[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
REVIEWING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE VOW TO
HIRE HEROES ACT OF 2011
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 31, 2012
__________
Serial No. 112-64
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman
CLIFF STEARNS, Florida BOB FILNER, California, Ranking
DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado CORRINE BROWN, Florida
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida SILVESTRE REYES, Texas
DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine
MARLIN A. STUTZMAN, Indiana LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
BILL FLORES, Texas BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio JERRY McNERNEY, California
JEFF DENHAM, California JOE DONNELLY, Indiana
JON RUNYAN, New Jersey TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota
DAN BENISHEK, Michigan JOHN BARROW, Georgia
ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada
ROBERT L. TURNER, New York
Helen W. Tolar, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public
hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also
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C O N T E N T S
__________
May 31, 2012
Page
Reviewing the Implementation of Major Provisions of the VOW to
Hire Heroes Act of 2011........................................ 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Chairman Jeff Miller............................................. 1
Prepared statement of Chairman Miller........................ 31
Hon. Corrine Brown, Democratic Member............................ 3
Prepared statement of Ms. Brown.............................. 32
WITNESSES
The Honorable Allison Hickey, Under Secretary for Benefits, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs................................. 4
Prepared statement of Ms. Hickey............................. 33
Accompanied by:
Mr. Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic
Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs............................................ 4
Mr. Ismael Ortiz, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary, Veterans'
Employment and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor...... 6
Prepared statement of Mr. Ortiz, Jr.......................... 36
Accompanied by:
Ms. Kathy Tran, Director, Division of Policy, Legislation, and
Regulation, Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S.
Department of Labor............................................ 4
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Mark Andrekovich, Chief of Human Capital & President, Tax Credit
and Employer Services.......................................... 41
REVIEWING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE VOW TO
HIRE HEROES ACT OF 2011
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:23 a.m., in
Room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Miller
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Miller, Stearns, Lamborn,
Bilirakis, Stutzman, Runyan, Benishek, Brown, Michaud,
McNerney, Walz, and Barrow.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JEFF MILLER
The Chairman. Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much
for being with us this morning.
We just spent last weekend and in particular Monday
honoring our Nation's defenders that are no longer with us. Now
it is time for us to renew our focus on those who still need
our help in securing a good job.
And I welcome this morning Under Secretary Hickey and
Deputy Assistant Secretary Ortiz to the Committee. I am eager
to hear how the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of Labor are progressing in meeting the goals of the
VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
The VOW Act is a bipartisan and bicameral effort to reduce
unemployment among veterans. And while every provision in the
law is important, I believe that the centerpiece of the act is
what is being called the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program
or VRAP.
Of the approximately $1.7 billion cost for the bill, which
was paid for, $1.6 billion was spent to pay for a year of GI
Bill benefits for nearly 100,000 unemployed veterans between
the ages of 35 and 60. The balance funded Chairman Murray's
vocational rehabilitation provision and the tax credit
suggested by President Obama.
The VOW Act is an excellent example of what we can do when
we all work together. And I thank the Members of both sides of
the aisle for their support and continuing interest in the
success of this particular piece of legislation.
Today we are going to hear from senior oficials tasked with
implementing all the provisions of the law. I have asked them
to concentrate primarily on VRAP and I am looking forward to
hearing how they are setting the stage for a successful launch
on 1 July.
While I am impressed by the level of effort being made by
program level staff at both departments, I am concerned that
not enough is being done by either cabinet secretaries or our
President to promote this benefit.
Getting the message out about this opportunity is
critically important to putting unemployed veterans on a path
to a job in a high-demand field. Clearly, aggressive promotion
of the program by the nearly 3,000 one-stop employment centers
are the key to filling the 99,000 training slots that have been
authorized by the VOW Act.
I want to give you just one example of why I am concerned
that despite VA's significant outreach efforts for which I
commend them, problems are still arising.
Staff was contacted by a community-based organization in
Georgia about what appears to be a lack of effort to get the
program started. Shortly after passage of the VOW Act, the
organization contacted the Augusta one-stop employment center
to ask about how to enroll unemployed vets in the program.
They asked again in mid March and the DVOPs and the LVERs
were still not aware of the program. Two weeks later, Augusta
told them the Georgia Department of Labor was not aware of
VRAP.
In early April, both the Georgia and South Carolina
Departments of Labor stated they were waiting for policy from
D.C. In late April, there still appeared to be little
understanding of how the program would work.
It appears that finally on the 11th of May, a mass email
from VA was released detailing how the program would be
implemented only four days later on May 15th.
Obviously if that is typical of the level of awareness at
the one-stop centers, I think we all agree we have big problems
with the potential launch coming up shortly.
Secretary Ortiz, unless your Federal staff here in D.C. and
in the states are contacting the DVOP and the LVERs and the
one-stop center, there is no way that you are going to be able
to know whether the word is getting out and how the one-stop
centers intend to fill the training slots.
I truly hope that this is an isolated case, but I am not
convinced that it is.
Having said that, I am pleased to see that 11,600
applications have been received so far, meaning that we are
well on our way to filling all of the 45,000 slots paid for in
the VOW Act for the remainder of this fiscal year.
I also encourage each of the Members to take a strong
effort in their districts to get the word out about VRAP so
that we see the unemployment rate among our veterans in their
prime earning years will continue to decrease.
I want to share a story about one of my constituents, Mr.
Todd C. Buchanan. He is a 35-year-old veteran of the United
States Navy. He learned about the VRAP Program through an
advertisement that the one-stop ran in their local newspaper.
He was excited to learn of this second chance for veterans as
his GI Bill benefits had already expired.
In response to the newspaper ad, Mr. Buchanan scheduled an
appointment to review his options with an LVER. They cross-
walked the VRAP high-demand occupations with the Okaloosa and
Walden County boasted the fastest growing occupation list that
they had and considered the veteran's aptitude and his
interests.
His application was submitted online and he will register
at the Choice Technical Training Center for a welding
certificate upon VA determining that he is eligible.
And I submit to our committee this morning that Mr.
Buchanan is the type of veteran that we are trying to reach out
to. Hopefully he will be determined eligible and put on the
path to a new career.
This bill passed with broad bipartisan and bicameral
support. And we owe it to our veterans as well as our taxpayers
to ensure that it is implemented properly.
Ms. Brown, I apologize for beginning the hearing late this
morning. I would yield to you for any opening remarks that you
have.
[The prepared statement of Jeff Miller appears on p. 30.]
OPENING STATEMENT OF MS. CORRINE BROWN, DEMOCRATIC MEMBER
Ms. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank you
for holding this hearing today on the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program.
I welcome this opportunity to hear what preparations have
been done so far by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of Labor to implement the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program.
I hope that both agencies are working together because the
starting date is July 1, 2012. It is right around the corner.
We need to be proactive in marketing this program and
identifying pitfalls that could derail this program.
The retraining program is limited to 45,000 participants
from July 1, 2012 through September the 30th, 2012 and 54,000
participants from October 1, 2012 through March 31st, 2014.
Since money for retraining programs is very difficult to
find these days, I hope that both agencies understand how
important it is that we place a veteran in every single slot.
This program will run for a short period and we need to
make sure that we get most out of the limited time we have now.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report that in 2011, about
5.9 million veterans have served on active duty from the Gulf
War One to the Korean War. Therefore, I expect Labor and VA to
find more than enough veterans to fill all of the slots that
will be available. It would be tragic if we do not help
veterans take advantage of these opportunities.
I know that employment from VA and Labor is here today and
briefed staff. I appreciate them being here again to answer
more questions.
Since the retraining program started accepting
applications, I would like to know if there are any problems.
The key thing I am looking for for today from both agencies is
honesty on where the program stands today and assurances that
all problems are being resolved.
Do not wait until the last minute to tell us that there are
problems that would derail this program. We need to know in a
timely fashion if there are any problems with the program roll-
out and if there is anything we can do to help.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the overall
unemployment rate for veterans is 8.3 percent for 2011. The 12
months that veterans are now eligible should be a springboard
to better employment in a very difficult job market.
The Department of Labor has listed 210 high-demand
occupations for veteran retraining assistance programs. I would
like to ask that the Department of Labor keep an open mind if
opportunities arise to increase the number of high-demand
occupations. In this very poor economy, we should allow
veterans to pursue all worthwhile occupations that lead to
gainful employment.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I am looking forward to
today's hearing from the witnesses.
[The prepared statement of Corrine Brown appears on p. 31.]
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Ms. Brown, and I
appreciate your steadfast support of the veteran community,
your help as we work across the aisle to move this legislation
as all the Members of this committee have worked together to
make sure that this legislation made it into law and now it is
our job to make sure that it is implemented in the fashion that
we intended it to be.
