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Service‑dog pilot draws bipartisan support and VA concern over evidence for PTSD criteria
Summary
Witnesses and lawmakers urged a VA pilot to expand access to service dogs for veterans; VA officials supported a pilot but raised concerns about including PTSD and TBI in statutory eligibility because they cited limited evidence of effectiveness.
Lawmakers and veteran advocates pressed the Department of Veterans Affairs to create and fund a pilot grant program to expand access to service dogs for veterans, while VA officials said the department supports a pilot in principle but recommended clarifying language and raised questions about including PTSD and traumatic brain injury in statutory eligibility criteria.
Representative Littrell, sponsor of the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act (SAVES Act, H.R. 2605), told the committee the program would provide grants to nonprofits to deliver service dogs to veterans who…
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