What % you need to be DEC

cookie2007 wrote:

Unknown Soldier wrote:

cookie2007 wrote:Total disability was 106% in VAC eyes.
Started Rehab in Feb 2019- 1st MOD assessment CM didn't want to put in DEC...
New CM in end of 2019.... MOD assessment done in May 2020- report submitted for DEC June 17th- and approval for DEC 2 months later to the day.

how were you notified ? Did you get a copy of the dec board observations, l hear they are all done in wpg now

This letter- obviously I removed name- and what conditions weren't covered.

We have determined that you have a diminished earning capacity, under subsection 18(5)
of the Veterans Well-being Act.
In making this decision, we reviewed the following information from your file:
 The Vocational Assessment Summary Report – dated 20 May 2020
We determined that one or more of your health problems, listed below, will affect your
future earning capacity. Specifically, this means we have determined you will not be able
to work in any occupation which would provide you with suitable gainful employment,
defined under section 6 of the Veterans Well-Being Act as 66 2/3rds of the amount used to
calculate your Income Replacement Benefit (IRB).
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder
This decision is effective 01 August 2020.
Your Income Replacement Benefit will continue for life, as long as you continue to meet
the criteria for a diminished earning capacity. We will do a periodic review of your earnings
and notify you if there are any changes. In addition, if you did not serve a full career in the
military, you may be eligible for the Career Progression Factor. This is a 1% annual
increase to the amount of your salary, at the time of your release, until you reach what
would have been 20 years of service, or age 60.
Next Steps
You must keep us informed and contact us anytime there are changes to your income or
employment status.
To request a review
If you are not satisfied with this decision, you may request a review by writing, within 60
days of the date of this letter, to:
Veterans Affairs Canada
National 1st Level Appeals Unit
PO Box 6000
Matane QC G4W 0E4
Questions
If you have any questions about this decision or other services and benefits offered by us:
 send us a secure message through My VAC Account;
 call us toll-free at 1-866-522-2122, TTY: 1-833-921-0071; or
 visit any of our office locations.
More information on benefits, how to register for My VAC Account, and our office locations
can be found at veterans.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
R. D'Eschambault
Diminished Earning Capacity Unit

Unknown Soldier wrote:

cookie2007 wrote:Total disability was 106% in VAC eyes.
Started Rehab in Feb 2019- 1st MOD assessment CM didn't want to put in DEC...
New CM in end of 2019.... MOD assessment done in May 2020- report submitted for DEC June 17th- and approval for DEC 2 months later to the day.

how were you notified ? Did you get a copy of the dec board observations, l hear they are all done in wpg now

cookie2007 wrote:Total disability was 106% in VAC eyes.
Started Rehab in Feb 2019- 1st MOD assessment CM didn't want to put in DEC...
New CM in end of 2019.... MOD assessment done in May 2020- report submitted for DEC June 17th- and approval for DEC 2 months later to the day.

Rubicon wrote:One correction to 45jim's comments below reference being unable to appeal a DEC decision. You can appeal a DEC decision. My first DEC decision was done just prior to 1 April 2019 before their decision process changed to a more board-like approach. My Case Manager (CM) and her supervisor denied my DEC application based on the evidence at the time. I had asked for March of Dimes (MoD) vocational testing in January 2019 but it did not happen. I blame the CM for that. The DEC decision was not favourable and I was given 30 days to appeal. While the denial letter says it takes up to 12 weeks for a response it took from April to October 2019 for the 1st Level Appeal Decision to be rendered. It was denied as well. I then had another 30 days to appeal which I did but I also completed the March of Dimes vocational testing in the interim and asked for those results to be considered at the 2nd Level Unit Appeal Level. The MoD report was not considered because that is not how they run their appeals process. No new information is considered in an appeal from the first DEC decision. In this case it would have made all of the difference and changed the outcome because the MoD determination was that I am unable to work full-time. The 2nd Level Appeal Unit denied my last appeal in a letter dated 30 January 2020. While this may seem crazy and it is; what it did do was require a new application for DEC in February 2020 by my CM. That is where I sit now awaiting a decision on a new DEC application with a MoD report recommending no full-time employment. If I get it I am then going to appeal a Career Impact Allowance Supplement (CIAS) decision that was unfavourable as well owing to the first denial of my DEC application prior to 1 April 2019. This is why I say the VAC backlog is self-made. They could have resolved all of this if they had have used all of the pertinent information which they did not.

Rubicon  

Ppclicaper wrote:A DEC designation is started by a Case Manager . This is after pretty much every avenue has been exhausted. With supporting documentation from your support group ; Doctors psychologists , psychiatrists , occupational therapists. If the support staff supports a Diminished capacity to return to work. Your case manager should support and provide all documentation for the determination. I do not know your case , but this is what happened for my DEC determination .. years and years of supporting documentation. Your case manager is there to guide you through the processes . I still have my case manager after being determined DEC .. I decided to continue with my support team . We do not lose or team , we have gone through our process to an end result .. other vets require help and more time from case managers .. this is a staffing issue not a they drop us issue

Unfortunately case managers can only judge the seriousness of a situation based off the medical professionals reports.

45jim wrote:I guess you are just not clearly asking the question you really want to ask, or people aren't reading it right.  But it appears you are asking about the power of a case manager in the DEC context.

When Rehab isn't going to get the Vet back to work at an income level that will support them, DEC is a way to allow VAC to extend the IRB benefits indefinitely and reduce the case management load. Its a recognition that VAC has done all they can to get the Vet back on his/her feet but they are too broken for the VAC system to fix them. After you are declared DEC, you are kinda cut lose.

As to you question regarding "authority" regarding who can apply and rule over DEC decisions, that does rest with the case manager and the cell responsible for reviewing DEC decisions.

Veteran's do not have the ability to "apply" for DEC, it is not a benefit.

However, every Veteran must be their best advocate for their care. In reality, if a case manager who has been working with a Veteran sees that the Rehab plan isn't delivering the results and the Veteran just can't work they should initiate a DEC review of the Veterans file. I agree with the comments that DEC is not something to be happy about, but it is an administrative process designed to give some certainty to an injured Veteran but it does have a downside in that you lose your case manager and the support that goes with that. On the flip side, if your case manager is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole perhaps its time for a frank discussion about the future and how it may play out for the Veteran. This is easier for those Veterans who can meet fact-to-face with their case manager as opposed to those whose case manager contact is mostly phone based. I think most case managers are amenable to that.

So yeah, a case manager must initiate the DEC process and if they don't think you meet the criteria they won't start the process. You can't force them to initiate a DEC review done on your file, they have their process and they must do everything they can to make the program work for the Veteran. DEC is a recognition that the VAC process has run out of options.

Since DEC is not a benefit, there is also no "appeal" of the decision. I gather that is why Case Managers don't start the process until they have a sufficient body of data to support their conclusions. However, I don't believe that its a "one and done" thing, if the board comes back and says "no", it does not mean that it would not look at the Veteran again as the situation changes and regulations are modified from time to time.

Six-Actual wrote:DEC is not simply based on a veteran's disabilities and there is no one size fits all puzzle board in which you can input parameters with the outcome being DEC.

I say again, DEC is the last stop in a veteran's rehab program. It's usually intiated by VAC itself, because a veteran who has the goal of bettering themselves, is generally concerned with getting ahead. And not concerned with a DEC designation.
Granted, a veteran has the right to request a DEC review, but undoubtedly, it's the furthest thing from any veteran's mind, who is trying to move forward.

DEC is a solemn designation, nobody really wants it. It's a last resort.

So nothing simple.