Posted by: McQ on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 The Army has started a program which is both outstanding and long overdue. I’m talking about the Army Long Term Family Case Management program (ALTFCM). I had the opportunity to talk to the chief of that program yesterday, LTC Nora Linderman. She said the program began in February of 2006 and was operational in May. The purpose of the program is to provide case assistance to the families of the fallen (whether the death is combat related or non-combat related) for as long as they need assistance in ensuring families receive all of the benefits they have coming too them based on the soldier’s service. It is an incredibly good idea. There are so many things which have to be settled in the wake of a death and few families are aware or prepared for them. Guardianship and its responsibilities for instance. Just filling out the paperwork for the various benefits can be a daunting task. LTC Linderman’s office takes care of all of these sorts of things by assigning a case worker to each family and having that case worker remain with and work through all those details with them. The initial contact takes place 3 to 4 months after the death (and long after the Casualty Assistance Officer has completed his duties) to allow the family the time and space they need to mourn the death and begin to put their lives back together. The case officer then works with the family through any legal or benefits problems it may have or is encountering. The office has also been involved in disbursing retroactive benefits to eligible beneficiaries. For instance, survivor’s benefits from the Serviceman’s Group Life Insurance were raised, and many families which had already received the lower benefit were eligible for the increase. Linderman’s office has, to this point, been successful in contacting and getting payment to over 5,000 eligible beneficiaries. Since its inception, the office of the Long Term Case Management program has disbursed 440 million dollars to 4,000 beneficiaries (that doesn’t include the retro numbers) and has reviewed and handled 2,000 cases. I can’t stress how pleased I am to see this sort of program initiated by the Army. You can never replace the loved one a family has lost, but you can take care of ensuring they get all of the benefits that loved was promised. More importantly it shows an institutional caring for which I’m appreciative and I’m sure it eases the minds of serving soldiers, especially those in harm's way. The website for the program is www.ALTFCM.army.mil The toll free phone number is 866-272-5841. If you know the family of a fallen soldier who needs the sort of help LTC Linderman’s office provides, you might want to pass that info along. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TrackBacks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Return to Main Blog Page | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comments For This Post | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous Comments to this Post |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Add Your Comment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Vicious Capitalism |
Buy Dale's Book!
|
