It is a sad state of events when we learn that many disabled veterans are kept in miserable circumstances while under the control of a guardian, whether under the VA guardian program, or through our own state courts.
See:
NASGA: Veterans in Peril
HelpBringGaryHome
Instead of Helping, VA Trustee Program is Hurting, Families Say
6 comments:
Thank you. Very true.
Thank you for the thoughtful reference to veterans under guardianship on this Memorial Day. For a veteran or relation of one in Michigan and neighboring states, please check out University of Detroit Mercy's “Project Salute” (http://www.law.udmercy.edu/project_salute/index.php), an aggressive, expanding movement by lawyers/law students to assure that all veterans receive due benefits by operating a mobile legal clinic in several states.
Regarding VA benefits of persons under guardianship, I recently wrote a letter to Wayne County Probate Court on behalf of a 78 yr. old veteran in a foster care home. Along with other guardianship problems, his legal guardian has consistently failed to disclose the disposition of his VA and other pension benefits, as well as the identity of his Representative Payee/s. Other VA-related concerns include direct violations of two court orders that resulted in the sale of his home while he was receiving treatment at a VA medical facility and the guardian’s failure to provide for his customary medical care at that facility. Responses thus far are mixed but I am hopeful that, ultimately, all concerned with administrating the affairs of this ward and veteran will perform their duties as the laws demand and he will not be subjected to another costly, humiliating hearing.
Advocating for a vulnerable person takes time and effort but we can make progress through proper and persistent communications when problems are administrative in nature. Writing a simple letter of concern to a judge or any person or entity with legal authority serves multiple purposes, not the least of which is alerting them to the fact that someone under their charge is suffering, and the public knows it.
Today is a day to focus on those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. We must carry on for those lost souls right vs wrong it's our responsibility to stand up and do the right thing. May they rest in peace.
God Bless all veterans.
I find it so immoral and twisted that a Veteran, any Veteran, is now in need of help, in a bind via guardianship he/she that sacrificed their time for our freedom is trapped in a system that strips all their freedoms if only they knew then what they know now would they have sacrificed knowing what was coming? I think not.
It shows the mindset of the crooks when they have no problem abusing a veteran.
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