The Fort Hood Sentinel recently published an article on the Fort Hood Warrior Transition Brigade and family caring for wounded warriors titled “Healing Family affair for WTB’s Homebound Soldiers.” Please read below for an excerpt of this article that highlights the positive impact of the Department of Defense Special Compensation for Assistance with Activities of Daily Living (SCAADL) for an Army family.
[caption id="attachment_3719" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Dana Self gave up a full-time job to care for Pfc. Christopher Sexton. Self receives financial help from the Department of Defense Special Compensation for Assistance with Activities of Daily Living (SCAADL). (left to right) Sgt. 1st Class Roger West, Dana and Jay Self, and Pfc. Christopher Sexton at Fort Hood. (Photo courtesy of Gloria Montgomery, Fort Hood WTB Public Affairs)"]
Excerpt of “Healing Family affair for WTB’s Homebound Soldiers”
By Gloria Montgomery, WTB Public Affairs
Caring for an injured or ill soldier 24 hours a day is physically and emotionally demanding and requires extreme sacrifice on the part of the primary caregiver. Often, a caregiver is forced to give up full-time employment because of the greater need to care for that loved one. To compensate for those lost wages, the Department of Defense authorizes a monthly compensation to offset the lost income.
For Dana Self, who was working full time before she quit to so she could care for her 23-year-old son, Pfc. Christopher Sexton, the Special Compensation for Assistance with Activities of Daily Living (SCAADL) was a blessing.
“It was financially tough at first,” she said, who cares for her son at her and her husband’s home in Royse City, a small town outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. “SCAADL definitely helps to fill the void for that lost income.”
Her son, who is recovering from a brain injury, also credits home treatment as being key to his improvement.
“Being around his family and friends in his own environment has been great for his healing process,” she said, “because he’s not around strangers. Interacting with people he recognizes has really helped him and has enabled him to get into somewhat of a routine.”
It’s also helped his attitude and sense of humor.
“There are times I just get down and cry,” she said when coping with her once athletic son who can’t write the word ‘Mother’ on paper, yet can masterfully replicate writing in script in the air. “He just does the military thing and tells me to ‘Suck it up, Nancy.’”
For more information, Service members and their families should talk to their primary care managers or care coordinators about eligibility for caregiver compensation.
U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command
WTC.G1SCAADL@conus.army.mil
Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment
877-487-6299
Air Force Wounded Warrior Program
800-581-9437
Navy Safe Harbor
877-746-8563
Military OneSource
800-342-9647
VA Family Caregiver Program
855-260-3274