Customer ReviewsforVeterans Care Coordination

After working with a VCC Aide-in-Attendance Pension serving my mother for nearly 5 years now, 2 stars are completely understandable. and maybe a bit much in many situations. Covering overhead is one thing but the "sketchy practices" one of the other reviewers mentioned is well worth noting. Every month VCC deposits a $1309 into my mother's bank account and then takes it out the next day. After they take a cut, EVERY MONTH, they use the money to pay a Care Agency directly and the Care Agency pays a caregiver $11-13/hour according to caregivers who have worked with us. The dominant profile of caregivers is "single mother of 3-5 children, with a car that constantly needs work. A few have taken the bus or walked to our home so they could make that check that does not come close to covering monthly expenses. For many, Caregiving is a second job. On top of all of that, I am asked to fill out receipts every month for $500, I never receive?!!!**** So we get no money at all, and stressed out caregivers, many of whom I send home early with pay, just to give us all a break. A stressed out, exhausted caregiver is more work than help. I care for my mother who has had Alzheimer's Dementia for abut 14 years. With VCC, I also end up caring for caregivers as well. Some of the care agencies will hire family members, however, I would then be ineligible for social services if hired and they are much more valuable than the pay I would get as my mother's paid caregiver. I have asked if we can stop receiving the pension, because it is truly more work than help for me. It's a lifetime award and if it does not work for us, we can't even give it back.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your mother's care for five years. Our mission is to allow Veterans and their families to age in the place they call home. We work to ensure **************** for the client and assist with paperwork that can be difficult to understand. We partner with agencies that meet our high standards to provide care at the local level. We require adequate liability, workers' compensation insurance, and proper training for all our partners. These agencies set the caregivers' wages and the hours they work. Our primary focus is to be a liaison between the family if there is a concern with the quality of care. The ********** of ******* Affairs deposits the benefit amount into the client's bank account, and VCC withdraws the cost of home care serviced the previous month. This practice can be found in the contract which was signed by your loved one. The $500 was an amount for private care paid by the client each month, contributing to their eligibility. This was explained during the onboarding process and signed by the person attesting they were performing those services. This amount did not come from the VA or Veterans Care Coordination.Clients do have the option to terminate the benefit, but under certain circumstances, it may create a debt with the VA. We do not want to see that happen and will advise a client if this is a possibility. Caregiver stress is a valid concern not only for professional caregivers but for family caregivers as well. There are excellent resources for caregivers to keep the balance between caring for others and themselves. We encourage our partners to provide these resources to their caregivers to avoid burnout. We appreciate you allowing us to address these concerns and invite you to reach out to us if you would like to discuss further.