Veteran stuck in VA backlog lost home and almost life

The Last Battle: Steven Chadduck lost his home and nearly committed suicide while waiting for help for PTSD
By John Ramsey
Staff writer
Sep 24, 2012

Steven Chadduck lost a home and came close to suicide while waiting 18 months for the VA to decide that his PTSD and knee injuries make him unemployable.

His claim languished with thousands of others in the Veterans Benefits Administration's claims office in Winston-Salem.

There, an inspector general report released in August said the floor was in danger of buckling under the weight of about 37,000 claims folders stacked 2 feet high and two rows deep atop already-filled cabinets.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has promised to eliminate its entire backlog - more than 820,000 claims nationwide - by 2015. The VA has hired more than 3,000 claims processors and bought a $300 million computer system.

But the wait times in North Carolina - and in the other areas across the country that process the most claims - are getting worse.

VA workers process disability claims for most North Carolina veterans in Winston-Salem.

Its backlog is among the largest in the Southeast, according to a national analysis by the Center for Investigative Reporting in California.

About 33,700 North Carolina veterans are stuck in limbo, waiting an average of 329 days for the VA to process their claims. Approximately 3,170 live in Fayetteville. Winston-Salem also has more than 12,500 pending claims from new programs that allow soldiers to file for benefits before they leave the Army.
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