[Senate Hearing 111-474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 111-474
EASING THE BURDENS THROUGH EMPLOYMENT
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
NOVEMBER 18, 2009
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii, Chairman
John D. Rockefeller IV, West Richard Burr, North Carolina,
Virginia Ranking Member
Patty Murray, Washington Lindsey O. Graham, South Carolina
Bernard Sanders, (I) Vermont Johnny Isakson, Georgia
Sherrod Brown, Ohio Roger F. Wicker, Mississippi
Jim Webb, Virginia Mike Johanns, Nebraska
Jon Tester, Montana
Mark Begich, Alaska
Roland W. Burris, Illinois
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
William E. Brew, Staff Director
Lupe Wissel, Republican Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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November 18, 2009
SENATORS
Page
Akaka, Hon. Daniel K., Chairman, U.S. Senator from Hawaii........ 1
Murray, Hon. Patty, U.S. Senator from Washington................. 2
Brown, Hon. Sherrod, U.S. Senator from Ohio...................... 4
Tester, Hon. Jon, U.S. Senator from Montana...................... 5
Begich, Hon. Mark, U.S. Senator from Alaska...................... 17
WITNESSES
Jefferson, Raymond, Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment
and Training, U.S. Department of Labor......................... 6
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Response to post-hearing questions submitted by:
Hon. Daniel K. Akaka....................................... 13
Hon. Patty Murphy.......................................... 16
Ziob, Lutz, General Manager, Microsoft Learning Microsoft, Inc... 29
Prepared statement........................................... 32
Wikul, Peter ``Bull Frog,'' Captain USN (Ret.), Director America
Works of New York, Inc......................................... 38
Prepared statement........................................... 41
Response to post-hearing questions submitted by Hon. Daniel
K. Akaka................................................... 43
Lawton-Belous, Joshua, Iraq Veteran and Business Analyst, Oracle
Corporation.................................................... 44
Prepared statement........................................... 46
Daniel, Dexter, Vietnam Veteran.................................. 47
Prepared statement........................................... 48
Tymes, Helen, Career Specialist, National Organization on
Disability (NOD)............................................... 49
Prepared statement........................................... 51
Attachments.............................................. 58
APPENDIX
Burris, Hon. Roland W., U.S. Senator from Illinois; prepared
statement...................................................... 71
EASING THE BURDENS THROUGH EMPLOYMENT
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:36 a.m., in
room SR-418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K.
Akaka, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Akaka, Murray, Brown, Tester and Begich.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL K. AKAKA, CHAIRMAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII
Chairman Akaka. The hearing of this U.S. Senate Committee
on Veterans' Affairs will come to order. Aloha, good morning,
and welcome to this hearing on veterans' employment.
These are difficult times for many Americans with an
unemployment rate higher than it has been in more than 20
years. When the number of those who have given up looking for
work because they believe none is available, and it is combined
with those who are only able to find part-time employment, the
extent of our challenge is staggering.
For our Nation's veterans, especially for those who have
recently separated from active duty, the search for a job can
be particularly difficult. Skills honed on the battlefield are
not easily translated to a resume for the civilian job market.
Add to that the need for a period of readjustment to civilian
life, and the problem is compounded.
Veterans who have been injured while on active duty, and
especially those who are suffering the invisible wounds of war,
face an even more daunting task when seeking to find a career.
For those thousands of veterans who are homeless, who may be
bearing the burdens of drug or alcohol abuse or struggling with
mental issues, finding work seems impossible. Older veterans
and those from other conflicts may lack the skills necessary to
compete in an increasingly high-tech type of job market. Jobs
that once were plentiful may simply no longer exist.
Today we will be focusing on the employment needs of
veterans, especially those who have recently separated from
active duty and those who face substantial or unique obstacles
in the civilian workforce. The goal this morning is to gain
input in ways to improve current programs. We also need ideas
for new initiatives for transitional programs that emphasize
easing burdens through employment and reducing homelessness
among other things.
Veterans make good employees. They have learned discipline,
commitment, and the value of hard work. Many employers are
eager to hire these brave men and women. The challenge is
matching the right former servicemember with the right career
and addressing any obstacles that may stand in the way of
successful employment.
On November 5th, I was privileged to attend the Department
of Labor's annual Salute to Veterans. It was an impressive
event led by our lead witness today, the Honorable Ray
Jefferson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans'
Employment and Training.
I was especially moved by the remarks made by two young
veterans, Ms. Dawn Halfaker and Command Sergeant Major Michele
Jones. These remarkable individuals spoke from their hearts
about what it means to be a veteran and the challenges that
they face. They touched many hearts with their words that day,
and we have reason to be proud of them and the hundreds of
thousands of others who have honorably served our country in
time of need.
Our agenda is an ambitious one this morning, and I know
that there is much ground to cover. I look forward to the
testimony and working with all Committee Members and advocates
to find ways to address the employment needs of veterans.
Now I would like to call on Senator Murray from the State
of Washington for her opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. PATTY MURRAY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Murray. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for
holding this really important hearing on some of the burdens
that our veterans are seeing as they try to come home and get
civilian employment. I want to thank all of the witnesses who
are going to be appearing before us. I look forward to your
comments today.
But before I begin, I do want to welcome one of our
witnesses today. He is a Washingtonian and a Microsoft
employee, Lutz Ziob. He is in the audience here today. He is
going to be testifying. He is here, Mr. Chairman, to talk about
the barriers and opportunities for veterans in the information
technology realm. I know that in today's high-tech military, we
need to be working to find ways to translate our
servicemembers' technology skills into the civilian world. So,
I am really looking forward to his thoughts today.
Mr. Chairman, our Nation's veterans have all the character
and skills they need to succeed in the working world. They are
disciplined team players who have proven that they can perform
under pressure. Now we have got to make sure that the VA and
the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor are given
the tools they need to give those soldiers the support they
need.
In the coming months, I had planned to introduce a
veterans' employment assistance bill that I hope will add to
the toolbox. It is a bill that is designed to expand employment
and training and placement service for our veterans. It will
help our veterans who are looking to create small businesses by
establishing a veterans' business center program. It will help
unemployed veterans get the job training they need. We are
going to set up a demonstration program to examine how
transitioning servicemembers can build on their military IT
skills to enter the civilian IT workforce.
In addition to that bill, last week Senators Klobuchar,
Johanns and I introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans' Job Training
Act. Our bill takes a very critical step forward for veterans
by expanding benefits available under the Post-9/11 GI Bill to
include job training and apprenticeships because in these tough
economic times, we have got to expand the opportunities opened
under the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include workforce training. So,
I hope my colleagues take a look at this legislation to help
our veterans obtain access to employment through better
training.
Mr. Chairman, our men and women who are fighting overseas
face incredibly dangerous and stressful situations on the
battlefield, so it is critical that we not add to that stress
by burdening them with worries about keeping or finding jobs
for themselves and their families.
In my home State, the citizen soldiers of the 81st Brigade
Combat Team of the Washington Army National Guard just returned
this summer after serving their country honorably in Iraq. We
had about 2,300 members of that brigade return. About half of
them tried to get direct job placement or job training, and of
those were trying to get job placement, only 20 percent have
been able to get a job so far.
So, we know that these men and women are struggling when
they come home. In Washington we also have thousands of
soldiers from Fort Lewis who have returned from Iraq and
Afghanistan who are seeking employment resources.
I do want to say I am very really encouraged by some of the
grassroots efforts that are occurring in my State. I want to
actually take this opportunity to acknowledge the important
work that is being done by Hire America's Heroes. That is a
Washington state-based organization that focuses on improving
access to corporate jobs for transitioning military
servicemembers, veterans, and their family members. By bringing
together major employers in my State--Comcast, Boeing,
Weyerhaeuser, Starbucks--with our area veterans, Hire America's
Heroes has been able to sidestep many of the barriers that
often prevent veterans from having their unique skill sets
recognized.
I especially want to mention, Mr. Chairman, the great work
being done by Marjorie James, the president of Hire America's
Heroes, and General James Collins. He will be in the audience
here shortly. General Collins is actually a two-star general.
He has been one of the main forces behind Hire America's
Heroes. He has served our Nation honorably both in and out of
uniform, and as a retired officer and a former Weyerhaeuser
employee, General Collins brings a very valuable perspective on
veterans' employment issues to the table. And I really want to
take this opportunity to publicly thank him for his work.
So, as I have said many, many times here and around the
country, I believe how we treat our veterans when they come
home is an indication of the character of this Nation, and we
have to do all we can to transition them from servicemember to
citizen, and making sure they have the skills and the jobs when
they come home is a critical part of that. So, this hearing is
extremely important, and I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
holding it.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Murray.
Now I will ask Senator Brown for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. SHERROD BROWN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM OHIO
Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
important hearing and aloha.
Chairman Akaka. Aloha.
Senator Brown. Aloha, Secretary Jefferson. Thank you for
joining us on Hawaii Day here, I guess. Thank you very much for
being part of this.
I can only stay a few minutes because I have a HELP markup
at 10, but I look forward to learning from Assistant Secretary
Jefferson about the Veterans Employment Council.
As I travel my State--and I have had numerous roundtables
with veterans and with health care workers and educators and
families of servicemembers where I hear over and over about the
health and education needs of servicemembers. This hearing
could not have come at a more important time as our country
works to recover from last year's economic meltdown.
My State does not have the highest employment rate. It is
one of the highest, over 10 percent, as much of the country is
afflicted with, but it also has been in recession longer than
almost any other State, I believe, with the exception of
Michigan.
We know from the U.S. Department of Labor that returning
vets are more likely to be unemployed than their civilian
counterparts. There are structural reasons for this that are
pretty obvious. Vets have been away from the workforce serving
our Nation. Oftentimes, they are beginning a second career
after retirement. There are economic reasons for job disparity
as well since many companies are not hiring obviously during
this downturn. As the economy begins to recover, many people
are not likely at least soon to change jobs. But that does not
make it acceptable. What it does, however, is tells us where we
must provide assistance and where we can seize opportunities to
expand employment opportunities for our veterans.
Late last month, I went to Youngstown State University in
northeast Ohio for the naming of Air Force Boulevard on its
campus. YSU has been a leader in reaching out to veterans and
military students because, as Senator Murray pointed out, it
knows the values of a military career. From the newly-created
office of Veterans Affairs to being designated as a military-
friendly campus by GI Jobs magazine, YSU is demonstrating its
commitment to a cause greater than itself.
The city of Youngstown has been hit especially hard by
economic times, but that is changing, too, in large part
because YSU is playing a key role in bringing talented men and
women from our military with their skills, their talents, their
experiences, and their life experiences, especially, to the
city of Youngstown to be part of the rebirth in Mahoning
Valley.
Employing veterans and tapping their skills are an
important part of the city's business model for revival. It is
not just happening in Youngstown. There are active programs at
Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, and
other colleges around Ohio are contemplating establishing their
own similar programs.
Helping vets get into the civilian workforce or moving up
the company ladder is not only about rewarding them for service
to our Nation, but because veterans have skills and experiences
and expertise that are so needed in the private sector and in
government.
When FDR signed into law the original GI Bill six and one-
half decades ago, he not only provided servicemembers with an
education that strengthened our Nation, colleges and
universities were created to serve the growing student
population. Businesses expanded with a highly-educated
workforce. Middle-class communities thrive with renewed
economic prosperity in large part because of these highly-
skilled, increasingly highly-skilled returning vets.
We must encourage and promote the value of hiring vets
within the private sector and by the government. This hearing,
Mr. Chairman, is an important step in doing that. Thank you.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Brown.
Now I will call on Senator Tester for his opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Tester. I, too, want to thank you, Chairman Akaka,
for holding this hearing, and I want to welcome the witnesses
on both panels. A special welcome to Secretary Jefferson. It is
good to see you again, and I look forward to your testimony and
your energy, as always.
Like the rest of the country, Montana continues to get
through a significant economic downturn. Unemployment rates in
some parts of our State are over 11 percent, and most of those
counties are very, very rural.
A tough economy, coupled with physical disability, a mental
condition, or routine job loss, can leave a veteran
particularly vulnerable. I look forward to hearing today about
how the Department of Labor's programs are working,
particularly in rural and frontier areas where it is often
harder to find work.
In addition, I am deeply concerned about the Guard and
Reserve members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are
transitioning back to civilian life and civilian jobs. Last
week, I had a chance to sit down with Montana's Adjutant
General. He has over 1,200 Guardsmen that are scheduled to
deploy next year. That is nearly one-third of the Montana
Guard. Those folks will have all the employment needs when they
come home, but sometimes the job they left no longer exists.
And in other cases, their military skill set does not translate
into the civilian job market, thus increasing the difficulty of
finding a job or employment opportunity in their hometown.
With all of these challenges and changes, I think we have
to critically review the focus and value of these programs. We
have to ensure their efficiency, applicability and
responsiveness. The relationship between the Veterans
Administration and the Department of Labor is absolutely
critical. We need extra attention on veterans in rural and
frontier areas and on Indian country. At the end of the day, we
have to make sure we have done everything possible to help our
veterans find jobs.
So, Mr. Jefferson, I know you have got a lot of ideas and
absolutely a lot of energy, and I want to make sure that you
are getting the support that you need from Secretary Solis and
Secretary Shinseki. We are here to support you and ensure that
you have the resources necessary to advance these very
important programs.
In closing, I just want to ask that if we have a veteran in
a situation where they are deployed, they come back, they are
returning to a frontier area of the State where there are less
than 350 veterans, and they have got some issues in a job loss
area, how do your programs apply to those folks?
I know you cannot be everything to everybody, but we
certainly can try to be everything to everybody. So, that is
really my concern as I go around the State of Montana every
weekend into areas where there are big land masses but few
people. And a lot of veterans, a lot of people in those areas,
serve in our military because they feel a calling to service.
Those folks return to those communities and they need support,
and we need to make sure that support is there.
Again, I want to thank everybody in both panels for
participating, and I want to once again thank the Chairman for
calling this hearing. Thank you.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Tester.
I want to welcome our first panel this morning. Our first
witness is the Honorable Raymond Jefferson, Assistant Secretary
of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. This is
Secretary Jefferson's first appearance before this Committee
since his confirmation in June, and I want to extend a very
warm aloha to him this morning, and especially to note that
this is the anniversary of his hundredth day on the job. I wish
you well.
Secretary Jefferson. Thank you, sir.
Chairman Akaka. I know that his enthusiasm and energy and
commitment is contagious and that he is determined to get the
job done. I thank you for being here this morning, Mr.
Secretary. Your full testimony will, of course, be printed in
the record. Thank you very much, Secretary. Please begin with
your statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. RAYMOND JEFFERSON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR
VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Secretary Jefferson. Right. Well, Chairman Akaka, aloha.
Senator Murray, Senator Brown, Senator Tester, thank you for
your service to our Nation, to the veterans' community, and for
the opportunity to be here before you today. It is my hundredth
day. I remain thrilled and honored to have this opportunity to
serve our Nation's veterans.
We are working diligently every day. Secretary Solis had
made vets and veterans one of her top priorities. We are
working very hard to achieve her vision of good jobs for
everyone. I want to acknowledge that we have unprecedented
support and relationship at VA with Secretary Shinseki and
Deputy Secretary Gould.
Since being confirmed, I have been meeting with
stakeholders to get their feedback on the issues, challenges,
and opportunities facing our Nation's veterans and
transitioning servicemembers. From that and my observations, I
have formed five aspirations that we are committed to achieve
as outcome goals.
Let me share these with you. First, to serve as a national
focal point for veterans' training and employment, and this
will involve several actions. Second, increasing our engagement
and outreach to employers, particularly the private sector.
Third, providing seamless transition for transitioning
servicemembers with a particular emphasis on emerging
industries and green jobs. Fourth is boosting the impact of
USERRA by increasing awareness of it and also commitment to it.
And finally, developing our team members' potential so they
have meaningful careers and provide the best possible service
and programs.
Let me first talk about improvements in current programs.
During the confirmation hearing with regards to TAP, I promised
to do an external review of the TAP employment workshop. Thus
far, we are presently reviewing TAP's performance and impact.
We are also working to modernize the workshop to increase its
effectiveness and improve the participants' employment
outcomes. A key component of that is going to be bringing new
content into the workshop, content that is more economically
relevant, immediately useful and also engaging for the
participants. We are working closely with DOD, VA and DHS as we
accomplish this.
USERRA. During the hearing I promised to do an external
review of the USERRA program and determine ways to improve it.
We have recently completed a Lean-Six-Sigma quality enhancement
and process efficiency assessment. What will be the impact of
this? It is going to help us to streamline the process, to
provide consistent high-quality investigations, to increase our
responsiveness to our veterans, our clients and, also, it will
help us determine other ways that we can improve the program
and its outcomes.
We are also identifying an electronic case management
system to remove and address the paper-centric component of the
USERRA process as it presently stands today.
With regards to veterans' homelessness, we are fully
committed to the shared vision between Labor, VA, HUD and other
stakeholders of ending veterans' homelessness in 5 years. We
have 131,000 veterans at least on any given day who are
homeless. What will be the Department of Labor's contribution
to this? We have requested a 34 percent increase in our budget,
$9 million. Of that, $4 million will go toward funding the
Incarcerated Veterans' Transition Program, which should help
approximately 1,500 veterans through 12 sites.
We also plan to take up to $5 million of that and to do
focused work to better serve homeless women veterans and
veterans with families. We want to identify the best practices
for serving this population and to disseminate that more
broadly to service providers.
With regards to the Jobs for Veterans State Grants, two
things I would like to emphasize. One, increased employer
outreach, and I will talk more about that later. But we are
developing a new model to more effectively engage with
employers in the private sector to increase veterans' hiring.
We have also partnered with ETA to ensure priority of
service at all ETA one-stops in Department of Labor training
and employment programs. And for the first time, Assistant
Secretary Jane Oates and I--Jane Oates of ETA--we have issued
joint guidance for how this would be implemented. And during my
time in the field, I am ensuring that this is cascading down.
We also have new initiatives. One which I am very excited
about and spoke about during the hearing is increased
engagement with employers in the public and private sectors. In
the public sector, President Obama recently signed the new
veterans' hiring initiative for the Federal Government. This
will mobilize the entire Federal Government to do more
recruiting and training of veterans to ensure that those
veterans who are recently hired successfully make the
transition to a new work environment. There will be hiring
managers in all the large departments. This is a huge step to
bring the veterans who are transitioning and veterans who are
unemployed into the Federal Government.
We are also developing relationships with the private
sector. We recently took a major first step and gave an address
at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Business Steps Up: Hiring Our
Heroes last week. We will be having a follow-on meeting with
employers that the Chamber has graciously agreed to bring
together to look at how do we develop hiring partnerships and
hiring relationships, which will be very effective to get more
veterans into these private sector jobs.
Additionally, we are developing relationships with thought-
leading business associations. We will be reaching out to
business executives in national security. We have had some
initial relationships there--Young Presidents Organization and
World Presidents Organization. In my travels, I am bringing a
new model together to connect us with economic development
boards, high-tech associations, et cetera.
In terms of pilot programs, we are also doing accelerated
hiring initiatives, one with Job Corps and one with OFCCP right
now, the Office of Federal Contract and Compliance Programs. I
would like to use these as a model to validate the proof of
concept that we can then bring to hiring partnerships with
larger companies.
Targeted populations. There are several populations which
are underserved. I spoke about this during the confirmation
hearing. Native American veterans, many, Senator Tester, who
are in rural areas, just completed participating in a summit
led by Secretary Solis with Native American tribal leaders to
identify some of their issues and the ways that we can better
serve them.
Two, we have a study going, which I have requested to go
further to become deeper and more comprehensive, that will help
us identify the recommended best practices and solutions for
better serving Native American veterans, especially those on
tribal lands. Also, in 2010, we will be engaging and
participating in the major Native American conferences and
summits to make the tribal leaders aware of the programs and
resources available to them. And I am mobilizing my regional
administrators to support this outreach effort.
Veterans who have been wounded or injured. We have the
REALifelines program that provides one-on-one life planning and
seamless transition to veterans who have been wounded or
injured. We are very excited about that, and we have also
formed liaisons at the Department of the Army and Department of
the Navy this year.
Furthermore, we have the America's Heroes at Work program,
which is an education program for transitioning servicemembers
with PTSD, that teaches employers the accommodations which are
required to provide these wounded warriors with meaningful
roles.
Finally, the Veterans Green Jobs initiative. We have
awarded 17 grants totaling $7.5 million to provide training in
occupations relating to emerging industries and green jobs.
In conclusion, Chairman Akaka and Distinguished Members of
the Committee, I really appreciate and the team really
appreciates the unwavering support and commitment that we have
received from this Committee. We are excited. We are working
tirelessly and innovatively to make sure our veterans and
transitioning servicemembers create meaningful lives, develop
rewarding careers, and become productive citizens and leaders
in their communities. There is further detail in my written
testimony.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I
stand ready to answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Secretary Jefferson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Raymond Jefferson, Assistant Secretary,
Veterans' Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished Members of
the Committee on Veterans Affairs: Thank you for your service to the
Nation, for your service to the Veterans community, and for the
opportunity to testify before you today about the actions we're taking
at the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service
(VETS) to meet our Veterans' and transitioning Service Members'
employment needs.
Today marks my 100th day of serving as your Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. The past few months have
been busy ones spent learning about the agency, determining how to
improve our current programs, creating necessary new initiatives and
developing partnerships with our stakeholders.
I remain deeply humbled, honored and energized by having the
privilege to serve our Nation as President Obama's appointee for this
role. Secretary Solis has been an incredible source of guidance, wisdom
and support, and has made Veterans and VETS one of her top priorities.
During the past 100 days, you and your professional staff have been
a tremendous source of ideas, wisdom and insights. Thank you.
As we're all aware, since the onset of military operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq, over 1 million members of the active duty
military have served in these two theaters. Additionally, since
September 11, 2001, the Department of Defense (DOD) reports that over
700,000 National Guard and Reserve mobilizations have occurred--the
largest deployment of the National Guard in the past half century.
