you, with tax returns? With that red state talk you had me wondering if you were pushing a political narrative. I think people should file rather than not, especially if they need time to find a good equivalent job. I was a mechanic during my first separation and there were great jobs out there, but I had trouble finding a place that would take me without having a $20,000 set of tools.
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Jul 14, 2016 20:59
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Godholio posted:It doesn't matter if I'm the exception (which I doubt, since I got a really late start on dumping money into those accounts the average GIP poster probably has more saved), I told people to check their local laws because reality is not as simple as three bullets on a .gov website. Explain to me why this is a loving problem. I just think you are being rather defeatist. It's a standard thing to file for unemployment upon separation and most people don't have TSP or Roth IRAs that would exclude them from receiving benefits.
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Jul 14, 2016 21:05
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I think this conversation could have been easier if you started what you know: retirement-related TSP and Roth IRAs may disqualify you from receiving benefits. And then included a message to say don't worry, unless you are old as balls and made it to 20+ years you should start the filing process possibly online in your state of residence when you have your DD214 and Social Security card in hand. Furthermore, disability payments at less than the 100% certified unemployable rate, and the GI Bill benefits including housing allowance don't prevent unemployment benefit eligibility. So you can, in fact, attend school under the assistance of the VA, have a disability rating and payment, and collect unemployment. Due to a recent change in Voc Rehab I suggest using it instead of GI Bill, because Voc rehab does not eat into remaining GI Bill time.
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Jul 14, 2016 23:29
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then explain yourself instead of posting quote:*maybe does that train video include derails by chance
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Jul 15, 2016 05:04
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OMFG PTSD LOL PBUH posted:[/b] Yeah, I know right? I'm just passing along what I was told during the VR&E briefing a few weeks ago: conventional GI Bill benefits reduce available VR&E time, but if you do the opposite and go to VR&E first, it does not impact your GI Bill benefits. I have a follow-up appointment this week, and I can ask again while I'm there.
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Jul 17, 2016 00:57
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OMFG PTSD LOL PBUH posted:What if you take the full BAH? Because VR&E has a different BAH setup for those that either don't want or can't use the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I get what you're saying, I'll be sure to ask about that too. The counselor didn't qualify the statement any further so I would guess it doesn't matter. Aside from this, is there a reason a person wouldn't opt for the post-9/11 housing allowance when they have the option?
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Jul 17, 2016 01:29
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I'll be back with more info and leads Wednesday.
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Jul 17, 2016 02:47
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I have a 2.55 GPA and had to explain my failed classes to an admissions counselor. I kept it simple. I attempted a full load every semester due to the way the GI Bill housing allowance works, and then let some grades fall while I maintained others. I also explained that my living conditions were not as good as they are now. My explanation was sufficient and I've been accepted with a provisional 3.5 GPA category that comes with some perks, mostly reduced tuition. I've been steered toward a private school by my VR&E counselor, and the minimum GPA for transfer is 2.5. I've heard that for state schools it is 3.5. I'm mostly after the BFA that everyone seems to require and the specific school isn't a big deal. But this school is the best in town so by all means yeah see where you can get accepted. There's a lot to say for knowing what you're about and what makes you different from carbon copy high school graduates.
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Aug 2, 2016 12:51
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When I separated from active duty (both times), I elected to receive a copy of my medical records made by the hospital at my duty station. I am pretty sure I also did everything else correctly, all prior to 2013. I'm not sure how I would go about this so I made a call to my local Veterans Service Officer http://nvf.org/veteran-service-officers/ He said he's never heard of an employer requesting sealed medical records. He then told me I was looking for a form called SF-180. According to Archives.gov you can use either the SF-180 or eVetRecs http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/
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Aug 16, 2016 18:13
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try these guys https://vetrecs.archives.gov/VeteranRequest/home.html
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Aug 16, 2016 18:28
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Dead Reckoning posted:I need a cheap cell phone, so that I can spike it after I get hung up on by an automated phone menu system. I would stay on top of that. Actually I doubt they have your records to provide you a copy from in the first place. I'm pretty sure your active duty records were sent to either the national records center or your state's veteran records collection place. I designated this when I separated.
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Aug 16, 2016 22:03
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I don't think I'm the only one dying to know what type of job you're pursuing, but I won't ask because you said you have it handled. Talking about it here might not be a good idea but I think if you have the energy, you should find a Veterans Service Officer who has dealt with this before or is willing to get on the horn for you. I tend to pick Amvets representatives. I'm pretty sure VSOs are the subject matter experts for veteran medical records. They're also available at every VA medical center, I think? And at military bases with a dedicated outprocessing center. A VSO sifted through my medical records as part of my separation process and earmarked things that would qualify as disability claims. Did you have one of those?
