Citation Nr: 21012261 Decision Date: 03/03/21 Archive Date: 03/03/21 DOCKET NO. 08-09 036 DATE: March 3, 2021 ORDER Eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing is granted. Entitlement to a special home adaptation grant is dismissed as moot. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have been shown to result in loss of use of both lower extremities such as to preclude locomotion without the aid of a cane, walker, or wheelchair. 2. The Veteran's claim for a special home adaptation grant is moot. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 2101, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.809, 3.809a. 2. The criteria for the dismissal of the claim of entitlement to a special home adaptation grant have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had honorable active duty service with the United States Army from November 1990 to July 1991. The Veteran is a Gulf War Era Veteran. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2015 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. This case was previously before the Board in April 2019. In April 2019, these issues were remanded to obtain a VA examination to determine whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities resulted in the loss of use of one or both extremities, consistent with 38 C.F.R. § 3.809. The case has been returned to the Board for readjudication 1. Eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing 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, DC 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 without the aids of braces, crutches, canes, or a wheelchair 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; 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. 38 U.S.C. § 2101(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.809(a), (b), (d). The phrase "preclude locomotion" is defined as the necessity for regular and constant use of a wheelchair, braces, crutches or canes as a normal mode of locomotion, although occasional locomotion by other methods may be possible. 38 C.F.R. § 3.809(c). 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). Generally, the Veteran will be provided one-time only assistance with a special home adaptation grant or specially adapted housing. However, issuance of a special home adaptation grant before a veteran becomes eligible for specially adapted housing under 38 C.F.R. § 3.809 does not preclude a later grant for specially adapted housing. 38 C.F.R. § 3.809a(a). The functional impairment from the Veteran's service-connected left and right lower extremity sciatic and anterior crural nerve neuropathy prohibits ambulation/locomotion without the use of a cane. VA Examination, dated August 2019; VA Treatment Records, dated August 2015. The Veteran thus has a permanent disability which results in loss of use of both lower extremities such as to prelude locomotion without the aid of assistive devices. The criteria of 38 C.F.R. § 3.809 are therefore met, and the Veteran is entitled to a certificate of eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing under 38 U.S.C. § 2101. 2. Entitlement to a special home adaptation grant By virtue of the foregoing grant of specially adapted housing, which affords a greater benefit than a special adapted housing grant, the claim for a special housing adaptation grant is moot, and it is dismissed. 38 U.S.C.§ 7105. ANTHONY C. SCIRÉ, JR. Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board R. E. Trotter, Associate 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.