I would ask, as customary, that all Members would waive
their opening statements. They will be without objection
entered into the record at the appropriate place. Without
objection, so ordered.
And our first and only panel this morning is already seated
at the table. We have the Honorable Allison Hickey who is the
Under Secretary for Benefits at VA. And she is accompanied by
Mr. Curtis Coy, the Deputy Under Secretary for Economic
Opportunity at VA.
Next we have Mr. Ismael Ortiz, better known as Junior
Ortiz, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans'
Employment and Training at the Department of Labor. He is
accompanied by Ms. Kathy Tran who is the Director of the
Division of Policy, Legislation and Regulation of the
Unemployment and Training Administration at the Department of
Labor.
As always, again, your complete statement will be entered
into the record. And I would like to start this morning with
Under Secretary Hickey.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENTS OF THE HONORABLE ALLISON HICKEY, UNDER SECRETARY FOR
BENEFITS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, ACCOMPANIED BY
CURTIS L. COY, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY,
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS; ISMAEL ORTIZ, JR., ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY,
VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR, ACCOMPANIED BY KATHY TRAN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF POLICY,
LEGISLATION AND REGULATION, EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
ADMINISTRATION (ETA) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
STATEMENT OF ALLISON HICKEY
Ms. Hickey. Thank you, Chairman Miller.
Good morning, Chairman Miller, Congresswoman Brown, Members
of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before
this committee to discuss the actions taken by the Department
of Veterans Affairs in collaboration with the Department of
Labor to implement the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program
or VRAP of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
Let me begin by first thanking Members of this Committee
for your continued support to provide training and education
programs to help our Nation's veterans gain meaningful
employment.
I appreciate the opportunity to briefly discuss the steps
we have taken to implement VRAP, the outreach activities
accomplished to date, and updates related to VA's VR&E Program
in this act.
Under implementation, since November 21st, 2011 when
Congress enacted and President Obama signed the VOW to Hire
Heroes Act of 2011, VA and DoL have been actively engaged in
implementation actions.
Implementation of the VRAP Program first required
development of the application process. VA and the Department
of Labor worked collaboratively to develop this process and are
executing today under this plan.
In collaboration with DoL, VA developed an on-line Web site
specifically focused on VRAP. This site can be accessed through
numerous connections including the ebenefits, vetsuccess.gov,
VA for Vets, the GI Bill Web site, and DoL's my next move Web
site, veteran service organization Web sites, and industry
partner Web sites.
Yesterday VA delivered VRAP tool kits to the leadership of
this committee and the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee as
well as all 535 Members of Congress. We respectfully request as
appropriate congressional support to post this information
including the Web site address on your Web sites as well.
In April, VA not only stood up the VRAP Web site but also
trained education claims personnel to process VRAP applications
in anticipation of the enrollment. We began accepting VRAP
applications on May 15th, 2012, 17 days earlier than our
original deadline of tomorrow.
As of this morning, VA received 12,200 applications. We
began processing these claims on May 21st. In less than seven
working days, we have processed over 1,400 of these VRAP claims
from start to end.
To ensure this program's success, VA and DoL continue to
collaborate and participate in biweekly meetings and leverage a
common share point site with daily data sharing.
VA staff meet daily to ensure we stay on track for the July
1st, 2012 implementation date.
From an outreach perspective, with the support of DoL, VA
developed a comprehensive outreach program to successfully
launch and implement VRAP. The central component of this is the
VOW Web site. To date, the Web site has received nearly 50,000
visitors.
Because a centralized system to identify eligible veterans
does not exist today, VA and DoL are working with our numerous
stakeholders to reach eligible veterans.
For example, VA contacted individuals and groups with the
potential to reach over four million veterans including
vetsuccess.gov users, VA for Vet users, over 200 government and
nonprofit organizations including our Nation's VSOs, 75
newspapers in communities with high veteran populations,
unemployed populations.
All our military time newspapers have carried it for free,
numerous industry partners. VA has contacted several national
sports teams in areas of high veteran unemployment to ask for
their assistance.
Yesterday the Florida Marlins agreed to post a PSA on their
Jumbotron during their Monday night home games and we are
working with others.
We also contacted local government officials in the hundred
counties with the highest veterans' unemployment including all
of state directors for veterans' affairs, county service
officers, and DoL one-stop shops.
The assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs sent
information to this Nation's 1.5 million members of the
national guard and reserve. We are also leveraging social media
to reach the target population.
We know from recent surveys of all veterans that 73 percent
want to meet us online. Therefore, VA has posted messages on
VA's Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and many linked in pages
of groups.
Additionally, on May 15th, the White House joining forces
team sent out a blog notice that reached almost 1.4 million
individuals.
We also continue to participate in local job fairs at the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and are getting that word out face to
face with our veterans looking for jobs. We will do the same
thing in the big Detroit hiring event here at the end of June.
VA has either implemented or is on target to timely
implement all of the VRE provisions of the VOW to Hire Heroes
Act including the provision which qualifies certain veterans
for an additional 12 months of vocational rehabilitation
services. We began accepting those referrals in early February
and have already made some applications effective tomorrow.
In closing, the benefits we provide under the VOW to Heroes
Act are yet another way we are all taking care of our veterans
and their families and survivors.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks and I am looking
forward to answering any of the questions you and the Members
of this committee have.
[The prepared statement of Allison Hickey appears on p.
32.]
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Ms. Hickey.
Mr. Ortiz, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ISMAEL ORTIZ
Mr. Ortiz. Good morning, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member
Brown, and distinguished Members of the Committee.
Thank you for the invitation to participate in today's
hearing of Reviewing the Implementation of Major Provisions of
the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
As you know, my name is Junior Ortiz and I am the Veterans'
Employment and Training Service, Department of Labor. I am
accompanied today by Ms. Kathy Tran from the Employment and
Training Administration.
At DoL, our mission is to provide veterans, transitioning
servicemembers, and their families with the critical resources
to assist and prepare them to obtain meaningful careers,
maximize their employment opportunities, and protect their
employment rights.
As a marine corps veteran, I understand the importance of
the service we provide. I have three sons on active duty and
one that just left service. Between them, they have ten tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan. So I understand the sacrifice made by
the servicemembers and their families as well as the challenges
they face when they return home.
Secretary Solis and I believe that we have an obligation to
serve these men and women as well as they have served us. That
is why DoL is fully committed to serving transitioning
servicemembers, veterans, and their families with our current
programs as well as the initiatives provided by the VOW Act.
During the last program year alone, DoL served 1.7 million
veterans in various employment and training programs. The VOW
Act has enhanced many of these programs and as discussed in my
written testimony, DoL has been working hard to implement these
provisions.
Section 211 of the VOW Act established the Veterans
Retraining Assistance Program. VRAP entitles eligible veterans
to retraining assistance for up to 12 months when they pursue a
qualified training program. I am pleased to report that we are
moving forward to fully implement VRAP.
Early on, DoL established the necessary memorandum of
agreements with the VA to execute this program and identified
over 200 high-demand occupations in which veterans can be
trained.
Additionally, DoL has enhanced my next move for veterans
Web site to display information on VRAP.
After working closely with the VA to create an on-line
application process, we began accepting applications on May
15th of this year.
DoL and VA have been engaged in intensive outreach efforts
to inform eligible veterans, the public workforce system, VSOs,
and other stakeholders about VRAP.
As part of the outreach efforts, DoL has issued guidance to
state workforce assistance employees, creating and disseminated
fact sheets, press releases, blog entries, email alerts and
flyers to encourage others to spread the word.
We also hosted a webinar with the VA to inform and train
the public workforce system on the VRAP Program. We will
continue to work diligently to reach out to the stakeholders to
ensure eligible veterans have the opportunity to take advantage
of this important program.
In addition to VRAP, DoL is working to administer other VOW
Act provisions such as Section 233 which allows individuals
with service-connected disabilities who have exhausted UI
benefits to seek additional assistance beginning tomorrow, June
1st.
While the VA is primarily responsible for administering
this program, DoL has a key role in helping the VA to develop
the eligibility determination process.
DoL is working with other agencies to implement provisions
of Sections 221 which requires mandatory participation of the
transitioning servicemembers in DoL employment workshop.
We are also in the process of changing over all the
contract facilitator staff for the workshop as required by
Section 223. Until the process is complete, DVOP and LVERs will
be trained to deliver the new curriculum.
As I testified before the Subcommittee last year, we are
online and on track to meet the VOW Act's deadline of November
21st, 2013.
