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Left behind Empty Re: Left behind

Post by bigrex Fri 24 Jun 2016, 13:01

That is a very small risk. I doubt the short term financial gain will be enough incentive to drive anyone to suicide, who wasn't already suicidal. After all, the death benefit isn't an additional $360K, it's $360K minus whatever you have already been paid.
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Post by Teager Fri 24 Jun 2016, 11:50

There are some big issues with paying the families of those that commit suicide with PTSD/OSI. It could encourage more to do it especially if they are facing finicial hardship. They could see it as there family will be taken care of if they go. I think this is the biggest issue VAC would face in deciding if benefits should be recieved. IF VAC provided proper finicial benefits then I doubt that would be an issue at all.

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Post by Rifleman Fri 24 Jun 2016, 11:23

I sure hope so

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Post by bigrex Fri 24 Jun 2016, 08:17

Maybe this is the first step in having VAC pay death benefits to those families who lose their loved ones to suicide, if they have been diagnosed with PTSD or other OSI.
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Left behind Empty Children of military suicide victims to get scholarships after charity reconsiders

Post by Guest Fri 24 Jun 2016, 05:57

Children of military suicide victims to get scholarships after charity reconsiders.

Canada Company reverses course after rejecting applications from children of soldier who took his life.

Jun 24, 2016 5:00 AM ET

A military charity pilloried last spring for denying scholarships to the children of a soldier who died by suicide has overhauled its eligibility rules and will now consider such applications as long as the deaths can be attributed to military service.

CBC News has learned that Canada Company's rewritten policy will be unveiled at an event later today with a $500,000 increase to its post-secondary education fund.

The additional cash, which comes from the organization's board of directors and four big banks, brings the total size of the scholarship program to over $3 million.

Last spring, the group's refusal to grant scholarships to the two children of Capt. Brad Elms made national headlines. Elms, a veteran of the Royal Canadian Regiment, took his own life in November 2014.

The selection committee, which included Canada Company founder Blake Goldring, deemed the children ineligible because suicide was not covered in the founding guidelines, much to the surprise of the soldier's widow, Sherri Elms.

That has been rectified, Goldring told the CBC.

"The battlefield has changed," he said in an interview. "Our country is coming to terms with the broader impact of war. We recognize there is another group of children who need our support."

The notion that they would be dealing with applicants whose parents took their lives was not something the group envisioned when it was established in 2006, early in the Kandahar combat mission, said Goldring.

The group will now consider applications from the children of suicide as long as the deaths are attributable to military service.

A question of eligibility

Goldring, who holds the ceremonial post of honorary colonel of the Canadian Army, said the charity — in order to confirm eligibility — will rely on the designation applied to each case by National Defence

That may be problematic.

There have been several high-profile suicide cases, such as the death of Cpl. Stuart Langridge, which were not designated as attributable to service. In that instance, his family claimed depression because of his overseas service drove him to take his own life.

Brig.-Gen. Lowell Thomas, commander of the 4th Canadian Division headquartered in Toronto, said he believes Canada Company was swept up in the emerging debate over what is considered a combat death.

"I think it came as a bit of a surprise to them," said Thomas.

Soldiers who have died at the front or later because of wounds are counted as a matter of tradition. But suicides, which are considered an affront to military esprit de corps, were counted separately in what many view as the deliberate exclusion and marginalization of trauma.

Attitudes are changing

Former general Roméo Dallaire, one of the country's best-known advocates on the understanding of post-traumatic stress, has publicly backed the notion of counting post-conflict suicides as combat deaths.

He has contributed to the growing sense that psychological wounds are just as devastating as physical injuries.

Thomas said he believes the military is also coming around to the same conclusion.

"Personally, I would agree," he said. "It is another form of casualty."

Goldring said the expansion will allow for an additional 125 scholarships to be awarded, and 13 of them are to be presented today in Toronto.

The Elms children were not among the list of recipients.

Goldring says the group has reached out and offered to reverse its earlier decision, but has been rejected.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/soldier-suicides-scholarships-1.3650177

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Post by Guest Tue 03 May 2016, 14:23

brad was a hard man and a good man Robbie probably knew him as well . just a note he was not a career officer he is from the ranks . fit and dedicated and expected the same of others he made the military better and stronger than it otherwise would have been . to see his children treated like this because of his sacrifice sickens me to no end .

propat

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Left behind Empty Charity changes education program after soldier’s children denied scholarships

Post by Guest Tue 03 May 2016, 05:58

An influential military-focused charity that denied scholarships to two children of an infantry officer who took his own life after deploying to Afghanistan announced on Monday that it is expanding the scope of its education program because of the enduring damage left by post-traumatic stress disorder.

The announcement, which was short on details, was made three days after a Globe and Mail investigation revealed that Canada Company’s scholarship committee had last year ruled that Captain Brad Elms’s children were not eligible for the charity’s fallen soldiers scholarship because the circumstances of his death didn’t meet the program’s criteria.

Capt. Elms, 51, of the Royal Canadian Regiment died by suicide in Kingston in November, 2014. He was a respected infantry officer, methodical and meticulous. Before deploying to Afghanistan in 2008, he had served in Somalia, Bosnia and Haiti.

A one-time military Ironman winner, the army captain was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in 2003. His family believes he also had PTSD, but he never sought a diagnosis because he worried it would destroy his army career.

A military board of inquiry determined that his death was attributable to his military service. Veterans Affairs concluded Capt. Elms’s service-connected mental illness was “the underlying cause of his death.”