Every day, we are reminded of the tremendous sacrifices made by our
servicemen and women, and by their families. Our Veterans should be
remembered, honored and appreciated not just on Veterans' Day, but
every day. One way that we do that is by providing them with the best
possible services and programs our Nation has to offer. Accomplishing
this will require seamless collaboration, enhanced communication, and
sustained, purposeful action. It's going to take all of us working
together, sharing best-practices and developing innovative solutions to
challenging problems while constrained by limited resources.
I am honored to be here today to provide an update on improvements
to current programs and new initiatives, and to answer your questions.
BACKGROUND ON VETS
The mission of VETS is to provide Veterans and transitioning
Service Members with the resources and services to succeed in the
workforce by maximizing their employment opportunities, protecting
their employment rights, and meeting labor market demands with
qualified Veterans.
We accomplish our mission through three distinct functions: (1)
conducting employment and training programs; (2) enforcing relevant
Federal laws and regulations; and (3) providing transition assistance
services.
VETS administers two employment and training programs through
formula grants to States that directly meet the goals of its mission:
(1) the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and (2) the Local
Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) program. DVOP specialists
provide outreach services and intensive employment assistance to meet
the employment needs of eligible Veterans. LVER staff conduct outreach
to employers and engage in advocacy efforts with hiring executives to
increase employment opportunities for Veterans, encourage the hiring of
disabled Veterans, and generally assist Veterans to gain and retain
employment.
VETS also administers two competitive grant programs. To meet the
needs of homeless Veterans and help reintegrate them into the
workforce, VETS administers the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration
Program (HVRP). Veterans with significant barriers to employment or
service-connected disabilities are also served through the Veterans
Workforce Investment Program (VWIP), which offers innovative training
and placement services. The program was recently refocused to emphasize
training and placement in green industries.
Our enforcement programs investigate complaints filed by Veterans
and other protected individuals under the Uniformed Services Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), assess complaints alleging
violation of statutes requiring Veterans' Preference in Federal hiring,
and implement and collect information regarding Veteran employment by
Federal contractors.
VETS' transition assistance services are offered through the
Transition Assistance Program (TAP), which provides employment
workshops and direct services for separating Service Members, including
those who are seriously wounded and injured.
ASPIRATIONS
Since being confirmed, I have met with Service Members and
Veterans, leaders in the Federal and private sector, Veterans' Service
Organizations and providers of employment and training services to
solicit their views on the issues and challenges regarding Veterans'
employment. I have incorporated the combination of feedback and
observations from these discussions into five aspirations that VETS
will pursue during my tenure as Assistant Secretary in order to achieve
our desired outcomes:
1. Providing Veterans and transitioning Service Members a voice in
the workplace through serving as the National focal point for Veterans'
employment and training. This will involve the following actions:
a. Increasing awareness, access and participation in VETS
programs, and employment outcomes for those participants.
b. Communicating, convening and collaborating with partners
and stakeholders.
c. Ensuring we effectively serve populations with unique
needs, especially Veterans and transitioning Service Members
who are women, homeless, live in rural areas, or are wounded,
ill or injured.
2. Creating a path to good jobs for Veterans through increased
engagement with employers, with a particular emphasis on the private
sector.
3. Helping Service Members transition seamlessly into meaningful
employment and careers while emphasizing success in emerging industries
such as green jobs.
4. Facilitating a return to work for Veterans and protecting
vulnerable populations through boosting USERRA's impact by increasing
awareness of and commitment to it.
5. Investing in VETS' team members and emphasizing continuous
improvement to further develop their potential and better serve our
clients.
IMPROVEMENTS IN CURRENT PROGRAMS
TAP
During the confirmation hearing, I promised to do an external
review of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) employment workshop
and determine ways to improve it. In addition to presently reviewing
TAP's performance and impact, we are also working to identify and
incorporate world class content to modernize the workshop, increase its
effectiveness and improve participants' employment outcomes.
Specifically, we want the content to be more economically relevant,
immediately applicable, and engaging for participants. Thus far, we've
solicited input from external, world-class content experts and service
providers to help us determine what would be a best-practice employment
transition program. We are working in close cooperation with our
partners at DOD, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in this endeavor.
Earlier this month, our three agencies engaged in a weeklong
working group to develop a joint, multi-year, strategic plan for TAP.
We're all committed to ensuring the plan is action-oriented and will
have a direct, positive impact on our transitioning Service Members.
The plan will involve an increased emphasis on the employment needs of
the Reserve components and Service Members who have been wounded, ill
or injured.
USERRA
VETS recently completed a Lean-Six-Sigma quality enhancement and
process efficiency assessment of USERRA, with a view toward
streamlining, quality improvement and increasing responsiveness to our
Veteran clients. The goals of the assessment were to 1) identify ways
of ensuring a consistent, high standard of investigations; and 2)
determine other steps to improve the program and its outcomes. We have
begun work on identifying an electronic case management system to
eliminate the paper-centric aspect of investigations and improve
efficiency. Access to this system will be shared with our Federal
enforcement partners.
We are also working closely with the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) to ensure that the Federal Government serves as a role model for
honoring USERRA.
The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program and Veterans' Homelessness
Secretaries Solis, Shinseki and Donovan share the vision of
eliminating homelessness among Veterans within five years. We have
strengthened our interagency collaboration at all levels to mobilize
for this important and necessary goal. VETS' contribution to this
effort will include the following:
Continue reaching out to homeless Veterans and assisting
them in becoming reintegrated into the workforce through the Homeless
Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP). VETS requested a total of
$35,330,000 for the HVRP for FY 2010, an increase of $9,000,000 (34%)
above the FY 2009 funding level. VETS expects to serve 21,000
participants in FY 2010.
Through the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program
(IVTP), VETS will continue its efforts to help incarcerated veterans
and will coordinate these efforts with the Department of Veterans
Affairs. Of the $35 million requested for HVRP in FY 2010, VETS plans
to use $4 million for IVTP, which will serve approximately 1,500
Veterans through 12 grants.
Of the $9 million increase requested for the HVRP in FY
2010, we would use up to $5 million for a major new undertaking--to
provide customized employment services for homeless women Veterans and
homeless Veterans with families.
VETS is collaborating with DOL's Women's Bureau, which has
already conducted over 60 listening sessions nationwide with homeless
women Veterans to identify the causes and the solutions for
homelessness among women Veterans. Their findings will be made
available before the end of this year.
We recently conducted a national listening session with
service providers, VA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), and other government agencies to begin identifying the best
practices for serving homeless women Veterans and homeless Veterans
with families. We will continue to identify the best practices for
serving this population, and disseminate them to service providers
throughout the Nation.
Jobs for Veterans State Grants
The FY 2010 request for State Grants is $172,394,000. This level of
funding is expected to support 2,036 DVOP and LVER positions. We
anticipate that this program will serve nearly 653,000 participants. We
are also partnering with DOL's Employment and Training Administration
to ensure Priority of Service for Veterans in all DOL-funded employment
and training programs. Furthermore, VETS is collaborating with VA's
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) service to provide
enhanced services to VR&E participants by out-stationing DVOPs at all
57 VR&E Regional Offices.
NEW INITIATIVES
Increased Engagement with Employers in the Public and Private Sector.
There is tremendous potential and opportunity for increasing
engagement with employers to increase the hiring of Veterans and
Transitioning Service Members. This will involve communicating the
value proposition for hiring Veterans more effectively; making the
hiring process more convenient and efficient; and developing hiring
partnerships.
Tremendous strides have been made in the Federal sector. For
example:
1. The Executive Order (EO) titled Employment of Veterans in the
Federal Government was issued by President Barack Obama on November 9.
It established the Veterans Employment Initiative for the executive
branch to emphasize the importance of recruiting and training Veterans,
increasing the employment of Veterans within the executive branch, and
helping recently hired Veterans adjust to service in a civilian
capacity. The EO also established the Veterans' Employment Council,
which is chaired by Secretaries Solis and Shinseki, and Vice-Chaired by
OPM Director Berry.
2. VETS is also convening a roundtable with senior representatives
from the Departments of Commerce, Veterans Affairs, Small Business
Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency to
streamline agency services; improve communications between the agencies
on key Veteran hiring issues; better promote the hiring of Veterans,
and overall get aligned on the issue of Veterans' employment and
determine how we can work together more synergistically and
strategically.
VETS is also developing new relationships with major private sector
organizations to enlist their advice and support to increase Veterans
hiring.
1. On November 12, Secretary Solis and VETS participated in a major
outreach initiative to promote Veterans hiring sponsored by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Foundation. In addition to serving as a keynote
with Secretary Shinseki, this event was a major first step in
developing a partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in this
important area of shared interest.
2. VETS is also in the process of developing relationships with
other important business associations, such as the Executive Leadership
Council, Young Presidents' Organization-World Presidents' Organization,
Business Executives for National Security (BENS), business roundtables,
economic development boards and high-tech associations.
Pilot Programs
Within the Department of Labor, we are identifying opportunities to
collaborate with other DOL agencies to pilot new approaches to
accelerate transitioning Service Members into employment and training.
For example, we're developing accelerated hiring initiatives with two
of our sister agencies--the Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs and Job Corps--to meet their human talent needs with
transitioning Service Members and Veterans. Such pilot programs will
allow us to refine and validate an operational model and identify best
practices that can then be applied more broadly to other Veteran hiring
initiatives.
Targeted Populations
There are several populations of Veterans who have been under-
served and require special outreach and services.
1. Native American Veterans, especially those on tribal lands, are
one such population. Secretary Solis hosted a Summit of Tribal Leaders
at the Department of Labor earlier this month that VETS participated
in. We discussed the challenges facing Native American Veterans and
potential solutions. This event began the process of better serving
this community. VETS will also be participating in a number of major
Native American outreach events in 2010. Furthermore, we are conducting
a study on the employment needs of Native American Veterans living on
tribal lands to identify best practices for serving this population.
2. Veterans who have been wounded, ill or injured are another one
of our targeted populations. In response to the employment needs of
these brave heroes, VETS has two special initiatives.
a. Recovery and Employment Assistance Lifelines
(REALifelines) provides one-on-one services to our wounded
warriors to ease their transition into civilian employment. We
have special REALifelines coordinators stationed at seven
military treatment facilities on a full-time basis who provide
employment services on those bases and at other nearby
facilities. We also have a VETS liaison working full-time at
Marine Headquarters in Quantico. This year, we established a
liaison at both the Department of the Army's and the Department
of the Navy's wounded warrior headquarters. These liaisons will
enable seamless transition and serve as a gateway to all DOL
employment and training services available to these wounded
warriors.
b. America's Heroes at Work (AHAW) is a joint initiative with
DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy. AHAW is an
outreach and anti-stigma campaign that educates America's
employers about the simple on-the-job accommodations and steps
they can take to help Veterans with post-traumatic stress and/
or Traumatic Brain Injury to excel in their careers. This
program is a strong collaboration with DOD, VA and other
Federal agencies and stakeholders. AHAW has developed a series
of timely educational materials to help dispel the myths
associated with these conditions and highlight the value these
wounded warriors still bring to civilian workplaces. The
program receives outstanding feedback from both employers and
participants.
Veterans' Green Energy Jobs Initiative
In July 2009, VETS awarded 17 competitive grants totaling $7.5
million to provide training and employment services in green energy
occupations to approximately 3,000 Veterans. These grants awards were
made under the recently refocused VWIP program, with the goal of
providing Veterans with training and other services that lead to green
energy jobs. Fields of employment include energy efficiency, renewable
energy, modern electric-power development and clean vehicles. This
program will help Veterans overcome employment barriers and ease their
transition into this growing industry.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished Members of the
Committee on Veterans Affairs, I reaffirm my commitment to work closely
with you, the outstanding team at VETS, and our partners and
stakeholders to provide Veterans and transitioning Service Members the
best possible services and programs. Our success will be measured by
the impact our programs have on helping our Veterans find and keep good
jobs in today's modern economy.
We will continue to work tirelessly and innovatively to help our
Veterans and transitioning Service Members create meaningful lives,
develop rewarding careers and become productive citizens and leaders in
their communities.
Thank you again for your unwavering commitment to Veterans and for
the support that you've been providing to us.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today and look
forward to answering your questions.
______
Response to Post-Hearing Questions Submitted by Hon. Daniel K. Akaka to
Raymond Jefferson, Assistant Secretary, Veterans' Employment and
Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. Do you believe the availability of 26 weeks of
unemployment compensation for separating members of the military
contributes to a high rate of unemployment for those who have recently
separated from active duty?
Response. In today's economy, unemployment compensation is serving
a particularly important role in providing a safety net for individuals
who are having difficulty finding employment.
One of the reasons that Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Service
Members (UCX) is available to individuals who voluntarily leave
military service is because there is often very little time or
opportunity to find a civilian job while performing military service.
In addition, UCX provides some protection against underemployment by
alleviating some of the time pressure related to obtaining employment.
This helps prevent talented individuals who have been serving their
country from having to take the first job they can find and instead
have time to search for a truly meaningful career.
Question 2. The Transition Assistance Program, referred to as TAP,
was established to meet the needs of separating servicemembers during
their transition into civilian life by offering job-search assistance
and related services.
Secretary Jefferson, how effective do you believe TAP is in
preparing servicemembers for careers in their civilian lives and in
what ways, if any, do you intend to improve this program to meet its
intent?
Response. Anecdotally, we receive much positive feedback from TAP
participants. However, there is room for improvement. For example,
there is no baseline for TAP's effectiveness. Establishing such a
baseline is a priority. We are encouraging spouses of separating
Service Members to attend TAP employment workshops. Additionally, we
will be transforming the content and service delivery, to ensure that
the program is immediately useful, economically relevant, and engaging
to participants. We will also assess whether we should increase the
timeframe during which Service Members and Veterans can access the TAP
employment workshop. Also, as stated in my testimony, we are working in
close cooperation with our partners at the Departments of Defense
(DOD), Veterans Affairs (VA), and Homeland Security (DHS) (for the U.S.
Coast Guard) in improving TAP. Earlier this month, our three agencies
engaged in a weeklong working group to develop a joint, multi-year,
strategic plan for TAP. We're all committed to ensuring the plan is
action-oriented and will have a direct, positive impact on our
transitioning Service Members. The plan will involve an increased
emphasis on the employment needs of the Reserve components and Service
Members who have been wounded, ill, or injured.
Question 3. Secretary Jefferson, one of our witnesses suggested
that TAP workshops could be improved by focusing much more attention on
the development of resumes that better reflect accomplishments and the
skills learned while on active duty. Since a good resume is the first
step in the job search process, what do you believe could be done to
improve this aspect of the workshops?
Response. Resume writing is an important part of the job search
process, and needs to be complemented by increasing skills in
interviewing and network development. We will incorporate into TAP the
best models for resume writing in the private and public sectors and
provide participants with preparation so participants can develop
concise, compelling resumes that make a positive first impression and
lead to interviews.
Question 4. Secretary Jefferson, in your testimony you discuss
DOL's efforts to engage employers and promote the value of hiring
Veterans. Does DOL have or plan to have any efforts to coordinate with
non-government agencies that provide employment services such as some
of the groups on our second panel?
Response. Absolutely. One of our ongoing activities is to engage
with and learn from public, private and non-profit organizations to
identify best practices related to transition and Veterans' employment.
One manner in which we will achieve this objective is by developing a
new and effective model for engaging with employers, especially in the
private sector. This model will involve reinvigorating the roles and
responsibilities of our Local Veterans' Employment Representatives
(LVERs), and providing them with a new outreach approach. For example,
we are creating a paradigm for engaging the private sector through
interaction with organizations such as local Chambers of Commerce,
economic development boards, business roundtables and high-tech
associations.
Question 5. It seems to me that we need to be focusing on helping
Veterans find meaningful and productive careers. What will you do to
prioritize this need?
Response. The need for helping Veterans find meaningful and
productive careers is one that we keep foremost in our minds on a daily
basis. As noted above, one manner in which we will achieve this
objective is by a new and more effective model for engaging with
employers, especially the private sector. This model will involve
reinvigorating the roles and responsibilities of our LVERs, and
providing them with a new outreach approach. For example, we are
creating a paradigm for engaging the private sector through regular
interaction through organizations such as the local Chambers of
Commerce, economic development boards, business roundtables and high-
tech associations. DOL also partners with VA's Vocational
Rehabilitation and Employment service and Education service, both of
which are established to equip Veterans with the education and training
necessary to match their skills with careers in the private economy.
DOL has refocused the Veterans' Workforce Investment Program into a
Green Vets program that emphasizes preparing for and placement into
Green Energy Jobs. Additionally, we will continually review our
programs to determine how they can be enhanced and work to develop more
innovative and effective approaches.
Question 6. Secretary Jefferson, it has been said that some of our
Nation's Veterans lack adequate training or education to compete
effectively in today's high tech marketplace. Are you exploring ways
Veterans can upgrade their skills such as increased training and
education?
Response. Ensuring that Veterans can upgrade their skills through
increased training and education is of high importance to DOL and VETS.
Eligible Veterans are entitled to priority service in all DOL funded
employment and training programs offered through the DOL/State
partnership. Another way that we can facilitate this is by raising
awareness of the new GI Bill and the benefits that it offers. Other
resources include Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E)
services that may be provided by VA to disabled Veterans needing
training and/or assistive technology to compete in the marketplace.
Additionally, we will be working to determine the best way to achieve
and highlight accelerated credentialing and certification for Veterans.
High-tech skills are particularly important and are often an integral
part of green economy jobs. Therefore, we have refocused our $7.5
million Veterans Workforce Investment Program, via 17 grants, to train
and certify Veterans for green energy sector jobs.
Question 7. Secretary Jefferson, can you elaborate on how DOL works
with service providers to ensure that homeless Veterans have the
resources to find and maintain gainful employment?
Response. DOL funds over 100 Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program
(HVRP) service providers and, through these programs, we provide
employment training workshops. In Program Year (PY) 2010, we expect to
provide training and employment services to over 21,000 homeless
Veterans. This includes a program focus on incarcerated Veterans and
homeless women Veterans. We also ensure that our Disabled Veterans
Outreach Program specialists (DVOPs) are linked to and support our HVRP
grantees. VETS also meets regularly with the Veterans Service
Organizations (VSO) to discuss a variety of issues to include
homelessness, and we work closely with VA and the Department of Housing
and Urban Development. We also support VA Secretary Shinseki's goal of
ending homelessness among Veterans in five years.
Question 8. You testified that one of your office's new initiatives
will focus on partnering with the private sector. How do you plan on
incentivizing those employers in the private sector to hire Veterans
over their civilian counterparts? In other words, how would you ensure
that recently separated servicemembers can compete on equal footing
with civilians who, in some case, may have far more training and job
experience?
Response. We believe that when employers are aware of the training,
experience, attributes, and distinctiveness that Veterans and
transitioning Service Members possess, they will be willing to hire
them. Therefore, one of our priorities is to properly articulate and
communicate a new, more compelling value proposition.
Additionally, we are in the process of developing a new model for
employer outreach and engagement that places a particular emphasis on
the private sector. A key element of this model involves having our
state directors, DVOPs and LVERs engage regularly with leadership from
their local Chambers of Commerce, economic development boards, business
roundtables and high-tech associations. The purpose is to increase
awareness and access to opportunities for Veterans and to facilitate
connectivity between Veterans and these employers.
VETS is also committed to raising awareness of the Work Opportunity
Tax Credit (WOTC) incentive for hiring unemployed Veterans. The
expanded WOTC incentive for hiring an unemployed veteran can be as much
as $2,400 to $4,800 for the first year of employment depending on the
category of the target group. We will be raising awareness of this
program through our VETS team members nationwide, DVOPs and LVERs.
Further, VETS will also be convening a roundtable with senior
representatives from the Departments Commerce and Veterans Affairs,
Small Business Administration, and the Minority Business Development
Agency to get aligned on the issue of Veterans' employment and
determine how we can work together more synergistically and
strategically.
Question 9. You mentioned that a major emphasis for your office
will be identifying resources that exist in the private and public
sectors and, in essence, ``connecting the dots'' to ensure that
Veterans receive the employment assistance and services that they need.
Do you have a strategy for doing this?
Response. VETS believes it is important to create a model for
Veterans employment that connects supply (Veterans and transitioning
Service Members) with demand (employers) and incorporates the following
components: TAP transformation, marketing a new value proposition for
Veteran hiring, licensing and certification, skill assessment and
translation, and creating a new paradigm for employer outreach and
engagement. Creating such a model will involve working in partnership
with a broad array of stakeholders--especially the private sector--
identifying best practices and bringing these together in a cohesive,
synergistic manner. At this point in time, we are developing
relationships and are in discussions with relevant stakeholders about
what the construction of such a model should be. The construction is in
its initial phase and we will be pleased to keep you informed as it
progresses.
Question 10. At the August 25, 2009, hearing held in Oahu on
returning Guard members, you suggested that VA increase its engagement
with the private sector to help decrease Veteran unemployment. I would
like to know what measures have been taken toward this goal thus far,
and what type of progress has been seen.
Response. DOL/VETS has been working diligently to improve
engagement with the private sector as detailed in the response to
questions 8 and 9. For example, in Hawaii, we have connected our state
team, DVOPs and LVERs, with the President of the Hawaii Chamber of
Commerce, President of the Better Business Bureau, the Executive
Director of the Hawaii Science and Technology Council, and other
leaders in the area of employment.
Question 11. At that same August hearing you mentioned that VA
should consider finding a means to provide coverage for Veterans across
the Asia-Pacific region, as there are no VA staff in more remote
locations like Guam, Tinian, and Saipan. What measures are you taking
to help Veterans in these and other remote areas find employment?