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Aug 16, 2016 22:37
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If medical records are scanned and kept digitally now, that is great news. I'm impressed.
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Aug 18, 2016 17:09
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TheQuietWilds posted:They definitely are for Navy, can't speak to Army or AF I brought this up during my visit to the veterans resource center at school today. One of the work study students said his records were given to him on CD when he separated. I didn't ask which branch or duty station but holy poo poo.
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Aug 18, 2016 21:42
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lol. and out of habit I would print everything off the CD to have a paper copy. all 400-something single-sided pages
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Aug 18, 2016 22:34
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Dead Reckoning posted:Welp, they did it, got confirmation form the HR dept. So, if you recently separated, asking your last duty station to pull your records from ALTHA or whatever is a legitimate option. Still blows my mind. I created a support ticket on gibill.gov to ask for another copy of my certificate of eligibility. They emailed me a digital version the next day, and I received a hard copy a week later.
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Aug 27, 2016 06:48
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Hillary Clintons Thong posted:or Fort HOod National Bank they're good people holy poo poo could you not
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Sep 2, 2016 07:53
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If you fail a class your professor needs to certify that you at least attended. To avoid having to repay your education benefit.
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Feb 14, 2017 18:22
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There has to be a way to appeal the repayment. People don't set out to fail, but we aren't the most stable people. Maybe the issues were a result of psych conditions and there's a compassion case to make here. I was sleeping in my car for a few weeks at one point so I know it can be overwhelming just to show up.
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Feb 14, 2017 21:25
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I had a psychiatrist refuse to refill my prescriptions after changing facilities.
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Feb 17, 2017 20:00
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Delizin posted:I'm a bit worried because of the extent of my injuries and that my plan involves working with firearms which the VA has special rules regarding. Back in January I applied for a very competitive and well regarded and accredited gunsmithing associate degree program and I've made it through all the selection rounds so far with the final decision on if I'll make it in coming at the end of the month. The only hangup I had with the process was an acceptance to a school. If I had to do it again I would have that in hand. It didn't change my counselor's decision about me or affect me negatively. There was just a lot of waiting. You're going to also need a degree plan from the school. Something that includes a timeline for completion and the list of classes they'll approve. Once your degree plan is signed off your job is to make it through the program.
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Apr 14, 2017 21:11
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TBeats posted:I plan on applying to grad school next January/February. And possibly starting in the summer (May). Will that be enough time to apply, get accepted, and get voc rehab figured out? Getting my initial appointment took a month, and then I had some things to gather like job listings for my desired career (5+ ads from solid sources like monster, careerbuilder, and state job registries). My acceptance letter, and the degree plan (which involves your school registrar's office). Each time I needed something we agreed on another appointment three weeks later. I'd say four months before the course start date is a comfortable minimum window to give yourself, assuming you have the acceptance and five current job listings. My counselor preferred emailed PDF copies of my required documents as I received them. Depending on the school, generating your degree plan could take a few days to a couple weeks and require you visiting in person and making sure your file is being pushed forward. Active control kind of thing. I tried a trade school and a university, and the trade school was incredibly motivated to provide me what I needed for VR&E. The university was pretty much the opposite and more of a typical large, lumbering organization.
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Apr 14, 2017 22:01
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I can't get to my paperwork for a while, perhaps a week, but when I do I'll post some checklists I received from my counselor. Things that weren't given to me until I showed up and attended the briefings and my appointments.
