Executive Summary

The Evaluation of the Caregiver Recognition Benefit (CRB) was conducted in accordance with Treasury Board of Canada’s Policy on Results. In addition, as part of the development of Veterans Affairs Canada’s Departmental Evaluation Plan 2019-24 considering risk and need, it was determined that the CRB would benefit from an evaluation.

The evaluation sought to to assess the relevance, performance, effectiveness, economy and efficiency of the CRB. More specifically, the evaluation assessed:

• the extent to which the program continues to address a demonstrable need, now and in the future,
• the extent to which the program aligns with Government of Canada priorities and with federal roles and responsibilities,
• the extent to which the Program is responsive to the needs of its intended recipients,
• whether processes are currently in place to ensure the program is being administered as indicated in departmental guidance,
• the extent to which the program is achieving its outcomes,
• whether there are opportunities to improve the efficiency and economy of the program,
• whether there are any unintended positive or negative impacts of the program.

The evaluation findings and conclusions are based on the analysis of multiple lines of evidence including quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Overall, the evaluation finds that there is a continued need for the program now, and in the future to recognize the important contribution that informal caregivers play in supporting Canada’s Veterans. There are, however, opportunities to improve program policy and guidance and to ensure the program reaches its intended recipients. With this in mind, the evaluation has resulted in the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1:

It is recommended that:

1. The Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management use existing program information/data to identify the Department’s seriously disabled Veterans who have not applied for the CRB and could be eligible for the program.
2. Subsequent to identification of the additional potential recipients, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management work in collaboration with the Director General, Centralized Operations Division to determine who may be eligible, and reach them by using application waivers, where possible.
3. Subsequent to identification and eligibility confirmation of the additional intended recipients and program policy revisions, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management work to develop guidance and a resulting process, including the necessary tool and system changes, to ensure the program continues reaching the most seriously disabled Veterans, and where appropriate, to utilize application waivers.

Recommendation 2:

It is recommended that:

1. The Senior Director, Program Policy undertake immediate efforts to update the CRB Policy to include evidence based medical direction and definitions with respect to each individual eligibility criteria, including details on:
   1. The health needs/impairments that should be considered when determining a Veteran has a “level of care and supervision consistent with admission to an institution (eligibility criteria i);”
   2. Details on the difference between “daily physical assistance (criteria ii)” and “ongoing direction and supervision (criteria iii)” and how should these differences be approached when assessing the Veteran for needs associated with the activities of daily living;
   3. The health needs/impairments (including those relating to mental health) that should be considered when determining that a Veteran requires “daily supervision and is not considered safe to be left alone (eligibility criteria iv).”
2. Subsequent to program policy revisions, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management Division update the CRB Business Process to provide specific guidance to decision makers on what recent/new evidence sources are to be used to assess eligibility criteria. If evidence sources/methods currently available to the Department are not sufficient to assess the CRB criteria, a revised and/or new application/assessments/ sources may need to be created.
3. Subsequent to program policy revisions, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management promote/raise awareness of the revised program policy to Veterans and their caregivers.

Recommendation 3:

It is recommended that:

1. The Senior Director, Program Policy update the CRB policy to provide specific guidance on the acceptable age of source documents, particularly for potentially unfavourable decisions, to ensure the Veteran’s current health situation is reflected in the decision making process.
2. Subsequent to program policy revisions, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management work in collaboration with the Director General, Centralized Operations Division to complete process, tool and/or system updates to ensure age appropriate source documents are used in the CRB decision making process.