Response. One of our priorities is ensuring that Veterans in remote
location such as Guam, Tinian, and Saipan, and in rural locations
across America, receive the best possible programs and services. We are
currently reviewing the issue of resource allocation within this Asia-
Pacific region. Additionally, one of the ways we ensure these Veterans
have the best possible service is by providing them priority of service
within the DOL One-Stop Career Centers. I have signed a joint policy
directive with the Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training
Administration that specifies how priority of service will be
implemented. I will be checking on its implementation through field
visits and site inspections as well as through reports from other VETS
leaders. This will ensure that Veterans are served first and receive
priority for training funds.
Question 12. One of our witnesses this morning from America Works,
Inc. operates a pay-for-performance model of employment assistance. Are
you familiar with this type of model and do you think any lessons
learned from this type of program might be of value to the State-grant
program of D-VOPS and L-VERS?
Response. We were present to hear firsthand about the operating
model of America Works, Inc. One of our on-going activities is to be
aware of, and learn from, different models of service delivery. We
incorporate these lessons learned in discussions about assessing the
merits, impact, and opportunities inherent in different delivery
systems.
Question 13. The National Organization on Disability is conducting
a pilot program in conjunction with the Department of the Army to
provide assistance to soldiers who are seriously disabled while on
active duty. It seems to me that much of what they are learning may be
of value to your Real Lifeline initiative. What lessons do you think
you could learn from this pilot?
Response. VETS is always looking for ideas and ways to improve the
effectiveness, efficiency and long term impact of its programs. The NOD
model substantiates our belief that effective transition assistance to
seriously disabled Veterans requires a holistic, multi-service model.
The role of VETS' REALifelines program in this model is to provide the
life and career planning component. Nevertheless, there are other
necessary components, such as transportation needs, child care, and
payment of incidental expenses (e.g. utility bills). REALifelines plays
a critical role in the recovery and reintegration of severely disabled
Veterans. In addition, through a joint initiative between VETS and
DOL's Office of Disability Employment Policy, entitled ``America's
Heroes at Work'' (which specifically targets returning Service Members
with PTSD/TBI injuries, VETS staff have twice met with NOD project
staff to discuss areas of collaboration.
Question 14. What type of ``assessment'' do DVOPs and L-V ERs carry
out to determine whether a Veteran or servicemember is emotionally or
mentally ready to pursue employment opportunities?
Response. Our DVOPs and LVERs do not provide professional or formal
assessments of a Veteran or Service Member's emotional or mental
suitability for employment. Assessments of this type require a great
deal of training and experience and are best restricted to licensed
practitioners. Our DVOP and LVER staff is trained to recognize some of
the traits and signs of PTSD and refer individuals having them to
appropriate professional service providers. Of note, DOL's relationship
with VA permits referral of Veterans to VA's VR&E program for
specialized assessments and tailored rehabilitation services that will
assist them with job readiness training leading to successful
employment.
Question 15. How many Veterans were served by the Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Programs in FY 2009?
Response. The program operates on the basis of a program year (July
1-June 30) and not a fiscal year (October 1-September 30). During
Program Year 2008, which began July 1, 2008, and ended on June 30,
2009, HVRP served 13,735 homeless Veterans and placed 7,265 of them
into employment.
______
Response to Post-Hearing Question Submitted by Hon. Patty Murray to
Raymond Jefferson, Assistant Secretary, Veterans' Employment and
Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor
Question 1. The recent case of Kirkendall v. Department of the
Army, which concerned Veteran's preferences in Federal employment,
highlighted the challenge of making sure Veterans' preferences in
Federal employment are uniformly applied. As I understand the case, a
U.S. Court of Appeals court held that the Army had violated
Kirkendall's right to have his Veteran's preference considered, after
years of pressing for his Veteran's preference status to be applied in
a hiring evaluation.
Do you think the Federal Government or the Department of Labor has
a role in making it easier for a Veteran to include his Veteran status
in the Federal job application process? Does it make sense to explore
an automated job application process? Does it make sense to explore an
automated job application system that includes Veterans status? I
understand, for instance, that an automated system is already
configured and tested for DOD and endorsed by the American Legion--is
the Department of Labor or other Federal agencies considering the
implementation of such a system?
Response. The Federal Government already has access to an automated
job applications process. The Department of Labor, as with many other
Federal agencies, currently has user-friendly processes and procedures
in place that make it easier for Veterans to apply for Federal
positions. The automated job application system permits the Veteran to
provide specific information about military service and Veterans
preference acquired from that honorable service. However, improvements
can be made. John Berry, Director of the Office of Personnel Management
has committed to making improvements to this process and is utilizing
his Chief Human Capital Officer's Council to aid in this pursuit. We do
not have any information on the DOD system referenced in your question,
but we will follow up with DOD to learn more.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.
Let me ask Senator Begich for any opening remarks that he
may have.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH,
U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA
Senator Begich. Mr. Chairman, not at this time. I will just
get into questions. That is fine.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Begich.
Secretary Jefferson, you have many resources and tools
available to you, including all the assets of the Labor
Department. And, of course, the question is, what else do you
need?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Akaka. So my question to you is what one tool do
you think you are missing that would help you most?
Secretary Jefferson. That is a great question, Senator.
Truthfully, it is one that I have reflected on. I would say not
a tool that I am missing but a tool which I continue to look
forward to, which is learning what other service providers in
the community are doing to serve veterans. We are aware of the
programs and services that we have. We are developing
relationships with other service providers in government and
the private sector and in the non-profit arena.
But one of the things which is very helpful to me and my
team and this Committee has been very supportive of that and
provided tremendous assistance is making us aware of other
programs. I have recently become aware of Hire America's
Heroes, which Senator Murray recently spoke about. When I look
at models like that, it gives us ideas on how we can better
improve our programs and share best practices.
Chairman Akaka. President Obama recently signed an
executive order to establish a Council on Veterans' Employment.
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis has been named co-chair of the
new council.
What will your role and that of Veterans' Employment and
Training Services be?
Secretary Jefferson. Well, Senator, this is something that
we are very excited about--essentially mobilizing the entire
Federal Government. We will be doing several things. One, we
have access to the supply, roughly 150,000 transitioning
servicemembers every year who come through the Transition
Assistance Program and our 2,000 employment representatives and
DVOPs and LVERs. So, we will be mobilizing them to make the
unemployed veterans and the transitioning servicemembers aware
of this new opportunity.
We are also going to be working very closely with the other
departments to see which are the best practices that are
emerging. We know that the Department of Homeland Security
recently came up with a very good Web site that they are using;
looking at all the different steps that each department is
taking to make progress on and get the most impact out of this
initiative and communicating those throughout the Federal
Government, but also really emphasizing to make sure that the
veterans and servicemembers through our staff and the staff we
work with are aware of these programs and encouraging them to
take advantage of this significant opportunity.
Chairman Akaka. Over the years, Secretary, Congress has
made many attempts to reinforce veterans preference laws and to
provide many veteran hiring authorities to make certain that
individuals who have served their country have opportunities to
continue their service in a civilian capacity. However, there
are those who would suggest that veterans' preference is not
properly honored.
How will this new council make sure that veterans do
receive the hiring preferences they have earned?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes. Well, Senator, veterans'
preference--we will be emphasizing that as a very important
complement to the veterans' hiring initiative. The veterans'
preference is an important step that takes place, of course,
when the veterans apply for these positions, and this council
will be emphasizing veterans' preference and the application of
that and ensure that it is integrated into all of the
applications of veterans who are applying for these new roles.
So, we will be emphasizing its importance throughout the
Department and ensuring that the potential that it has to help
veterans in their employment is fully realized.
Chairman Akaka. According to OPM's latest report, DOL has
more than 15,000 employees but less than 1,600--that is about
17 percent--are veterans. What plans do you have to increase
those numbers?
Secretary Jefferson. A lot. And I just want to reiterate,
Senator, that this is a top priority of Secretary Solis. We
will be looking at all aspects of the hiring process to make
sure that they are veteran-friendly, to make sure we will be
doing more outreach into new communities, and also ensuring
that we mobilize all of our top facilitators and team members
throughout the Nation and also our employment representatives
to make sure that they are aware of all the opportunities in
all Federal agencies.
Specifically, at Labor, we will be looking and working very
closely with our H.R. team to develop--through Web sites,
through our outreach programs--more targeted efforts and
messages that speak directly to veterans and transitioning
servicemembers. This is a huge opportunity for us, and it is
one we are very excited about.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you for your responses.
Senator Tester?
Senator Tester. Thank you, Chairman Akaka.
Once again, welcome, Assistant Secretary Jefferson.
Let me touch on a couple things, the incarcerated veterans
program that you spoke of, that is in your purview, correct?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. We just had a hearing last week in a
different committee, about 130,000 homeless vets and about
40,000 veterans that have come out of incarceration every year.
I do not know if that figure is absolutely correct. You can
probably correct me if I am wrong, but there is quite a few.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. Could you explain to me what you are able
to do with that program? Are you able to catch them while they
are still being incarcerated or is it a program that works with
the vets only after they get out? Just give me a real brief
rundown on what it does and how effective it is.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir. This is a program which used
to be in existence, was not, and we are bringing it back. We
are doing this in cooperation with the Department of Veterans
Affairs. We think that there is a holistic approach that needs
to be taken that involves the employment pieces that I will
talk about but also veterans courts, which is something that
the VA is making progress on.
Specifically, sir, the model essentially is going into the
prisons and facilities, providing employment training there. It
is not like the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program sites
where incarcerated veterans transitioning would come and would
live there full-time. But we would be going in to provide them
employment training provide them access to jobs, and take in
some of the TAP-type training, which we have, and providing
those to the incarcerated veterans so that they can make a
seamless transition.
Senator Tester. OK. And how long--the program was
reestablished when?
Secretary Jefferson. We are in the process right now, sir,
of reestablishing that. We are going to have 12 sites and,
roughly, we have funding to serve about 1,500 incarcerated
veterans through those 12 sites.
Senator Tester. I got you. OK.
Well, at some point, could you give me a rundown on where
those sites are?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. You do not have to do now, just give it to
us for the record.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. I appreciate that.
You talked about new content in the workshop for review.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. Could you give me an example of what kind
of new content you have?
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, right now, there is a tremendous
emphasis on building the resume. What we have been doing over
the 100 days is talking to different experts in the field of
transition, in areas relating to human development, to look at
what can be brought in differently; so, more experiential
training, training on how to develop one's network, training on
what they call how to articulate your value proposition and,
also, to have better approaches to those topics than the ones
we currently have.
Senator Tester. OK. Currently, with the Local Veterans'
Employment reps, it is a half-time person for every 350 vets in
the region. I think that is correct.
Secretary Jefferson. Well, sir, we have our LVERs and DVOPs
who are serving full-time.
Senator Tester. Yes, OK. But you have to have--the
information I have got is if you have 350 vets----
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester [continuing]. That is where you start with a
half-time position. If you have more than that, I assume it
goes up.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. You had talked about--and we can talk about
outside Indian country in a minute. But you said inside Indian
country there was a tribal leader summit.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. They came forth, hopefully offered you some
creative ideas on how you can help them because there are some
big issues out there.
I guess the question I have is how do you serve Indian
country right now, Native American reservations right now? And
are those leaders part of the equation? And, if so, how is that
working?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Tester. Are you bringing people from the outside in
or are you hiring people from the inside? How is that working?
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, first let me say that we need to
do a much better job with this, very candidly, and it is a huge
opportunity. We have a study right now, which is talking to a
lot of the tribal leaders and representatives from different
Native American groups to give us an accurate present-time
assessment of what we should be doing.
But right now, we are providing service through our DVOPs,
through our LVERs, through our State directors and teams. I
have asked my regional administrators to spend more time on the
tribal lands, and we will be working with and connecting with
the tribal nation leaders to develop new and more effective
ways to provide that service.
Senator Tester. OK. I think, you said it best in your very
first words when you said, we have got a problem, but there is
tremendous opportunity in the solution to that problem.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. And I wish you the best. Anything I can
help you with on with that, I would be more than happy to put
you at least in contact with folks.
The Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program, from your
perspective, 100 days on the job, how is it working in rural
and frontier America?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes. Two thoughts, sir. First, we need
to do a much more effective job with our outreach to employers.
And that is a new model that I am developing where our DVOPs
and LVERs are connecting with the Chambers of Commerce in the
local areas, the high-tech associations, and the economic
develop boards in bringing them together with the veterans and
transitioning servicemembers.
In terms of rural America, sir, I have some thoughts. One
is partnerships. We need to broaden our capacity, and I have
called a meeting together with the Corporation for National
Service for the first 2 weeks of December, which now has a
veterans volunteer initiative as well as Service Nation, which
also have a veterans volunteer initiative. Both of these are--
the first is a government agency; the second is supported by
the White House--we want to talk with them about how we can
leverage volunteers to assist us with greater outreach to the
rural communities.
Senator Tester. OK. I am hoping we are having a second
round, and we will follow up with some more questions.
Secretary Jefferson. Thank you, sir.
Senator Tester. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Tester.
Senator Begich?
Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
Secretary, thank you for your work in regards to veterans
and employment. If I can expand a little bit on Senator
Tester's commentary, being from Alaska, we also have a very
strong rural component of our State but also of Indian country.
I was listening carefully to what you were describing to
Senator Tester. What it sounds like--and I do not want to put
words in your mouth and I want this viewed as positive--that
there has been not an aggressive approach to reaching out to
rural communities, especially American Indian country.
Is that a fair statement?
Secretary Jefferson. Senator, when I took office 100 years
ago----
Senator Begich. A 100 days ago. [Laughter.]
I like the way he looks for 100 years.
Secretary Jefferson. It has been a lot of midnights.
Senator Begich. It feels like 100 years, I know.
Secretary Jefferson. But, Senator, I am just not satisfied.
Senator Begich. OK.
Secretary Jefferson. I realize that with the resources we
have, we have to work--working harder is not going to get it.
We have to work more innovatively. And I think there are just
two key components. The first is the dialog we are having with
the Native American veterans and tribal leaders; and also, as
Senator Tester earlier alluded to, broadening that to the
representatives of the rural community to find out from them
what will best serve them.
Then what I am looking at is partnerships--partnerships
with other government agencies and, specifically, non-profits.
I think some of these new veteran volunteer initiatives can be
helpful there.
Senator Begich. Because this is another issue I am dealing
with and I know others who have Indian country are dealing it;
are you familiar with the 8(a) programs?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Begich. Do you see an opportunity that 8(a)
programs could--in Alaska it is very unique because all our
native village corporations and corporations have some
component of 8(a)s and are in the efforts of hiring thousands
of people throughout the world, literally.
Do you see that as an opening of opportunity to work with
the 8(a) corporations to look at veteran hires among Indian
country veterans?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir. One of the things that we
are doing right now is bringing together the Department of
Commerce, Small Business Administration, VA's employment
representatives, Minority Business Development Agency, and
other government agencies who work in the area of commerce and
also entrepreneurship, to look at how together we can work more
synergistically to promote more veterans' employment but also
veterans' entrepreneurship. Programs such as 8(a) can be a very
valuable tool to increased hiring not just of Native American
veterans but other veterans who are underrepresented in the
workplace.
Senator Begich. Very good. One, this is more of a footnote,
and we will be happy to follow this up with you. You know we
have DVOPs and LVERs--a pretty good staff--within Alaska, but
one of the areas that we have a gap is the Regional Technical
Assistance Center. And that is, we do not have one. Our closest
one is in Washington State.
I love my Senator Murray, but we would love also to be
considered because of our vastness. As I describe to people,
you go from Kodiak, AK, kind of in the low-mid interior area,
down deeper up to the North Slope. That is like going from New
York to Louisiana.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Begich. So, is it something if we--I am going to
write you a note on this. I would like you to kind of give us
some feedback. We think the Regional Technical Assistance
Center is critical for how vast our State is, and we have more
and more veterans living in rural Alaska and growing very
rapidly.
So, is that something that you would at least consider
looking at to see how that fits in?
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, we would love to. I welcome that
suggestion and any others ideas that you have.
Senator Begich. Great. The other is--and I do not know if
this falls in your area, but as you do employment and training,
what do you do in the area--and if you do not, who does--in the
area of the self-employed? I know a lot of veterans create
their own business opportunities, and it is a very exciting
opportunity, and in a lot of ways they are very successful.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Begich. There have been great success stories by
self-employed veterans. What role do you play and what role do
you think you could play additionally?
Secretary Jefferson. Well, the reason I am smiling is this
is something that I am very excited about. We are working to
connect Commerce Department, Small Business Administration, and
Minority Business Development Administration. One of the things
we are focusing on is entrepreneurship, promoting veterans'
entrepreneurship. We have broadened our stakeholder outreach
for the veterans service organizations. We have broadened the
V.O.B.A. that serves as the voice of veterans entrepreneurs.
So, this is a huge opportunity. Helping veterans and
transitioning servicemembers obtain meaningful careers with
large or small companies is fantastic. Equally important is
emphasizing their potential and supporting them to become
entrepreneurs in their own right. And as the Senator saw from
retired Captain Dawn Halfaker, many of these veteran CEOs hire
extraordinary numbers of veterans. In her company, around 200
to 300 employees, 85 percent, are veterans. So, we are going to
be really pushing and championing veteran entrepreneurship.
Senator Begich. As you progress on that, I would be very
interested in that as you have these joint meetings.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Begich. Just because I think there is a lot of
opportunity----
Secretary Jefferson. Significant.
Senator Begich [continuing]. In the role here in the
Veterans Committee, but I also sit on the Commerce Committee.
So, I would be very interested in what your thoughts are, and
those initiatives.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Begich. Again, in Alaska, 52 percent of our
employment is driven by small business, self-employed. So I
would be very interested in this area.
Secretary Jefferson. I am just pleased to share that the
Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Dennis Hightower, also a Vietnam
veteran, is a partner with us in this. We have already been
working together seamlessly, and we are also connecting with
the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council at the Commerce
Department on this.
Senator Begich. Very good. Thank you very much. I will see
you in your next hundred years.
[Laughter.]
Secretary Jefferson. All right. Hopefully, I will be just
as energetic. All right, sir.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you, Senator Begich.
And now we will have questions from Senator Murray.
Senator Murray. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Jefferson, I have held a lot of roundtables
around my State talking to both veterans and employers about
this issue of jobs and creating jobs and the obstacles that
they face. One of them that I hear constantly is how do we
match a veteran's skills and their experience with the needs of
potential employers.
I know that as our veterans move through their military
careers, they gain a lot of really important skills, especially
for a lot of these mid-level jobs that are available that the
employers are interested in. But when a veteran tries to
present their skills on a piece of paper, on a resume, the
transferability of those skills is often lost in translation by
the time the resume sits in a stack with a whole lot of others
in front of an employer.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Murray. And I wanted to ask you how you were
working with our veterans to help them better translate the
skills and experience they have into something that they can
put on a resume.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, Senator, what you shared is one
of the potentially greatest opportunities before us. We are
going to be doing two demonstration projects with the
Employment Training Administration to look at how we can do
accelerated credentialing and certifications, and a component
of that will be the translation.
Truthfully, what I realize is between the supply--the
unemployed veterans and transitioning servicemembers--and the
demand--the companies, government, non-profit, public sector
that want veterans--there are a lot of programs and Web sites
out there that deal with translation, but it is almost
confusing. I have gotten this feedback from veterans service
organizations and from the veterans themselves.
The huge opportunity is for us to develop a way to bring
order and some organization to the many efforts to do military
skills translation into the civilian job needs. So, we are
working on that. I do not have the answer, but I know that is
one of the top questions and a significant opportunity.
Senator Murray. OK. It is not in just how the veterans put
it on the paper. It is how an employer reads that resume.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Murray. Are we working with employers on that?
Secretary Jefferson. Senator, we want to connect with the
Society for Human Resource Management to work with the human
resource departments, and we will be talking about this in our
meeting with the Chamber of Commerce in early 2010 because you
are exactly right.
There is an educational element in the human resource
departments for them to be able to interpret, translate, match,
and allocate the human talent of the veterans. But we also want
to start on the front end to make sure that veterans make it
easy for the private sector employers and other employers to
know how to best leverage their military skills and training.
Senator Murray. OK. Do you have any recommendations how we
can improve TAP to help our servicemembers?
Secretary Jefferson. Significantly. First of all, the
content is a huge thing. TAP really has not been transformed or
really improved since 1992, so we have a program which is
roughly 17 years old. One of the things is to look at the
different topics: how do you articulate your value proposition;
how do you develop a customer service mindset; what are the
nuances of succeeding in a civilian environment versus a
military; and then bringing in the latest best practices and
thinking. We are talking to different leaders in the areas to
find out what is the latest thinking, and then presenting it in
a way in which is engaging so veterans not only learn and find
immediately applicable content, but they enjoy the experience
and they become a champion and a spokesman to encourage other
veterans.
So, we are working on that very hard, and I expect that we
will have information that we can share in early 2010.
Senator Murray. OK. Great. I look forward to that.
The other part of the equation is our educational
institutions. We have a program in my home State--the
University of Washington runs a physician assistant training
program. It is called MEDEX. It is focused on training people
with prior health experience who want to get into a new
profession in health as a physician assistant. And as part of
the program application, veterans with military medical
training and experience get basic credit toward that PA
training.
It is having great results for the students, the veterans,
the university, as well as all those communities that those
trained people then go into, especially in our rural areas. And
I think it is a great example of how we can match a veteran's
experience with one of the real growing needs for our country.
So I wanted to ask you, first of all, if you are aware of
the program, but second, what we are doing with educational
institutions to accept those kinds of----
Secretary Jefferson. Right. I was not aware of that
program, but my special assistant in the back is taking copious
notes and we will be looking into it after this.
Senator Murray. OK.
Secretary Jefferson. But two things, Senator. The first is
working very closely with VA, raising awareness of the new GI
Bill as we work with our folks in TAP and also unemployed
veterans, for those who would qualify, making sure they are
aware of it.
