On the recordMarch 4, 2015
I am proud to introduce a bill today along with Senator Baldwin that will help veterans and the men and women who care for them. Called the Caregivers Expansion and Improvement Act, it would open the VA Family Caregivers Program to all eligible veterans who were severely injured while serving our country. I introduced legislation creating the Family Caregiver Program in 2009 so caregivers of severely injured veterans could take care of our heroes at home. The program provides home health training, peer support, and a small financial stipend to caregivers of severely injured veterans. The caregivers also have access to mental health support and enrollment in the VA's Civilian Health and Mental Program, if they are not already eligible. When the Caregivers Program was created, we had to limit eligibility for the program to post-9/11 veterans. It has been wildly successful. Twenty thousand veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan participate in the program today. This is more than five times the number the VA originally estimated would sign up. The program helps caregivers, who shoulder the cost of homecare, know they are not alone. Since introducing the Caregivers Program 6 years ago, I have gotten to know many caregivers in my State. One family who lives in Chicago, Dan and Trish Sylvester, made a lasting impression on me. Trish, a veteran of the Iraq war, is 100 percent disabled due to severe PTSD.…