Moreover, DoL is working to implement many other VOW Act
provisions to include new performance measures in the annual
report, conducting demonstration projects and study on
credentialing, clarifying priority of service requirements, and
extending important tax credits proposed by the President.
Finally, DoL has repurposed approximately $5.4 million of
our 2011 project year budget in order to implement the
provisions of the VOW Act.
Distinguished Members of this committee, it is our
responsibility to take care of our veterans and their families.
That is why the Department of Labor in collaboration with its
sister agencies is committed to ensuring that successful
implementation of the VOW Act happens.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today. I
look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ismael Ortiz, Jr. appears on p.
35.]
The Chairman. I was just asking staff a question. You
talked about repurposing five plus million dollars to assist.
Was it not funded properly in the legislation? Where is the
money that the legislation appropriated? I am just trying to
figure out why would you need to re-purpose additional money.
Ms. Tran. There were several provisions that did not have--
that appropriated funds were not included in. So, for example,
the Section 222 on the study of equivalencies is one of
example.
And so the re-purposed funds are from a demo project, a
demonstration project, and so we were able to re-purpose that
and dedicate that to various aspects of implementing VOW
including providing grants to states to update their
performance reporting systems, to capture the priority of
service data elements, as well as data elements related to the
WOTC provision.
It also includes the study for the equivalencies between
military and civilian occupations and a couple of other related
activities.
The Chairman. I mean, we paid for all of that. It was paid
for, but your staff behind you is shaking their head. And I
appreciate you being there.
What states got the $5.4 million if that is what you did?
You said you sent money out to the states to help them restudy
or what was done with it again?
Ms. Tran. Oh, sure. There were several activities that are
included under the $5.4 million. One of them is to send grants
to our states to update their performance----
The Chairman. And those states were?
Ms. Tran. It would be all 50 states plus the territories
that received WIA and Wagner-Peyser formula funds.
The Chairman. So $5 million over 50 states?
Ms. Tran. No. So the $5.4 million covers that piece. It
covers the study on military equivalencies. It covers updating
our own Federal reporting systems to account for the new
reporting, the service reporting and some of the WOTC
provisions.
It will also cover technical assistance to the workforce
system on the new performance reporting requirements. I think I
mentioned the study on equivalencies. And there may be others
that I would have to get you the details on.
The Chairman. Secretary Ortiz, how many one-stop centers
have you surveyed or the department surveyed now to find out
their level of awareness of VRAP and when and how did you
contact these centers?
Mr. Ortiz. Sir, on a daily basis, we contact different
centers and make sure that the information is actually going
down there, what ETA does as far as the Employment and Training
Administration.
Now, the specific items that you spoke about with the
Augusta one, sir, the guidance that we put out was on the
specific issue as far as a program letter went out on May 7th.
The issue training and notice that we had went out on May 8th.
On May 9th, the webinar went to all the workforce systems. And
on May 16th, a joint press release was issued by Secretary
Shinseki and by Secretary Solis.
So when you were discussing specifics on the Augusta one,
sir, the one that you mentioned that had not gotten the stuff
in April, that is probably a true statement. And the reason why
is because it did not come out until almost mid May.
However, I can tell you that both the Augusta one and the
South Carolina ones are both fully aware of what the VRAP
Program is about. And what we are doing is initiating
communications across the board to make sure that all the one-
stops, all 2,800 of our one-stops throughout the Nation are
aware of what the VRAP is and how it affects our veterans.
The Chairman. Let me aslo take a moment and compliment you
on the webinar. I understand that it was done very well and
hopefully it will have been well received by all of those who
partook.
How are the slots divided up? Is it first come, first
serve? How does that work?
Ms. Hickey. Chairman Miller, the slots are basically first
come, first serve, but they are aligned against a set of
criteria, a select set of criteria that were provided in the
law. And so we worked through those.
There is a break between the first wave and the second
wave, though there is no break for us between our process
during that period of time. We would just simply add the 45,000
and one veteran who applies for the benefits in this first
wave, we will have to have a conversation with them that tells
them they will not be able to start their training until 1
October when the second wave starts.
The Chairman. What happens if a veteran enters the program
and then drops out? Is that counted a used slot or if there is
still funding left, can that be reallocated to another veteran?
Ms. Hickey. Chairman Miller, we have been instructed that
it works similarly to the other Montgomery GI Bill and other GI
bills and when the veteran drops, then that authority drops in
the 99,000 that are available.
The Chairman. Drops in or----
Ms. Hickey. I apologize, Chairman. Let me be a little more
clear about that. If the veteran applies and then does not
fulfill the whole year's worth of training and let's say they
stop midpoint, then that is one of the 99,000 and we cannot
recycle the rest of that benefit on to a different veteran.
The Chairman. Is that right?
Ms. Hickey. Sir, I think that is the provision of the law
that has been laid out for us and so that is the way we are
working it.
The Chairman. That provision needs to be corrected, doesn't
it? Would you recommend that that slot be reallocated?
Ms. Hickey. Chairman Miller, from my perspective, from the
advocacy that we have in VA for all veterans, we would
certainly like to see every dollar that you all have put
towards this be used to train veterans. So if you are inclined
to do something diferent in the legislation, we would be happy
to consider that.
The Chairman. That is a great political answer. I
appreciate that.
Ms. Brown.
Ms. Brown. Thank you.
First of all, the good news is I just had my job fair which
is my 20th year and had about 12,000 people attend. And at
least 150 companies, but I am very pleased that the VA was
there and this program was also there. And I want to thank you
up front for that.
Would you kind of walk me through how the program is to
work because while Mr. Miller figured it out, I want to make
sure my veterans know about it?
And I am interested in how we are working with other
stakeholders like community colleges.
I mean, who is actually going to provide these various
training programs and how are we partnering or contracting out
which republicans like to hear? I like partnering. How is the
program going to work?
Let me just say when American get a cold, African Americans
got pneumonia. So even if the statistics unemployment is one
for everyone else, it is a lot worse for African Americans.
So can someone answer that for me, please?
Ms. Hickey. I am happy to address you, Congresswoman Brown,
on that subject. We pretty much have no light between us on the
process. So I will start there and then I will defer to
Secretary Ortiz to fill in any other parts of the DoL equities
that I might miss.
So let me first say that it starts with our communication
to the veteran and our outreach to the veteran on the
availability of this 1-year benefit which is a superb benefit
for our veterans to be able to exercise this training and
education for both degree programs, non-degree programs, but
leading to is the correct words in the language an associate's
degree or a certification in a non-degree field.
It does not mean that they actually have to accomplish it
in that 1-year period of time, but it needs to lead to that. So
first it does start with the veteran themselves after we have
provided that outreach, then through the process of a self-
attestment.
And I will ask Secretary Ortiz to talk more about that.
They will come to us through the Web site and then we are using
existing capability that we have long used for Montgomery GI
Bill. So we have just refined it and updated it for this
capability.
And they online do what we call a bone app, on-line
application and it pushes it immediately to DoL who does the
verification on their criteria for unemployment and the like.
And then that pushes it directly into us for us to make the
assessments on veteran good standing, yes, they are a veteran,
assessment of whether they have any more GI Bill or other kinds
of employment opportunities left.
Once that is all verified, then we go ahead and issue them
what we call a certificate of eligibility saying, yes, you are
entitled and working with that veteran, we then have them
actually make the application.
They go to school. They attest every month in school that
they attended school and we pay that veteran directly and then
they pay the bills for the school.
Ms. Brown. Thank you.
One of the problems that we had, the program that I was
very excited about, the latest GI Bill update, was that it took
a time before they could get their reimbursements because the
school had to verify that they were in school. And so it was a
real negative story on the news. And I was very disappointed
because I thought it was such a great, exciting program.
But if the school did not verify that they were in school,
then they would get in trouble with us, the VA, because, you
know, the audit would say, well, you have given them money and
the student is not in school.
So I hope we work through these kinds of issues as we start
up.
Ms. Hickey. Thank you, Congresswoman Brown.
We are and, in fact, we are--this provision is the old
Montgomery GI Bill provision which is we pay them once that
veteran attests and then they take care of their bills with the
school.
And I will tell you I believe that we have testified in
front of you that we are looking at that model again under GI
Bill just to see if there is any way to adjust some of that
discomfort level for our veterans in GI Bill.
Mr. Ortiz. And, Congresswoman, just to add, after the
individual finishes their training, then they are sent back to
DoL within the 30 days after finishing. And what we do is
whether they complete or terminate, they come back to DoL. So
that way, we help them through our one-stop shops find
employment.
That is why it works really well, because we give them the
initial okay, yes, they have met all the criteria. VA gives
them the schooling part and then they come back to us and we
help them with a job, ma'am.
