REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Fiscal Year 2002

“All of our lives are better because

of a veteran, and so is America.”

President George W. Bush

Arlington Cemetary Amphitheatre

Veterans Day, November 11, 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 1

Part I Activities of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals Fiscal Year 2002 ..................................... 2 - 9

BVA Evidence Development Unit ................................................................................................ 4 - 5

BVA Tiger Team Assistance.......................................................................................................... 5 - 6

BVA Reorganization ..................................................................................................................... 6 - 8

Customer Service ........................................................................................................................... 8- 9

Part II Statistical Data ........................................................................................................... 10 - 18

Fiscal Year 2002 Information..................................................................................................... 10- 12

Projections For Fiscal Year 2003 and 2004 ............................................................................... 12- 13

Additional Information ............................................................................................................. 13 - 18
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 1

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

INTRODUCTION

The law requires that the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals report the

activities of the Board at the conclusion of each fiscal year. This report includes two

parts. Part I provides a discussion of BVA activities during fiscal year 2002. Part II

provides statistical information related to our activities during fiscal year 2002 and

projected activities for 2003.

The Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board) makes the final decisions on behalf

of the Secretary for appeals from decisions from local Department of Veterans Affairs

(VA) offices. The Board reviews all appeals for entitlement to veterans’ benefits,

including claims for service connection, increased disability ratings, total disability

ratings, pension, insurance benefits, educational benefits, home loan guaranties,

vocational rehabilitation, dependency and indemnity compensation, and health care

delivery.

The Board’s mission, as set forth in 38 U.S.C. §7101(a), is “to conduct hearings and

dispose of appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner.” The Board’s goal is

to issue quality decisions in compliance with the requirements of the law, including

the precedential decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
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Board of Veterans’ Appeals

PART I

ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS’ APPEALS

FISCAL YEAR 2002

The Board met unprecedented challenges during fiscal year 2002. One challenge

flowed from events following the passage of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of

2000 (VCAA). The Veterans Benefits Administration initiated action to readjudicate

approximately 100,000 claims that were previously denied on the basis that the claims

were not well grounded. A claim had to be well grounded before it could be

considered for adjudication before the VCAA changed the law. The initiative to

readjudicate claims brought appeals to the Board to a virtual halt during the first few

months of the fiscal year.

About the same time that the Veterans Benefits Administration initiated its

readjudication program, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

(CAVC) remanded most of its docket to the Board, including many claims that had

final CAVC decisions. Many of those cases had to be further remanded to the

Veterans Benefits Administration regional offices of origin pursuant to existing law.

The Board did not have authority to obtain evidence to develop cases at that time, nor

did the Board have authority to issue VCAA notice letters in order to correct existing

procedural deficiencies.

The combination of actions left the Board with very little appellate work to do in the

early months of the fiscal year. However, the Board did not stagnate. We took the

opportunity to update our training programs and modules, reviewed our regulations

and internal operating procedures, delivered a lot of training to counsel and, most

importantly, looked outside the walls of our building to offer assistance to others

involved in the adjudication process.

Early initiatives included deployment of teams of attorneys to regional offices seeking

assistance to move appeals since their emphasis was on new claims and readjudication

of VCAA claims. The attorneys reviewed appeals and prepared development

memoranda to assist the regional offices to adjudicate claims. As they reviewed the

appeals backlog, they discovered claims that were adequately developed and likely

grants. In those cases, the attorneys recommended that the claim be granted.
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 3

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

BVA’s SOC/SSOC Efforts

BVA’s assistance program grew in scope and magnitude. By the end of the fiscal year,

teams were visiting designated regional offices where they drafted statements of the

case (SOCs) and supplemental statements of the case (SSOCs) for appeals. This work

was in addition to reviewing other appeals for which development memoranda were

submitted or grants were recommended.

