Citation Nr: 21070320 Decision Date: 11/23/21 Archive Date: 11/23/21 DOCKET NO. 15-03 679 DATE: November 23, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to additional dependency compensation based on recognition of D.S. as the Veteran's child on the basis of permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining age 18 is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to January 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an April 2014 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. The Board previously remanded this matter in October 2018 for further development. The issues of an increased rating for posttraumatic stress disorder and of service connection for erectile dysfunction, sleep apnea, and a traumatic brain injury will be the subject of a separate Board decision. Entitlement to additional dependency compensation based on recognition of D.S. as the Veteran's child due to permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining age 18. The Veteran seeks recognition of D.S. as his child for the purposes of additional dependency compensation as a Veteran with at least a 30 percent combined disability rating. For adult children like D.S. over the age of 23, the only avenue to obtain these benefits and recognize the individual in question as a "child" for these purposes is for the evidence to show that the child became permanently incapable of supporting themselves prior to attaining age 18. 38 C.F.R. § 3.57(a)(1)(ii). The Board remanded this matter in October 2018 because the evidence showed that D.S. was in receipt of disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Pursuant to that remand, VA obtained D.S.'s Federal SSA disability records and the medical records underlying that agency's determination that D.S. met the criteria for a disabled individual according to the rules and regulations governing SSA disability benefits. Those SSA records document the fact that additional potentially relevant evidence is available. Specifically, a July 2013 letter in those records indicates D.S. was participating in a Georgia Department of Labor vocational program for adults. A remand is required to make reasonable efforts to obtain those vocational records. The claims file also includes correspondence from March 2014 from the Veteran in which he stated D.S.'s high school records were not available to him and that Roswell High School had informed him that they would only release records after a formal request from a government agency. Although he subsequently submitted very brief educational records, VA has not yet made any attempts to obtain D.S.'s full educational records directly from that institution. Finally, the record is somewhat unclear regarding whether D.S. was the Veteran's biological child or if she was adopted. In his November 2013 VA Form 21-686c (Declaration of Status of Dependents), he stated that D.S. was his biological child. However, in a letter from March 1979, the Veteran reported that he and his spouse had fostered D.S. since the day she left the hospital after her birth. In May 1979, he stated that the formal adoption of D.S. was expected to be completed within 90 days. No subsequent adoption decree, adoption agreement, or revised birth certificate was submitted. Upon remand, the Veteran should submit a final decree of adoption, an unrescinded interlocutory decree of adoption, or an adoption agreement by an authorized agency that placed D.S. in the Veteran's home. Upon remand, if such release is prohibited due to the state of the adoption, the Veteran should provide a copy of the Veteran's revised birth certificate or a statement over the signature of the judge or the clerk of the court setting forth the child's former name and the date of adoption or other sufficient evidence set forth at 38 C.F.R. § 3.210(c)(1)(ii). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to submit the final decree of adoption or a copy of the adoptive placement agreement documenting his adoption of D.S. OR, if release of such information is prohibited by state law, ask him to provide alternative proof pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.210(c)(1). (Continued on the next page) 2. With any necessary authorization from D.S., ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 or other pertinent authorization form for the relevant records at the Georgia Department of Labor agency that provided vocational services to D.S. Make two requests for the authorized records from that agency, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 3. With any necessary authorization from D.S., ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 or other pertinent authorization form for all educational records at any institution D.S. attended prior to attaining age 18, to include Roswell High School. Make two requests for the authorized records from any identified educational institution, unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 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.