Despite these findings, Canada Company did not change its position on deaths by suicide when it reviewed its scholarship rejection of the Elms children, The Globe’s investigation showed. Capt. Elms’s widow, Sherri, urged the organization to spell out its stand in its terms of reference so no other family would go through a similar rejection. And so the charity rewrote the terms of reference for its scholarship program last year, adding authorized training missions to its eligibility criteria.

It also included this line: “Eligible candidates do not include children of Canadian soldiers whose deaths result from suicide.”

It was unclear on Monday how Canada Company plans to expand its scholarship program and whether it will be available to children of military members who took their own lives.

Canada Company’s position on suicide was out of step with other military-related scholarship programs. The Globe surveyed 21 other private and government education-assistance programs available to children of fallen veterans and found that only one other – the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s Fallen Heroes Scholarship – does not include students who lost a parent to suicide. In one other case – the Project Hero scholarship that is offered at about 60 colleges and universities and affiliated with Canada Company – the participating institutions have no common policy on inclusion of deaths by suicide.

Canada Company founder Blake Goldring and charity president Angela Mondou were not available to comment on Monday. In a media release, the Toronto-based organization said: “Given the greater awareness of the challenges military members and their families face with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Canada Company is taking action to expand the scope of its support.”

The release noted that members of the charity’s board of directors have contributed $100,000 to the scholarship fund and that the organization will collaborate with other military charities, the business sector and government organizations to raise more money. Additional details will be announced at Canada Company’s scholarship presentation on June 24 in Toronto.

“This enhancement to our scholarship fund … will ensure that Canada Company continues to deliver relevant initiatives that suit current military needs,” Mr. Goldring said in the release.

Started in 2007, the scholarship program was established specifically for children of Canadian Forces members “killed while serving in an active role in a military mission,” Ms. Mondou said in a previous interview. Exceptions, however, have been made for children of parents killed in training accidents in Canada and while on leave from overseas operations.

Canada Company’s education-assistance fund, valued at roughly $2.6-million, is one of the largest among private programs for children of fallen soldiers. Ms. Elms’s scholarship request was the first from a family who had lost a loved one to suicide, Ms. Mondou said.

The Elms family had never publicly shared their story before. Ms. Elms hopes Canada Company’s scholarship expansion includes all children of members whose deaths are service-related, as defined by National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

“When this standard is used, training accidents qualify, deaths in theatre qualify, service-related suicides qualify,” Ms. Elms said in an e-mail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/charity-changes-education-program-after-soldiers-children-denied-scholarships/article29829966/

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Left behind Empty Canada Company Expands Scholarship Program for Children of the Fallen

Post by Guest Mon 02 May 2016, 16:30

TORONTO, May 2, 2016 /CNW/ - Canada Company is pleased to announce that it will be taking a leadership role in working with other Canadian charitable organizations to help raise additional funds to supplement the Canada Company Scholarship Fund program.

Canada Company is a registered Canadian charity that assists and advocates for those who are serving and have served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Since inception in 2006, it has brought together "Canadians helping Canadians" through relevant and current programs. These include career transition initiatives for member and/or their spouses through their MET and METSpouse programs and scholarships for those who have lost a parent serving with the Canadian Armed Forces.

Given the greater awareness of the challenges military members and their families face with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Canada Company is taking action to expand the scope of its support. To that purpose, members of the Board of Directors have contributed $100,000 to the Canada Company Scholarship Fund. Canada Company will also collaborate with other military charities, as well as business and government organizations to raise further funds. Additional details will be announced at the Canada Company Scholarship Fund presentation on June 24 in Toronto.

"In recognition of the selfless sacrifice that Canada's brave military personnel make in the service to our country, we honour their legacy by providing their children with opportunity in the form of post-secondary education scholarships" says Blake Goldring, founder of Canada Company. "This enhancement to our scholarship fund, first created in 2007, will ensure that Canada Company continues to deliver relevant initiatives that suit current military needs".

"As a staunch advocate of military veterans, veterans in transition and the families of our fallen, Canada Company recognizes this immediate need to build on our existing programs" says Canada Company president, Angela Mondou "With the support of both HCol Blake Goldring and our Board, we hold out an example of Canada Company's ability to step up and take action for an ever-evolving need to support Canada's finest".

Canada Company will also increase the public profile of issues confronting military families. Under the Many Ways to Serve banner, a member-led campaign will launch the Respect Campaign in early June with the goal of raising awareness and funds for military PTSD and related problems.

Over the past decade, Canada Company has helped provide college or university education for 33 students. There will be up to 18 recipients of Canada Company scholarships to be announced in June of 2016, bringing a total of approximately 100 scholarships awarded since the program began.

Canada Company is proud of its record of support for the children and families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We look forward to building on that foundation, honouring the memory of our fallen military heroes.

SOURCE Canada Company

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/canada-company-expands-scholarship-program-for-children-of-the-fallen-577818411.html

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Post by RCN-Retired Sat 30 Apr 2016, 23:45

Pretty harsh. Suicide is so hard on families and to have an organization disqualify you because your parent had a mental illness that lead to suicide is wrong in so many fronts.
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Left behind Empty Left behind

Post by Guest Sat 30 Apr 2016, 05:53

After an army captain took his life, his family turned to a scholarship program for children of fallen soldiers. They didn’t get the help they expected, Renata D’Aliesio reports

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/investigation-canada-companyscholorships/article29808916/

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