In cooperation with the Veterans Benefits Administration, ninety-two attorneys visited

seventeen sites, where they reviewed 4,740 cases. This effort produced 2,136 SOCs or

SSOCs, 1,930 Development Memoranda, 291 draft rating decisions, and 383

recommendations for awards. The Veterans Benefits Administration joined in the

assist effort by providing a portion of the travel funds required to support the Board’s

effort. However, to conserve on funds, volunteer attorneys were assigned to the

Washington and Baltimore Regional Offices where they assisted by drafting SOCs,

SSOCs, and rating decisions until they virtually worked themselves out of work.

Following our success at the regional offices, we initiated a pilot project involving

mail-in service to provide SOCs and SSOCs. Eight regional offices participated in the

program during fiscal year 2002. They regularly mailed their oldest cases to the Board

for review and preparation of SOCs. By mid-February 2002, the Board was devoting

six to eight attorneys to this “Mail-In Program” on a regular basis. The program soon

expanded to include review of previous Board remands and preparation of SSOCs. By

September 30, 2002, Board attorneys had reviewed 1,376 cases, produced 676 SOCs

or SSOCs, drafted 618 development memoranda, and recommended that the Veterans

Benefits Administration issue 148 grants.

Other Assistance

Other outreach activities included the assignment of volunteer attorneys to a variety of

support functions outside of normal BVA legal work:

ß The Board sent three senior staff attorneys to provide assistance to the Office of the

General Counsel to work on the Secretary’s regulation rewrite initiative in

February 2002.

ß The Board sent three senior attorneys to the Office of the General Counsel,

Professional Staff Group II, to assist in the review and amendment of several

pending and overdue VA regulations.
4 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ß From November 2001 through April 2002, the Board rotated twelve senior

attorneys through Professional Staff Group VII of the Office of the General

Counsel to assist with appellate litigation before the United States Court of Appeals

for Veterans Claims.

ß BVA assisted the Veterans Benefits Administration in its “Rating Decision

Redesign” effort to make field decisions shorter and more veteran-friendly. The

Vice Chairman, a Deputy Vice Chairman, and a Board member worked throughout

the year to develop the prototype that has become the Veterans Benefits

Administration standard for decision writing.

ß The Board got involved in the Compensation and Pension Examination Project

(CPEP) initiative to improve the quality of Compensation and Pension

examinations. A Board member with a physician’s assistant background and

attorneys with nursing, podiatry, and audiology backgrounds worked on the

protocols for examinations. Some of the protocols are now in use by Veterans

Health Administration’s examiners.

ß Six BVA attorneys assisted as subject matter experts in testing the software

developed as part of the VA Compensation and Pension Evaluation Redesign

(CAPER) project. CAPER is an initiative to improve services to the nation’s

veterans by automating the process of performing quality examinations and

completing rating decisions. The Board has worked closely with project managers

since its inception.

ß The Board received and responded to over 5,640 e-mail inquiries through a link

with the Department’s web site at www.va.gov.

ß Finally, one senior attorney was appointed by the Secretary as a member of the

National Veterans Museum Task Force. She is a member of the Board of Directors

of the Friends of the National Veterans Museum.

BVA EVIDENCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT

The Department Amends its Regulations

For much of the 1990’s, the Board remanded 40 to 50 percent of the appeals received.

A BVA remand to the regional office invariably meant that the veteran would wait a

year or more for a final agency decision. It took an average of 703 days for a case to

return to the Board. Historically, almost 75 percent of remanded cases are returned to
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 5

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

the Board, and, as of January 31, 2002, 32,122 remands were pending in regional

offices.

To reduce the number of remanded appeals, shorten appeal-processing time, and

reduce the backlog of claims awaiting decision, VA amended its regulations. The

regulations permit the Board wide discretion to obtain evidence, clarify evidence, cure

procedural defects, or perform any other action essential for a proper appellate

decision in any appeal properly before it. We no longer have to refer evidence to the

originating regional office for initial consideration, nor do we have to obtain the

appellant’s waiver. This authority permits Board members to analyze the case,

identify the legal deficiencies, and provide specific instructions to the Board’s

Evidence Development Unit to cure deficiencies.

