The verbiage can indeed be a bit daunting with interpretation: I'll go over each point and gauge what is meant:
Both of these seem to suggest that you don't necessarily have to have a severe employment handicap to qualify for an extension, but that you can similarly qualify if:
1. You previously completed training for another occupation, but your disability has worsened to preclude you from gainful employment in that occupation
2. The occupation for which you previously completed training is found unsuitable because of your abilities and handicap.
3. You have previously used educational benefits under a different VA program and the additional period of assistance under Ch 31 VRE is not long enough to complete the training resulting in employment (section b-3).
4. A veteran in VRE has elected payments at the Ch 30 rate (although this part seems to apply to older vets that used educational benefits in the 80s/90s)
5. Assistance greater than 48 months is only a period of employment assistance
1) This point happens to some veterans and by virtue on paper, it is then granted an extension due to unforeseen circumstances tied to the veterans disabilities when working with the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC - technically they are now called Veteran Readiness Counselors). The Voc Rehab Employment Officer (VREO) and an assistant (AVREO) take on the role of evaluating individual employee performance under the direction of the Regional Officer (RO). Part of this performance is gathering costs and data gaps that will include veteran coverage as well as those with extensions and the "why" for such extensions. This in turn gets reported up the chain to Congress, who sets the cost of how much veteran coverage can be given through this Chapter 31 program. For any veteran who needs additional coverage due to not being able to be gainfully employed by their
initial approval agreement in the program, can be considered an investigative error by the Voc Rehab Counselor for not being able to adequately address the situation (rare if they follow their standard guidelines on paper) thus costing the program more money to cover the veteran (sometimes that is not the case as it cannot always be determined that a veteran truly has debilitating issues that could not have been seen). Thus, this would actually be considered a Serious Employment Handicap (SEH) to cover beyond the 48 month entitlement. This in turn, answers point
2
3) This is defining the set rule of not being able to use combined veteran benefits beyond the 48-month rule. You cannot simply qualify for additional coverage without an SEH (this is what this segment is referring to as defined in
38 CFR 21.51 - Determining Employment Handicap. It does elude that you indeed do not need this qualification, but that goes against what is handed down by Congress. You 100% will always need an extension approval by your VRC (depending on cost, additional approval will be needed on the regional level as well).
4) This can be applied NOW for those who have the ability to use what's left of their benefits at the Chapter 31 stipend rather than the post 9/11 (Chapter 33) housing allowance. This eludes that the veteran has ran out of post 9/11 benefits and as such, can only qualify for the lower stipend coverage (but it is also presuming that the veteran can use the additional 12 months to complete another certificate by way of an
Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP) - 38 CFR 21.84 which, if can be completed, does not require an extension.
5) For those veterans who completed their Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP) obligation, they can receive an "extended coverage" that does not in any way need an SEH. That coverage is housing costs for up to 2 months after receiving your certificate / professional degree. This has gone back and forth on the national level to be extended to 4 months based on our current pandemic. For residency, this is a good thing to bridge your graduation date to the day you start your residency.
It seems like if you start VRE, you should be allowed an extension if the 48 month rule doesn't extend to finish your training, as would be in my case.
This goes back to point #1, a VRC will
NOT grant you an extension
during your IWRP agreement (actively being a student) unless some unforeseen event happens (usually catastrophic, or the school loses its accreditation status in the middle of your studies). Your VRC would know
before you start school if your benefits would cover the cost to the end. Again though, this would go back to seeing if you qualify for having an SEH which, you 100% need your VRC's approval for in order to finish your goal of going to medical school to be a physician.
Sections b (Employment Handicap) and c (Serious Employment Handicap) must both be fulfilled for extension, although this seems unlikely as conditions to be fulfilled in b are reiterated in c but to a greater extent for the first qualification.
Employment Handicap (EH) is another term for a veteran who is accepted into the Chapter 31 program (VR&E) because, in essence, that is exactly what the program is for - veterans who have a service-connected disability that keeps them from being gainfully employed and thus, are deemed of having an Employment Handicap.
The Serious Employment Handicap (SEH) needs 100% approval from your VRC in order to meet the beyond 48-month rule put out by Congress (you are not employable despite your credentials and debilitating condition(s)). Since congress controls the funding each year for the program, this is why it becomes very difficult to approve medical school given its overall cost while simultaneously you as the veteran proving to your VRC why you are not currently gainfully employed in any capacity with your current credentials (ex: bachelors degree).
Or
All conditions in b 1-5 (the numbered list) or c 1-5 must be fulfilled, although again the conditions numbered out are fairly unrelated from one to the next and I have an even harder time believing all conditions within b or c be required. Also, section d states that a VRE officer concurrent approval is not necessary for condition 5 b, so it seems unlikely that 1-5 all have to be required if one part does not require a VRE officer to approve with your VRC.
I think you're referring to condition 5 d (not b):
"Approval of extension beyond 48 months. All extensions of a rehabilitation program beyond 48 months of total entitlement under all Department of Veterans Affairs programs requires the approval of the Counseling Psychologist (CP) or Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) and concurrence of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Officer. Concurrence of the VR&E officer is not required for an extension due to provision of employment assistance (see § 21.21)."
So long as the VRC does all of which has been talked about on here (verifying you indeed qualify for an SEH as laid out in the provisional notes and links above), they do not need additional approvals such as the VREO or others on the regional level UNLESS:
1) You need approval for a program that is
> 25k annual cap (this needs additional approval)
2) You need approval for a program that is
> 50k annual cap (this needs approval from the regional office)
Counseling Psychologist would be included (or should be) in your disability package when you are assigned a VRC. The idea behind all this is that by the time you have your first interview, you would already know if you qualified and are given an SEH.
All of this unfortunately may not matter if you already have a bachelors and other certificates because you need to meet the following provisions in their eyes (38 CFR 21.51): which is, having
a significant impairment of your ability to prepare for, obtain, or retain employment consistent with your abilities, aptitudes, and interests (you must meet all three). Simply having an interest in medical school is not enough. You will have to demonstrate why you are not currently employable (at least on a financial independence level) and how medical school wont magnify your disabilities compared to other professions. Many unfortunately will show you the door the moment they see you have a degree. I was turned away twice before getting granted the Chapter 31 benefits...With budget cuts and the current economy it's only getting harder and harder for higher degree seekers to get approval.
This is a lot of information, but I hope that somewhat helps in how the program operates.
Although a bit older, here is a link that lays out the duties and roles of each hiring agent that works under the Chapter 31 (VR&E) program:
Chapter 31 - Hiring, Managing, and Training Office Staff
