Some veterans will be able to get into the program after being deemed "rehabilitated" but the process is not easy. And, the legal requirements are rather restrictive.

So yes, you can get approved, but the process is not easy. The VocRehab Survival Guide has an appeals template on how to make this happen.

The first meeting is a mixed bag. Some veterans have an easy time. Most veterans do not.

The biggest thing you need to realize is that the first meeting is a forensic examination where the counselor is making note of legal facts to decide whether you qualify for benefits or not. This is not a meeting with a buddy, so be ready to be asked specific questions that could be used against your request for benefits later.

My section on Seven Essentials To A VocRehab Win cover this and help veterans get prepared.

Presently, VRE offers numerous forms of review for veterans seeking to challenge an adverse decision about their claim.

1. You can request reconsideration of new evidence or argument so long as you are within the 1 month notice period before the decision becomes final.
2. After that point, you can request a "review" to change your training track or an "administrative review" of an adverse entitlement decision.
3. You can also file a Notice of Disagreement using either the standard form for disability benefits or by a normal letter to your counselor. This last option precludes a chance for an administrative review.

These are covered in-depth in the second half of the VocRehab Survival Guide.

You can get more than 48 months of schooling if it is warranted by your kind of rehabilitation plan and if you have a "serious employment handicap." There are some other technical workarounds, supposedly, but having a "serious employment handicap" is the only one I have familiarity with.

I received services through VocRehab from 2003 to 2016, which is over 156 months. Many of the strategies I used are within the VocRehab Survival Guide.

The correct answer is, "It depends."

Each claim is different. The easy answer for veterans with a "serious employment handicap" is that you can get an extension. The 12-year limit goes away.

For other veterans, the answer to the question depends on when you first qualified for Voc Rehab benefits. This answer is the date of the disability rating that now is implicated by your employment handicap.

Read More:

• FALSE: 12-year Voc Rehab Cap Is Absolute
• How To Get Around 12-year Time Limit

Yes, CBS Evening News With Katie Couric did investigate VocRehab in 2010. She and her team worked with me and my Facebook group members at Disabled Veterans - Chapter 31 Voc Rehab to expose a scandal in VocRehab.

The big scandal at the time was that counselors were knowingly misleading veterans about the program.

There are a lot of new people on here, and I want you to see the important role this Facebook forum plays not only in educating veterans about VocRehab but also exposing scandals. In 2010, I exposed that VocRehab counselors were lying to veterans about the program via CBS.

The first link is the NEWS VIDEO of the report that aired on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in 2010:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wounded-veterans-new-fight-the-va/

This “notebook” explains how I was involved in the investigation toward the end (just search for “Krause”):

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/notebook-reporting-on-disabled-vets/