Ms. Brown. Might I add that many of the schools and the
programs, particularly if they work as co-ops and other kinds
of programs, can assist them in the job placement. So it could
be--I mean, the veteran does not have to be coming back to you.
It could be us working from the beginning as we train,
placement, work study so that they will actually come in
contact with that employer as we are going through the process.
Mr. Ortiz. Well, Congresswoman, we want them to come back
to us so that way, we have an accountability, so that we know
exactly whether our LVERs are out there reaching out to exactly
who you are talking to, ma'am, to be able to kind of work hand
in hand to help place these individuals into proper places.
Ms. Hickey. And, Congresswoman Brown, I would say actually
your message is a very big message that our secretary,
Secretary Shinseki, has been out and amongst all campuses and
campus leaders, both degree and non-degree programs saying help
us help them in not just completing the degree successfully and
making the adjustment successfully but also in connecting to
those employment opportunities.
Ms. Brown. Thank you very much.
I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
I would note that our colleage, Mr. Lamborn, has joined us.
Mr. Lamborn, for the record, I would like to acknowledge
from this committee's standpoint our sympathies on the loss of
your father a couple of days ago.
Mr. Lamborn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And he was, it is apropos for this committee, a World War
II veteran, age 93 years of age, part of the greatest
generation, although he just said he was doing his duty.
And he fought in 11 campaigns in north Africa, Sicily, and
Italy in World War II. He was an armor which means you put on
the bombs and bullets on the attack aircraft.
So he wanted to be a pilot. They would not let him
physically. He did not physically qualify. And that is good
because in the early days of the war, I think there was in some
places a 90 percent mortality rate among pilots.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Yes, sir.
Mr. Runyan.
Mr. Runyan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have a question for both Secretary Hickey and Mr. Ortiz
on dealing with the VSOs and how helpful and what part they
have really played in helping promote this because I know
actually even last year when you talked about another program
that Congressman Holt and I had promoted dealing with suicide
of veterans, the lack of knowledge of programs like that, and
this is another one.
But the VSOs and their ability to have direct contact with
their members, how helpful have they been and how directly have
you personally been working with them?
Let's start with you, Secretary Hickey.
Ms. Hickey. Thank you, Congressman Runyan, for your
question.
And I will tell you quite frankly I do not go anywhere
without my veteran service organizations. They are our hands
and feet everywhere, on the ground, forward in the fight,
working as you have well described directly with our veterans.
They are critical to our success in taking care of our veterans
on all fronts including and especially the employment front.
They have been very helpful. We have been working very
closely with them in the outreach area. They have been helping
us to get the word out to their constituencies on VRAP and
other provisions of VOW to Hire Heroes Act. And I will say they
are sitting right next to me, although behind me today, I do
not go anywhere without them.
Mr. Ortiz. And I cannot add any more than that, sir,
honestly because, I mean, our VSOs, they are our force
multipliers. And honestly they are the ones that get the
message out where we cannot.
And there are times when we may not be able to reach the
veteran directly. However, they can and they have the
opportunity and the ability to be able to reach and, you know,
reach out and give them the guidance and the things that they
need in order to make things happen.
Mr. Runyan. Yeah. Because I am going through some of the
statistical analysis, whether it is your mass emails or
Facebook and that, and you see the numbers a lot of times are
lacking. And I think even one of them, I think there was only
about a 23 percent open rate of the emails you sent out. And I
know a lot of that probably has to do with lack of current
information, I think, a lot of times.
Ms. Hickey. So, Congressman Runyan, this is a great
question because it has to do even broader with our whole
transformation effort, how do we deal with veterans who come
from different eras and different cohorts who some are clearly
online and clearly asking us to be there.
And I will tell you our data from interviewing the
population for the VRAP initiative, the 35 to 60-year-olds,
they are online. When you move beyond that 60-year-old time is
when you may hit some that are not, though my mother would
scold me because she is very good on her Mac and her Apple
computers. I am making a broad-brush assessment of that.
I will tell you I think the other thing that is important
to note is we did not take a one-channel avenue on this
outreach. We have a face-to-face piece of it. We have an in
paper print piece of it. We have a voice over piece of it. We
are talking to newspapers and the like, all to reach a group of
veterans that may not be online as well and might still fall
into this category.
And I will defer also to Secretary Ortiz for any other
thoughts he might have on this.
Mr. Ortiz. As Secretary Hickey has already said, I mean,
the important piece of that, sir, is you try to hit--you move
the message and put the message out where people can hear it.
And, you know, although some of us might be a little, how
do you say, hiccup with technology, me included, the idea is to
be able to go out there and get all the people as much as
possible the information that they can.
We are not just on the VA side but on DoL's side, we are
using every method that we can to get the information out
there. It is an important project and we need to get it going.
Mr. Runyan. No. And I think most of us sitting up here
understand that specifically being a campaign year. It is much
of the same stuff.
Secretary Hickey, on dealing with appeals to the VRAP
Program, how are they adjudicated and is that becoming a
growing problem?
Ms. Hickey. So, Congressman Runyan, I think we would have
two different sides of that because he handles a certain part
of the process for unemployment and things of that nature and
for also the career fields that he has on his list.
So I will handle if they are--if we do not have them
certified under the conditions we must validate which is they
are a veteran, they are a veteran in good standing, meaning,
you know, no--everything above a dishonorable discharge.
Mr. Runyan. Uh-huh.
Ms. Hickey. And we will validate whether or not they have
any benefits remaining. There is an appeal process that is
described in the letter that we send out to them if, in fact,
they are denied. And I have the details of the letter with me.
If you would like me to go into specifications on that, I can
certainly do that.
But there is a defined process for them to do that and it
tells them and instructs them on the letter if they believe
that we have something done in error.
Mr. Ortiz. And on our side, sir, I mean, we are the primary
piece that brings the eligibility part. If the individual is
not eligible, the good thing about the fact that they are
coming through a one-stop is if they are not eligible for this,
there are other programs that we might be able to direct them.
Ms. Hickey. And if I might add also, Congressman Runyan,
there is an interesting thing that we have learned in this few
days that we have been in this process even with 12,000
applicants and that is oftentimes our denial is because we have
learned that they still have remaining education benefits with
us.
And so we do not just tell them they are denied for VRAP.
We say you are denied because we have found you have additional
benefits and then we do not just make them apply for those
additional benefits. We send in the same breath a subsequent
letter that gives them their certificate of eligibility for
those benefits that they already have on the table.
Mr. Runyan. I liked in the same breath because a lot of
times, the lag is a huge part in dealing specifically with our
benefits.
And with that, Chairman, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Mr. Michaud.
Mr. Michaud. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for having
this very important hearing.
And I have a couple of questions. The first is I have heard
from several small towns and cities and county government the
fact that they are looking for firefighters as well as police
officers. And when you look at the unemployed in the military,
particularly for the military police, they would like to hire
veterans.
Under the VOW Act, what are you doing to help encourage the
municipal towns to hire veterans for police officers and what
is available to them? That is my first question.
My second question is, having done several manufacturing
tours throughout my district over the past year, one of the
things I hear a lot from businesses is they would like to hire
more employees, but they found that they are not trained.
When you look at the extension partnership program, the
MOST Program, I do not know if you are familiar with it, it
stands for mobile outreach skill training, in Maine, it is MEP,
they go into these businesses and actually are willing to
train. And they guarantee a job after the training or else they
do not get paid for the training.
Are you working with extension partnership programs
throughout the country in that regard since they do guarantee
jobs and do you have the resources needed?
So I do not know who wants to, both of you, or who wants to
answer both those questions.
Mr. Ortiz. Congressman, first of all, I want to hit your
first question first, sir.
Firefighters and police officers are on a high-demand list.
So as far as VRAP is concerned, this is an opportunity for them
to be able to go in there if they meet the eligibility
requirements, sir.
On the second part of that, sir, if they do not, we also
have local veterans' employment representatives in each one of
the one-stop centers, our LVERs, who go outreach and make sure
and talk to employers in different places to help them find the
skilled persons that they are looking for.
So our one-stops are a very important piece of getting that
outreach part and also to get to with the cities, the local
communities. That is the biggest piece that we are talking
about, working with the communities as much as possible to get
that information to us so that way, we can find the proper
individuals to help them fill their needs.
Mr. Michaud. And what type of benefit will a local
community receive since they are tax exempt? Is there any
specific--is it the training piece or is there any other
benefit under the VOW Act that will be beneficial for the
communities?
Mr. Ortiz. Actually, sir, you know what? I am not really
sure on the specifics on that, sir, but I will be more than
happy to find out, sir.
Mr. Michaud. Okay.