But the other part is this, learning from those folks who
have the need. We have broadened our veterans service
organization outreach. We have developed a relationship with
the Student Veterans of America. This is probably at this point
one of the premier, if not the premier, veterans service
organizations serving the transitioning servicemembers who are
on the campuses. We are working very closely with them. We have
had several meetings to find out how we mobilize our resources
to support exactly what you are talking about, the veterans who
are coming back and who are on the campuses right now.
Senator Murray. Because one of the things I hear from
veterans a lot is they do not get credit at educational
institutions for a lot of the work and experience they have.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Murray. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I
appreciate the opportunity.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Murray.
We will do a second round of questions here.
Secretary Jefferson, I know that the Department submitted
comments in writing on S. 1607----
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Akaka [continuing]. The proposed Wounded Veterans
Job Security Act of 2009.
For the benefit of those who may not have had the
opportunity to review those comments, could you briefly
summarize the Department's view on that measure?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, Senator. Senator, we want to make
sure that the overall purpose of the bill, which is ensuring
that servicemembers who are now working as employees, who have
a service-connected disability, do not need to choose between
work and risking losing their jobs by taking time off from
work. We want to ensure that they are not in that situation.
At the same time, we feel that the current state of the
legislation could have a chilling effect, that it could reduce
employer's likelihood of hiring veterans and maybe choose a
non-veteran so they do not have to worry about losing that
person for a portion of time.
Both of these, ensuring that employers do not have reduced
veterans hiring and also protecting our veterans and ensuring
that they can get the medical attention they need while they
are working, are very important priorities. What we would like
to do is to work with the bill's sponsors on crafting the
legislation so that both of these important goals can be
accomplished.
Chairman Akaka. Secretary Jefferson, do you see any merit
in making TAP participation mandatory across the service
branches?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes. Well, Senator, I know that is a
question that we have discussed in the past. I do need to say
that we honor and respect the Department of Defense's role in
that decision to determine if it is mandatory or not. And the
area that we want to focus on is improving the employment
outcomes for those participants but also making it a more
engaging program.
One of the ways--when you have a program which is voluntary
for all the services besides the Marine Corps, to increase
participation is when the word in the servicemember community
is that this is an outstanding program.
Chairman Akaka. Secretary Jefferson, in your testimony, you
discussed DOL's efforts to engage employers and promote the
value of hiring veterans.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Akaka. Does DOL have or plan to have any efforts
to coordinate with non-government agencies that provide
employment services such as some of the groups on our second
panel?
Secretary Jefferson. Yes. Senator, we are always interested
to meet service providers, especially in the area of
employment, to look at ways that we can partner to increase
capacity, provide stronger outreach, or to share ideas which
can result in more best practices.
Chairman Akaka. It seems that we need to be focusing on
helping veterans find meaningful and productive careers.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Chairman Akaka. What will you do to prioritize this need?
Secretary Jefferson. Sure. Well, Senator, several things.
One is the outreach that we are doing with employers. So, with
the private sector outreach, working with the business
associations, making sure that they are aware of the value
proposition of hiring veterans and looking to develop targeted
partnerships so we can have accelerated hiring of veterans.
Second, also raising awareness of and emphasizing the Federal
Government's hiring initiative. Third, there is the work
opportunity tax credit, also known as WOTC, which provides tax
incentives for hiring veterans. We want to work with our
stakeholders to raise awareness of this among employers.
Then, the fourth is making sure that there are no veterans
lost. We have the America's Heroes at Work program for the
returning warriors who have PTSD/TBI. We also have the
REALifelines for those who have had severe injuries. So, we are
making sure that we capture and serve all and really emphasize
the outreach component. The employers have the jobs; we want to
connect them with the veterans and servicemembers.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much.
Senator Murray, do you have----
Senator Murray. I will pass on the second round.
Chairman Akaka. Senator Tester?
Senator Tester. Thank you, Chairman Akaka.
Just very quickly, as you could tell by my first round of
questions, I have got concerns about rural and frontier areas
where veterans live----
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester [continuing]. Whether it is with the
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program, whether it is with
the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program, LVERs and others.
I mean, 100 days is not very long, a little over 3 months.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Tester. Have you really had a chance to sit down
and evaluate how these programs are working in rural/frontier
America? All of Montana is rural. We have got towns of 100,000
that I think is a big city, from my perspective.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Tester. We have got towns, a lot of towns, of 700,
300, 150 and so on.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Tester. Have you had a chance to take a look and
see how these programs are working in those areas?
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, yes----
Senator Tester. Because 100 days ain't a lot.
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, I have asked for several things.
First, shortly after being confirmed, I directed my staff to
connect with VA to see what they are doing, how can we partner,
what best practices they have. They have a rural initiative, I
understand. We have learned that it focuses on health, but we
are working to see what can we do to either share resources, to
increase our outreach, to bring more employment; is there any
way that we can partner there. So, recognizing that Veterans
Affairs has tremendous resources, that is one.
Second, through my regional administrators, I have gotten
feedback from them and ideas on how we can better serve the
rural communities. And then third, specifically, going deep
with the Native American veterans and the tribal leaders on
that.
The area that I think--the potential here is through
partnerships. The question I have asked myself is how do we
serve veterans who are geographically disbursed over broad
areas, and I think two things. One is this new idea I wanted to
explore, which is working with Service Nation and the
Corporation for National Service through their veterans
initiative to see if we can get some real capacity and
assistance there. I think that could really be an opportunity.
The second, sir, is leveraging technology. For those who
have Internet access, looking at how we can do more with
technology. Very candidly, I am not satisfied yet. This is a
priority, and I recognize that we need to come up with more
innovative ways and also leverage partnerships.
Senator Tester. I am not going to put you on the spot on
the example that I had in my opening, at the very end of it,
about the veteran that comes back. I think that situation is
real, and I think it happens a lot. But the whole line of
question indicates--it really does indicate to me that I really
need to get you to places like Montana, Alaska, Eastern
Washington, wherever----
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Tester [continuing]. So we can see if that
infrastructure that you are talking about is even there to be
able to partner with.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes.
Senator Tester. And then if it is not there, what do we do.
Secretary Jefferson. Sir, if your schedule will allow it, I
would be honored to come after having these meetings at the end
of this year, to explore these possible partnerships, maybe to
connect with you and some of the other Senators to talk about
ways that we can--and obtain insights from yourselves and your
staff, show you what we have been developing and really develop
something which will work or at least some pilot programs.
Senator Tester. I appreciate that. I appreciate your
service very much.
Secretary Jefferson. All right, sir. Thank you, sir.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you.
Senator Begich. Mr. Chairman, just a quick additional
question.
And thank you, Secretary, for that offer. I think all of
us, at least this table, would probably take up that offer. I
think that is a great offer, an opportunity for us to really
hone in on what we can do in rural and frontier America, and
make sure we have the programs that are meeting the needs of
our veterans, but especially veterans living on Indian country.
So, thank you for that willingness.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Begich. This is more of a question, and I do not
know if there is a real solid answer that you can give at this
point. But as I was looking at some of the data points, the one
that stuck out to me was veterans' unemployment rate. When you
look at October 1980 compared to October 1990, you go from
about 4.9 to 11.9. The rate just skyrockets.
Can you give me some commentary on why you think that
occurred in that one specific group in a pretty significant
way?
Secretary Jefferson. Well, I think there are four reasons
why we have the high veterans' unemployment rate, especially
for the veterans ages 20 to 24.
Senator Begich. And especially in the women category.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir. So actually, with regards to
the women, I would like to provide more details for the record,
if I could.
Senator Begich. Sure.
Secretary Jefferson. But some general reasons why we see
this spike. One is with the increased service overseas, many
veterans when they come back, they have been in a very
stressful situation, so they are just taking some time off to
transition. They have access to unemployment insurance, so they
are using that unemployment insurance to live off of. Some of
them have decided to go for the new GI Bill, so they are not
working and they are waiting to enter school. So, those are
three of the sources from our feedback and assessments as to
why we are seeing that rate.
Senator Begich. Very good. And if you could then, for the
record, I appreciate that, with regards to the women and the
change, that would be great.
Secretary Jefferson. Yes, sir.
Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Senator Begich.
I want to thank the first panelist and witness, Mr.
Secretary, for your responses. It will be helpful. We want to
continue to work closely with you and really move the
employment for our veterans throughout the country.
Secretary Jefferson. Well, Senator, if I can just say in
closing, we take this very seriously. And there are some things
that we are making progress on and we feel good about that, but
there are some other opportunities. We are only going to
address these challenges in partnership with your support and
with your insights. And I just want to acknowledge many members
of my team who are here today, many members of the veterans
service organizations who are an invaluable source of insight,
and the other stakeholders. So thank you so much, and we will
look forward to the next opportunity to brief you.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you for your closing statement, and I
wish you well.
Secretary Jefferson. Thank you, sir. Aloha.
Chairman Akaka. Aloha.
Now, I want to welcome our second panel to the desk.
Our first witness is Lutz Ziob, general manager for
Microsoft. The next witness on the panel is Captain Peter
``Bull Frog'' Wikul, USN retired, America Works of New York,
Incorporated. Next we have Joshua Lawton-Belous, an OIF veteran
and business analyst at Oracle Corporation. We also have Dexter
Daniel, a Vietnam veteran and now a senior event coordinator
for Marriott. Our final witness on the second panel is Helen
Tymes, a career specialist at the National Organization on
Disability.
I thank you all for being here this morning. Your full
testimony will, of course, appear in the record.
Mr. Ziob, will you please present your testimony first?
STATEMENT OF LUTZ ZIOB, GENERAL MANAGER,
MICROSOFT LEARNING, MICROSOFT, INC.
Mr. Ziob. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Akaka, Senator
Murray, Senators. I really appreciate the opportunity to appear
here today and discuss matters related to the employment and
training issues barriers facing our returning veteran
servicemembers.
My testimony today will address from an industry
perspective the challenges faced, current actions, and
opportunities for collaboration. Additionally, I will highlight
the importance of what we call a tripartite approach: involving
government, education, and industry to help ensure that our
veterans and their families receive access to the training and
education resources they need to transition smoothly and
successfully into sustainable, family wage civilian work.
In the 21st century, occupations are evolving faster than
ever before, largely driven by the rapid pace of technology
innovation. Information technology has become so pervasive in
the working world that almost every job requires some level of
IT skills. This transformation gives birth to totally new job
categories like a cyber forensic specialist. But it also
affects traditional non-IT-related jobs, for example, in
manufacturing, construction, hospitality, or even health care.
Veterans returning to civilian employment will encounter a
new world of work whether they find ways into IT jobs or not.
They will be expected to communicate via e-mail and instant
messaging; participate and run virtual meetings; collaborate on
projects with team members who rarely meet face-to-face, if at
all; find and analyze data online and demonstrate an aptitude
for adapting constantly to changing circumstances.
How we prepare citizens for jobs is rapidly evolving as
well. Education itself has changed and veterans will have to
become 21st century learners. The new world of learning mirrors
the new world of working. Both worlds heavily rely on the use
of information technology. Information technology has
consequently grown to be the fourth foundational knowledge
domain joining our traditional three Rs of education.
Industry and defense have enjoyed a longstanding history of
sharing talent. Investment in training and education have
created a few bridges for soldiers to move successfully from
civilian to Armed Services responsibilities and vice versa.
However, evolving job responsibilities and requirements and
changing hiring expectations make more formalized approaches to
creating these bridges necessary.
We need bridges that support accountability and
measurability in addition to establishing standards of
excellence in training and development. Amongst U.S.
businesses, the most widely accepted proof of employee's
technical skills are industry certifications, especially for
job seekers without the relevant work experience. Military
organizations have also learned to recognize the value of
certifications for their workforce needs in addition to formal
degrees or proven work experience. For example, Directive 8570
from the U.S. Department of Defense itself provides for
specific job roles, funding for industry credentials that meet
quality standards under the ANSI 17024 accreditation.
Members of the Armed Forces are taught early in their
training to rely on experience and mentorship of those cohorts
to achieve professional excellence. We at Microsoft have
witnessed the powerful impact of mentoring veterans first-hand
through a joint project with veterans at the Walter Reed Army
Medical Center.
Working with soldiers on medical hold recovering from
injuries, volunteers from our Microsoft Certified Trainer
community mentored soldiers as they studied for their Microsoft
certification examinations. Soldiers were matched with
experienced trainers whose areas of expertise matched the
veterans' areas of study, thus helping the learner soldier to
benefit from the mentor's real-world experience and
professional background.
Motivated by the community support, the majority of
veterans went to tackle the exams successfully. Mentoring and
coaching, hence, are proven ways for established IT workers to
give back to the local communities and service communities. I
call it a form of professional citizenship. Creating mentoring
relationships and internships are critically important,
especially for younger veterans who lack the hands-on
experience.
Another important consideration for current returning
veterans is the economic stability of their families. Service-
disabled veterans face the challenge of coping with their
injuries in addition to the challenge of changing employment.
The recent reports of veterans' families receiving food stamps
while they are on deployment illustrate the economic challenges
of spousal unemployment. We must provide immediate career
retraining assistance to injured veterans early and as part of
their convalescence. Rather than waiting for months for
extended veterans benefits, retraining benefits should be
accessible to servicemembers before they exit military hospital
facilities.
The recent economic events have strained the capacity of
career education programs at community and technical colleges
at a time when student demand is, in fact, rising. Meanwhile,
unused teaching capacity exists among high-quality private
education providers faced with reduced demand from their
existing commercial customer base. These training institutions
have certified trainers, well-equipped classrooms and access to
state-of-the-art information technology. Providing veterans
training and certification benefits through these private
training organizations in partnership with other workforce
readiness stakeholders is worthy of serious consideration by
policymakers.
Affordable access to modern information technology for
teaching and learning purpose is of the utmost importance.
Programs like the Microsoft IT Academy or Cisco Networking
Academy program ensure that community colleges, technical
colleges, and other schools have access to the latest
technology and curriculum. Additionally, we can quickly expand
the capacity for teaching and learning by tapping into the rich
system of online courses, virtual classrooms, and online hands
on apps.
In conclusion, there is clear evidence that all jobs that
veterans are likely to return to in the U.S. market will
increasingly be technology rich. Whether these new jobs are in
clean or green industries, health care or manufacturing,
hospitality or financial services, they all require a certain
level of information technology and productivity skills if
workers are to compete successfully.
Job-seeking veterans also need improved access to the most
current technology instruction combined with hands-on exposure
to this technology plus real-world experience, for example, in
the form of mentoring, industry internships and career
guidance. To effectively reach a larger group of returning
veterans, we clearly have to make better use of modern
technology.
We strongly advocate a truly cooperative tripartite
approach, especially in times of economic crisis. Public and
private sectors need to work hand-in-hand with all branches of
our Armed Services to provide real-world training and highly
valued credentials that will lead to promising and well-paying
careers. We applaud the new GI Bill which recognizes the role
of private training providers and expanding the availability of
industry-supported instructions and certifications.
We look forward to working with this Committee, other
Members of Congress, veterans service organizations, and key
Federal Government departments to provide our returning
servicemembers the skills and qualifications that will help
them to secure family wage jobs of the future.
This concludes my statement, and I am looking forward to
answering questions later on.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ziob follows:]
Written Testimony of Lutz Ziob, General Manager, Microsoft Learning,
Microsoft Corporation
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, and distinguished Members of
the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity
to appear before you today to discuss matters related to the employment
and training issues and barriers facing our returning veteran
servicemembers. My testimony today will address, from an industry
perspective, the challenges faced, current actions, and opportunities
for collaboration. Additionally, I will highlight the importance of a
tripartite approach involving government, education, and industry to
help ensure that our veterans and their families receive access to the
training and education resources they need to transition smoothly and
successfully into sustainable, family wage civilian work.
CURRENT CHALLENGES
In the 21st century, occupations and employment are evolving faster
than ever before, largely driven by the rapid pace of technology
innovation and change. Information technology has become so pervasive
in the working world that almost every job requires some level of IT
understanding and skills. This occupation revolution affects non-IT
related jobs, like manufacturing, construction, or even nursing, and
gives birth to new job categories, such as Cyber Forensic Specialist or
Enterprise Network Architect.
How we prepare citizens for jobs is quickly evolving as well.
Learning itself has changed and veterans will have to learn to study
and prepare efficiently in the 21st century. The new world of learning
mirrors the new world of working that EVERY veteran returning to
civilian employment will encounter, whether they find their way into IT
jobs or not! They will be expected to communicate via email and instant
messaging, participate in virtual meetings, find and evaluate data
online, present their analysis on knowledge-sharing portals,
collaborate on projects with team members that rarely meet face-to-
face. And hiring managers today are recruiting employees who have
project management skills, demonstrate agility, and have an aptitude
for adapting to new circumstances and challenges. In the new ``flat
world', we are constantly developing new skills, using them, and
refining them repeatedly. Veterans transitioning into civilian and
government jobs face employment challenges that require skills and
experience in modern information technology. IT has consequently been
added as the 4th knowledge pillar side-by-side to the traditional 3 R's
of basic education.
LEVERAGING THE SKILLS LINK BETWEEN DEFENSE, EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY
Industry and defense enjoy a long standing history of sharing
talent. Investments in training and education have created some bridges
for soldiers to move successfully from civilian to armed services
responsibilities and vice versa. However, evolving job requirements and
changing hiring expectations, now make a more formalized approach to
creating these bridges necessary. We require a bridge building approach
that adopts accountability and measurement as primary tenets in
addition to establishing standards of excellence in training and
development. Among U.S. businesses, the most widely accepted proof for
demonstrating the quality of employees' technology skills are industry
certifications, especially for job candidates without relevant working
experience. Military organizations also have learned to recognize the
value of certifications for their workforce needs. The U.S. Department
of Defense provides funding for certain job roles in (DOD) Directive
8570 for industry credentials which meet the quality standards of the
ANSI 17024 accreditation. We are witnessing a growing trend by DOD and
other government agencies to accept industry credentials for validating
professional skills and capabilities in addition to formal degree, and
proven work experience.
VETERANS' FAMILIES
Another important consideration for current and returning veterans
is the economic stability of their families. Service-disabled veterans
face the challenge of coping with their injuries in addition to the
challenges of changing employment. The recent reports of veterans'
families receiving food stamps while they are on deployment starkly
illustrate the economic challenges of spousal unemployment. We must
provide immediate career retraining assistance to injured veterans
early and as part of their convalescence. Rather than waiting months
for extended veterans' benefits, retraining benefits should be
accessible to servicemembers before their exit from military hospital
facilities. We must also extend these career training benefits to
spouses of military veterans in order to maximize their chances for
employment in family wage jobs while their veteran spouse adjusts to
re-entering the workforce.
COACHING, COMMUNITY AND INTERNSHIPS
Members of the Armed Forces are taught early in their training to
rely on the experience and mentorship of their cohorts to achieve
professional excellence. Microsoft's experience working with veterans
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, allowed us to witness firsthand the
powerful impact of mentoring veterans. Working with soldiers on Medical
Hold recovering from a variety of injuries, volunteers from the
Microsoft Certified Trainer community mentored soldiers as they studied
for their Microsoft Certification examinations. Soldiers were matched
with a trainers whose areas of expertise matched the veteran's areas of
interest, thus helping the learning soldier to more deeply connect with
the mentor while benefiting from the mentors' real-world experience and
professional capabilities. Motivated by this community support, the
majority of the veterans went on to take their first exam successfully
in December 2008.
Mentoring and coaching are effective forms of professional
citizenship and a proven way for established IT workers to give back to
their local and Services' communities. Support for programs that
encourage coaching and foster community support for veterans should be
supported by government initiatives and contributions. A system for the
creation of mentoring relationships and internships to develop hands-on
experience is critically important especially for younger veterans. As
evidence from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows, inexperienced
veterans in the age range of 18-24 years are particularly vulnerable to
long term unemployment.
EXPANDING CAPACITY
Recent economic events have further strained the capacity of career
education programs at community and technical colleges and universities
at a time when student demand is rising across the country. Meanwhile,
unused teaching capacity exists among high-quality private education
providers faced with reduced demand from their existing commercial
customer base. Leading technology companies, including Microsoft and
its network of thousands of partners in the U.S., rely on the
established network of over 350 private education providers to train
and certify 150,000 to 200,000 technology professionals in the U.S.
annually. These training institutions have fully qualified, certified
trainers, well-furnished and equipped classrooms and access to state-
of-the art information technology products. Providing veterans training
and certification benefits through these private training
organizations, in partnership with other workforce stakeholders, is
worthy of serious consideration by policymakers. The expanded tuition
benefits included in the New GI Bill are a big step in the right
direction of providing access to more training options for returning
servicemembers. I applaud the pioneering work of the Members of this
Committee in creating these new opportunities.
ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY
Access to state-of-the art information technology for teaching and
learning purposes is of utmost importance, but it needs to be provided
in an easily accessible, cost efficient way. Programs like Microsoft IT
Academy and Cisco Networking Academy Program ensure that community
colleges, technical colleges and other schools have access to the
latest technology, software, curriculum and industry certification
exams.
We can expand our capacity for teaching and learning by tapping
into the rich system of online learning courses, virtual classrooms and
online hands-on-labs. Technology learning and workforce development
training are already provided as offerings ``in the cloud''--or in
plain English: students and teachers can access curriculum, data
storage, hardware and software as a hosted service online.
We know from our experience that veterans are also interested in
setting up their own businesses. As new entrepreneurs, they need help
and support. In addition to understanding how to use information
technology effectively, they also need convenient, affordable access to
the latest technologies that will help them to start their own business
and keep it growing. Understanding the needs of new entrepreneurs,
Microsoft has launched BizSpark, a program that provides full access to
the latest Microsoft technology for startups free of charge while they
are striving to reach profitability. BizSpark eliminates the need for
cash investments in information systems early in the startup phase of
their business, allowing funds from programs such as Small Business
Administration to be used for other critical business related
investments.
