National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program or BDD program allows a Servicemember to apply for disability compensation benefits from VA prior to retirement or separation from military service.

The Beneficiary Identification Records Locator System (BIRLS) is a benefits-related VA database containing records of beneficiaries, including Veterans whose survivors applied for death benefits.

The Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) is a multi-faceted process designed to provide a data-driven assessment of Veteran’s health care needs.  The process projected future demand for health care services, compared the projected demand against current supply, identified capital requirements and then assessed any realignments the VA would need in order to meet future demand for services, improve the access to and quality of services, and improve the cost effectiveness of the VA’s health care system.

A Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) is a VA-operated clinic or a VA-funded or reimbursed health care facility or site that is geographically distinct or separate from the parent medical facility.

Formerly known as VA Nursing Home Care Units, Community Living Centers (CLCs) provide compassionate care to eligible Veterans with sufficient functional impairments.  Veterans with chronic stable conditions including dementia, those requiring rehabilitation or short term specialized services such as respite or intravenous therapy, or those who need comfort and care at the end of life are served in the VA Community Living Centers.

For the purposes of the GDX Report, Compensation and Pension (C&P) applies to benefits expenditures for the following categories:  compensation payments, pension payments, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, and burial allowances.

Within the U.S. Census Bureau, the Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR) is defined as a presentation of data on Federal government expenditures or obligations in state, county, and subcounty areas of the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. Outlying Areas.  It is collected under the authority of Title 13 of the U.S.  Code and contains statistics on the geographic distribution of federal program expenditures, using data submitted by federal departments and agencies.

Within the U.S. Census Bureau, the Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR) is defined as a presentation of data on Federal government expenditures or obligations in state, county, and subcounty areas of the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. Outlying Areas.  It is collected under the authority of Title 13 of the U.S.  Code and contains statistics on the geographic distribution of federal program expenditures, using data submitted by federal departments and agencies.

For the purposes of the GDX Report, Construction applies to construction expenditures which include funding for Major Projects, Minor Projects, Grants for Construction of State Extended Care Facilities, and Grants for Construction of State Veterans Cemeteries.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), established as an independent agency under the President by Executive Order 5398 on July 21, 1930, was elevated to Cabinet level on March 15, 1989 (Public Law No. 100-527).  VA’s mission is to serve America’s Veterans and their families with dignity and compassion and to be their principal advocate in ensuring that they receive medical care, benefits, social support, and lasting memorials promoting the health, welfare, and dignity of all Veterans in recognition of their service to this Nation.  VA comprises a Central Office, which is located in Washington, DC, and field facilities throughout the Nation administered by its three major line organizations:  Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and National Cemetery Administration.  Services and benefits are provided through a nationwide network of 153 hospitals, 784 community-based outpatient clinics, 134 community living centers, 90 domiciliary residential rehabilitation treatment programs, 264 Vet Centers, 57 Veterans benefits regional offices, and 131 national cemeteries.

The Dependents Educational Assistance Program (DEA) (Title 38 U.S. Code, Chapter 35) is designed to assist dependents of Veterans who (1) have been determined to be 100 percent permanently and totally disabled due to a service connected condition, (2) died due to a service-connected condition, or (3) died while on active duty.  Dependents typically receive 45 months of eligibility.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits are generally payable to the survivors of Service members who died while on active duty or survivors of Veterans who died from their service-connected disabilities.

A monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service.  These disabilities are considered to be service-connected.  Disability compensation varies with the degree of disability and the number of a Veteran’s dependents, and is paid monthly.  Veterans with certain severe disabilities may be eligible for additional special monthly compensation.  The benefits are not subject to federal or state income tax.  The payment of military retirement pay, disability severance pay and separation incentive payments known as SSB (Special Separation Benefits) and VSI (Voluntary Separation Incentives), and Combat-Related Special Compensation affect the amount of VA compensation paid to disabled Veterans.  To be eligible, the service of the Veteran must have been terminated through separation or discharge under conditions other than dishonorable.

A VA facility that provides care on an ambulatory self-care basis for Veterans disabled by age or diseases who are not in need of acute hospitalization and who do not need the skilled nursing services provided in a nursing home.

The Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (DRRTP) is a short-term residential rehabilitation program where eligible Veterans live and learn skills needed to live in the community and avoid a return to homelessness.  Residents in the Domiciliary Care Program participate in a full range of rehabilitation services. This includes physical, behavioral, spiritual, psychosocial, addiction counseling, vocational, dietary, Occupational Therapy and interventions. In addition to the Domiciliary programming, medical and mental health needs may be treated as needed by other staff during the resident s stay.

Though Education and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (E&VRE) are separate programs, they are combined into one category for display purposes in the Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) Report.  Expenditures in this category include:  automobile and adaptive equipment, specially adapted housing, Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35), Vocational Rehabilitation for Disabled Veterans (Chapter 31), Post-Vietnam Era Veterans’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 32), Montgomery G.I. Bill for Selected Reserves (Chapter 1606), Reserve Educational Assistance Program (Chapter 1607), Montgomery G.I. Bill (Chapter 30), and Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance (Chapter 33).

The process of establishing eligibility for VA’s “Medical Benefits Package.”  Most Veterans are required to “enroll” into the VA Health Care System to be eligible for VA health care; however some can still receive care without enrolling.  Applicants are only required to “enroll” once for VA health care unless they are determined ineligible for care at time of application or they have disenrolled.

Federal Aid to States and Local Governments (FAS) is a U.S. Census Bureau report which details each Federal agency’s actual outlays for grants and other payments to state and local governments during the fiscal year by state and outlaying area.  Federal grants to state and local governments include direct cash grants, payments for grants-in-kind, payments to non-government entities, payments to regional commissions and organizations, payments to state and local governments for research and development, direct loan or loan guarantee subsidies, and shared revenues.  State and local governments include states, counties, municipalities and townships, school districts, and other local special district governments, as well as all dependent agency activities associated with these political entities.  State and local governments also include District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau.

Federal agencies are required by Title 31, United States Code, Section 610(a) to submit data on Federal financial assistance awards to non-Federal governments, private/non-profit organizations, and individuals.  Financial assistance awards include grants (such as state cemetery grants), direct payments (such as compensations and pensions), loans (such as home loans) and insurance commitments (such as life insurance).  Data are reported to the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) through FAADS.

A fiscal year, abbreviated as FY, represents the yearly accounting or budgetary period without regard to its relationship to the calendar year.  Each fiscal year begins October 1^st and ends September 30^th.  VA operates under this schedule for accounting and budgetary purposes.

The Financial Management System (FMS) is the electronic general ledger for VA.  Its purpose is to track obligations and expenditures by facility and time period (month, quarter and fiscal year).  Cost centers and subaccounts (budget object codes) are used to organize the data by purpose, such as labor costs, medical supplies, and overhead.

Each fiscal year, VA’s Office of Policy and Planning publishes the annual Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) report for the public and all stakeholders.  The GDX report provides the estimated dollar expenditures for major VA programs at the state, county, and Congressional District levels.  Expenditure data are grouped by the following categories:  Compensation and Pension; Education and Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment; Insurance and Indemnities; Construction; General Operating Expenses; Loan Guaranty; and Medical Care.  Additionally, the GDX Report includes Veteran population estimates at the state, county and Congressional District level and the number of unique patients who used VA health care services.

General Operating Expenses represent the costs necessary to provide administration and oversight for the benefits provided by VA.  This includes costs for overhead and human resources.  This category does not include payments made directly to beneficiaries.

Individual Unemployability (IU) is a part of VA’s disability compensation program that allows VA to pay certain Veterans compensation at the 100 percent rate, even though VA has not rated their service-connected disabilities at the total level.  A Veteran must be unable to maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of his/her service-connected disabilities.

For the purposes of the GDX Report, Insurance and Indemnity (I&I) consists of VA expenditures for death claims, matured endowments, dividends, cash surrender payments, total disability income provision payments, and total and permanent disability benefits payments.