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Michaud, let me just tell you how
we have generally worked with the education programs in
relation to this, especially the non-degree programs we started
thanks to this committee and the Senate Veterans' Affairs
Committee support from the 1st of October of last year where we
are allowed to use GI Bill benefits towards non-degree efforts.
We still require your state approving agency to certify the
training. And if you have one in every one of your states, I
would highly recommend that the counties contact the state
approving agency, submit their training program to them, let
them go through their normal process, certify it, and then I
can cover them under the GI Bill or VRAP for either one.
Mr. Ortiz. As far as the MOST, sir, the MOST Program, I am
going to turn it over to Ms. Kathy Tran since she works
specifically on those issues.
Mr. Michaud. Okay.
Ms. Tran. Sure. Regarding our partnership, we have a
Federal partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce and
the MEP Program and we have been encouraging local partnerships
in communities and regions across the country to partner
between the workforce system and MEPs in order to support
employment in the manufacturing arena.
And we actually issued a training guidance letter or
notice, I cannot remember which one, we can get back to you on
that, recently to encourage those partnerships. And that letter
included examples of existing successful partnerships at
various different levels, whether it be working with MEPs on
lay-up provision strategies, working with the MEP to help
fulfill, you know, job openings and training.
But also to, just to add to the question earlier, one-stop
career centers are available to help local municipalities in
their hiring. So they can work to help do recruitment, to do
job screening, to post job openings. And so that is a good
relationship between the one-stop career centers and those
municipalities.
And many local webs, you know, have good representation and
good leadership from their city or county councils and such.
Mr. Ortiz. And, sir, this is not specifically with
veterans. This is for all.
Mr. Michaud. Okay. Great. My last question actually, if you
could submit to the Committee--Secretary Hickey, you mentioned
that you have contacted over a hundred counties with the
highest veterans' unemployment. Could you supply to the
Committee a list of the counties and the states they are from
that you have contacted for the record?
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Michaud, we will do that.
Mr. Michaud. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Mr. Benishek.
Mr. Benishek. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks for coming before the Committee today.
How many people got rejected or turned down from the people
that applied? Was it 20 percent or was it 2,000 rejections or
something that I saw?
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Benishek, so this has only been
open for a couple weeks now.
Mr. Benishek. Right.
Ms. Hickey. But even in those few weeks, we have had 12,000
applicants made and of those, we have had 23 percent denied.
But of that 23 percent, the bulk of them were denied because
they already have existing benefits that they just were not
aware they had.
Mr. Benishek. Right. That was----
Ms. Hickey. So there is a few left and in that few that are
left, some of them are because we even determined they are not
veterans.
Mr. Benishek. Okay.
Ms. Hickey. Some of them are because DoL has confirmed that
they do not meet the unemployment aspect. And some of them are
because they hit the 48-month maximum limit as provided in the
law which says you can only exercise a full 48 months worth of
benefits under any employment or any education program with VA.
Mr. Benishek. All right. I was just looking at this
application form, the on-line application form. So I just want
to make sure that I am understanding.
So in my district, there is a lot of need for like welders
and machinists, people like that for manufacturing. And, you
know, the employers, you know, we want to hire these people,
but they do not have the--we do not have anybody with that
training.
And I am looking. I am a potential welder. I want to take a
welding course. I know there is a welding job available. I did
not see like welding on the list, you know what I mean, or
machinist. I mean, I see like production occupation which I
imagine that would probably go under there.
But it just seems to me that in this application, I am just
not clear. It does not seem to be that easy if you already have
a job in mind to write it in there. I am just wondering how you
go through the process.
I mean, does somebody have a job in mind typically and then
they are going for a training program for that specific job or
are they just winging it? I mean, I just wanted to see how this
actually works in real life. You know what I mean?
Mr. Ortiz. Dr. Benishek, specifically for the VRAP, sir, we
go through a specific criteria. That is the first part. If an
individual is trying to find a training program and they--for
example, if they do not meet the VRAP piece, but they are
trying to find individual programs along those lines, sir, the
one-stop shops are the ones where we can help to look at
specific items and see what schooling or what training
opportunities are available for that individual.
However, if you are talking specifically on the VRAP side
of the house, sir, we are going through the basic. If they do
not meet--if they meet all the qualifications and they go over
to the VA, in other words, they are eligible on our side, they
go over to VA, there may be a training program over there.
Ms. Hickey. So, Congressman Benishek, I will tell you if
they have 9/11 GI Bill benefits, I can certainly pay for them,
their training to be welders under the GI Bill effective 1
October last year. In fact, any non-degree program, any
certification, whether you want to, you know, drive heavy
equipment, build highways, be a paramedic, be an HVAC which, in
fact, one of the case examples we have permission from the
veteran to mention is a Manassas veteran who fits this age
group, a little on the older part of that band, and wanted to
be an HVAC person, and so we have together processed his claim.
He is eligible and we will pay him the VRAP fees for him to go
to HVAC training.
Ms. Tran. I would like to also add, I think, to your
question about is there an opportunity for career exploration
and there is. The my next move for veterans Web site is an
excellent resource and tool for veterans themselves. It helps
them identify career opportunities. They can input their MOS
and it will show them some civilian equivalencies and then they
could do some career exploration.
And what we have done to that site is update it with the
VRAP information. So we have done a crosswalk between all the
various occupations on the my next move Web site with the VRAP
high-demand list so that you can identify those occupations
that are also covered under the VRAP high-demand list for
training. And so you can do a lot of career exploration that
way.
Mr. Benishek. So if you are eligible and you go to a state
unemployment office, they are going to get you into--say you do
not have access to a computer or you are not--you got an email
list----
Mr. Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Mr. Benishek [continuing]. And you go to a state
unemployment office, they are going to be able to steer you in
this direction?
Mr. Ortiz. Yes, sir. If an individual does not have--one of
the requirements to have an email, at the one-stop, we will
actually get them an email to get all the information that they
need back to the----
Mr. Benishek. No, that does not really work if you do not
have a computer.
Mr. Ortiz. Well----
Mr. Benishek. I mean, because, you know, in the rural area
that I come from, giving the guy an email address is not going
to help him communicate.
Mr. Ortiz. You are right, sir.
But go ahead, Kathy.
Ms. Tran. So if you do not have a computer to identify
where your local one-stop career center is, we actually have a
toll-free help line that you can call that will help you over
the phone identify where your local one-stop is and that you
can then go there and that you would be able to access the
internet from that site.
Ms. Hickey. I would also offer, though, the first choice we
would like is for them to access the one-stops because there
are more of them. We also have made provisions in our Veterans
Benefit Administration regional offices that are in all the
different states and our public contact folks in those sites
when they walk in and they deal with us, we will help them,
assist them in that respect.
And also our medical centers are aware of this provision as
well and are helping us to get the word out there as well and
all of our clinics and CBOCs as well.
Mr. Ortiz. Congressman, the bottom line is we are working
as hard as we can to make sure that we get the information and
help those young men and women that need this, get the
information and fill out the application and to not have any
kind of barriers to make this happen.
Mr. Benishek. Well, I hear you say that, but, I mean, like
I have not seen anything myself in the news or, you know, on
TV, you know, about this program. You know, if I had not been
here on this committee, I frankly would not have known about
it. You know what I mean?
I mean, I did not see anything. Maybe it was directed, you
know, personally to that person and so I would not have access
to that since I am not a veteran in that category. But, you
know, I have not seen any national advertising or I have not
seen anything in my local paper. You know what I mean?
So I am a little bit concerned about people that do not
have access to internet or may not be plugged into the VA
system. You know what I mean? So I am a little concerned about
that.
Ms. Hickey. Congressman, you are going to see more
information about this in the month of June than you would ever
expect to see because this is a critical component of the VA
Detroit hiring event and in alignment with also the small
business event is being nationally held in Detroit this year.
So I think every paper and every community in Michigan will
be very, very aware of what we are doing in terms of employment
opportunities and the tools like VRAP to help do that as well.
Mr. Ortiz. I would like to add to that, Congressman, is we
are actually, as the secretary said, coming this June, we are
also working with the local papers directly, especially the
urban areas because of the fact we know that sometimes that
information does not get out to on the general basis. So we
are, in fact, doing that as far as DoL in conjunction with some
of our partners also.
Mr. Benishek. All right. I think my time is up. Thank you.
The Chairman. Mr. McNerney.
Mr. McNerney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
According to my understanding, the division of
responsibility is basically the VA will take care of the
training and the DoL would take care of outreach. Is that more
or less correct?
Mr. Ortiz. No, sir.
Ms. Hickey. Congressman McNerney, I will tell you largely
that DoL will handle the face-to-face interaction with the
veteran that walks into the one-stop. And then they will handle
the verification of employment issues.