CONTINUING THE MOMENTUM
Moving forward, Microsoft endorses the recommendations made earlier
by the National Center for Women & Information Technology, and offers
additional ideas for intervention. In their ``Elements of a Military
Pathways Program'' proposal, NCWIT makes recommendations for an
education program that employs the skills of returning members of the
military who have already received non-traditional IT education as a
part of military service:
The requirement that each member of the military have his/
her Lifetime Education Plan to better provide them with the required
education to assist transition into the civilian population.
The requirement that all advisors at National Veterans
Training Institutes be certified in providing information on higher
education in IT.
Remote learning opportunities for active duty members of
the military in which credit earned could be applied to the completion
of a four year or higher education degree in IT.
The substitution of on-the-job training for the coursework
requirement in preparation for IT licensing exams.
Financial incentives for colleges, universities, and
authorized organizations to institute this program and provide on-
campus IT-tailored mentoring.
While we have made some progress in these areas since this proposal
was first presented, more can be done to address the immediate needs of
veterans, including:
Promoting learning plans that link military occupation
specialties for job roles to civilian job roles.
Awareness campaigns for military personnel and employers
around the skills bridges being built between military and civilian
jobs.
Early access to separation training benefits to reduce the
number of veterans dependent on Unemployment Compensation for Ex-
servicemembers (UCX)
Assuring access to industry certification programs will
not only secure the prompt restoration to duty following uniformed
service as required by the Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act, but will also keep those who serve at the top
of their careers after prolonged deployments.
MICROSOFT ENGAGEMENTS FOR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Microsoft invests in skills programs for workforce development in
three primary areas: programs for underserved communities, programs
among and for educational institutions and programs for jobs creation
through entrepreneurship.
Programs for Underserved Communities
Microsoft Unlimited Potential
By working with partners to create relevant training opportunities
and innovative tools for people who are underserved by technology, we
believe we can help foster social and economic opportunities that
change people's lives and transform communities. As part of the
Microsoft Unlimited Potential commitment, our employability and
workforce development programs support organizations that work to
ensure that individuals have the IT skills they need to succeed in the
21st-century workplace.
For nearly a decade, Microsoft has been working with nonprofit
organizations around the world to support technology skills training
programs in local communities. Our corporate donations of cash,
software and free training curriculum have helped ensure that millions
of individuals have access to the training and education resources they
need to begin developing the technology skills that employers seek in
our 21st-century workplace.
Examples include:
Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County; Seattle, WA:
The Workforce Development Council (WDC) projects connect businesses and
job seekers by providing the necessary resources and tools for
successful employment, lifelong learning, and business development.
Microsoft Unlimited Potential funding supports WDC technology
implementation and training efforts across the state to ensure a strong
and vital economy.
Iredell Statesville Community Enrichment Corporation; Statesville,
NC: A Microsoft Unlimited Potential grant enabled the Iredell Community
Technology Institute's CTLC to open lab number 4, run in partnership
with the Boys & Girls Club of Piedmont. Low-income and underserved
communities are benefiting from the training designed to prepare
students to meet future the job market demands with a special emphasis
on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, coupled by robust tools
that include the Unlimited Potential curriculum and basic computer
skills.
Mission West Virginia; Hurricane, WV: The Build It, Keep It, Share
It Program (BIKISI) received a multi-year Microsoft Unlimited Potential
grant to support education in underserved and unemployed local
communities. Without Microsoft support, Mission West Virginia would not
be able to fund training in Digital Literacy. With more than 1,500
people having received their Digital Literacy certificates in the last
year alone, this program provides a beneficial training opportunity for
local residents.
Microsoft Elevate America
As a continuation of our commitment to helping individuals develop
the skills they need for success in the workplace, we launched
Microsoft Elevate America in February 2009.
Elevate America is an initiative designed to provide one million
Microsoft E-Learning courses and select Microsoft Certification exams
at no cost to recipients. Microsoft works with a designated agency in
each state to implement Elevate America and ensure that the training
benefits are delivered effectively and efficiently. Elevate America
will be implemented in cooperation with states across the country as
part of our overall effort to help train 2 million people over the next
three years.
Through Elevate America, individuals receive ``vouchers'' that are
redeemable, at no cost, for Microsoft online learning courses and
industry recognized certification exams. The learning offered through
Elevate America is available at beginning, intermediate and advanced
levels so individuals can select the trainings most appropriate for
their needs. Microsoft certification exams are offered in Microsoft
Windows and Office, the programs that are in most demand from employers
across industries and across sectors.
Completing these training programs and achieving a Microsoft
certification, together with other training and support helps make an
individual more employable and more prepared to meet the demands and
needs of the 21st-century workplace.
To date, Elevate America has been implemented in: Washington,
Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi and Missouri. We are in
discussions with a number of states and expect additional launches in
the coming months.
Programs Among and for Educational Institutions
Microsoft partners with education communities around the world to
deliver a relevant and effective scalable set of technologies, services
and programs that focus on building digital literacy for all
individuals. Microsoft's Community Technology Skills Program has
reached over 160 million people around the world since 2003, while the
Partners in Learning effort has reached 135 million people in the same
time period. Together, these two programs alone have reached more than
a quarter of a billion people in less than a decade.
In addition to the reach and scale that these numbers imply, when
people are trained on internationally recognized standards and
certifications, cross-country skills matches are possible, a critical
component of economies wishing to develop knowledge workers who will be
competitive in the global marketplace.
Along with Microsoft training and certification, the consistency of
the platform and its resources give policymakers, learners and
educators peace of mind that their investments in training and
education are secure and will keep pace with technology as it develops.
Microsoft is passionate about facilitating the success of each
educator and learner and expanding the power of education for all
through personalized learning. The following programs are excellent
starting points for discussions on how partnering with Microsoft can
drive universal digital enablement in cost-effective ways in the 21st
century.
Microsoft Partnerships for Technology Access (PTA)
Microsoft Partnerships for Technology Access (PTA) helps
governments achieve policy objectives through public-private
partnerships (PPPs) that deliver technology solutions to underserved
communities and students. PTA's guiding principle is that technology
can be a powerful enabler of development goals when driven by country
stakeholders, embedded in public services and delivered through a
network that leverages the strengths of the public and private sectors.
In education, Microsoft PTA programs look to provide educators and
learners with access to training and technologies to facilitate
learning, increase digital teaching skills, and prepare for the future.
The mission of Microsoft PTA is to make PCs relevant and affordable
to citizens everywhere through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Microsoft Community Technology Skills Program
The Microsoft Community Technology Skills Program works with
partners to create training opportunities for people underserved by
technology:
Cash grants, software and specialized curricula for non-
profit community technology centers.
A framework for institutions to deliver IT skills to
communities that previously would not have had access to these skills.
Students in these communities the opportunities to gain
essential computer skills that will equip them to compete more
effectively in the job market.
Support for stronger community based organizations
providing IT skills for lifelong learning.
Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum
Microsoft has two key initiatives which address lifelong learning
and skills development: Partners in Learning (PiL), and Unlimited
Potential (UP). These are complemented by the Microsoft Digital
Literacy curriculum, which builds on the existing two initiatives.
Microsoft Digital Literacy focuses on teaching and assessing basic
computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology
in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for
themselves, their families, and their communities. The program offers:
A curriculum of 5 e-learning courses, 5 online assessments
and a certificate test, totaling 30 hours of learning to equip
students, faculty and staff across all disciplines with a standard,
internationally recognized level of computer skills.
Accessible, easy to use, self paced introduction to the
basics of computing.
Learners develop the essential skills needed to use
computers with confidence whether at work or for personal use.
Microsoft IT Academy
The Microsoft IT Academy program enables academic learning
institutions to connect the world of education to the world of work by
enabling faculty and students to acquire new technology skills in an
academic setting. Microsoft IT Academies benefit from world-class
Microsoft curriculum and cutting-edge software tools to experience
real-world challenges in the classroom environment. Microsoft IT
Academy can help to create a future-ready, IT literate workforce to
meet the demands of a job market that is now global and more
competitive than ever. The program offers:
Access to Microsoft software and resources with academic
pricing for Microsoft certification exams.
Online curricula for academic institutions to provide work
related IT skills.
Students the opportunity to develop the relevant IT skills
to progress and develop in the work place.
Internationally recognized qualifications.
A platform for future personal development.
Microsoft Students to Business
The Students to Business (S2B) program is a Microsoft Community
Initiative designed to connect Microsoft partners and customers with
qualified students for entry-level and internship positions.
The objective of the S2B program is to inspire local businesses to
communicate the competency requirements for new talent, to evaluate the
skills of students ready for an entry-level job or internship and
collaborate with Microsoft and local education institutions to provide
the curriculum and training needed to ensure students are prepared to
meet the innovation needs of company's around the globe.
Students engaged in S2B benefit from unique mentoring, training and
certification opportunities. Various offerings are available to
students at each stage of S2B--when profiling, in application and after
their job connection.
Programs for Entrepreneurs
BizSpark
BizSpark is an innovative global program designed to unite startups
and resources to support them into a single community. BizSpark is
uniquely designed to help startups engaged in software development, by
offering Software, Support and Visibility:
Software: BizSpark provides fast and easy access to
Microsoft tools and technologies, for their immediate use in design,
development, testing, demonstration, and hosted application production
and deployment;
Support: Professional Technical Support from Microsoft,
including, for entrepreneurs working with early adopter technologies:
access to unlimited email support, online training and invitations to
local technical events. Examples of early adopter technologies:
Windows 7, Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Azure and Microsoft SQL
Server 2008 as well as a connection to Network Partners, organizations
that provide programs, mentoring and other resources to Startups;
Visibility: The opportunity for global visibility on the
MicrosoftStartupZone Web site via the BizSparkDB, an online Startup
directory, hosted on http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/bizspark.
CONCLUSION
There is clear evidence that all jobs that veterans are likely to
return in the U.S. labor market will increasingly be technology rich.
Whether these new jobs are in clean or green industries, health care,
hospitality or financial services, they will all require a certain
level of information technology and productivity skills if workers are
to compete successfully for these family wage jobs. Making broader use
of portable, industry-led certifications and credentials is critically
important to ensuring up-to-date skills, business relevance and
employability.
Given the fast pace of technology innovation and the ever changing
requirements of our modern workplace, we have to make better use of
modern technology to scale workforce readiness and instruction to a
larger group of veteran job seekers. Much of this learning and
instruction will be facilitated by information technology, with online
and distance learning offerings likely to become the prevalent form of
skills acquisition.
To be successful, especially in times of economic crisis, we need a
truly cooperative, tripartite approach where the public and private
sectors work hand-in-hand with all branches of our Armed Services to
provide the kind of efficient, real-world training and credential
solutions that will lead to attractive, well-paying careers.
For the new skills and workforce readiness paradigm to be
successful, veterans need better access to the most current technology
instruction, combined with hands-on experience of the technology, plus
real-world advice, for example in form of mentoring, internship and
career guidance provided by private teaching organizations.
We applaud the new GI Bill as a huge step in the right direction.
It provides funding for private training providers and recognizes their
role in expanding the availability of up-to-date, industry supported
skills instruction and certifications. The nimbleness of their course
offerings, their qualified trainer availability, and their existing
classroom and assessment capacity, enhance workforce readiness
provisions across the country while at the same time maximizing scarce
public resources.
At Microsoft, we believe that building effective bridges for our
returning servicemembers into civilian employment is morally the right
thing to do for our veterans--but it also is a vital business
imperative and in fact, increasingly a matter of national security for
our country.
We look forward to working with this Committee, other Members of
Congress, veteran's services organizations, and key Federal Government
departments to rethink how, why and where we provide for the re-
skilling of our returning servicemembers to better enable them to
secure family wage jobs of the future. I know all of us in this room
are committed to working in partnership to realize this laudable and
critically important goal.
This concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any
questions the Members of the Committee may have.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Ziob.
And now we have the statement and testimony of Captain
Wikul.
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN PETER ``BULL FROG'' WIKUL, U.S. NAVY
(RET.), DIRECTOR, AMERICA WORKS OF NEW YORK, INC.
Captain Wikul. Chairman Akaka, Aloha. Ranking Member Burr,
distinguished members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans'
Affairs, Good morning.
Chairman Akaka. Good morning.
Captain Wikul. On behalf of America Works of New York,
Inc., Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lee Bowes and, founder, Mr.
Peter Cove, I would like to express our gratitude for the
opportunity to be here today to address the U.S. Senate
Committee on Veterans' Affairs about our veterans' employment
programs.
My name is Captain Pete Wikul. I served 39 years and 4
months in the U.S. Navy, 38 years as a Navy SEAL. I was known
as the Bull Frog, which is a title used to refer to the longest
serving U.S. Navy SEAL on active duty. I recently retired on
October 1. In 1988, I was honored to share the Nobel Peace
Prize as one of the few U.S. Naval officers assigned to the
United Nations military observer group in Lebanon. I am here
today as Director for America Works veterans programs.
America Works is a private, for-profit, performance-based
workforce development firm that has placed hard-to-serve
populations in employment since 1984. We get people jobs. We
are right down in the trenches. We have helped low-income
individuals and public assistance recipients across a broad
demographic spectrum become self-sufficient by obtaining and
retaining jobs--not just getting them but keeping them--or
improving on their career positions. We work with Americans who
are on public assistance, receiving food stamps, the formerly
incarcerated, youths aging out of foster care, the homeless and
sheltered, non-custodial parents, people living with HIV/AIDS
and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.
America Works was the pioneer company whose work led to the
1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act, moving national welfare programs from
subsistence to back-to-work programs. To date, America Works
has placed over 175,000 hard-to-serve individuals into jobs in
cities across the United States. That is 175,000 jobs in 25
years. That is a very good metric.
We currently have offices throughout New York State, New
Jersey, Maryland, and California, and soon in North Carolina
and Pennsylvania, and now I am an office of one in Washington,
D.C.
Why veterans? Over the last few years, America Works has
seen a growing number of veterans coming into our offices
seeking employment. These veterans come to us through our
homeless programs, food stamp programs, welfare programs and
frequently through our ex-offender programs.
Concerned about our country's heroes rapidly sinking into
the depths of poverty, we began researching what services were
available for veterans. We found that while the Department of
Veterans Affairs states that nearly 200,000 servicemembers
separate from the military each year, and right now another
200,000 veterans are incarcerated, there are few to no direct
employment service provided to veterans by either the
Department of Veteran Affairs or by the Department of Defense.
At a time when our national unemployment rate tops 10.2
percent and the national poverty rate grows every day, we need
to provide better enhanced services to the men and women who
risk their lives for our country. In order to do this, America
Works has begun leveraging funds from other national-scale
programs to provide services to some of the veterans in most
need, but still significantly more needs to be done.
The types of veterans we serve. Currently, we serve
veterans through several different programs. We actively serve
veterans receiving public assistance, food stamps, veterans who
have HIV/AIDS, veterans receiving SSI and SSDI benefits,
formerly incarcerated veterans, veterans who are non-custodial
parents, and homeless and sheltered veterans who participate in
our Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program, the HRVP.
While it seems we are serving many veterans through our
numerous programs, we lack the funding to provide preventative
direct employment services so that veterans do not have to
become homeless or receive welfare or steal for their food to
be in our programs. It is too much of a tragedy to allow these
veterans to languish on poverty after they have given
everything they could for our country to not provide them
better services.
Our model. So what is the answer? How do we provide
appropriate, effective and timely services for veterans from
transition onwards? The answer is work-first programs that
provide direct, rapid attachment to the workforce. These are
not programs that provide training for a job that does not
exist, and these are not programs that refer veterans to Web
sites where they can virtually apply to jobs for which they
will not receive a call back. These are programs that directly
link the veteran--the man or woman, who has served and
protected us--to a real, live job that exists in the job market
right now. We get them interviews so they can get on the job
immediately.
To ensure performance, the government only pays these
programs after the veteran is actively working on the job.
There is no room for error in this model because if you cannot
get people jobs, you simply lose the program. These programs do
not make money until the veteran, him or herself, is making
money. These concepts have been the bedrock upon which America
Works has been built. This bedrock has led to over 175,000
individuals obtaining and retaining employment across the
United States.
What we have learned. Through our work with these amazing
servicemen and women, we have learned many lessons that should
be taken to heart. First, our Nation's veterans want to work.
Our veterans will certainly experience difficulties and
hardships, but they want to work and continue to be the
breadwinner for themselves and their families.
In the first 9 months of 2009, we have placed over 180
veterans in employment in New York City with an average hourly
salary of approximately $10. That is above the minimum wage, so
that is good. And we did the majority of this without even
having a direct veteran funded program.
Second, there is an exigent need for direct employment
services for veterans. While veterans are motivated, many
cannot find employers and they will struggle with barriers that
will prevent them from successfully obtaining and retaining
employment on their own.
Performance-based contracted services are needed to
effectively provide job placement service to veterans today.
Our veterans are fighting with over 20 million other unemployed
Americans for a limited amount of jobs, and they deserve a leg
up in the competition.
Third, companies are not only willing to hire veterans but
actively seek out veterans to employ. The problem is one of
time and resources. Companies need to fill positions quickly,
and they do no have the resources to advertise at length for
veteran-only employment opportunities. Through a service like
ours, companies can call us up and ask us to fill jobs with
veterans that same day, and that is how we get them interviews.
Finally, the VA alone should not be the only champion in
this fight to implement employment programs of the breadth and
scale necessary for today's veteran population. We believe that
through strategic partnerships, the Department of Defense, the
Department of Veteran Affairs, and private contractors can
provide performance-based transition programs and assist in
programs to current veterans nationwide.
Our recommendations. We have four, and I will finish this
up quickly. We recommend the following steps to be taken
immediately to help our veterans from today onwards.
One, we need to design and provide specific direct-service
employment programs to aid in transitioning today's military
into successfully employing veterans. This service should be
offered from transition onwards and would work in collaboration
with current services, including the Transition Assistance
Program and vocational rehabilitation. These programs will be
pay-for-performance to ensure that our servicemen and women
obtain and retain civilian employment.
Two, in light of the number of wounded warriors returning
from our 21st century conflicts, we need to provide these
direct employment services to spouses and dependents of
veterans. A wounded warrior needs his family to heal, but he or
she also needs income to provide stability. We propose to offer
these employment programs for the spouses and dependents of
wounded warriors nationwide. This can begin by working with
families who are staying at Fisher Houses as well as wounded
warriors beginning the healing process. Jobs will be found to
accommodate caring for the wounded warrior while also providing
economic stability.
Three, the U.S. Department of Labor has designed
specialized employment programs for veterans, and these need to
be expanded. In particular, the Homeless Veterans'
Reintegration Program has provided much needed help to homeless
veterans nationwide. This program should be expanded to help
thousands of other homeless veterans. Programs for incarcerated
veterans should also be provided nationwide to address the
particular needs of incarcerated veterans.
Finally, let us show you an America Works veterans'
employment program. In D.C. today, there are over 30,000
veterans and an unemployment rate of 11.4 percent. Allow
America Works to provide a direct employment program here in
Washington, DC, to some of the unemployed veterans and show you
that our model works. With $1 million in funding, we can place
and retain at least 200 veterans in permanent employment. We
could bring you 200 success stories on this day next year, and
I will have it done before then.
As a veteran and brother in arms with the men and women I
have met in America Works programs, I ask you today to make a
real change for veterans and their families nationwide. Our
servicemen and servicewomen have served us, and it is now our
responsibility to serve them.
One final thing. On the way over here to testify, I was
walking across from Union Station, and I saw the homeless
sleeping out on the benches. And I stopped to one of them, and
he was a wearing a fatigue jacket with 101st Airborne symbol.
So I asked him. I said, ``Are you a veteran?'' And he looked at
me, and he said, ``Yes, sir.'' And so I stopped to talk to him,
and I said, ``Are you homeless?'' He said, ``Yes, sir.'' ``Do
you have a job?'' ``No, sir.''
So we chatted a little bit, and I took out my wallet and I
gave him a 20-dollar-bill. And I said, ``I would like you to
have a nice lunch, God bless you,'' and I walked away.
This needs to be fixed, and I aim to help fix it.
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished
Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
thank you very much for your time.
[The prepared statement of Captain Wikul follows:]
Prepared Statement of Retired Captain Peter ``Bull Frog'' Wikul,
Director, America Works of New York, Inc.
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, and Distinguished Members of
the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, good morning.
On behalf of America Works of New York, Inc. Chief Executive
Officer Dr. Lee Bowes and Founder Mr. Peter Cove, I would like to
express our gratitude for the opportunity to be here today to address
the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs about our Veterans
Employment Programs.
My name is Captain Pete Wikul. I served thirty nine years in the
United States Navy. I was known as the ``Bullfrog'' which is a title
used to refer to the longest serving US Navy SEAL on active duty. I
recently retired on October 1st. In 1988 I was honored to share the
Nobel Peace Prize as one of the few US Naval Officers assigned as a
United Nations Military Observer in Lebanon. I am here today as
Director for America Works Veterans' Programs.
WHO WE ARE
America Works is a private, for-profit performance-based workforce
development firm that has places hard-to-serve populations in
employment since 1984. We have helped low-income individuals and public
assistance recipients across a broad demographic spectrum become self-
sufficient by obtaining and retaining jobs, or improving their career
positions. We work with Americans who are on public assistance,
receiving food stamps, the formerly incarcerated, youths aging out of
foster care, the homeless and sheltered, non-custodial parents, people
living with HIV/AIDS and Veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
America Works was the pioneer company whose work led to the 1996
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, moving
national welfare programs from subsistence to back-to-work programs.
To date, America Works has placed over 175,000 hard-to-serve
individuals into jobs in cities across the United States. We currently
have offices throughout New York State, New Jersey, Maryland, and
California, and soon in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
WHY VETERANS
Over the last few years America Works has seen a growing number of
Veterans coming into our offices seeking employment. These Veterans
came to us through our homeless programs, food stamps programs, welfare
programs, and frequently through our ex-offender programs. Concerned
about our country's heroes rapidly sinking into the depths of poverty,
we began researching what services were available for Veterans. We
found that while the Department of Veterans Affairs states that
``nearly 200,000 servicemembers separate from the military each year''
and that right now another 200,000 Veterans are incarcerated, there are
few to no direct employment services provided to Veterans by either the
Department of Veteran Affairs or by the Department of Defense. In a
time when our national unemployment rate tops 10.2% and the national
poverty rate grows every day, we need to provide better, enhanced
services to the men and women who risk their lives for our country. In
order to do this, America Works has begun leveraging funds from other
national scale programs to provide services to some of the Veterans in
most need, but still, significantly more needs to be done.
