- 31 -
1964), affg. a Memorandum Opinion of this Court; Sims
v. United States, 252 F.2d 434, 438-439 (4th Cir.
1958), affd. 359 U.S. 108 (1959).
I. Conclusion
Taking into account the liberal construction that we are to
apply in construing veterans’ benefit statutes and the extrinsic
sources that we have considered, we conclude that the
distribution in question, a distribution from the VA Special
Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund, constitutes the
payment of a benefit within the meaning of 38 U.S.C. section
5301(a) (2000).
Distributions from VA Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation
Activities Fund do not resemble common labor for value exchanges.
In our statement of the background of this case, we noted that
petitioner participated in the CWT program pursuant to a
prescription from a physician. We set forth provisions of the
staff manual governing the program providing that (1) the program
provides assistance to veterans unable to work and support
themselves; (2) many of the veterans in the program have
histories of one or more of psychiatric illness, substance abuse,
and homelessness; and (3) the goal of the program is to assist
participants in attaining independence and vocational functioning
as they return to the work environment. Indeed, section 1718 is
included in title 38, among the provisions for medical benefits.
Moreover, the history of section 1718 and the analysis contained
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