Citation Nr: 21063500 Decision Date: 10/14/21 Archive Date: 10/14/21 DOCKET NO. 17-14 835 DATE: October 14, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to additional dependency compensation for A.S. prior to September 1, 2016, based on her course of study at an approved educational student is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. A.S. is the Veteran's biological child and was born in July 2017. 2. In August 2015, the appellant submitted a completed claims form documenting A.S.'s full-time attendance at a school that is now an approved educational institution beginning August 31, 2015. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for additional dependency compensation for A.S. prior to September 1, 2016, based on her full-time attendance at an approved educational institution have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1115, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.4, 3.204, 3.216, 3.401, 3.667 REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from March 1994 to March 1998. A.C. is his adult child. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an August 2016 administrative decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. In his substantive appeal to the Board, the Veteran elected to attend a videoconference hearing before a Member of the Board. He was notified in November 2019 at his address of record that this hearing was scheduled for March 2020, but the record indicates he did not attend that hearing. As no good cause has been given explaining his absence, the Board finds that his request for the hearing is therefore withdrawn. However, as the Board is granting his appeal, there is no prejudice to him for the lack of a Board hearing in the instant matter. Entitlement to additional dependency compensation for A.S. prior to September 1, 2016. Any veteran who is entitled to disability compensation, and whose disability is rated not less than 30 percent, is entitled to additional compensation for dependents, including for a spouse. See 38 U.S.C. § 1115; 38 C.F.R. § 3.4(b)(2). The Veteran has been in possession of a disability rating higher than 30 percent for the entire appeal period. When determining the effective date for an award of additional compensation for dependents, the effective date will be the last of the following dates: (1) the date of claim; (2) the date the dependency arises; or (3) date of commencement of the veteran's award. 38 C.F.R. § 3.401(b). The "date of claim" for additional compensation for a dependent child is the date of birth or adoption or attainment of stepchild status, if evidence of the event is received within a year of the event or if that evidence is received within a year of a veteran's notification that a disability rating of 30 percent or higher is awarded. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.401(b). Otherwise, the date of claim is the date that notice is received of the dependent's existence. Id. Under 38 U.S.C. § 5101(a), a specific claim must be filed in order for benefits to be paid or furnished to any individual under the laws administered by VA. See also 38 C.F.R. § 3.151(a). The Secretary has authority to prescribe the nature and extent of the proof required in order to establish a right to VA benefits. See 38 U.S.C. § 501. VA's regulations include additional information regarding effective dates for school-aged children. Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.667(a)(1), if the additional compensation or pension sought is based on attendance of a child at an approved educational institution at the time of the child's 18th birthday, benefits may be paid from the date of the 18th birthday if the claim for that additional compensation or pension was filed within a year of that date. However, when the additional pension or compensation is based upon a course of instruction at an approved educational institution which was begun after a child's 18th birthday, payment may be paid from the commencement of the course provided that the claim is filed within a year of the date of that commencement of education. 38 C.F.R. § 3.667(a)(2). At the outset, the Board finds it useful to describe the bases for the denial of additional dependency compensation for A.S. up to this point. Although there was no dispute in the record that A.S. met all the other qualifications for a child between the age of 18 and 23 pursuing a course of study at an educational institution, at the time of the initial decision and the subsequent statement of the case, it did not appear that the educational institution that A.S. was attending had been approved by VA. Central to this appeal, after the Veteran's submission of a March 2017 VA Form 9 perfecting his appeal to the Board, VA has taken numerous actions with respect to his additional dependency compensation not only for A.S. but also his other children that are directly relevant to the appeal before the Board. In August of that year, the Veteran submitted an additional VA Form 21-674 (Request for Approval of School Attendance). This is the form prescribed by the Secretary to obtain additional dependency compensation based on school attendance. In this form, the Veteran stated that A.S. had begun her most recent term at West Coast Baptist College in August 2016. This is the same institution that the Veteran reported A.S. had been attending at the time of the August 2015 claim that was denied. However, unlike the prior adjudication, this claim was granted in a September 2017 decision. As the form was received within a year of the August 2016 start date of the term, his claim was granted effective the first date of the month following that term start date. After this claim, additional children were added to the Veteran's award as school-aged dependents based on attendance at West Coast Baptist College. Similarly, in October 2020, VA included in the claims file web printout of a search of VA's Web Enhanced Approval Management System (WEAMS), the searchable database listing all organizations and programs of education approved for VA purposes. This printout appears to confirm that West Coast Baptist College is now a VA approved educational institution. In light of this evidence that VA now has approved this institution, and resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that all criteria for recognition of A.C. as a school-aged child prior to September 1, 2016, have been met, and she was pursuing a course of study at an approved educational institution. The appeal is granted. M. Tenner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Whitelaw, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.