The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin accepting applications by mail on Monday, Nov. 3, 2014, for the Fry Scholarship under newly expanded eligibility criteria to include surviving spouses. The expanded criteria for the Fry Scholarship is the latest in a series of VA actions to implement provisions of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014.
Section 701 of the Choice Act expands the Fry Scholarship to include the surviving spouses of service members who died in the line of duty after Sept. 10, 2001. Prior to this expansion, only children of those who died in the line of duty were eligible for this benefit.
The Fry Scholarship was created to honor Sgt. John David Fry, 28, of Lorena, Texas. Sgt. Fry had one week left in his tour in Iraq in 2006 when he volunteered to continue working for seven more hours disarming explosive devices, despite having already sustained an injury to his hand. He made the ultimate sacrifice on March 8, 2006, in Anbar Province, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated. He left behind a widow and three young children.
The Fry Scholarship will entitle eligible spouses up to 36 months of the full, 100 percent level of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which includes a tuition and fee payment, a monthly housing allowance and stipend for books and supplies. Some spouses currently eligible for or already receiving benefits under the Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) program may now be eligible for the Fry Scholarship.
VA will identify surviving spouses eligible for both programs and send them a letter with comparative information on the benefits available. Information about these two program is available on VAs website and the GI Bill website, www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 is also extending its acceptance of proposals for the Assisted Living Pilot Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (AL-TBI.) The program had been slated to end this year. However, the program will now be extended through Oct. 6, 2017.
Under the AL-TBI program, veterans meeting the eligibility criteria are placed in private sector TBI residential care facilities specializing in neurobehavioral rehabilitation. The program offers team based care and assistance in areas such as speech, memory and mobility. Approximately 187 veterans are enrolled into the AL-TBI pilot program in 46 different facilities located in 22 states.
The extension of the program offers opportunities for providers wishing to participate in the program. VA is accepting proposals through Nov. 20, 2014. To be eligible, contractor facilities must meet federal, state and local standards and be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF.) Contracts for the extended program are expected to be awarded in February 2015. For more information, visit www.polytrauma.va.gov.