The outreach has been largely led by VA in cooperation and
support by DoL helping us get to the labor sides of their
communities and their stakeholders as well. But that is more a
relationship there. We handle once the education claim,
processing that claim, making sure that payment is made to that
veteran on that side.
Mr. McNerney. Well, that is one of my concerns about the VA
is that I do not think the VA is in general doing enough to
outreach not just for this program but there seems to be a
reluctance to go to the media, to advertise on TV, to put up
billboards. I would like to see the VA do more of that in
general, especially in this case.
Ms. Hickey. Congressman, I appreciate your comments and
your questions. I will say that we have been to the media quite
extensively, the print media and have gotten it out that way
quite extensively.
I do not know about billboards except that we have a lot of
veterans in many, many, many communities across the Nation and
it would be difficult to figure out the expense associated with
a billboard in a single community. We would start to, I think,
create some discussion around funding that would be a little
bit untenable.
We have been online. I have literally done as has the
secretary has done on camera interviews about veteran
employment issues and about the opportunities for education to
help those employment opportunities. And I know that Secretary
Ortiz's secretary has done that as well.
So I will let him comment further on that, but we have
reached out quite extensively through lots of media, different
environments including 75 newspapers nationwide for those
communities where the unemployment rate for veterans is the
highest. We are not stopping.
Mr. McNerney. So what kind of a budget does the VA have for
media outreach?
Ms. Hickey. Well, Congressman McNerney, we are actually
trying to be good stewards here, so we are leveraging our
current network operation. We are leveraging the good will of
communities and newspapers and others to get this word out as
well including all the military alumni groups. All the military
times are carrying these for free. Many of the local newspaper
are carrying these ads for free.
Mr. McNerney. So, in other words, you do not have a budget
specifically for outreach?
Ms. Hickey. Congressman McNerney, I have not found the need
at this point in time, especially when in very short order we
have over 12,000 applicants and they are growing every single
day. Yesterday it was 11,000. As the chairman well noted today
it was 12. If, in fact, we do require, I will be happy to come
share that need with you.
Mr. McNerney. Okay. Mr. Ortiz, could you briefly describe
what your one-stop centers look like? They are not mobile
centers? They are permanent centers, right?
Mr. Ortiz. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Depending on the city, we
could have anywhere between--oh, excuse me--depending on the
state, we can have anywhere between five, ten, twenty one-stop
career centers, sir.
Our one-stop centers, what they are is a place where an
individual can go, come in and get----
Mr. McNerney. Any individual?
Mr. Ortiz. Any individual, sir, any individual. However,
veterans have priority of service. In other words, they have
head of the line privileges.
So they are able to come in and get what they need as far
as helping to build a resume, finding out exactly what
educational opportunities they need in order to find a job,
what jobs are available in certain places. At times, all you
need is somebody to be able to kind of point you in the right
direction to get that.
So the one-stop centers are more of a place where if you
are looking for a job, we have the opportunity to give you the
information that you need to help you find that job, sir, and
some of the training also, sir.
Mr. McNerney. Would either one of you sort of describe what
you think a successful outcome of this program would be? How do
you describe success in sort of general terms?
Mr. Ortiz. I tell you, sir, my measure of success is that
every single person that comes through this program ends up
with a job or a career. That is my measurement to success.
An individual coming in through our program as far as
eligibility, getting everything that they need, going over to
VA, getting their training and everything else, and then after
that coming back to us and actually getting a job, that is how
I measure success.
Mr. McNerney. Are we going to have report statistics or
report on the outcomes----
Mr. Ortiz. Yes, sir.
Mr. McNerney [continuing]. Of this program?
Mr. Ortiz. Yes, sir, we will. And as a matter of fact, I
will bring it over to Kathy on this one. But the bottom line,
sir, is we are capturing all the information on who is going
through the program, have successfully finished the program,
and we are going to have measurements, for example, enter
employment rate, enter retention rate, and so on so that we can
find out specifically, one, the program is effective; two, the
program works; and, three, we got individuals jobs.
Mr. McNerney. Mr. Chairman, I will yield back.
The Chairman. Mr. Bilirakis.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for this
good legislation and thank you for holding this hearing.
I want to ask specifically is there going to be any paid
television advertisement? And also with regard to the PSAs, I
have not seen any PSAs lately.
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Bilirakis, we are working with
different folks right now for PSAs. In fact, part of the public
service announcement to reach out to frankly some of the
national athletic teams is part of that strategy. But at this
point in time, we have not posted a PSA at this point in time.
Mr. Bilirakis. Do you anticipate any paid television
advertisements?
Ms. Hickey. We will work for those kinds of public service
announcements that do not require funding.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Next question. With regard to the--I
have heard from my constituents--with regard to the unemployed
veteran who may have exhausted his or her savings and is having
a hard time getting back on their feet, they have concerns
about possible up front costs, tuition cost, fees, what have
you, a textbook cost.
Have you looked into maybe tuition deferral until the
veteran receives the payments?
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Bilirakis, we have not. We have
currently a requirement in our program that they must attest at
the end of each month that they have attended the training and
then we pay in arrears essentially.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. I would like to follow-up with you on
that issue.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance
of my time.
The Chairman. Mr. Walz.
Mr. Walz. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank all of you for being here. Your commitment to our
veterans is absolutely unwavering. We understand that and are
very appreciative of it.
And also thank you for displaying collaboration amongst
agencies. I know it is a tough issue. It is one we always come
back to of seamless transition. It is great to see a flow chart
that includes several agencies of trying to work this out. And
I know that is always a challenge. We are trying to get this
efficiency as a part of this.
General Hickey, you mentioned that all of the VRAP
applicants are going to be put through a screening process.
How long do you think that will take? Do you know how long
that will take?
Ms. Hickey. So at this point in time when the veteran self-
attests on the Department of Labor side, we pick that up
directly. There is actually no manual transactions they must
do. It comes directly to us and we have been turning those
around very quick, in fact, 1,400 of them in seven days.
But I will tell you when the numbers start increasing. You
know, the numbers are smaller now. It is a little easier to do
all those. We expect to manage to the same criteria that we do
all of our education benefit programs.
And so today for an original claim of any kind of nature,
it varies between 24 and 30 days. And for a supplemental claim,
meaning I am already in school, I already know who you are, I
just need next month's payment, it happens very quickly in less
than ten.
Mr. Walz. Those are targets you set so that we----
Ms. Hickey. Yes.
Mr. Walz [continuing]. End up that we are going to manage
this so that we do not have a backlog in VRAP claims then that
we end up dealing with? You think we can stay on that? It will
be pretty much a turnover as they enter the system?
Ms. Hickey. We do, Congressman.
Mr. Walz. That is great.
Also, General, you mentioned, and it was really good to
hear and I know Mr. Runyan mentioned that, about in the same
breath you talked to him about you still have benefits
available with that.
And I know this is fairly common amongst guardsmen or
whatever, I myself did that, I used 9 months at a time, you are
off for a while, you use 9 months more of your time or
whatever.
What happens with someone who has got benefits left, does
not qualify, but it is too small to actually get them a degree?
That was a problem we had about not directing folks, about
having some problems where bits and starts of education, but
they do not have a certificate, they do not have a degree.
How are we dealing with those?
Ms. Hickey. So thank you, Congressman Walz, for your
question.
I will say that first it is important to note that this
program does not extend indefinitely. It ends on March 31st,
2014. So it would have to be in the provisions of that time
frame----
Mr. Walz. Yeah.
Ms. Hickey [continuing]. For us to be able to do anything.
But we do send in the letter when we send it back to say, you
know, we denied you for VRAP, but that is because you have GI
Bill benefits left.
Mr. Walz. Right.
Ms. Hickey. We do say if you run out of those ben--here is
what you have left. If you run out of those benefits, you are
still able to then after you have exhausted----
Mr. Walz. Is there the potential here that we ask someone
to use 2 months of benefits and not really have any desire to
get much out of that and then come to you?
I mean, this does happen. Am I wrong about this, that there
are people that fall into that hole?
Ms. Hickey. Congressman Walz, there is always the
likelihood that that could happen. In that case, we would
encourage them to immediately apply----
Mr. Walz. Right.
Ms. Hickey [continuing]. For VRAP benefits----
Mr. Walz. That is great.
Ms. Hickey [continuing]. In that process.
Mr. Walz. Okay. But it is aware of that. You are there.
There is communication with them. And I am not sure what more
we can do actually at that point without changing a lot of the
details to transfer that over. That is just a catch 22. I
appreciate that.
Mr. Ortiz, this one is for you. You targeted 200
occupations veterans can receive further training in.