The Creation of the Evidence Development Unit

The Board took steps to establish an Evidence Development Unit pursuant to the

anticipated regulation. The Unit is responsible for the development ordered by Board

members under 38 C.F.R. § 19.9(a)(2). The Unit began operations on February 25,

2002, two days after the regulation’s effective date. The Board converted thirty-one

attorney positions to support staff positions to staff the Evidence Development Unit.

The loss of thirty-one attorneys had a significant impact on the Board’s capacity to

produce final decisions.

The Veterans Benefits Administration established an Appeals Support Team co-located

at BVA to provide two services. First, when the Board allows one or more issues in a

multi-issue appeal, but directs internal BVA development of other issues, the Appeals

Support Team processes the award(s). The veteran receives the benefit of the Board’s

grant without delay. Second, if a SSOC is required, the unit prepares it. This

eliminates file transfers between the Board and regional offices. The abbreviated

procedures ensure the expeditious return of cases to Board decision makers.

BVA TIGER TEAM ASSISTANCE

The Veterans Benefits Administration established a “Tiger Team” at the Cleveland

Regional Office in November 2001 to process its oldest pending claims. The Tiger

Team focused on claims of veterans aged seventy and older that had not been resolved

within one year of submission. Most of those claims were from World War II and

Korean Era veterans. The Board offered experienced attorneys with demonstrated

ability to produce quality SOCs and SSOCs efficiently to augment the Tiger Team.
6 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Forty-four Board attorneys traveled to the Cleveland Regional Office between

February and May 17, 2002. They reviewed 4,442 cases, produced 3,651 SOCs or

SSOCs, and recommended that the Veterans Benefits Administration issue 351 grants.

Board attorneys averaged more than six SOCs or SSOCs per day. This greatly

exceeded all expectations.

Following the success of the Tiger Team assistance and other BVA outreach activities,

it has become standard procedure to send Board attorneys to regional offices at the

Veterans Benefits Administration’s request. Attorneys provide a variety of assistance

including: review of cases for adequacy of development; memoranda detailing

suggested evidence development; training to regional office and veterans service

organization staffs; and draft SOCs and SSOCs.

BVA REORGANIZATION

The Board commenced an aggressive effort to examine its structure and processes in

November 2001. The goal was to maximize efficiency while maintaining quality. The

structural and process improvements have established clear accountability

expectations at all levels of the organization.

Management and Administration

The Board restructured its Management and Administration team along functional

lines to create the new Evidence Development Unit and to address the need to staff it

from existing resources. The restructuring allowed BVA to do more, facilitated

rigorous case control, permitted the centralized management of similar tasks, and has

dramatically simplified and improved administrative processes.

A critical goal of the reorganization was improved case control. The Board

implemented a system to limit case movement and the number of cases decisionmakers process at any time. The “Case Distribution System” imposed individual

accountability for each case at every step in the process. The improved accountability

results in fewer misplaced cases. Virtually no case is with a decision-maker for more

than 30 days. Cases are still processed in docket order as required by law.

Appellate Group

The Board’s Appellate Group’s responsibilities had grown substantially over the years,

but the staff had not. We identified critical Appellate Group functions, realigned the

group to focus on its major responsibilities, and dedicated full-time staff for those

responsibilities. We directed great attention at the most critical functional area:

Quality Review.
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 7

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Quality in appellate decision-making is one of several ways to measure how well the

Board is fulfilling its statutory mission under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7101(a). It is the Board’s

single most important goal because timely delivery of appellate decisions is

meaningless if the underlying adjudication is fundamentally flawed.

The Board revised its Quality Review Program in fiscal year 2002. We increased the

staffing of the Quality Review Unit and made positions permanent. We adjusted the

way we measure accuracy rates. We refined our definition of an “exception,” to a

deficiency that would be outcome determinative, that is, result in the reversal or

remand of a Board decision by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans

Claims.

