(Ottawa) A former Veterans Affairs Canada case manager speaks out against the overwhelming workload, lack of support and toxic work environment that she says puts critically disabled veterans at risk.
“It’s hard to go to bed and feel like you’ve done your job right,” said Lucy Hirayama in an interview with The Canadian Press. You are there to help the veteran, and you cannot help him because you are overworked. ”
M’s decisionme Hirayama to speak publicly follows a series of articles from The Canadian Press that examined some of the most pressing challenges facing veterans today, including the large number of ex-servicemen with complex needs. assigned to individual case managers.
The series referred to testimony at the Desmond Case investigation in June from Lionel Desmond’s case manager about the challenges she faced as she juggled dozens of cases before the Afghan veteran killed his wife, daughter, mother and committed suicide in January 2017.
PHOTO ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
Lionel Desmond, his wife Shanna and their daughter Aaliyah
She also mentioned testimonies from some of the 16,000 ill and injured veterans with case managers about the additional hardships they faced, in large part because those responsible for helping them are too busy to respond to requests for assistance. aid.
Yet while the problems are well known within the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mr.me Hirayama says not enough is being done to fix the problem and support overworked case managers before they burn out and quit.
“You go to a workplace because you want to help people,” she said from her home north of Calgary. And we end up getting so damaged working in this toxic work environment that we ourselves come out of this place with mental health issues. ”
Lucy Hirayama joined Veterans Affairs Canada as a Case Manager in Edmonton in May 2019 after seven years as a Federal Parole Officer. She said she was told at the time that she should not be assigned more than 30 veterans, but that turned out to be wrong.
The average workload is certainly not 30 cases. It’s about 50 in the Edmonton office. It’s about 50 to 60, and that’s normal.
Lucy Hirayama, ex-manager
The Liberal government promised in the 2015 federal election to reduce to an average of 25 veterans per individual case manager, after that number surpassed 40 under the Conservatives. Six years later, the promise is still not kept.
Veterans Affairs says the average case manager in Canada has 33 veterans assigned to them, while those in the Prairies have about 37 clients on average. The union representing Veterans Affairs Canada case managers says the actual proportion is much higher.
One of the consequences of these excessive workloads is that the department’s 425 permanent and 50 temporary case managers often do not have time to adequately monitor and speak with at-risk veterans, said Mr.me Hirayama.
“When a veteran says, ‘I need emergency funds,’ at that point it’s the responsibility of the case manager to step back and say, ‘Okay, what – what’s going on here in your case right now, ”” she said.
“If a case manager had the time to go out and defend that veteran, often the whole problem could have been avoided. ”
Although case managers are expected to chat in person as much as possible with veterans, another consequence of the overwhelming workload is that often staff are assigned to veterans who do not come to their area. Mme Hirayama remembers dealing with the case of one particular veteran who lived several hours from his workplace.
“This veteran was suicidal, and if I was in the same town I would have made sure to go meet him and have some time in person,” she said. Often times, this can really defuse a situation like this as well. But you can’t do this. ”
Mme Hirayama said case managers face other issues, including a lack of training, poor IT systems and excessive paperwork. But she says many end up exhausting themselves from their workload, placing an even greater burden on those who remain.
The staff retention rate is horrendous because people come in and can’t do their jobs. Then they leave and you end up with these really difficult customers. And that’s why they need case management, because their cases are so difficult.
Lucy Hirayama, ex-manager
The Union of Veterans Affairs employees interviewed case managers earlier this year, with the vast majority saying they could not properly support veterans and that their workload or work situations had negatively affected their own health. mental.
Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay said the government would hire more case managers, as the Liberals promised in the last election, but has so far declined to provide further details, including when and how much.
The ministry says it is implementing several initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce administrative burden, which will help reduce the case management ratio. He adds that a recent survey found that three in four Veterans are satisfied with the service they received.
However, opposition parties and veterans activists have called on the government to immediately address the shortage of case managers at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Mme Hirayama said she went on sick leave in January 2020 after an incident with a veteran triggered post-traumatic stress disorder from her previous job. She officially resigned earlier this month.
She said she felt free to speak out now that she is gone, but that many others are afraid to do the same due to the potential professional repercussions. She hopes that by speaking out publicly, Canadians will demand action.
“What are we risking? Are we risking the lives of more veterans again ?, she said. In my opinion, it’s really a matter of life and death for a lot of them. ”