Do you happen to know how many of those require Federal or
state certification?
I ask this because of this Vet Skills Bill that we are
trying to promote of transferring, whether it is a, you know,
CDL license or whether it is physician assistants to work at
the Mayo Clinic.
Do we have any idea on those numbers?
Mr. Ortiz. You know what, sir? I was just looking at the
list itself and I am not aware of those right now, sir. I will
be more than happy to get back to you.
Mr. Walz. That would be great because I think then what we
are trying to match up, and I think DoD has been very open to
this, of trying to figure out what those certifications are,
make sure that training is available, make sure we target these
folks. And it is something we see.
And I guess it is blessed in different parts of the
country. In Rochester, Minnesota, we have a 3.9 percent
unemployment rate. The problem we have there is 275
manufacturing jobs and they do not have qualified applicants
because they need certain certifications, whether they would
be.
I think that is a perfect place for us to target our vets,
make them top of the list, get them in. And that is what we are
trying to do with that bill if it meshes with what you are
doing.
Ms. Hickey. And, Congressman Walz, that is exactly the
target of the 1 October provision of the GI Bill last year.
Mr. Walz. Right.
Ms. Hickey. So we can pay for those certifications and not
just one. If you happen to be in a tristate area, you need to
do business across the line in Wisconsin or somewhere else with
different licensing requirements in those states, we can pay
for those as well.
Mr. Walz. That is great.
Well, again, I thank you all for the way you have taken
this on, the aggressive lean forward on this. I am excited
about it. I think you, you know, you understand that this is
really important stuff and there is a lot of eyes watching you.
And you are hearing my colleagues say we want to see this
on TV. I told Mr. Barrow he wants to see it on a NASCAR so that
his folks see it. Those are the things somehow that we--that it
gets out there.
But I appreciate. I think the spirit you have tackled this
is exactly what we wanted to see. So I thank you.
And I yield back.
The Chairman. Mr. Stutzman.
Mr. Stutzman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you to you all for being here today and for your
work as well with our veterans.
I would like to just kind of follow-up a little bit on Mr.
McNerney and also Mr. Bilirakis' questioning regarding the
funding that you are going to be using for outreach.
Mr. McNerney asked how much money do you have budgeted for
this. There is not a line item if I understand that correctly.
But do you have an idea of how much money you are going to
be using for outreach, you know, collectively including, you
know, if you are going to be using TV, if you are going to be
using radio, PSAs, social media, all of the numerous types of
communication that you have available to you? And then if you
could get some sort of an idea and then how do you plan on
tracking the success of those?
Ms. Hickey. So thank you, Congressman Stutzman, for your
question.
We have not exhausted the ability for us to ask of this
Nation and its businesses and others to, including the press
and the media, to carry these as public service announcements
with no cost to the government on behalf of our veterans who
have served in harm's way and need and require us to take care
of them now that they are coming home and getting back to work.
When I have fully exhausted that, then I will consider
budgetary needs. But as a good steward of the resources that
you all give us every single day, I just am disinclined to go
there first.
I will say that we have funded the staff required to
process the claims and they are teed up in also our fiscal year
2013 budget submission as well. So we have done that and that
is where--you know, we are working with that and have 166
people that are processing claims or FTE that are processing
claims, these claims as well.
Mr. Stutzman. So if you are not using dollars that are
budgeted and you are maximizing your efforts outside of tax
dollars, how are you going to determine success? How do you
know that you are reaching those veterans that need to hear
what is available?
Ms. Hickey. We can manage certainly and we do have metrics
on the click rates for all the different Web sites. We have
responses, opening of responses and forward feeding. But I will
tell you our strategy has been a little different than simply
getting to the actual veteran in question because we know some
of our veterans are not online and are not to some of those
avenues, are not even seeing us in VA for anything at this
point in time.
So we have found as we address the emails not to just are
you a veteran, do you know you have these potential benefits,
but we are saying do you know a veteran, do you know someone
who has served this Nation that deserves this opportunity for
this benefit, and can you please transmit this information to
them.
We have actually seen in this original 12,000 we have had
apply in the last couple weeks that some of them are actually
getting the benefit of another veteran passing along that
information to them. We are leveraging that network.
We are also leveraging our veteran service organizations
who are well connected to our veteran communities across the
Nation as well as DoD. In fact, the Defense Finance Accounting
Service has agreed to send contact information to every single
veteran they pay for anything including retirees and civilians,
the information on VRAP as well.
We know by that count how many different touch points we
have made.
Mr. Stutzman. Because it sounds a little bit like you are
taking more of a bird shot approach. You are just blasting it
out there and hoping that it hits the targets that we are
hoping to get the message to.
Could you talk a little bit about, you mentioned using
professional sports as a tool to get the message out as well.
Have you found success with that because there is an effort to
prohibit the military from recruiting through NASCAR and other
professional sporting events? Do you find that successful?
Ms. Hickey. So, Congressman Stutzman, we are talking about
a public service announcement, not a recruiting effort.
Mr. Stutzman. Right. Correct. But I am----
Ms. Hickey. In fact, we have the Florida Marlins, one of
the chairman's state professional teams, has agreed to every
Monday night at their home games to run a public service
announcement on their trons to get to people who love that
sports, veterans who love that sport and let them know about
it.
We are also in conversations with others, about five or six
other major national sporting activities as well.
Mr. Stutzman. And you are finding value with that?
Ms. Hickey. We will see as soon as we execute. They have
not started yet. We are hoping they start soon and we will
provide them all the materials they need to do that soon.
But I will say I have not seen a lack of response to date.
We have been doors open less than, how many days since the 15th
of May, less than 2 weeks. And in that 2 weeks, literally
12,000 people, almost 1,000 people a day applying for this
benefit.
Mr. Stutzman. Okay.
Ms. Hickey. We will watch it closely to see if there is any
trends to trickle up and, if so, we will re-engage with our DoL
partners and others to recycle and make sure that we are
getting the word out even further.
Mr. Stutzman. So you think there is a chance of hitting the
45,000 application limit?
Ms. Hickey. If history for the last 2 weeks proves itself,
I do, sir.
Mr. Stutzman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
The Chairman. Secretary Hickey, do you think the VA and DoL
are responsible for all of the 12,000 applicants or whatever
the number is, 12, 13 thousand applicants? I mean, you speak as
though you think your plan is what brings them all in. Is it VA
and DoL that----
Ms. Hickey. Chairman Miller, this is an all hands on deck
and we have reached out to many, many stakeholders as I sort of
listed out. And I will prevent you from having to listen to me
list them again now.
But it is many of our partners including Members of this
committee who are helping us to get that word out.
But, no, I do not believe that we are doing this by
ourselves nor is it our--but I do believe we have the
responsibility to you.
The Chairman. Excuse me. You say you reached out to Members
of Congress and that is what caused us to reach out to get the
word out?
Ms. Hickey. No, sir, not at all. No, Chairman Miller, not
at all.
The Chairman. If I could draw your attention to the budget
hearing back on February 15th, a question after the hearing was
submitted for response. Basically the question was regarding
the VOW to Hire Heroes Act Program.
Does the outreach plan include funding for a national
advertising program?
This was the response. ``Although the communication plan is
currently under review by VA and DoL, we anticipate that the
final plan will include a national advertising budget.''
Do you have it?
Ms. Hickey. Chairman Miller, I have not needed to have a
budget yet for all the great advertising that has been done and
all the help of all of our stakeholders including you----
The Chairman. I do not know that I have ever heard an
individual come into a committee and say they did not need a
budget. And you have said twice now before this committee that
you do not need a budget.
VA is still evaluating how much of the fiscal year 2013
outreach budget will support outreach efforts associated with
the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2013.
You had Members from both sides of the aisle ask you about
the budget and you say you do not need one.
Mr. Barrow.
Mr. Barrow. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have only to add my thanks to the witnesses for your
service and what you are all doing. And I want to add my
support to what you all are doing.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my
time.
The Chairman. Any other questions?
Mr. Michaud.
Mr. Michaud. I just have one follow-up question.
You mentioned you have the one-stop shops. Of course, a
state like Maine and other states are very rural so it is very
difficult for veterans to even get there to get the services
that they need.
And I guess what I would like to know is what are you doing
to really access the veterans that live in real rural areas to
make sure that they know about these particular programs?
And a follow-up on my previous question as it relates to
the MOST Program and programs are approved with an associate's
or certificate is how do you determine a certificate because I
know actually when I first started working after I graduated
from high school, I took an on-the-job training and I got my,
you know, certificate at the mill that I worked at, so how do
you determine who really qualifies for a certificate to meet
the needs that are out there?