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Apr 14, 2017 22:02
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Just want to update: I got my VR&E file and I'll post the checklists after I scrub my name and last four. Gimme like six hours. Checklist:    I'll skip to the items that are important. Item 1 is a letter you will receive from the VA after signing up for VR&E. The one item you might have to wait on no matter what, the letter confirming you are eligible for VR&E. That is three weeks after your first appointment with your counselor. 2: An online questionnaire that is half IQ test, and half a self-reported questionnaire of likes and dislikes. http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/careerscope.asp It asks if you would like to do admin things versus physical labor work, or teaching, etc. It's very obvious whether you should answer yes or no based on the career field you think you are suited for. 5: order transcripts sent to you in sealed envelopes, and bring them with you. Your integrity isn't under question here, they just want to see what your academic background has been like. Your school will have more knowledge of your schools attended through the national student clearinghouse http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/ It's a sort of credit report for students, and it keeps track of any discrepancies like unpaid tuition. Your VR&E counselor just wants a sense of what you've studied and how you've performed. The acceptance notification from the school you want to attend carries far more weight here. I was able to view my national student clearinghouse record from a login through my old community college portal. Your admissions counselor at school can easily provide a list of schools in your record for you. 7: They want to see the working copy of the resume you'll use to apply for jobs after finishing school. No need to have performance anxiety over this or be a perfectionist. There are resume services available through VR&E. 9: You can request a certificate of eligibility online now. Go to https://gibill.custhelp.com and create an account and submit an "ask a question." A basic "Hi I'd like a copy of my certificate of eligibility mailed to me please, Thank you!" and it creates an "incident report." You'll receive your COE in the mail within a week. 10: bring a blank check 13: search for job listings in the career you want to enter and print them out. Can be from monster.com or careerbuilder. The schools I considered had links for employment in the related fields for each degree program. Those work too. This is a very loose requirement. They just want to see there are job offers available. 15: For me, most of this was satisfied between my academic counselor and my VR&E counselor. I gave them each other's contact info and they contacted each other. A cost sheet is very simple and for one school of mine was this:  The degree plan is just like any other student's degree plan and requires an audit if you have transfer credits. It's something you will need from your registrar's office. 16: Most of this is provided in pamphlets from your school. My counselor was interested in job placement rates, but the job listings satisfies most of that requirement. VR&E is heavily weighted on your counselor's confidence in you and in my case I showed her my art portfolio and just made sure I was a functioning human being. I got the sense that my counselor wanted to help me navigate this program and was on my side. I signed up for my first appointment in person at my local VR&E office. There are several locations for this and my admissions counselor at Art Institute told me which office she was used to working with. I suggest calling a school advisor to ask the same thing. I recall the VA website lists several locations for my city, but my advisor strongly recommended a particular office by address. There is a "high cost school" category beyond $24k a year but that can be over-ridden with a high cost school memo from your VR&E counselor. My counselor also asked if I needed a laptop or housing. I declined but I assume it was because VR&E also provides assistance for these things. Hope that helps. Anagram of GINGER fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Apr 20, 2017 |
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Apr 20, 2017 00:25
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TheAlphaChaser posted:I'm working through voc stuff now so I appreciate the effort post. I will already have a year completed at my grad program before I complete the process. Do you know if they would pay for my last year even though I'm already started? Or god forbid reimburse my first year? It's probably not a hard case to make. If you can convince your counselor that your grad program would be good for your future, it's not a stretch to say you just need help. Reimbursing school you've already taken doesn't sound like anything I've heard, but keep looking.
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Apr 20, 2017 14:29
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TBeats posted:Since you need 150 education hours to sit for the CPA, and you usually finish that out by getting a masters in accounting, and getting a CPA increases your employability, getting voc rehab for grad school shouldn't be a stretch, right? Accountants/auditors are always in demand. Yeah it sounds like a good idea. Your counselor will probably like to hear that you've always wanted to do it, or that you've shown some strong ability in that area.
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Apr 20, 2017 18:25
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Just another heads up, there's a result for the IQ test portion of that online questionnaire. If you're going for something like accounting your counselor would have more faith in your plan if you score high on the math portion. Half way through the math questions I started having severe mental block and kept thinking about how there are iphone apps that will solve the problems for me instantly. I just stopped trying to calculate the problems and made my best guesses. My results were this  The last three (Motor Coordination, Finger Dexterity, Manual Dexterity) aren't covered by the online test. I heard they're given at the VR&E center if it's relevant to your career. 50 / 100 is the default values.
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Apr 23, 2017 23:07
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Delizin posted:Technically it is possible to get reimbursement according to the Voc Rehab handbook, but I don't know how difficult it is to get in practice. yeah you too that blows my mind
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Apr 27, 2017 07:20
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Delizin posted:I was told by my VR&E counselor that using Voc Rehab combined with Post 9/11 did not deplete my Chapter 33 benefits since I am use Voc Rehab first. I tried to pull up some resources and this seems to confirm it: http://www.disabledveterans.org/2013/10/30/va-voc-rehab-take-away-gi-bill/ Yeah this is what I heard was possible too. The stipulation is that you never touched your chapter 33. Also, for California veterans, I'm going to attend a Class A license training program and the state Dept of Rehabilitation is covering tuition. I'll also receive the GI Bill living allowance according to my eligibility percentage but the class time will not reduce my remaining eligibility on Chapter 33. I'm not sure what the disability rating threshold is for the Dept of Rehabilitaion, or if there is one beyond 0%, but my rating determination letter and some supporting diagnosis paperwork from myhealthvet (myhealthevet?) was a requirement for the Dept of Rehabilitation. If this is something you would do for work, find a training school and ask.
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Jun 28, 2017 23:28
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I met with a voc rehab counselor for the initial application and she told me that voc rehab doesn't consume post 9-11 benefits. I want to see the latest paperwork, but if she's right, the form you sign regarding post 9-11 benefits only says you promise not to use both at the same time.
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Aug 10, 2017 08:12
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Nuclear War posted:Thank you, this is a good start. Sorry to gently caress up you guys' thread This is an interesting one, please follow up
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Sep 24, 2017 05:05
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