TYPES OF VETERANS WE SERVE
Currently, we serve Veterans through several different programs. We
actively serve Veterans receiving:
1. Public Assistance
2. Food Stamps
3. Veterans who have HIV / AIDS
4. Veterans receiving SSI and SSDI Benefits
5. Formerly Incarcerated Veterans
6. Veterans who are Non-custodial parents
7. Homeless and Sheltered Veterans who participate in our Homeless
Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP)
While it seems we are serving many Veterans through our numerous
programs, we lack the funding to provide preventive, direct employment
services so that Veterans do not have to become homeless or receive
welfare or steal for their food to be in our programs. It is too much
of a tragedy to allow these Veterans to languish in poverty after they
have given everything they could for their country to not provide them
better services.
OUR MODEL
So what is the answer? How do we provide appropriate, effective,
and timely services for Veterans from transition onwards? The answer is
work-first programming; programs that provide direct, rapid attachment
to the workforce. These are not programs that provide training for a
job that doesn't exist and, these are not programs that refer Veterans
to Web sites where they can virtually apply to jobs for which they will
not receive a call back. These are programs that directly link the
Veteran, the man or woman who served and protected us, to a real live
job that exists in the job market right now. To ensure performance, the
government only pays these programs after the Veteran is actively
working on the job. There is no room for error in this model because if
you can't get people jobs, you simply lose the program. These programs
don't make money until the Veteran, him or herself, is making money.
These concepts have been the bedrock upon which America Works has been
built. This bedrock has led to over 175,000 individuals obtaining and
retaining employment across the United States.
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
Through our work with these amazing servicemen and women, we have
learned many lessons that should be taken to heart. First, our Nation's
Veterans want to work. Our Veterans will certainly experience
difficulties and hardships, but they want to work and continue to be
the breadwinner for themselves and their families. In the first nine
months of 2009, we have placed over 180 Veterans in employment in New
York City with an average hourly salary of approximately $10.00. And we
did the majority of this without even having a direct Veteran funded
program.
Second, there is an exigent need for direct employment services for
Veterans. While Veterans are motivated, many cannot find employers and
they will struggle with barriers that will prevent them from
successfully obtaining and retaining employment on their own.
Performance-based contracted services are needed to effectively provide
job placement services to Veterans today. Our Veterans are fighting
with over 20 million other unemployed Americans for a limited amount of
jobs and they deserve a leg up in the competition.
Third, companies are not only willing to hire Veterans but actively
seek out Veterans to employ. The problem is one of time and resources.
Companies need to fill positions quickly and they don't have the
resources to advertise at length for Veteran-only employment
opportunities. Through a service like ours, companies can call us up
and ask us to fill jobs with Veterans that same day.
Finally, the VA alone should not be the only champion in this fight
to implement employment programs of the breadth and scale necessary for
today's Veteran population. We believe that through strategic
partnerships, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veteran
Affairs and private contractors can provide performance-based
transition programs and assistance programs to current Veterans
nationwide.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend the following steps be taken immediately to help our
Veterans from today onwards:
1. We need to design and provide specific, direct service
employment programs to aide in transitioning today's military into
successfully employed Veterans. This service should be offered from
transition onwards, and would work in collaboration with current
services, including the Transition Assistance Program and Vocational
Rehabilitation. These programs will be pay-for-performance to ensure
that our service men and women obtain and retain civilian employment.
2. In light of the number of wounded warriors returning from our
21st century conflicts, we also need to provide these direct employment
services to spouses and dependents of Veterans. A wounded warrior needs
his family to heal, but he or she also needs income to provide
stability. We propose to offer these employment programs for the
spouses and dependents of wounded warriors nationwide. This can begin
by working with families who are staying at Fisher Houses as their
wounded warriors begin the healing process. Jobs will be found to
accommodate caring for the wounded warrior while also providing
economic stability.
3. The United State Department of Labor has designed specialized
employment programs for Veterans, and these need to be expanded. In
particular, the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program has provided
much needed help to homeless Veterans nationwide. This program should
be expanded to help thousands of other homeless Veterans. Programs for
incarcerated Veterans should also be provided nationwide to address the
particular needs of incarcerated Veterans.
4. Finally, let us show you an America Works Veterans Employment
Program. In DC today, there are over 30,000 Veterans, and an
unemployment rate of 11.4%. Allow America Works to provide a direct
employment program here in DC to some of the unemployed Veterans to
show you that our model works. With $1 million in funding, we can place
and retain at least 200 Veterans in permanent employment. We can then
bring you 200 success stories on this day next year.
As a Veteran and brother in arms with the men and women I've met at
the America Works programs, I ask you today to make a real change for
Veterans and their families nationwide. Our servicemen and women have
served us; it is now our responsibility to serve them.
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, and distinguished members of
the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, thank you for your
time.
______
Response to Post-Hearing Question Submitted by Hon. Daniel K. Akaka to
Retired Captain Peter ``Bull Frog'' Wikul, Director, America Works of
New York, Inc.
Question. In your testimony you stated that, to provide
appropriate, effective, and timely services for Veterans from
transition onwards, programs must provide direct, rapid attachment to
the workforce. You also stated that programs that refer Veterans to Web
sites where they can virtually apply to jobs for which they will not
receive a call back are not adequate programs. With limited resources
to provide personal services to all servicemembers and veterans in need
and the increased use of the internet, can you suggest ways to improve
on Web sites that offer employment assistance to make them more
appropriate, effective, and timely?
Response. While the internet has received increased usage and
tremendous improvements over the past two decades, the internet is not
a substitute for human services. The internet can match resumes to
employers, but much more goes into the hiring process than just a
resume. For instance, if an employer is seeking a young, energetic
individual to help grow his/her business, the personality of potential
employees may receive more attention than the skills and work
experience on the resume itself. The key to finding long term, stable
employment with true career ladders for an individual goes well beyond
the work history documented on a resume.
Moreover, dependence on an internet based job search is extremely
limiting, and is an isolating experience. A benefit of the world of
work is its role in our socialization, helping employees learn and
improve their own work, as well as team based goal setting and
achievement. Reliance on a wholly internet based employment program
leaves the Veteran, who was used to doing everything in a team setting,
to sit alone and go through the difficulties of job search in
isolation. This leads to increased severity of PTSD and Depression, and
provides greater barriers to employment in the long term.
Additionally, employers struggle with internet based ``job
matching'' systems, receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes
for a few open positions. Since they do not have time to review all the
resumes, they are left with networking to find an employee, or choosing
from a brief sampling of all the resumes. This process does not give a
Veteran the ``leg up'' in the competition he/she deserves, and does not
provide the best service possible to the employer.
Instead of pouring all too limited funding into internet based
programming, America Works provides ``performance based'' programs,
which provide immediate assistant to both Veterans and employers,
bringing the human element back to human services. Since its programs
are performance based, funds are not wasted because America Works is
not paid until a Veteran is employed and retained in the job for a
given time. This programming is fast-paced, and proves to save
thousands of dollars in funding due to the rapid attachment to work,
leading to rapid reduction in the assistance needs of Veterans.
For instance, for a Veteran to receive a partial disability payment
is $4,200 every 6 months, his/her family to receive Food Stamps to
supplement the lack of income is another $1,362 every 6 months, and for
the Veteran to receive PTSD/Depression treatments for 6 months the cost
is, on average, $4,221, for a total of $9,783. Additionally, if the
Veteran seeks out Vocational Rehabilitation services from the VA, the
cost for 6 months is another $7,774.76, and a Section 8 Voucher for 6
months is valued at $25,559.14 in NYC. This is a total of $43,116.90,
and the Veteran still does not have a job. On the other hand, America
Works' programs cost between $5,000 and $7,500 per person depending on
job retention and earnings levels, for a total cost to the government
of $4,315 (subtracting taxes from taxable wages equaling $3,185 for 6
months of $10/hr at 35 hours per week). This provides a cost savings of
$38,801.90 per Veteran, and does not disrupt the current DVOP/LVER
funding (which provides for an average per DVOP/LVER cost of
$85,655.22).
Needless to say, for a program that is of no risk to the government
because payments are not given unless the work has already been done,
it seems economically sensible especially considering the limited
resources available, to rely on sensitive, effective, in-person based
programming which saves funding both in the short and long term. Web
sites can be improved to provide support to programs and employers, but
they cannot replace the human services element of recruiting and
hiring.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you, Captain Wikul.
Mr. Lawton-Belous, your testimony, please.
STATEMENT OF JOSHUA LAWTON-BELOUS, IRAQ VETERAN AND BUSINESS
ANALYST, ORACLE CORPORATION
Mr. Lawton-Belous. Chairman Akaka, Honorable Members of
this Committee, I appreciate being here before you to testify
about transition services that are provided to America's men
and women serving in uniform.
These services are oftentimes overlooked when considering
how to make a servicemember's transition from the military to
civilian life successful, yet the services provided by programs
like the Army Career Alumni Program, commonly referred to as
ACAP, and Transition Assistance Program, commonly referred to
as TAPs, are in some respects the most crucial elements to a
servicemember's successful transition.
As a former soldier who used programs like ACAP extensively
during my recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and as an
interviewer for Oracle Corporation's Wounded Warrior program, I
have had the unique experience to both understand the process
of transitioning as servicemember and the important end result,
the resume.
While the Army Career Alumni Program at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center and throughout the rest of the Army should be
the first stop for all soldiers transitioning out of the Army,
the ACAP office is all too often relegated to a check-the-box
function because of command decisions which often inhibit or
prohibit the ability of a soldier to obtain career separation
counseling in a timely manner. This inability to obtain timely
career separation counseling has a detrimental ripple effect.
Due to the inability of soldiers to discuss their transitioning
and career prospects with transition services, many soldiers
are provided with limited career counseling and therefore
assemble generic resumes. These generic resumes are competitive
with neither those resumes that are assembled within the
industry or by those at colleges and universities.
Since these resumes are not competitive, soldiers do not
obtain jobs that they believe themselves qualified for. This
inability to obtain qualified employment reinforces a belief by
those soldiers who remain in the military that transition
services add no value to their transition and therefore are not
worth fighting with their command to obtain.
Due to the average age of those enlisting in the military,
few of them understand the opportunities and culture of the
civilian workforce. While these servicemembers have often
earned roles and responsibilities that few of their civilian
counterparts have obtained, many veterans do not realize, until
they have obtained their first civilian job, the value of their
experiences during their military careers.
To these veterans, it was normal for a 21-year-old sergeant
to counsel, supervise and establish goals for a team of five
other soldiers. Without understanding the unique nature of
their military careers, veterans do not translate the important
aspects of their military careers into civilian language
because they have not yet grasped what skills, characteristics,
experiences, et cetera, that employers are looking for.
Yet even if ACAP and TAPs were given the highest priority
for servicemembers who are separating from the military and
those separating servicemembers were able to translate their
military experience into civilian language, many veterans would
still be missing a crucial aspect of every resume, education.
America's current labor market requires those seeking
employment to have either a degree or industry-standard
certifications, if not both. The reality for many enlisted
members of the Armed Forces, specifically Marines and soldiers,
is that upon leaving the military, they lack both the degree
and industry-standard certifications. While veterans are
rightly given preference in certain career fields, the lack of
formal education often prevents them from obtaining employment
even in the Federal Government.
If we as a country are serious about wanting to decrease
the unemployment situation among veterans, our government must
take the following steps: One, fix the Post-9/11 GI Bill
payment debacle. Two, strengthen the importance of formal
education while still in the military. Three, enforce a
military command structure that supports those servicemembers
transitioning out of the military.
Chairman Akaka, Honorable Members of this Committee, I am
humbled by being here before you to testify about transition
services that are provided to America's men and women serving
in uniform. I thank you for listening, but more importantly, I
thank you for your continual support of veterans and those
still wearing the uniform of our country. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lawton-Belous follows:]
Prepared Statement of Joshua Lawton-Belous, Iraq Veteran and Business
Analyst, Oracle Corporation
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, Honorable Members of the
Committee, I appreciate being here before you to today testify about
transition services that are provided to America's men and women
serving in uniform. My name is Joshua Lawton-Belous and I am a recently
medically discharged veteran who served two tours in Iraq. Currently, I
am a business analyst at Oracle Corporation. I believe that the
transition services that I am here to speak about today are often times
overlooked when considering how to make a servicemember's transition
from the military to civilian life successful. Yet the services
provided by programs like the Army Career Alumni Program referred to
commonly as ACAP and Transition Assistance Program commonly referred to
as TAPs are in some respects the most crucial elements to a
servicemember's successful transition. As a former soldier who used
programs like ACAP extensively during my recovery at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, and as an interviewer for Oracle Corporation's Wounded
Warrior Program, I have had the unique experience to both understand
the process of transitioning a servicemember and the important end
result--the resume.
While the Army Career Alumni Program at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center, and throughout the rest of the Army, should be the first stop
for all soldiers transitioning out of the Army, the ACAP office is all
too often relegated to a ``check the box'' function because of command
decisions made at different levels, which inhibit or prohibit, the
ability of a soldier to obtain career separation counseling in a timely
manner. This inability to obtain timely career separation counseling
has a detrimental ripple effect. Due to the inability of soldiers to
discuss their transitioning and career prospects with transition
services many soldiers are provided with limited career counseling and
therefore assemble generic resumes. These generic resumes are
competitive with neither those resumes that are assembled by those
within the industry or by those at colleges and universities. Since
these resumes are not competitive soldiers do not obtain jobs that they
believe themselves qualified for. This inability to obtain qualified
employment reinforces the belief by those soldiers who remain in the
military, that transition services add no value to their transition and
therefore are not worth fighting with their command to obtain.
Due to the average age of those enlisting in the military, few of
them understand the opportunities and culture of the civilian
workforce. While these servicemembers have often earned roles and
responsibilities that few of their civilian counterparts have obtained,
many veterans do not realize until they have obtained their first
civilian job, the value of their experiences during their military
careers. To these veterans it was normal for a 21-year-old Sergeant to
counsel, supervise, and establish goals for a team of 5 other soldiers.
Without understanding the unique nature of their military careers,
veterans do not translate the important aspects of their military
careers into civilian language, because they have not yet grasped what
skills, characteristics, experiences, etc. that employers are looking
for.
Yet even if ACAP and TAPs were given the highest priority for
servicemembers who are separating from the military, and those
separating servicemembers were able to translate their military
experiences into civilian language, many veterans would still be
missing a crucial aspect of every resume-Education. America's current
labor market requires those seeking employment to have either a degree
or industry standard certifications, if not both. The reality for many
enlisted members of the Armed Forces, specifically Marines and
Soldiers, is that upon leaving the military they lack both a degree and
industry standard certifications. While veterans are rightly given
preference in certain career fields, their lack of formal education
often prevents them from obtaining employment even in the Federal
Government.
If we as a country are serious about wanting to decrease the
unemployment situation among veterans, our government must take the
following steps: (1) Fix the Post-9/11 GI Bill payment debacle; (2)
Strengthen the importance of formal education while still in the
military; and (3) Enforce a military command structure that supports
those servicemembers transitioning out of the military.
Chairman Akaka, Ranking Member Burr, Honorable Members of the
Committee, I am humbled by being here before you to testify about
transition services that are provided to America's men and women
serving in uniform. I thank you for listening, but more importantly I
thank you for your continual support of veterans and those still
wearing the uniform of our country. I look forward to answering any
questions you may have.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Lawton-Belous.
And now we will have the testimony of Dexter Daniel.
STATEMENT OF DEXTER DANIEL,
U.S. ARMY VIETNAM VETERAN
Mr. Daniel. Mr. Chairman, very good morning, Senate
Committee Members, I thank you very much for allowing me to
share my testimony with you this morning.
My name is Dexter Daniel, and I am a U.S. Army veteran. I
was honorably discharged in October 1976 after a 5-year tour in
Germany. My primary MOS was 73C20, finance payroll specialist.
And upon my release, I looked forward to returning home even
though I knew in my heart I had multiple apprehensions. On the
outer appearance, I looked great to immediate family members
who hadn't seen me for quite some time. But even though I knew
that my family members would be glad to see me, there was a war
raging inside of me.
Throughout my entire tenured time in Germany, I actively
became involved with alcohol and drugs during social times.
Initially, I never addressed--I want to reemphasize, I never
addressed any of my addiction to drugs or my behavioral
problems that I was experiencing.
When I did return home, because of lack of knowledge of
addictive behavior, I really began getting into a lot of
difficult-type situations. I really had no problem gaining
employment, and I had no real difficulty in the aspect of
convincing people that I would probably be the most qualified
person to work for them. However, keeping a job and being
responsible became my real problems, and eventually, it ended
up being my demise.
As my addiction progressed, my self-esteem and self-worth
plummeted, and I eventually became alienated, homeless, and
destitute. Throughout these times, suicidal thoughts visited me
far too often, and I was engulfed to the core of my being in
anger, resentment, and fear. I had a culmination of 31 years
active addiction, 26 years of incarceration, 17 years of
homelessness, 18 years of being unemployed along with family
alienation and society withdrawal. Those were the consequences
of my choices, my ignorance, and my rebellion.
In 1999 while facing multiple drug-related criminal
charges, I completely surrendered to the reality of my
condition and my circumstances. I needed help, and I appealed
to the circuit court judge that would preside over my case. If
I was convicted--and I absolutely knew in my heart that I was
guilty of all charges--my sentence would be 120 years, which
would be life.
By the divine grace and mercy of God, through fervent
prayer, and the intervention of drug court in the State of
Maryland and inclusion and acceptance into the Maryland Center
for Veterans Education and Training center, I was given an
alternative to prison and renewed opportunity for a restored
life.
Regeneration into society would take time, so I became
fully engaged in the structure of the program, which included
the following: foundational concepts, spiritual steps, 12-step
program, and applications of recovery. Mental and physical
stabilization was available with a reconnection with the VA.
Job readiness, training, and placement assistance also
became available as I began to transition on. Financial
management, I felt that that was extremely important because as
a financial payroll specialist, I really never had a problem
getting money. The problem was managing it and knowing exactly
what to do.
Housing referral assistance also became available. Family
reconciliation, which is something that is very, very important
to me because I alienated my family for so long, which I had a
daughter and she never really knew her dad. And finally,
aftercare--primary and general aftercare--is available to me
even up to this day.
So, today I humbly and I honestly confess that my heart is
filled with hope, my life is filled with love, and my soul has
a focus and renewed strength. I have remained drug free and
incarceration free since 1999. I have completed all the
requirements stipulated by the circuit courts of Maryland, and
I remain an alumnus of the Maryland Center for Veterans
Education and Training center.
In addition, I am also so blessed--and I mean that
sincerely--very, very blessed to be employed as a senior event
service supervisor within the hospitality industry as was
aforementioned, the Marriott. They gave me a tremendous
opportunity. They knew of my background, and when I applied
with them, I primarily wanted them to see and understand that
the person that was before them today was not the person that I
used to be. And I wanted a full consideration of who I am today
with the hope of who I would like to become tomorrow if they
gave me an opportunity.
Again, through prayer, that opportunity came my way, and I
continue to give back in several areas. I am allowed to be able
to correspond with others that are still in various programs as
well as the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training
to give them opportunities as well; to show them that it is
possible for a veteran to be able to heal. And I have been able
to--or been empowered to accomplish many numerous personal,
professional, and social goals.
Finally, it is my hope that current and future veterans
seize their opportunity to integrate into society as
acceptable, responsible, and productive citizens. I am
eternally grateful to God for touching the hearts of those who
were and still are willing to support veterans with compassion,
constructive dialog, and goodwill. I also believe that the
economy and the integrity of the United States of America can
and will recover through dedication, teamwork, and personalized
effort. Thank you, and God bless you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Daniel follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dexter H. Daniel, U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran
My name is Dexter Daniel and I am a U.S. Army veteran. I was
honorably discharged in October 1976 after a 5 year tour of duty in
West Germany. My primary MOS was 73C20, finance payroll specialist.
Upon my release, I looked forward to returning home even though I knew
in my heart I had multiple apprehensions. On the outer appearance, I
looked great to immediate family members who had not seen me for some
time and even though I had left the military, a ``war'' was still
raging inside of me. Throughout my tenure in Germany, I actively became
involved with alcohol and drugs during social times. Initially, I never
addressed my addiction when I returned home due to a lack of knowledge
regarding addictive behavior. When applying for employment, I had no
real difficulty getting a job; however, keeping a job and being
responsible eventually lead to my demise. As my addiction progressed,
my self esteem and sense of worth plummeted and I eventually became
alienated, homeless and destitute. Throughout these times, suicidal
thoughts visited me far too often and I was engulfed at the core of my
being with anger, resentment and fear. A culmination of 26 years of
incarceration, 17 years of homelessness and 18 years being unemployed
along with family alienation and society withdrawal were the
consequences of my choices, ignorance and rebellion.
In 1999, while facing multiple drug related criminal charges, I
completely surrendered to the reality of my condition and
circumstances. I needed help and appealed to the Circuit Court Judge
that would preside over my case. If convicted, my sentence would be 120
yrs. Life!
By the divine grace and mercy of God and through fervent prayer and
the intervention of Drug Court and inclusion of acceptance into the
Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training Center, I was given
an alternative to prison and a renewed opportunity to restore my life.