This VA benefits program provides assistance to Veterans, certain spouses, and Servicemembers to enable them to buy and retain homes.  Assistance is provided through VA’s partial guaranty of loans made by private lenders in lieu of the substantial down payment and private mortgage insurance required in conventional mortgage transactions.  This protection means that in most cases qualified Veterans can obtain a loan without making a down payment.

With respect to the GDX Report, medical care consists of operating expenses incurred through the provision of healthcare services to Veterans.  The specific programs reported for this category are:  medical care, General Post Fund, medical and prosthetic research, and miscellaneous accounts.

Missing in Action (MIA) represents a casualty status for which the United States Code provides statutory guidance concerning missing members of the Military Services.  The casualty is a hostile casualty, other than the victim of a terrorist activity, who is not present at his or her duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons and whose location is unknown.

The Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty Educational Assistance Program (Title 38 U.S. Code, Chapter 30) provides a program of education benefits that may be used while on active duty or after separation.  There are several distinct eligibility categories.  Generally a Veteran will receive 36 months of entitlement and has 10 years after separation to use the benefit.

The Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve Educational Assistance Program (Title 10 U.S. Code, Chapter 1606) is a program funded and managed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and is available to members of the Selected Reserve.  VA administers this program but DoD determines the member’s eligibility.  Generally a qualified member of the Reserve will receive 36 months of entitlement and will have 14 years in which to use the benefit.

A VA organizational component that honor our Nation’s Veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our Nation.  NCA provides interment of eligible Service members, Veterans, Reservists, National Guard members, and eligible family members in national cemeteries, and furnishes headstones and markers for the graves of Veterans throughout the United States and the world.  Additionally, NCA administers the State Cemetery Grants Program, which provides grants to states and tribal governments for establishing, expanding, and improving state Veterans’ cemeteries.  Finally, NCA provides Presidential Memorial Certificates to Veterans’ loved ones to honor the service of honorably discharged deceased service members or Veterans.

The National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (NCVAS) leads the effort to implement corporate data governance and corporate data management in VA.  NCVAS also implements enterprise business intelligence tools and processes to support analysis and planning activities in VA, develops statistical analyses and reports on a broad range of topics, operates VA’s data and statistics Web portal to disseminate Veteran data and statistics, and develops estimates and projections on Veteran populations.  Finally, NCVAS leads interagency data-sharing collaborations with other Federal agencies, and conducts survey analyses and research including future iterations of the National Survey of Veterans.

A series of comprehensive nationwide surveys designed to help VA identify the needs of Veterans and then plan future programs and allocate resources in ways that will ensure these needs can be met.  By providing a periodic snapshot profile of the Veteran population, the NSV series enables VA to:  follow changing trends in the Veteran population; compare characteristics of Veterans who use VA services with those of Veterans who do not; study VA’s role in the delivery of all benefits that Veterans receive; and update Veteran information that helps the Department develop its policies.  The NSV was conducted under the general authorization of U.S. Code Title 38, Section 527, which authorizes the VA Secretary to gather data for the purposes of planning and evaluating VA programs.

A benefit program for qualifying Veterans with low income who are either permanently and totally disabled or age 65, and have 90 days or more of active military service, at least one day of which was during a period of war.  Note:  Veterans who entered active duty on or after September 8, 1980, or officers who entered active duty on or after October 16, 1981, may have to meet a longer minimum period of active duty.  Additionally, the Veteran’s discharge must have been under conditions other than dishonorable and the disability must be for reasons other than the Veteran’s own willful misconduct.  The current pension program is called Improved Disability Pension.  Other grandfathered pension programs remain.

The Office of Policy and Planning (OPP) leads the development of initiatives and comprehensive analysis for the Secretary and VA senior leaders in the areas of Veteran policy, Departmental policy, interagency policy, program development, strategic planning, and management to support effective and efficient delivery of benefits and services to our Nation’s Veterans.  OPP ensures alignment of all policy, programs, strategy, and operations with the strategic direction of the Administration and Secretary.  OPP is comprised of five programmatic offices:  Office of Policy, Office of Data Governance and Analysis, VA/DoD Collaboration, Corporate Analysis and Evaluation, and Enterprise Program Management Office.

The Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program (Title 38 U.S. Code, Chapter 33) is an education assistance program for certain individuals with a qualifying period of active duty service after September 10, 2001.  Individuals will be eligible for educational assistance in the form of tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and a books and supplies stipend.  The new program also provides certain individuals the opportunity to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouses and children.  The new program is effective August 1, 2009.  The Post-9/11 GI Bill also includes the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Frye Scholarship Program for the children of Service members who died while on active duty.

PTSD is a psychological condition that affects those who have experienced a traumatizing or life-threatening event such as combat, natural disasters, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults.

A detained person as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949.  In particular, one who, while engaged in combat under orders of his or her government, is captured by the armed forces of the enemy.

The Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) (Title 10 U.S. Code, Chapter 1607) is a program funded and managed by DoD and is available to members of the Selected or Ready Reserve who are called to active duty to support contingency operations.  VA administers this program but DoD determines the member s eligibility.  Generally a qualified member of the Selected or Ready Reserve will receive 36 months of entitlement and will be able to use the benefit as long as he or she remains in the Selected or Ready Reserve.

Veterans who are disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service.  These disabilities are considered to be service-connected.

The area of air, land, and water that is, or may become, directly involved in the conduct of major operations and campaigns involving combat.

The area of air, land, and water that is, or may become, directly involved in the conduct of major operations and campaigns involving combat.

A Veteran patient counted as a unique in each division from which they receive care.  For example, if a patient receives Primary Care at one VA facility and specialty care from another VA facility, he/she will be counted as a unique patient in each division.

Eligible services and programs offered by VA such as pensions, education assistance, housing, burial aid, life insurance, employment preferences and other services.  VA benefits vary depending on the Veteran’s service record.  A Veteran, his/her spouse and dependents may be eligible for different types of benefits provided by VA.

VA hospital facilities that provide a diverse range of health care services to Veterans.

A collection of 57 benefits offices that provide benefits information and process claims.  At least one VARO is located within every state and as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Republic of the Philippines.  Some VAROs also provide out-based services to Veterans being discharged from active service at various military separation centers around the country as well as in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Korea.

A type of VA health care facility designed to provide outreach and readjustment counseling services through 232 community-based Vet Centers located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Veterans are eligible if they served on active duty in a combat theater during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, or the campaigns in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Global War on Terror.  Veterans, who served in the active military during the Vietnam-era, but not in the Republic of Vietnam, must have requested services at a Vet Center before January 1, 2004.  Vet Centers do not require enrollment in the VHA Health Care System.

Private non-profit groups that advocate on behalf of Veterans.

A VA organizational component that is responsible for administering the Department’s programs that provide financial and other forms of assistance to Veterans, their dependents, and survivors.  Major benefits include Veterans’ compensation, Veterans’ pension, survivors’ benefits, rehabilitation and employment assistance, education assistance, home loan guaranties, and life insurance coverage.

The Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) (Title 38 U.S. Code, Chapter 32) is available for eligible Veterans who entered active duty between January 1, 1977, and June 30, 1985.  Benefits and entitlement are determined by the contributions paid while on active duty.  Veterans have 10 years after separation in which to use the benefit.

Veterans Employability Research Survey (VERS) was conducted between July 3 and November 6, 2007 in response to a research request by VA to determine the factors that impacted Veterans’ employability resulting from participation in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program.  VERS provided information in understanding the differences between Veterans discontinuing or interrupting their VR&E Program and those who have successfully completed the program.

A VA organizational component that is responsible for coordinating and providing health care for all enrolled Veterans based upon need and service.  With over 160 VA medical centers (VAMCs) nationwide, VHA manages one of the largest health care systems in the United States.  VAMCs within a Veterans Integrated Service Network work together to provide efficient, accessible health care to Veterans in their areas.  Additionally the VHA also conducts research and education, and provides emergency medical preparedness.

Known as VISNs, these are organizational elements within VA’s healthcare system.  There are a total of 21 VISNs which provide geographic oversight to a collection of healthcare facilities within the established jurisdictions.