IDVA

Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs (IDVA) partnered with UIC Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design (IHDD) on an engagement to understand how they can better serve veterans throughout the state of Illinois in obtaining benefits and services. Our team was tasked with answering the challenge:

How might we equip the IDVA with the information to make strategic decisions about how to allocate resources and make investments to best serve its customers (both now and in the future) in pursuit of its goal to become the “go to” veterans’ service organization in Illinois?

Context

Evolving veteran services for the next generation

Each veteran generation is marked by the emergence of new advocacy orgs which act as indicators of generational shifts both in population needs and in services required to support them.

State veteran affairs agencies must evolve to meet the needs of a more diverse veterans’ population and their changing expectations of advocacy organizations.

Veteran Journey - Current State

Filing a disability claim

The current process for filing a claim through IDVA is designed for in-person, episodic encounters. While the in-person interactions make a huge difference in maximizing the impact IDVA has on veteran lives, it can be disrupted when veterans are unable to access IDVA or when the demands of the VSO role make it difficult to nurture connection.

    • Veteran seeks advice from friend about filing for disability; friend recommends IDVA

    • Veteran finds VSO closest to them; calls to find out next steps

    • Veteran Service Officer (VSO) schedules first appt, informs veteran of what documents to bring. Sees if IDVA has Power of Attorney (POA) for veteran; makes system profile if needed.

    • Veteran looks for documents they needs to bring to first appt

      • Veteran may have trouble locating documents

    • Veteran meets with VSO at field office

      • Veteran may face travel constraints and appt availability

    • Veteran describes background, experience in military, current health concerns; answers VSO’s questions

    • VSO conducts “head to toe” assessment; asks if veteran has diagnoses for medical conditions, who their doctor is, and clarifies the need for evidence presented via medical records.

    • Veteran provides information and consent for Intent to File and POA forms

    • VSO adds comments + documents to the veteran’s system profile and populates the Intent to File and POA forms. Files in Quick Submit.

    • Veteran leaves appointment with list of documents needed, and takes handouts from VSO

    • Veteran considers whether any health conditions are severe or chronic

    • VSO searches for relevant evidence of service-connected illnesses based on the veteran's testimony.

      • Veteran may feel discomfort discussing health conditions; veteran may have poor memory

    • Veteran goes to doctor to get problems list, asks about other health issues

    • Veteran gets diagnoses for other conditions; obtains final problems list

    • Doctor diagnoses the medical conditions that may have been influenced by the veteran's military service and provides the veteran with a list of their diagnosed conditions.

      • Doctor may not have experience helping veterans file for disability

    • Veteran schedules second appointment with VSO

      • Veteran may face travel constraints and appt availability

    • Veteran brings copies of documents and medical records

    • VSO reviews veteran's documents and medical records and compares with the veteran's testimonial to assess what conditions are primary, secondary, or presumptive, and how they are service-connected.

      • Veteran may have trouble remembering to bring or accessing documents

    • Veteran answers questions about documents, disability claim process, etc.

    • VSO adds comments to the veteran's system profile and populates the 526EZ disability compensation form. Files compensation claim using QuickSubmit.

    • Veteran told the claim will be filed and to wait to be contacted by VBA

      • Veteran may feel uncertainty about what to expect next

    • Veteran contacted by VBA for C&P exam(s)

    • VBA receives claim packet and determines if/when the C&P exam(s) will be conducted. May request VHA to conduct exams or contract to other hospital group.

      • Veteran may face travel constraints and appt availability

    • Veteran fulfills C&P examination, does all tests needed, provides detail on conditions

    • VHA or other provider conduct exam(s)

      • Veteran may have difficulty articulating health concerns; exam/tests may be uncomfortable

    • Veteran waits anxiously to hear back

    • VBA claim examiner reviews findings of the exam along with the claim packet, claim examiner writes disability rating decision.

      • Process can take 6-8 months, during which veteran does not receive updates

    • Veteran notified by mail with rating decision

    • Veteran calls VSO to say the letter was received, schedules follow up appointment

      • Veteran may face travel constraints and appt availability

      • VSO is not notified of claim result unless they look it up or the veteran informs them

    • Veteran told by VSO what benefits they are eligible for, and how to obtain them

    • VSO reviews the veteran's disability rating letter and the decision narrative; explains what benefits the veteran is now eligible for and what may be needed to apply.

    • Veteran asks questions, takes handouts, and makes plans to apply later on.

    • VSO scans rating letter into system. VSO makes a note of what forms of evidence contributed to the rating decision for future claims assistance.

Field Research

Our team conducted field research across Illinois to better understand differences in the veteran experience by region through visiting IDVA’s veteran homes, field offices, as well as local veteran events and veteran service organization posts.

map of fieldwork sites

51
veterans

Veterans engaged in in-depth interviews, intercept interviews, and/or co-creation studies.

67
IDVA Staff

IDVA staff from Leadership, Home Administration, Clinical staff, Field and Support Services participated in interviews and/or co-creation.

5
VSO Sites

Veteran service officer (VSO) field offices were visited to understand how IDVA connects with veterans in the community.

5
Vet Homes

All 5 IDVA Veteran homes were visited across the state, located in Anna, Quincy, Chicago, Manteno, and LaSalle, IL.

8
Veteran events

Our team attended events ranging from the Women Veteran’s Conference, to the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) Annual State Conference, to the regional Reaching Rural Veterans volunteer event.

High-Level Strategic Recommendations

The team’s overall recommendations centered on four domains of change: Customer, Staff, Operations, and Partnerships.

(The information shared is abbreviated as a public-facing report is currently in-progress.)

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