Reintegration into society would take time so I became fully engaged in
the Structure of the program which included the following:
1. Foundational concepts, steps and applications of Recovery
2. Mental and Physical stabilization
3. Educational Assistance
4. Job readiness, training and placement assistance
5. Financial Management
6. Housing referral Assistance
7. Family Reconciliation Assistance
8. Primary and General Aftercare
Today, I humbly and honestly confess that my heart is filled with
hope, my life is filled with love and my soul has a focused renewed
strength. I have remained ``drug free'' since 1999, completed all
requirements stipulated by the Circuit Courts and remain an Alumnus of
the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training Center. In
addition, I'm so blessed to be employed as a Sr. Event Services
Supervisor within the Hospitality Industry since March 2001 with a
Fortune 500 global Hotel Corporation. I have been empowered and have
accomplished numerous renewed personal, professional and social goals.
Finally, it is my sincere hope that current and future Veterans
seize their opportunity to integrate into society as acceptable,
responsible and productive citizens. I am eternally grateful to God for
touching the hearts of those who were and still are willing to support
Veterans with compassion, constructive dialog and goodwill. I also
believe that the economy and integrity of the United States of America
can and will ``recover'' through Dedication, Teamwork and Personalized
effort.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Daniel.
Now we will hear from Ms. Tymes.
STATEMENT OF HELEN TYMES, CAREER SPECIALIST, NATIONAL
ORGANIZATION ON DISABILITY (NOD)
Ms. Tymes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee.
My name is Helen Tymes, and I am a career specialist with
the National Organization on Disabilities in Fayetteville, NC.
My partner Dwayne D. Beason, Sr. and I staff the North Carolina
office of the NOD Army Wounded Warrior Career Demonstration
Program. The two of us are both veterans. Mr. Beason served 30
years in the U.S. Army, and I served 21. I was pleased to
accept this invitation today to testify.
NOD is a 28-year-old non-profit organization that has long
worked to improve the quality-of-life with disabilities by
advocating their fullest inclusions in all aspects of life. The
NOD board, led by the former Secretary of Homeland Security,
Tom Ridge, decided that for the next 5 years, NOD will devote
the bulk of our resources to promoting economic self-
sufficiency among America's 33 million working-age people with
disabilities.
Within this focus, we are helping the most severely injured
veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to become
productive contributing members of society. We are doing this
by helping them enter or resume a career and/or education upon
their return home. NOD is proud to assist by providing
proactive, high-touch services individualized to one-quarter of
the AW2 veteran population in North Carolina, and at this time,
it is at 270.
Our AW2 careers demonstration is an entirely privately-
funded initiative conducted by NOD under a memorandum of
understanding with the U.S. Army and its Army Wounded Warrior
program, also known as AW2. Today, NOD career specialists
ensure that career services and other assistance is provided to
over 180 soldiers, veterans, and their families in the Dallas
Metroplex, and the States of Colorado and North Carolina. We
link soldiers, veterans and family members to existing services
in various agencies within the community.
Many observers still expect veterans to live out their
lives independently. However, we at AW2 and at NOD strongly
believe that most of these young men and women can become
independent contributing members of society. This is the Army's
admirable vision for its AW2 soldiers and veterans. Our mission
is to help veterans return to school and to some form of work.
The Nation placed these young men and women in harm's way,
and now we have an obligation to support their successful
transition into the community and to learn via this program
what works in the transition process from the military to the
civilian sector.
I would like to give just one small example of some of the
situations that we are serving as far as our veterans today
that have served in the global war on terror.
With our assistance, we are serving a veteran right now who
has been given a 70 percent disability by the Army and 100
percent disability with the VA. During the initial interview
that we do, we were able to discover that the veteran was not
being paid his full retirement benefits and immediately we had
to go to his advocate to let them know.
It became apparent during this visit that the veteran was
suffering from some degree of PTSD--which he was diagnosed with
PTSD and TBI--in which the veteran could not remember some of
the basic things about himself. He had lost his DD-2 form, his
retired military identification form, and he could not recall
his Army Knowledge Online password, which he needed that to
access his MyPay account. The veteran was also unable to access
other services that were available to him.
As career specialists, we were able to individually take
this veteran to the places that he needed to go. We escorted
him to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to get his DD-2 form and
his retired military ID. The career specialist also assisted
the veteran with obtaining a new password for his MyPay and
assisted with getting his pay straightened out.
The NOD career specialists program provides immediate real-
time assistance and problem resolution for veterans and their
family members. We get the name of the veteran and family
referred to us from the AW2 advocate--which North Carolina is
staffed with eight--and the career specialist. We make the
initial contact.
We work closely with the veterans. We perform an assessment
of the veteran's needs and help develop education and training
goals associated with a specific career plan. We are mobile,
often visiting the veteran at his home and traveling to various
local, State and Federal agencies to make face-to-face contact
instead of merely waiting for agencies to return phone calls.
As you may know, certain veterans' conditions such as PTSD
and/or TBI can cause severe stress, frustration, and anger. As
the career specialist, we often relieve such anxiety by
accompanying the veteran to various appointments and helping
that veteran get the information that they need from the
specific agency.
This personalized approach and commitment typifies the
nature of the NOD model. To date, approximately one-half of the
cases managed by the NOD career specialists have been placed in
education, training, or employment. NOD career specialists are
privately funded by organizations such as the Kessler
Foundation and the Cumberland Community Foundation. This
funding also allows us to provide immediate financial
assistance to veterans for textbooks, educational supplies,
utilities, moving expenditures and even transportation needs.
We also collect data on our activities and the progress of the
180 veterans that we serve. We are also assembling lessons
learned and best practices associated with our model.
The model for the NOD AW2 careers program is a proactive
approach. We provide continuous and prolonged support to the
veterans that we do assist. We develop an individualized career
plan and administer interest inventories. We assist veterans
with making realistic career choices and goals. We assist
veterans to help them stay on track with goals, and we
continually follow up and reassess. Our proactive and prolonged
relationship allows us to gain the trust of our veterans, and
we believe it accounts for the high positive results that we
have had thus far.
In closing I would like to state that we strongly believe
in our proactive and prolonged approach to serve our veterans.
Our model ensures that we provide high-touch, individualized,
personalized services to our veterans. This allows and helps
with successful outcomes.
NOD asks that the Committee support funding for the
expansion of our collaborative program. We would like to see
our collaboration effort with the Army expanded to many more
locations and to also serve other military services. NOD hopes
to continue to collaborate with the Veterans' Affairs Committee
regarding program results and broader application of the
model's best practices.
I thank you for this opportunity today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Tymes follows:]
Prepared Statement of Helen Tymes, Career Specialist, National
Organization on Disability (NOD)
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee: I am Helen Tymes, Career
Specialist with the National Organization on Disability. My partner,
Dwayne Beason, and I staff the North Carolina office of the NOD's Army
Wounded Warrior Career Demonstration Program, or AW2 Careers. I was
pleased to accept your invitation to testify before your hearing on
``Easing the Burdens Through Employment'' in relation to severely
wounded veterans returning to civilian life from the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
As one who is laboring ``on the ground'' to help veterans and their
families to adjust effectively to their often very difficult
circumstances, I am very heartened that this Committee is devoting time
and energy to examining what we and others are doing to make good
things happen on these fronts.
ABOUT NOD
NOD is a 28-year old national nonprofit organization that has long
worked to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities by
advocating their fullest inclusion in all aspects of life. We are one
of only three so-called ``cross-disability'' organizations working to
improve the quality of life for all of America's 54 million people with
disabilities.
Over our nearly 20-year history, we've worked with scores of
communities across the country to help them improve the quality of life
for their citizens with disabilities and honor those that do it well.
Our World Committee on Disabilities honors countries that do the same
with an award presented by the Secretary General of the United Nations.
We're perhaps best known for our Harris polls, which have tracked
various quality of life indicators through statistically valid sampling
of 1,000 people with disabilities. For more than 20 years, the Harris
Interactive firm's researchers have tracked everything from access to
health care, to transportation, degree of optimism about the future,
social interactions with friends and community, religious
participation, and even voting.
Needless to say, the gaps in these quality of life indicators
between people with and without disabilities remain very wide,
notwithstanding gains we've made through the ADA and other policy
reforms in the last ten to twenty years. Among these indicators, it
should be no surprise that economic self-sufficiency displays the
greatest gap. People with disabilities suffer a poverty rate that is
three times the national average and our Harris polls have reported a
67% rate of unemployment, a number that's remained virtually unchanged
since the end of WW II.
For this reason, the NOD board, led by our chairman, former
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, has decided that for the next
five years NOD will devote the bulk of our resources to promoting
economic self sufficiency among America's 33 million working-age people
with disabilities. Within this focus, we are working on helping the
most severely injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan
become productive, contributing members of their communities by
entering or resuming careers upon their transition home.
THE NOD AW2 CAREERS DEMONSTRATION
Today, I want mainly to share with you what we are learning from
the early phases of AW2 Careers. While this demonstration is focusing
on helping the most severely injured soldiers in the Army's AW2 Program
access careers upon transitioning home, the model we are piloting has
applicability to a broad range of services beyond those devoted to
increasing economic self sufficiency. It is a model that deals not only
with veterans but also with their families. We strongly believe that
the population of severely injured servicemembers, like the rest of the
country's people with disabilities, faces a very complex recovery
process that affects a family over a prolonged period and requires an
array of services and supports for it to gain a semblance of a good
quality of life.
Our AW2 Careers Demonstration is an entirely privately funded\1\
initiative conducted by NOD under a Memorandum of Understanding with
the U.S. Army and its Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2). Today, NOD
Career Specialists ensure that career services and other assistance are
provided to 188 soldiers, veterans, and their families\2\ (soon to top
200) in the Dallas Metroplex and the states of Colorado and North
Carolina. We link soldiers/veterans and family members to existing
career services in the community--or provide them directly ourselves
where such services are inadequate.
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\1\ NOD's AW2 Careers Demonstration is funded by 17 private
foundations and two corporate donors. It is a 4.5-year, $4.8 million
project.
\2\ We will henceforth mainly use ``veterans'' to represent all of
those served by AW2 and AW2 Careers--Regular Army, Reserve, or National
Guard soldiers who mainly veterans separated from active duty, though
in some cases still on active duty or still in the Reserves or National
Guard--and their family members.
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I want to proceed directly to address the Subcommittee's interest
in our on-the-ground work with returning veterans and their families.
But:
First, let me stress that to understand fully what I will
present it is important to know something about the nature of both the
Army's Wounded Warrior Program and of the NOD AW2 Careers
Demonstration. Brief descriptions of both (and of NOD) are in
Attachment 1 and I urge those not familiar with these programs to read
Attachment I before proceeding here.
Second, Attachment 2 is a one-page summary of AW2 Careers
outcomes and progress to date, drawn from our most recent evaluation
records.
Finally, Attachment 3 is perhaps the most important
document we would like to present. It describes how the service model
of AW2--the Army's own program--and of AW2 Careers differs in essential
ways from the service models of others trying to serve the most
severely wounded soldiers, veterans, and their families. We are
convinced that it is this pro-active, ``high touch'' service model that
makes the difference in progress for these severely wounded
populations--and that the comprehensive independent evaluation we have
funded will confirm that.
Here, let us stress that most veterans separated from active duty
for medical reasons are given travel to their homes and disappear from
the DOD radar screen. They are left to find their own ways to the VA,
the Labor Department, and the other Federal, state, and local
government and nonprofit agencies with benefits and services to which
they are entitled or they need. It is different for severely injured
veterans eligible for AW2. They too are separated and given travel to
``home.'' But also, AW2 puts their name and contact information on the
caseloads of one of AW2's 150 Advocates who covers that veteran's
hometown. That Advocate is charged with reaching out pro-actively to
find and engage that veteran and his/her family and sticking with him/
her to ensure that s/he gets the benefits/services to which s/he is
entitled or needs. When that veteran is ready for career activity, the
Advocate passes the veteran's name to the NOD Career Specialist for
that area, who similarly pro-actively reaches out to the veteran and
establishes the same kind of supportive relationship ``for as long as
it takes.'' Neither AW2 Advocates nor NOD Career Specialists wait for a
knock on the door or a phone call or an email from a veteran in need.
We find and engage them.
Now, let me begin by noting that many of the most severely injured
OIF/OEF veterans would have died in previous wars. Battlefield
medicine, however, has advanced to the point that their lives endure
but are frequently deeply impaired in both the physical and mental
realms. Many observers still expect many of these veterans to live out
lives in dependency, but we at AW2 and NOD strongly believe that most
of these young men and women can become ``self-sufficient, contributing
members of their communities'' (the Army's admirable vision for its AW2
soldiers/veterans) by returning to school and some form of work. We,
the Nation that placed these young men and women in harm's way, need to
see this situation as an opportunity to learn ``what works'' to do
that.
This, indeed, is the purpose animating AW2 and NOD's AW2 Careers.
It is important to note, however, that many of the challenges facing
these veterans will not be surmounted quickly or easily. The effort
must be long term in nature.
Let me begin with a summary of our statistics. We are only 11
months old, having opened our shop in late December 2008. We now have a
caseload of 67 soldiers/veterans (mainly veterans) and are heading
toward 100 in a few weeks. Of this 67, we have helped 28 to move into
education, training, or work of some kind in less than a year. That
number will, of course, increase as we move into our second and third
years.
HERE ARE TWO STORIES ABOUT VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Veteran 1: The veteran called me to state he received a
letter from the VA's Vocational Rehabilitation folks stating he was
denied benefits of VR & E. I asked the veteran if the letter stated
`why' and he replied no. The veteran was immediately informed by me
that I would follow-up on the situation and get back to him within 24-
48 hrs. I contacted the VA/Winston-Salem to find out how it is that a
Wounded Warrior with Severe PTSD and a 70% VA rated disability could be
denied Vocational Rehabilitation. The VA representative stated, ``That
should have never happened. Unfortunately, we do have Case Managers
that are handling a multitude of cases which cause many veterans to
either be denied services or completely fall through the cracks.'' I
gave the contact the veteran's information, and she researched the case
to find out if the decision of `no' was incorrect. The VA contact gave
me the new VA Case Manager's name with a consent form to allow me to
discuss the veteran's case. I arranged a teleconference with the
veteran and his case manager, and an initial face-to-face appointment
was then scheduled. I transported the veteran to Winston-Salem and
attended his initial appointment with him. The Case Manager approved
him to receive an Extended Evaluation and Plan, education funding and a
voice recorder to record the Instructor's session and help the veteran
recall what was said and took place in the classroom. Veteran will take
a placement test at Fayetteville Technical Community College and enter
the Computer Programming Curriculum in January 2010.
Veteran 2: A veteran received a disability rating by the
Army of 70% with other physical injuries sustained in the Global War on
Terrorism. The veteran received a 100% disability rating from the VA.
During the initial interview with the veteran, the CS discovered that
the veteran was not being paid his full retirement benefits and
immediately informed the Army's Advocate. It became apparent during the
visit that the veteran was suffering from some degree of PTSD. He could
not remember some basic things about himself and was unable to recall
where his military documents were located. The veteran lost his DD Form
2, Retired Military Identification card, and could not account for his
Army Knowledge On-line password to access his e-mail account. Also, the
veteran was unable to access his military MyPay account. During the
intake, the CS discovered that he was pending several charges of
violating laws and had to attend court. CS transported the veteran to
Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro to obtain a new DD Form 2, Retired
Military ID. CS also assisted veteran with obtaining a new ID and
Password to access his MyPay account to submit the process and
verification for a pay correction. We continue to work with him.
In these cases you can see the role we play in action. Let me
highlight some of the things we do as in these cases.
NOD's AW2 Careers program provides immediate, real time,
pro-active assistance and problem resolution for veterans and their
family members. We do not sit behind a desk and wait for other agencies
to assist. We are mobile and have the latitude to go to agencies and
make face-to-face contact versus waiting for an agency to hopefully
return a phone call. We assist the veteran with what needs to be asked
or ask the hard questions ourselves.
Due to the nature of our private funding, we have the
ability to make immediate financial assistance for tuition, textbooks,
educational supplies and needs, utilities, moving expenditures and
transportation needs.
NOD's AW2 Careers develops an Individualized Career Plan,
administers Interest Inventories and assists veterans with making
realistic career choices and goals. We assist veterans with staying on
track with goals and continually follow--up and re-assess. We are able
to obtain and maintain trust from the veterans we serve by establishing
an initial, trustworthy relationship and by showing that we have
genuine concern for their needs and goals.
When I talk with my colleagues at our other sites in Colorado and
Texas and with our leaders in the New York headquarters of NOD, we can
step back and stress some early lessons emerging from our work to date.
1. A Fundamental Mismatch: Seriously Injured Veterans and Reactive
Agencies: Sometimes by design and more often from funding limitations,
many of the government, and, indeed, private programs in place to help
veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are constrained to a
reactive service model, only responding when a veteran seeks services
and thus placing the burden on veterans to find and approach the
agencies. But we find that the most seriously injured veterans with
whom we work are not really able to effectively access services from
reactive agencies.
Many veterans, especially the most severely injured who often also
suffer from cognitive disabilities, do not know the benefits to which
they are entitled, which agencies offer them, and how to approach
them.\3\ Further, many are isolated, geographically, socially, and/or
psychologically. Their needs call for an entirely different service
model--in our view along the lines of what we are testing in AW2
Careers. That model is to actively reach out to the veterans and ensure
their needs are being met. The terms NOD uses to describe our service
model are ``pro-active, intensive, and prolonged, high touch case
management relationships'' with the veterans being served. It is
important to note that few, if any, other government agencies and or
private veterans' service organizations can employ the service model
adopted by AW2 and AW2 Careers.
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\3\ The Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) briefing syllabi for
soldiers departing active duty are comprehensive and thorough, but many
veterans report that they didn't get these briefings or understand them
or remember them. Some may have been diverted by their injuries--or
simply young enough to not pay attention to seemingly remote matters
until they become very proximate, back home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When a soldier is going through the Army Board process leading to
medical discharge--or shortly thereafter--that soldier, if s/he meets
AW2 admission criteria regarding severity of injury, is, in effect,
automatically enrolled as a ``member'' of AW2. When the new veteran is
medically separated and heads for home, his/her name is added to a
caseload list of an Army Advocate (and later, where applicable, an NOD
Career Specialist) serving the geographical region that soldier calls
home. That Advocate and Career Specialist are charged with reaching out
and finding that soldier/veteran; establishing a close, supportive
relationship; and ensuring s/he gets the benefits and services due her/
him.
In NOD's case, we require Career Specialists to contact ``their''
veterans at least once a month, usually electronically (but including
face-to-face meetings early on and, later, once every six months, often
by getting in their cars and going to see the veteran at home, where we
get a much fuller picture of his/her situation). We do not sit in our
offices and wait for a veteran to knock on our door.
Further, we have early indicators and even some evidence that this
service model is much better received by the veterans. Anecdotally, it
is clear that the close NOD Career Specialist outreach relationships
have lifted some veterans out of their isolation and immobility and
started them re-engaging in both their lives and careers. These
relationships have also resulted in spouses and children moving forward
on career paths. This is reflected in early survey results, including
the below veterans' ratings of satisfaction with ``how helpful'' the
services to date of various agencies have been:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Lot Some A Little Not at All
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOD Career Specialist........... 61% 30% 7% 2%
AW2 Advocate.................... 56% 29% 14% 2%
One Stop Center................. 29% 29% 29% 14%
Voc Rehab & Empt................ 28% 48% 20% 4%
ACAP............................ 16% 43% 39% 11%
Other Agencies.................. 0% 67% 33% 0%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, we acknowledge that the AW2/AW2 Careers service model is
more expensive than office-based, reactive models. To this we respond
that our final evaluation is likely to confirm our early operating
judgment that this model works more effectively, certainly for this
population of most severely wounded veterans. Moreover, a broadly based
cost-benefit analysis should weigh direct program costs against the
benefits of reduced dependency costs, increased tax revenues from
veterans' earnings, reduced costs for shelters and imprisonment, more
successful marriages and parenting, and the restoration of self-
confidence from a veteran's again being an ``self sufficient,
contributing member of his/her community,'' which is the Army's
admirable vision for this population.
2. The Need to Deal with both the Veteran and the Family: The
process of recovering from injury and coming to terms with disability
is a complex process that is all consuming not only for the veteran but
the entire family. Retired parents may have to become caregivers to a
veteran. Spouses whose job it was to take care of the children and
household find them-selves suddenly in the role of caregivers to the
veteran and/or even family breadwinners. Children may have to come to
grips with a parent they no longer recognize. Investing in support for
spouses, parents of veterans, and veterans' children who are drawn into
this process is, in our view, a necessary and cost effective investment
that the VA must consider as it administers ancillary benefits. And
these benefits must be as flexible as are many of the benefits
available through VR and E.
3. Unaddressed Mental Health Needs: More than half the AW2
population, including those in AW2 Careers, suffers from primary
diagnoses of PTSD/TBI, with many having both, often also with physical
injuries. But the behavioral/mental health concerns do not stop there.
Many veterans suffer depression or other mental health issues
(including violent or suicidal ideations) that require appropriate
mental health services (especially including marital/family
counseling). But, we find that these needs are largely unaddressed and
can impede career progress by contributing to veterans' dropping out of
education or training or losing a job. It is not a criticism of the VA
to say that despite its efforts to expand such services, it simply
isn't able to adequately service these needs. Sometimes the veteran
denies these needs; or finds the local VA has no or limited mental
health services or they are not close enough; or does not like what
they perceive as the VA's reliance on problematic medications (not
uncommon in other populations using psychotropic medications), with
only limited therapy. We feel that the VA should supplement its direct
mental health services by mobilizing and applying mental health
services from other local agencies that are anxious to be helpful to
veterans but need to be recruited, supported, and trained to do so.
