Monthly Training Allowance

The VA National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events Office provides a monthly assistance allowance for Veterans with disabilities training in Paralympic sports, as well as certain Veterans with disabilities selected for or competing with the national Olympic Team, as authorized by 38 U.S.C. 322(d) and Section 703 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008.

Through the program, VA will pay a monthly allowance to a Veteran with either a service-connected or non-service-connected disability if the Veteran meets the minimum performance standards or higher (e.g., Emerging Athlete or National Team) in his or her respective Paralympic sport at a recognized competition. In addition to making the performance standard, an athlete must also be nationally or internationally classified by his or her respective Paralympic sport federation as eligible for Paralympic competition in that sport. VA will also pay a monthly allowance to a Veteran with a service-connected disability rated 30 percent or greater by VA who is selected for a national Olympic Team for any month in which the Veteran is competing in any event sanctioned by the National Governing Bodies of the U.S. Olympic Sport, in accordance with Public Law 114-223. For both Olympic and Paralympic sports, the national sport organizations include those of the United States Olympic Committee, including its U.S. Paralympics Division and National Governing Bodies, and the equivalent organizations for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.

Athletes must have established training and competition plans and are responsible for turning in monthly and quarterly reports in order to continue receiving the monthly assistance allowance. The monthly allowance rate for an athlete approved for monetary assistance is the same as the 38 U.S.C. Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E) rate, which in FY 2018 starts at $617.40, and increases depending on the number of dependents.
The allowance program standards, points of contact for national Olympic and Paralympic sport organizations, VA Forms for the allowance program, and other allowance information follow.

VA Forms for the Paralympic Training Allowance:

2018 VMAA Training Standards

VA Form 0918a, Certification of Paralympic Training Status

VA Form 0918b, Application for Paralympic Allowance

VA Form 10091, FMS Vendor File Request Form

Instructions for VA Form 10091, Vendor File Update Form

Paralympic Sports Organization Points of Contact for the VMAA

VMAA Presentation

To learn more about the specific sport standards or the monthly assistance allowance, email us at vacoadaptiveSP@va.gov.