Content changes to pre-need static pages

[laurwill]

BAH MBS team requested static page updates to these pages to align with changes on the pre-need eligibility form.

Pre-need eligibility for burial in a VA cemetery After you apply for an eligibility determination

We also identified that we needed to make adjustments on the eligibility page.

Eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery

### Tasks
- [x] Update static pages
- [x] Review with product team
- [ ] Share with SMEs for review
- [ ] Copy edit
- [ ] Publish

[aliyahblackmore]

Hi @laurwill - I'm using this ticket to track our internal work on the static page content for the eligibility, how to apply, and after you apply pre-need eligibility determination pages.

These are the SharePoint links for updated pages:

Eligibility and how to apply pages

After you apply page

And these are the exported Word documents in case there are any issues with SharePoint: Eligibility and how to apply pages_pre_need_AB_10.20.docx After you apply_pre_need_AB_10.25.docx

Notes

Eligibility and How to apply pages

• As I noted earlier in the week, I made updates to the eligibility for burial page to reflect that parents of service members are also eligible for burial benefits. And I included more details about parent eligibility under the Corey Shea Act as well as information about who VA considers an adult dependent child. This page is now linked in what will be a featured content box on the How to apply page.
• On the How to apply page I made some other adjustments to align with changes in the form intro page/form content (like the supporting documents and forms needed and information needed to apply).
• Charles shared additional recommendations 10/26 on the subway map. I've removed this from the page, so recommendation is relevant here.

After you apply page

• I made updates to address some of the research findings Carly called out in the ticket.
• I updated links for information about the different review and appeal options and also made some adjustments to the reviews/appeals language.
• I aligned a few pieces of content with the more recent content we’ve updated on the schedule a burial page (back in November 2022).
• I also used accordions to collapse some of the information on the page.
• Outstanding item/changes still TBD: There are two questions that I posted for Cindy earlier regarding the NCA decision timeline and when someone should call NCA. Carly’s feedback noted that folks were interested in an estimate of how long the decision about eligibility may take.

Next steps Once you've reviewed, I think we'd need to have these updates approved by stakeholders.

[laurwill]

Hi @aliyahblackmore , my tracked edits and comments are in both Sharepoint documents for you — I think it may be easier for stakeholders to review (and for us to confirm how the changes work) if we get these into Drupal. Want to code the updates and then we can take a final look and collect questions for SMEs?

[aliyahblackmore]

I'll add preview links to the pages as I finish updating in Drupal.

Eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery

Notes:

• I adjusted the text in the featured content box
• Added the specific family member eligibility info as the H2 with the two accordions.

Pre-need eligibility for burial in a VA cemetery

Notes

• As you mentioned in SharePoint, I tried out the accordions on the screen. My recommendation is to leave them in so that we can avoid the page getting to long.

After you apply

Notes:

• I tried out the accordion for the question "Can my family members still request my burial in a VA national cemetery at the time of need?" After looking at this in Drupal, I'm wondering if we can place this information under the H2 "What happens if we determine you’re not eligible for burial" Thoughts?

Recommendation (after link "Learn about choosing a decision review option"):

"And you should know that at the time of need, your family members can still request your burial in a VA national cemetery. Laws and personal circumstances may change earlier eligibility decisions.

We’ll make the final decision about your eligibility for burial at the time of need."

[laurwill]

Eligibility page looks great @aliyahblackmore ! I just tweaked the header on the new accordion group to match how we talk about "certain family members" later on the page, and added "who died on active duty" to the bullet in the feature box about parents of service members.

[aliyahblackmore]

Updates here:

These are updates and outstanding questions Laura and I reviewed on 1/5. This is the Mural from the product team with their feedback Mural for static page updates and feedback

Next steps:

• [x] I'll let Cindy know that the Drupal page updates are ready.
• [x] Adjust the content based on their replies to two outstanding product team questions.
• [ ] Product team can update Mural with screen captures of the updated page, I'll update the list of changes we made, and we can go ahead and share with their SMEs and stakeholders and mention that they can share feedback in the way they prefer (Mural comments/stickies or email) and that we can set up a sync to talk more, if needed.

---

Eligibility page https://preview-prod.vfs.va.gov/preview?nodeId=856

Feedback updates:

• Updated language about eligibility for certain family members - "enrolled as a full-time student in a school or training program"

Outstanding questions:

• We'll still need confirmation from SMEs about whether the language around "if Veteran dies first" also applies to adult dependent children or just minor children. If it applies to both, we'll need to adjust the last point in the featured content box.