The Board uses quality review information to identify quality trends, variations in

quality, and areas of strength or weakness in the appellate decision-making process.

The information is also used to set realistic goals for improvement and to develop

appropriate training materials for BVA staff.

The Board created a position of Training Coordinator within the Appellate Group in

fiscal year 2002. This full-time position is filled by an attorney who oversees,

coordinates, and creates programs to train our legal and administrative professionals.

Training initiatives are intended to enhance employee job performance, morale, and to

increase efficiency at all levels of the Board.

The Board has an ambitious agenda to continue its programs and initiate new ones in fiscal

year 2003. We have taken the lead to involve the Office of the General Counsel and

Compensation and Pension Service in a cooperative effort to present a regular satellite

broadcast series. The series will provide everyone involved in case adjudication and

appeals with updates on changes in case law, regulations and VA policy.

A critical objective is a training program to make Board decisions more concise and

reader focused. To accomplish this goal, BVA is moving towards centralization of

training for new employees.

Decision Teams

The Board presented a business plan to the Secretary in January 2002. The plan called

for a 25 percent increase in productivity over its historical average. Board members

and attorneys have risen to the challenge to do their fair share in support of the plan.

We have every expectation that we will meet the business plan goal. Each team

continues to upgrade and present internal training programs for attorneys and Board
8 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

members. They also continue to provide training by videoconference to regional

offices upon request.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released its survey in December

2001 that measured satisfaction as it related to the Board’s decision process, customer

service, consumer information, and hearings. The survey results revealed that BVA

customers perceived that we should: improve our decision-processing time; provide

better explanations of the appeal process; show increased courtesy and knowledge

when handling complaints and inquiries; and demonstrate greater familiarity with

individual cases during hearings.

The Board’s response was swift and comprehensive:

ß The Board reconstructed and improved case-handling processes and initiated strict

accountability for case control and movement.

ß BVA produced a reader-friendly pamphlet titled, How Do I Appeal? to provide

additional explanation of the appeal process (VA Pamphlet 01-02-02A, April

2002). The pamphlet is provided to appellants, is available upon request, and may

be viewed on the Board’s webpage at www.va.gov/vbs/bva/.

ß We established an Ombudsman position to coordinate responses to customer

complaints, and to oversee the Board’s efforts to show appropriate courtesy to its

customers. The Ombudsman handles complaints and suggestions for improved

service, and provides follow-up responses. The BVA Ombudsman may be reached

at 202-565-9969, by writing to BVA Ombudsman, Board of Veterans’ Appeals

(01), 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20420, or by sending an e-mail

to bvaombudsman@mail.va.gov.

ß The Board produced a Chairman’s video that explains the hearing process. The

information video is available to every appellant before his or her hearing.

ß Finally, the Board developed a comment card in response to the ACSI survey that

is presented to every appellant at the conclusion of their hearing. The card may be

anonymously completed and submitted to BVA. We will analyze the information

extracted from the comment cards to improve our service.
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 9

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

The Board of Veterans’ Appeals is a professional group of dedicated civil servants

determined to improve our service to veterans and their families. Our number one

priority is putting them first.
10 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

PART II –STATISTICAL DATA

Fiscal Year 2002 Information

The following information is required by 38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2):

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(A)

Number of cases received at the Board during 2002: 28,158

Number of cases added to BVA docket during 2002: 21,047

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(B)

Cases pending before the Board at the start of fiscal year 2002: 7,731*

Cases pending before the Board at the end of fiscal year 2002: 18,658*

*Includes certified appeals pending in the field awaiting hearings, as well as cases

pending at BVA.

