Citation Nr: 18150163 Decision Date: 11/14/18 Archive Date: 11/14/18 DOCKET NO. 16-08 661 DATE: November 14, 2018 ORDER Eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing is denied. Eligibility for a special home adaptation grant is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran does not have service-connected disability rated as permanent and total. 2. The Veteran does not have service-connected disability due to blindness in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.809. 2. The criteria for eligibility for a special home adaptation grant have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.809a. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from June 1987 to June 1991. 1. Eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing. Financial assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing is available to a veteran who has a permanent and total service-connected disability due to: (1) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis rated as 100 percent disabling under 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8017; (2) blindness in both eyes, having only light perception, plus the anatomical loss or loss of use of one lower extremity; (3) full thickness or subdermal burns that have resulted in contractures with limitation of motion of two or more extremities or of at least one extremity and the trunk; or (4) the loss or loss of use of both upper extremities such as to preclude use of the arms at or above the elbows. Specially adapted housing is also available to a veteran with a permanent and total disability that precludes locomotion due to: (5) the loss, or loss of use, of both lower extremities; (6) the loss or loss of use of one lower extremity, together with residuals of organic disease or injury which so affect the functions of balance and propulsion as to preclude locomotion; or, (7) the loss or loss of use of one lower extremity together with the loss or loss of use of one upper extremity which so affect the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude locomotion. 38 U.S.C. § 2101(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.809(a), (b), (d). Specially adapted housing may also be available to a veteran who served on or after September 11, 2001, who has a permanent disability that was incurred during such service, and which results in loss or loss of use of one or more extremities which so affects the functions of balance or propulsion as to preclude ambulating without the aids of braces, crutches, canes, or a wheelchair. See 38 U.S.C. § 2101(a)(2)(C). The Veteran is currently service connected for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) affecting the bilateral upper and lower extremities, degenerative joint disease of the right knee, degenerative arthritis of the left ankle, residual scars with history of eczema, hammertoes on both feet, and medication port scar associated with CIDP. He has a combined disability rating of 90 percent. The Veteran previous claim for entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability was denied in a January 2018 rating decision; no Notice of Disagreement is of record at this time. Inasmuch as the Veteran does not have service-connected disability rated as permanent and total, and the Veteran does not have active service after September 11, 2001, the criteria for eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing are not met. 38 C.F.R. §3.809. The Board has reviewed the evidence of record and acknowledges that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities clearly result in significant functional impairment of his lower extremities. However, because the initial regulatory requirement that the disability be rated as permanent and total has not been met, the Board need not discuss whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities result in the specific type of impairment necessary to satisfy the additional criteria for the benefit sought. 38 C.F.R. §3.809(a), (b). Eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing has therefore not been established, and the claim must be denied. 2. Eligibility for a special home adaptation grant If entitlement to specially adapted housing is not established, a veteran can qualify for a grant for necessary special home adaptations if he/she has a service-connected disability that results in blindness in both eyes with 20/200 visual acuity or less in the better eye with the use of a standard correcting lens or a limitation in fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees; such a disability need not be permanent and total in nature. Additionally, a special home adaptation grant is available for a veteran that has a permanent and total disability which: (1) includes the anatomical loss or loss of use of both hands; (2) is due to deep partial thickness burns that have resulted in contracture(s) with limitation of motion of two or more extremities or of at least one extremity and the trunk; (3) is due to full thickness or subdermal burns that have resulted in contracture(s) of one or more extremities or the truck; or, (4) is due to residuals of an inhalation injury (including, but not limited to, pulmonary fibrosis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)). 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a(b). The Veteran does not have service-connected disability rated as permanently and totally disabling and does not have service-connected disability due to blindness in both eyes. Again, because the initial regulatory requirement has not been met, the Board need not discuss whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities result in the specific type of impairment necessary to satisfy the additional criteria for the benefit sought. 38 C.F.R. §3.809a. Eligibility for a special home adaptation grant has therefore not been established, and the claim must be denied. MICHAEL MARTIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. Solomon, Counsel