4. Criminal Charges: We have encountered several situations where
some behaviors associated with PTSD/TBI have resulted in veterans
facing criminal charges (e.g., erratic driving, substance abuse,
violence, including family abuse, etc.). It is hard to help a veteran
stay on a career path when s/he is in court or jail. We have examples
of our Career Specialists intervening with police, prosecutors, or the
courts to request that notice be taken of the soldier/veteran's
disability and considered as a mitigating factor in charges or
sentence. This has sometimes resulted in remanding the soldier/veteran
to treatment rather than incarceration. There is need for all agencies
serving this population to intervene in such circumstances, bringing
these factors to the consideration of such local authorities. (Indeed,
one of our Career Specialists has led the effort in his part of his
state to create a ``Veterans Court'' to which criminal charges against
soldiers or veterans are referred for disposition taking such factors
into account.)
5. Personal/Family Financial Management: Young veterans often have
little or no experience or knowledge of properly managing family
finances, despite ACAP and other Army training thereon. Our Career
Specialists frequently find veterans in dire financial straits
requiring emergency advice, training, and assistance. There is clearly
a need for continuing personal/family financial management training and
guidance.
6. Peer Support Mechanisms: The fact that so many of our veterans/
families are isolated geographically, socially, and psychologically has
led our Career Specialists to try various peer meetings and other peer
supports, often with heartening results. Our sense is that this needs
broader application.
7. Inadequate Education and Job Skills: We have not been surprised
to find that many of our veterans lack the education credentials and
job skills needed to succeed in the labor markets of today and the
foreseeable future. Our response is to urge veterans to use the
education and training benefits available to them to upgrade their
credentials on either or both fronts. Many have responded positively.
But others working with these veterans need to adopt the same emphasis.
8. The Need for Flexible Work Support Funds: The soldiers,
veterans, and family members we serve frequently have very limited
incomes. In addition, they face the need to spend modest amounts of
money on things that can advance their career prospects--or impede them
if such expenditures are not possible. These needs include things like
tuition payments where Federal educational benefits are delayed and the
veteran cannot afford payments up front. Or, books, work clothes,
computer repairs or software, travel expenses for a job fair or
interview, license or other work related fees, and more. To meet such
needs, we provide small grants from our work support funds that can
facilitate career progress.
NEXT STEPS
As indicated above, our sense is that our model of services is
highly promising and that its early indicators confirm this. But, we
think we should take this developmental and testing phase further to
generate firmer results, outcomes, and lessons.
Our present set-up of three sites over three operating years was
devised three or so years ago, early in the then understandably chaotic
period of our Nation becoming aware of the challenge and opportunity of
responding to these severely wounded returning veterans--and of the
initially chaotic and understaffed period of establishing the AW2
program. The private sector then stepped forward, with an impressive,
welcome, but still limited support of our demonstration program.
Our sense, as experienced operators of demonstration projects, is
that the present pilot project, while important as a source of early
lessons, is still nonetheless too limited. Three sites are too few;
three years are too few. Far better in terms of both serving more
people but more important in generating more reliable data to support
lessons learned, would be more sites for more time with more staff. We
feel that expanding our present three sites to twelve and to five years
instead of three and to two Career Specialists in all of the sites
would yield important dividends in lessons learned and confirmed.
Moreover, expanding the number of sites would yield similar dividends.
Hence, we argue for up to nine additional sites, or a dozen in all.
Moreover, additional sites would allow clusters of sites to focus
on potentially important themes. For instance, we would envision a
cluster including concentrated mental health services; another
including concerted advice to employers on both ways to accommodate the
needs of disabled veterans in order to be productive and ways to
``sculpt'' or structure job requirements to the same end; yet others
emphasize peer group supports. Then, too, some or all of the additional
sites should provide career services to the severely disabled veterans
from all DOD uniformed services. To these ends, we seek Congressional
and agency support as well as the continuation of private funding.
On broader fronts, we would urge that the Committee support:
Expansion of the AW2 program and the inclusion by it of
severely wounded veterans of the other DOD uniformed services. This
model of service is not only applicable to ``Army Green'' but also to
similarly injured Marines, Sailors, and Air Force people; and these
services should ``try out'' this approach by partaking of our
demonstration project.
That the VA consider a demonstration project along the
lines of AW2 Careers. This would mean that the VA would establish a
two-tiered structure, at least for exploratory, demonstration project
purposes, with a ``high touch'' pro-active program like AW2 Careers for
those so eligible, with revamped ``regular'' services for those not so
severely disabled.
Thank you for your invitation and attention.
______
Attachments
Chairman Akaka. Thank you very much, Ms. Tymes.
It seems that one of the themes running throughout all of
your testimony this morning is mentoring, coaching and hands-on
approach to providing assistance. Let me ask each of you to
rate this aspect of any program that might be developed in
terms of its value and as a factor for success.
Ms. Tymes. I will make a statement on that.
Chairman Akaka. Ms. Tymes?
Ms. Tymes. Yes. Sir, as far as the effectiveness of our
program, it is right now 90 percent. As far as the veterans
that we serve and the opportunities that we have assisted the
veterans to get, we give individualized services to veterans.
As far as the transition from being in the military, as has
been stated earlier, into the civilian sector, many of those
skill sets, the individual, the veteran, is not aware of what
they are.
Because of our education and history and knowledge of the
military, we are able to get those skill sets out and come up
with resumes that are working resumes, not just a show resume,
but something that actually has substance to make that veteran
competitive for employment and to also help with any other type
of application process, even for education.
Our veterans today are facing a lot of mental problems:
PTSD, TBI, or the combination of both. It makes the veterans
upset. They get angry. They have a very low temper tolerance,
and because of our services, because of our personalized
services, we are able to assist the veteran with what needs to
get accomplished.
Mr. Daniel. I concur with----
Chairman Akaka. Mr. Daniel?
Mr. Daniel [continuing]. Ms. Helen.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
What I personally experienced was that I was so ashamed
when I came home, I just could not really face the reality of
wanting to talk to people about my problems. I just did not
reach out. And the shame that I felt caused me to react in a
lot of ways that I did.
Again, I always thank God for MCVETs because they reached
out in a way that no one else ever had. I was literally in
prison, and they had a representative come around. I was in the
cell and at that time I knew was facing a whole lot. And that
individual came around, and I found out first and foremost, he
was a veteran. Number 2, it was long-term--2-year availability
to be able to do it. That, to me, is personalized. And once I
got there, the counselors welcomed me with open arms.
I still had a lot on my plate at that time. I still had
obligations and commitments to the Division of Parole and
Probation who allowed me to come out. They went the extra mile
to even talk my probation agent and the judge to solidify this
one final--and that was how I felt--one final opportunity that
I would have in this life to do good. And they gave me my shot.
We just have had a wonderful partnership ever since then. That
is the effect that it has had on me.
Chairman Akaka. Mr. Lawton-Belous?
Mr. Lawton-Belous. Mr. Chairman, as a representative of
Oracle Corporation, we have found that there are many reasons
why we actually do not need to ask for money from the Federal
Government to run our Wounded Warrior program--mainly because
each wounded warrior we take in is a value-added proposition
for Oracle Corporation. They add something to it.
It is a dual mentorship. It is a two-way street on the
mentorship role. One is that those who are in the industry need
to mentor wounded warriors, soldiers, Marines, veterans coming
out of the military to explain to them the career paths. It is
a completely different world when you get into the civilian
side and understanding it will take some time. There is always
that uptick no matter what job you go to where there is a
learning curve.
But second, it behooves veterans to mentor those who are
mentoring them to show them that this is actually what I
learned in the military. This is what I am capable of doing.
What we find now is only one-half of 1 percent of the
population is actually serving in the wars that we are fighting
today, which means that over time--it has already occurred
where those who are hiring do not necessarily understand the
value-added proposition that servicemembers can bring to an
organization.
That, I believe is the greatest effect of a mentorship
program. That way, programs that we have today to help veterans
transition out of the military will be more successful when the
vast majority of senior to executive level managers are no
longer military veterans.
Chairman Akaka. Captain?
Captain Wikul. Chairman Akaka, when America Works is racked
and stacked against other companies that do similar-type work
in the New York area, we consistently rank number 1 in getting
people jobs. People come in the door. We give them mentoring.
We give them mentoring. We give them interview skills so that
we get them an interview, they give the right answers to the
right questions so they can get the jobs.
We do not get them the jobs. We get them the interview.
They have to get the job, and we coach them in that process. If
you are a veteran and you need a suit, we get you a suit. There
is a program to get him in a suit.
I have to tell you, just recently within the last 2 weeks,
I went to two homeless veteran shelters in New York City to
give a motivational speech. Some of these guys are really
whipped down and they are broken. And I start talking to them
and I try to motivate them. I tell them, ``Look, when we are
able to help you get a job, you will get back your self respect
and dignity. And it will put you on the road to getting an even
better job.''
So, we go right into the shelters. We talk to them. We give
them a speech. And around town, we have a card that says, ``Do
you need a job? America Works, if you are a New York City
resident having difficulty finding employment, call this number
and go here. No fee.''
We are right in the trenches. We get these people. We bring
them in the door. When I first hooked up with this company,
what I really found amazing is, you walk in the door at the
beginning of the day and it is loaded with people. You have to
fight your way in to get to the offices. We went on some sales
calls, and I came back about 5 hours later and I said, ``Where
are all the people?'' And they said out on interviews getting
jobs.
So, this is what this company does. Against similar
companies, we are ranked number 1. We get people jobs. We are
right on the streets. We are in the trenches. We go to the
homeless veterans shelters. We talk to the people. We mentor
them. We bring them out of their shell. We give them the
interview skills and a suit necessary to interview, and we push
them out there and we help them restore their dignity and self
respect so they can become whole people and good American
citizens.
Chairman Akaka. Mr. Ziob?
Mr. Ziob. In respect to your question, Chairman Akaka, I
believe mentorship and internships are very important.
Occupational success is typically the combination of your
subject matter expertise. You have to be a good nurse, system
administrator, electrician, but also know how to navigate the
world of work, the changing world of work. It is your aptitude.
It is what you know about your job.
The mentorship and the people that are in the trenches can
provide that guidance. The difficulty there is they have a day
job as well. So we need to free up their time and find the
opportunity to connect them, mentor and mentee, in an effective
way.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you.
Senator Murray.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to all of our witnesses for your excellent
testimony and all the work you are doing out in the real world
to help put our veterans to work and bring back the respect and
dignity as you have all described.
Mr. Ziob, I am interested in getting your thoughts on a new
program that I am working on that would address some of the
challenges that you mentioned in your written testimony about
veterans as they face transition into civilian employment. I am
working on a proposal for a demonstration project between the
Departments of Labor, Defense and Veterans Affairs called the
Military Pathways Demonstration Program that will really test
projects that look at the feasibility of methods to assist
veterans with military IT skills while they are entering the
civilian IT workforce, because what we have found is our
military are highly IT oriented. There are a lot of technical
that they do in the field, but coming home, transitioning that
into skills that they can use in the civilian workforce is
extremely challenging.
I wanted to ask you, in your experience as an IT employment
specialist, can you expand on some of the challenges that you
see servicemembers facing as they transition with these IT
skills?
Mr. Ziob. I think the opportunities are indeed plentiful. I
mentioned briefly, but I would like to amplify it again. When
you think about the role of IT in today's employment, many of
us jump immediately to the typical IT job, a database
administrator, system administrator, or other typical IT jobs.
And I will come back to them in a second.
It is equally important to understand, and, Senator Murray,
you alluded to this, literally all jobs as we know them today
and definitely tomorrow will have some element of IT technology
and skills as well. So, we are talking about two opportunities:
one to bring people into quickly growing IT jobs; but also to
make sure that the jobs that they are getting are matching the
skill set which today will embrace IT technology as well.
Further to your question is the opportunity that arises if
they already come with an aptitude or first iteration of
understanding of what technology does to make their military
job successful, we already made a big step forward. We do not
have to teach them that anymore.
Senator Murray. Right.
Mr. Ziob. We typically have to bring them up to speed on
how technology moved forward or they might have a more narrow
usage of what they do. And that is today relatively easy to be
done. We have a vast opportunity of online and instructor
training. We typically have the curricula. We have plentiful
credentials out there that can be industry-specific like Oracle
or Microsoft. They can be vendor independent like from an
association like Com Tier. So, the tools that we want and need
are probably already at our disposal.
Coming then, all the way back, to what is the last step
that is needed? We actually come back again to understand what
success, even in an IT-rich job, means, and that has to do with
aptitudes and the way you approach your job. If we can combine
those two things, I believe we can indeed build very, very
effective pathways.
Senator Murray. Well, thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, I do have several other questions. I have to
get to another meeting. I will submit them for the record. And,
again, I want to thank everybody and, Mr. Chairman, especially
you for doing this hearing on a very, very important topic.
Thank you.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you.
Senator Begich?
Senator Begich. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Again, I want to echo the comments from the other Members,
that we appreciate you all being here and thank you for your
testimony; and thank you for showing or describing some of the
projects that are working out there and some of the work you
all are doing. So, thank you for that.
I want to, if I can, just ask some specific questions to a
couple of individuals. One, I want to follow up on America
Works just so I understand it.
Is it only in New York at this point?
Captain Wikul. Oh, no, sir. As I mentioned, it is in other
States. We are in North Carolina. We are in New Jersey. We have
got offices throughout New York, and they are going to grow to
some other areas.
Senator Begich. And America Works, on the veterans side of
it, where do you see--and you made a great argument, put a
million on the table and I can put 200 to work, which I think
is great.
Can you tell me what are the biggest challenges you have in
expanding the program?
Captain Wikul. Well, the biggest challenge is actually
funding because you need funding to go to a State or a city to
actually build a program there to open up an office. So, it is
resources.
Senator Begich. OK. And when you say that you are
performance-based, which I think is very intriguing, when you
place them into a position in a job, what is your follow-up, or
what do you do after the fact? What is the next stage after
they are placed?
Captain Wikul. What happens is we do not get paid until
they are in their job for 3 months, at least 3 months. So, the
counselor or the salesperson has to constantly interact with
that person in that 3-month period. Then there is some follow-
on programs, too. They can come back in. What is really
gratifying is to see people--when I was there last week, people
coming back in that maybe we have gotten them a job and then
they have moved on to another job by themselves. And they come
back in after a year and say thank you for getting me back to
work.
What happens is--let me give you a quick case in point. I
was at one homeless veterans shelter where there was a young
man. He served 5 or 6 years in the military, and he was an
enlisted man. He became an officer. He got wounded in Iraq, and
he had gotten out of the military. He had a high clearance. He
was working in the State Department on a contract. He lost his
contract, so he thought he would go to New York and check out
the opportunities up there.
Well, he could not find a job, and he had IT skills. He had
combat skills. He was articulate. He could write well. I mean,
he is anybody's dream for employment, and he just could not
find a job. He was kind of immobilized and ground down, and
here he was in a homeless shelter.
So, after I gave my motivational speech, this guy stuck out
like a sore thumb. I said, ``Tell me your story.'' And he told
me, ``I got an SCI clearance'' and all this stuff. So I say,
``We are going to get you a job. Here is our card. You come on
in the office. We will get you an interview on a job, and once
you are working again, you will see other opportunities.'' And
so there is follow-on in the company.
Senator Begich. And in that 3-month period, so if they have
difficulty on the job, you have some opportunity to keep them
kind of focused, and if there are situations that occur in that
first 3 months, especially, to ensure that they are
reintegrating back into the workforce?
Captain Wikul. Absolutely. And that is all part of it
because the beauty of that performance-based system, if they do
not stay for 3 months, nobody gets paid.
Senator Begich. Right.
Captain Wikul.So there is an incentive to make sure that
our people stay employed. But beyond that, when you walk into
the place, what really amazed me--and the reason--I could have
done any job that I wanted to do with my skill set, and I chose
them not only because they were performance-based--and they
have the metrics because 175,000, for the size of their staff,
175,000 jobs in 25 years is a lot.
But they are a loving company. You walk in the place, and
they really exude love. They exude caring. People come in, and
the beauty of it is, we assess your potential. We assess all
the skills you have, and then the salesperson knows where all
the jobs are. So what they do is they take the skills you
already possess, match them with an employer who needs those
skills, and gets them to work. And that is why we say it is
work first. And you can do training and everything later on.
Get them into work so they can start getting their dignity and
their self-respect back. And when they get that, they are on
the road to being whole again.
Senator Begich. Very good.
Captain Wikul. And I think that model works very well, sir.
Senator Begich. Very good.
One quick question. Ms. Tymes, if I could ask you, you had
mentioned you have about a 90 percent--I do not know if you
used the word ``satisfaction rate'' or ``effective rate'' I
think was the----
Ms. Tymes. That is correct.
Senator Begich. How do you measure that effective rate? Is
that customer repeat or what is the----
Ms. Tymes. We actually have a research team that evaluates
our cases. We have a database which is called Client Track, and
all of the information that we get during an intake, during
complete follow-up, and during reassessment, we enter in there.
Our research team actually keeps that data, and we do a data
dump monthly, which goes to all of our funders and to everyone
in the AW2 headquarters so that they can see that we are making
progress.
Senator Begich. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, just a quick comment.
Dexter, thank you for your story. You were very good in
listing out all the components that made a difference in the
sense of your success. So, I just want to thank you personally
and also thank you for those very specific points that you
made. I appreciate that.
Mr. Daniel. Thank you.
Senator Begich. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I have
no other questions, but I think this is a very timely hearing
as we are moving forward in regards to dealing with the
employment, the increasing unemployment of veterans. It is a
higher percentage than the national average. So, I want to
thank you for holding this hearing and bringing attention to
the need of veterans. Thank you.
Chairman Akaka. Thank you, Senator Begich.
Mr. Daniel, I want to thank you very much for sharing your
story with us.
Can you recall what type of employment assistance you
received, if any, when you were separating from the service?
Mr. Daniel. Mr. Chairman, when I did separate immediately,
the only avenue that really was open to me at that time that I
knew of was to go to the unemployment building. I connected
with them right away. I did not connect with a VA counselor at
that time. And based on the skill set that I had, that
particular counselor thought that I would be best suited
perhaps in the financial field since that is what I was trained
for. And so I did. I applied, and the assistance that they gave
me landed me the first job that I got when I came out of the
military.
But, again, my problem, primarily, I could get a job, but I
had some underlying issues that I just did not address.
Eventually, the focus of being able, as we call it in recovery,
to be a functional addict was not good enough. And I was not
able to give a hundred percent.
Chairman Akaka. Yes. I am looking at a point of time just
prior to discharge as to how you prepared to move into civilian
life and what happens after that discharge. It was mentioned
also that there is a compensation that veterans receive, and
many of them take it up and as a result, they delay looking for
a job. So, these need to be considered as we try to devise
methods of getting veterans to work as soon as they are out of
service.
Mr. Daniel. Yes, sir.
Chairman Akaka. And there is a period in there that we need
to look at as to what happens to veterans.
Mr. Daniel. Exactly.
Chairman Akaka. And there is a period when they are
roaming, let's say, trying to find something, whatever it is
they are looking for. This is a focus that we need to look at.
I want to thank all of you for your responses and, of
course, your testimony, which will be helpful to u. We need to
work together in continuing to find the best ways and methods
of trying to help our veterans as soon as they are discharged.
We are certainly grateful to the Secretary for his efforts
and for his team as well and for many of the organizations that
some of you belong to now, who are on our second panel, who are
working successfully in this area. We would like to see what we
can do to even expand that to help the veterans.
So, today's hearing excites me as to what we can begin to
look at and do to help our veterans. And, of course, on our
side, we are looking at this legislatively as to what we can do
legislatively to help you with whatever your programs are and
also the Department of Labor and their programs.
So, in closing, I, again, thank all of our witnesses for
appearing today. We know that there is much to be done in this
area. And all of our Nation's veterans who have served
honorably deserve to have adequate and accessible resources
available to assist them. I am pleased to hear that the
President as well as a number of important executive branch
agencies and their leadership, some of which Secretary
Jefferson mentioned in his testimony, are as committed as I am
to ensuring that this is the standard from here on. I
appreciate hearing the personal stories of our veterans, and I
thank you all for your suggestions on improvements for the
future.
As Chairman, I will also continue to hold the Department of
Labor and VA, as well as other agencies, accountable for
achieving the results and goals they have set forth.
Again, thank you very much for being here today and for
helping us in this respect. This hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:41 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Prepared Statement of Hon. Roland W. Burris, U.S. Senator from Illinois
Thank you Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin by extending a ``Warm
Welcome'' to our distinguished guests, as well as fellow colleagues
from the Committee. Moreover, I would like to say that it is especially
nice too see Secretary Jefferson again.
Mr. Chairman, not withstanding Veterans medical care, one of my
most important priorities is Veterans employment as well as the
subsequent transitional programs which help to mitigate their burdens
and reduce homelessness within this community of our Nation's hero's.
With this in mind, I would like to share a few appalling facts with
the Committee. Currently in Chicago, approximately 1000 Veterans are
homeless on any given night. Moreover, it is estimated that more than
131,000 Veterans are homeless on every night in the U.S. and nearly
twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the year.
This is of course directly linked to the employment challenges that
many Veterans' face and I find this Simply Unacceptable!
A 2005 VA report found about 20,000 permanent housing beds and
10,000 transitional beds are needed to help homeless veterans.
Recommendations endorsed by the Chicago and national homeless
coalitions include funding 20,000 Section 8 vouchers for the HUD-
Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program.
Among programs that work to serve an estimated 18,000 Chicago-land
veterans is St. Leo's Residence for Veterans. It opened its doors in
2007, and is now home to 141 residents who have access to the adjacent
health and employment center.
St. Leo Transitional program is a proven concept model that helps
reestablish Veterans back into society by providing them the tools they
need to become an active and productive member of the work force and
local community.
This past November 3rd, Secretary Shinseki unveiled a plan to end
veterans' homelessness in five years, saying that ``the VA will spend
$3.2 billion next year to reduce homelessness among veterans''.
I agree with Secretary Shinseki's initiative and applaud his
efforts to focus the VA's efforts on getting homeless veterans off the
streets; however I want to prevent them from ever becoming homeless in
the first place through employment initiative programs as well as
transitional assistance programs, such as the example shown at St.
Leo's.