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(C)

Number of cases which were filed during each of the 36 months preceding fiscal

year 2002
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 11

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(D)

The average length of time a case was before the Board between the time of the filing

of an appeal and the disposition during the preceding fiscal year:

Responsible Average Elapsed

Time Interval Party Processing Time

Notice of Disagreement Field Station 110 days

Receipt to Statement of

The Case

Statement of the Case Appellant 60 days

Issuance to Substantive

Appeal Receipt

Substantive Appeal Receipt Field Station 790 days

to Certification of Appeal to

BVA

Receipt of Certified Appeal BVA 115 days

To Issuance of BVA Decision

Average Remand

Time Factor Field Station 130 days

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(E)

The number of members of the Board at the end of FY 2002: 55 members

The Number of Professional, Administrative, Clerical, Stenographic, and Other

Personnel employed by the Board at the end of FY 2002: 460 employees

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(2)(F)

Number of acting members of the Board at the end of FY 2002: 83

Number of cases in which such members participated: 1,208
12 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

38 U.S.C. §7101 (c)(2) requires BVA to report the

number of acting members of the Board in terms of

full-time employee equivalents: 2.8

Projections for Fiscal Year 2003 and 2004

The following information is required by 38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(3):

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(3)(A)

Estimated number of cases that will be appealed to BVA:

Fiscal Year 2003: Cases received at BVA: 34,600

Cases added to BVA Docket: 25,000

Fiscal Year 2004: Cases received at BVA: 38,200

Cases added to BVA Docket: 26,000

38 U.S.C. §7101 (d)(3)(B)

Evaluation of the ability of the Board (based on existing and projected personnel

levels) to ensure timely disposition of such appeals as required by 38 U.S.C. §7101(a):

Background on BVA Timeliness Projections

The indicator used by the BVA to forecast its future timeliness of service delivery is

BVA “response time” on appeals. By taking into account the Board’s most recent

appeals processing rate and the number of appeals that are currently pending before

the Board, BVA response time projects the average time that will be required to render

decisions on that group of pending appeals. For response time computation, the term

“appeals pending before the Board” includes appeals that have been certified for BVA

review but are held in the field pending BVA action.

BVA response time is computed by first determining the Board’s average daily appeals

processing rate for a recent given time period (one year in this example). This is

determined by dividing the number of appeals decided by the calendar-day time

period over which those appeals were dispatched. The response time is then computed

by dividing the number of appeals pending before the Board by the average daily

appeals processing rate. As an example, BVA’s estimated response time for fiscal year

2003 is computed as follows:
REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002 13

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Estimated 24,630 Decisions in fiscal year 2003 divided by 365 days equals 67.48

decisions per day.

28,628 Appeals Pending before the BVA (end of FY 2003) divided by

67.48 Decisions per Day equal 424 Days Response Time of Appeals (end

of fiscal year 2003).

BVA Response Time Projections

Based upon existing and projected levels of resources, the estimate of BVA response

time is 424 days for fiscal year 2003. These response time projections are contingent

upon BVA’s original appeal receipts estimate for fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2004

shown in part (A) above.

Estimate

Based on current and projected case receipts and projected FTEE with a 25 percent

productivity increase, we will develop a backlog of 6,000 to 8,000 appeals per year,

starting with fiscal year 2003.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Notices of Disagreement

The following graph shows the receipts of new notice of disagreements received by

the regional offices. This information is retrieved directly from the information

contained in the Veterans’ Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS) at the end

of the fiscal year. Many of the cases in which a notice of disagreement is filed are

resolved at the regional offices and never reach the Board.
14 REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN FY 2002

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

BVA Decisions

During fiscal year 2002, BVA issued 17,231 decisions. This total represents a 45.4

percent decrease from fiscal year 2001 when we issued 31,557 decisions. This

decrease is primarily the result of an increased number of final decisions (non

remands), VA-wide adjustment to new law and procedures, and a marked reduction in

cases received from the Veterans Benefits Administration. The following charts are

provided to give additional information about the Board’s decisions.
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Board of Veterans’ Appeals
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Board of Veterans’ Appeals