• Also, we need SMEs to confirm whether minor child is being defined as someone who is unmarried and under 21 or under 23 and enrolled in school full time. Laura flagged that this is on the PDF. Does the PDF have the most up to date definition of a minor child or is a child under 18 years old accurate here?

---

How to apply page https://preview-prod.vfs.va.gov/preview?nodeId=862

Feedback updates:

• Soldiers to "Soldiers'"
• Adjusted the Note about preferred cemeteries
• How to apply section, changed address info to NCA Evidence Intake Center
• Added the content above the accordions about supporting documents explaining that the person applying can submit those documents after applying
• Used "principal officer (like a manager or director)" and added the note in the accordion about adult dependent children instead of adding the content from the above accordion again

Outstanding questions:

• Question out to product team about whether the signature requirements for the PDF form and online for are the same. Cindy tagged Cat in the ticket and in mural.
• [update 2/5] Are there any specific documents this form requires if a spouse of Veteran (not an unmarried adult dependent child) can't sign the form? The form asks for proof of the unmarried adult child's disability, but the form doesn't ask for any documents for an adult (i.e. a spouse or Veteran) who can't sign/submit the form on their own. Do the accredited rep forms fulfill this requirement?

@laurwill Cindy replied via Slack and flagged that the only area on the online form that mentions "sign" is the additional info component "What to know when you're filling out this application for someone else"

The last bullet point says "They physically can't sign the application." I believe you and I chatted about this specific bullet point and aligning this with some of the alternate signer form language Megan worked on.

From understanding of Cindy's reply and your question, I think that we can do one of these things and leave the language that's on the online form, since it aligns with the language from the alternate signer updates:

Option 1:

Add the details from the additional info component in the "How to apply section" of the static page and use "sign or submit" since there's no signature space on the online form, but there is a "Submit" button.

Option 2 Add a new H2 after "Information you'll need to apply" - "What you need to know if you're filling out this application for someone else" - include information from the additional info component and then use "sign or submit" since there's no signature space on the online form, but there is a "Submit" button.

Option 3

Use the featured content box and add this content before the "Note." under a new H3 "What do know if you're applying on behalf of someone else." And then move the information about applying for more than one person in the family under that new H3._

I tried out option 1 in Drupal, but it didn't seem to be as connected to the H2. I have Option 2 in Drupal and changed the H2 to "applying on behalf of someone else." Option 3 could work here, but I wonder if the featured content box would get too long. Let me know your thoughts.

---

After you apply page https://preview-prod.vfs.va.gov/preview?nodeId=863

Feedback updates:

• Adjustment to the hours

Outstanding questions:

• For SMEs - wondering if the phone select option (select 4) and hours are the same to request a burial?

[aliyahblackmore]

Question for Charlie/Cindy/Catherine:

Which piece of information is correct:

Asking for documents showing that you can apply on their behalf, but we don't explicitly ask for documents showing that they can't submit their document on their own. Are there other documents that someone needs to submit showing that they can "submit" this application on behalf of someone else? The static page is missing "I can submit for this person" and the online form is missing "this person can't do it themselves."

Posted question in the intake request ticket on 1/22.

[aliyahblackmore]

Update here:

• I followed up with their product team on their recent reply to Laura's question
• If needed, we'll flag the questions for SMEs when we send the static pages for their review.
• Next steps are outlined in this ticket comment. I made the Drupal page updates based on the product team feedback - these Drupal updates are the changes Laura and I discussed and reviewed in our 1/5 meeting.
• Laura is planning to review in Drupal and then we can move forward with having the product team update the mural link and share with SMEs.

Last response from product team was on 1/24. My last communication with their team was 1/26.

[aliyahblackmore]

Updates here:

• Laura is going to review the Drupal updates we went over in our 1/5 meeting. This ticket comment has the link to the Drupal pages.
• After, we'll update this mural board with screen captures from the Drupal pages and email out outstanding questions (in this ticket comment) to SMEs.

cc @laurwill

[aliyahblackmore]

Update here:

• Laura will turn to this to do a review in Drupal before we share with SMEs.
• After, we'll update this mural board with screen captures from the Drupal pages and email out outstanding questions (https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/63249#issuecomment-1883922522) to SMEs.

[laurwill]

Noting additional SME questions:

• To the above question about "minor child", add a question — does minor child also need to be unmarried? (this is more relevant if the age limit is 23)
• In documents for adult dependent children, what does it mean for the child's provider to "verify" the documents? Do they need to be signed by the provider?