Mr. Ortiz. Well, sir, what we do is we go through all of
our specific records on finding the individuals unemployed, if
they have utilized their unemployment insurance, and any kind
of eligibility on the Department of Labor side of the house,
sir. That is how we determine their eligibility.
As far as giving us information like DD214 that shows they
are a veteran, that kind of thing is what we do on this end,
and we say, okay, or I got to tell you if the individual comes
in and does not have their DD214, basically they sign off and
say, yes, I was a veteran and we take them for their word. We
check all the other information based on their Social Security
number and everything else.
Once we find out that they meet the criteria on that, we
pass it over to the VA side of the house. VA has the capability
of being able to find out if they are a veteran because of
DD214s and things of that nature, however.
So the eligibility piece, we do a fairly good job of doing
that. And both of our agencies work really hard to make sure
that happens, not only an eligibility that they may already
have or they may not have known that they had but also in
making sure that that gets taken care of.
So that takes care of that part, sir. But to answer the
congressman's question as far as getting the information out
there to rural areas, especially those areas, I would think,
you know, we are in contact specifically with the workforce
agencies and all the agencies within the states themselves.
As an example, sir, this is the kind of language that we
did for the Maine DoL and the VETS agency. We basically turned
around telling them, you know, first of all, the Maine
Department of Labor veterans' team extends our thanks in
military service and so on.
So we are working hand in hand not only with the one-stop
shops but also the specific state workforce agencies and the
communities themselves, sir.
The fact of the matter is although you may not be able to
get to a big one-stop, if you will, there are community efforts
within each one of the city and state councils that are able to
find that information and pass it on.
The third thing and probably one of the most important
things that I am able to have is the fact that I have LVERs out
there, local veterans employment representatives, that actually
reach out to employers and to veterans and let them know what
is going on, to advise them of the different opportunities
available. Plus I also have a state director in each one of the
states that helps it.
Go ahead, Kathy.
Ms. Tran. I would also just like to clarify the eligibility
questions that the Department of Labor is responsible for for
VRAP.
I think when Junior was mentioning, you know, whether or
not you are a vet and if you have a DD214, that is if you come
into one-stops for other services. But as part of VRAP, we
determine, you know, we determine eligibility around age for 35
to 60 if you are unemployed and if you have participated in a
Federal training or education program in the last 180 days.
The other resource I do want to mention to folks who are in
rural areas and cannot physically access a one-stop, again, is
that toll-free help line that I mentioned earlier. It is an 800
toll-free number. Anybody can call and it will just--the
operator who answers will help identify various programs,
whether they are ours or other related social services that you
might be eligible for or interested in including VRAP. So that
is part of our script, that we are sharing that information
that way as well.
Mr. Michaud. Well, on the first part of that question was
more to who is qualified not as an individual but who is
qualified to provide the training for those particular programs
because that is the concern that I have is who is qualified for
the training, because when you talk to a lot of businesses, and
I will get back to the extension partnership program, they
guarantee that they will have a job once they finish the
training program?
So my concern is whether it is VA or DoL saying, well, you
know, your program, your certificate is no good, you know, we
need something else, but, yet, they might actually be able to
provide a job for a veteran. So that is my big concern is the
eligibility qualification for the training portion of it.
Mr. Ortiz. Sir, I got to tell you I think my understanding
is, sir, that once the individual goes into, especially VRAP,
they go into a program, that the program that they are going
into, and correct me if I am wrong, Secretary, is the program
they go into is usually a program that is certified by the VA
that they are--that when they come out, we will give them what
they need or at least the tools they need to be able to find a
job.
Ma'am.
Ms. Hickey. So, Congressman, the actual provision is that
the state approving agencies certify that the training is good
and competent. The schools are all doing, and whether they are
degree schools or non-degree schools, are all doing appropriate
things to resource the veterans' training environment.
So if they are approved by a state approving agency, then
we pay the requirement.
Mr. Ortiz. And along those same lines, sir, I mean, and my
team, I happen to have a great team behind me which helps me
out, if the law requires that the training provided by a
community college or a technical college is what is needed in
order to--that is the certification that they need in order to
find a job, sir.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Michaud.
Thank you very much to both of you for being here today.
Again, any of the comments and questions that we made are
just to help in trying to get the program running better. I
think this committee feels that a good job has been done to
date.
There are always going to be, as Mr. Ortiz says, some
hiccups somewhere down the road, but let's make sure that we do
the very best that we can for those unemployed veterans that
are out there and helping them access this training.
I do want to say before we adjourn, take a moment that on
June 1st, which is Friday, I guess that is tomorrow, is the
25th anniversary of the Montgomery GI Bill named after the
former chairman of this committee, Sonny G.V. Montgomery. The
bill was the premier education program for a generation of
veterans and it continues to serve us today as we use it for
the framework of the VRAP.
Therefore, I think it is important that we commemorate its
use by millions of veterans around this country. So I want to
ask and invite each of the Committee Members, if they will, to
join me in issuing a bipartisan press release on this about the
program and its author. And if you would provide a short
statement to Amy Mitchell, our communications director, we will
include in the release.
And with that, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
would have five legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and add any extraneous materials to this hearing. And
hearing no objection, so ordered.
And I want to thank everybody for attending today, and we
are adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:49 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Prepared Statement of Chairman Jeff Miller
Good morning to everyone.
We just spent last weekend honoring the Nation's defenders who are
no longer with us. Now it is time for us to focus on those who still
need our help in securing a good job, and I welcome Under Secretary
Hickey and Deputy Assistant Secretary Ortiz today. I am eager to hear
how the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor are
progressing in meeting the goals of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.
The VOW Act is a bipartisan, bicameral effort to reduce
unemployment among veterans. While every provision in the law is
important, I believe the centerpiece of the Act is what is being called
the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program or VRAP (VEE- RAP). Of the
approximately one point seven billion cost for the bill, which was paid
for, one point six billion was spent to allocate up to a year of GI
Bill benefits for nearly one hundred thousand unemployed veterans
between the ages of thirty five and sixty. The balance funded Chairman
Murray's vocational rehabilitation provision and the tax credit
suggested by the President.
The VOW Act is an excellent example of what we can do when we work
together, and I thank the Members on both sides of the aisle for their
support and continuing interest in the Act's success.
Today, we are going to hear from Senior Officials tasked with
implementing all the provisions of the law. I have asked them to
concentrate primarily on VRAP. I am looking forward to hearing how they
are setting the stage for a successful launch on July 1.
While I am impressed by the level of effort being made by program
level-staff at both departments, I am concerned that not enough is
being done by either cabinet secretaries, or the President himself, to
promote this benefit.
Getting the message out about this opportunity is critically
important to putting unemployed veterans on a path to a job in a high-
demand field.
Clearly, aggressive promotion by the nearly three thousand One Stop
employment centers are the key to filling the ninety nine thousand
training slots authorized by the VOW Act. Let me give you just one
example of why I am concerned that despite VA's significant outreach
efforts, for which I commend them, problems are still arising. Staff
was contacted by a community-based organization in Georgia about what
appears to be a lack of effort to get the program started.
Shortly after passage of the VOW Act, the organization contacted
the Augusta One Stop Employment Center about how to enroll unemployed
vets in the program. They asked again in mid-March and the DVOPS and
LVERs were still not aware of the program. Two weeks later, Augusta
told them the Georgia Department of Labor was not aware of VRAP. In
early April, both the Georgia and South Carolina Departments of Labor
stated they were waiting for policy from DC. In late April, there still
appeared to be little understanding of how the program would work. It
appears that finally, on May 11th, 2012, a mass email from VA was
released detailing how the program would be implemented, only 4 days
later on May 15th.
Obviously, if that is typical of the level of awareness at the One
Stop Centers, we have big problems. Secretary Ortiz, unless your
Federal staff here in DC and in the states are contacting the disabled
veteran outreach program specialists and local veteran employment
representatives in the One Stop Centers, there is no way you are going
to know whether the word is getting out and how the One Stop Centers
intend to fill the training slots. I truly hope the case I just
summarized is an isolated case, but I am not convinced that it is.
Having said that, I am pleased to see that over eleven thousand six
hundred applications have been received so far, meaning that we are
well on our way to filling all of the forty five thousand slots paid
for in the VOW Act for the remainder of this fiscal year.
I also encourage each of the Members to make a strong effort in
their districts to get the word out about VRAP so that we see the
unemployment rate among veterans in their prime earning years continue
to decrease.
I want to share a story about one my constituents, Mr. Todd C.
Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan is a 35 year old veteran of the U.S. Navy. He
learned about the VRAP program through an advertisement that the local
one-stop ran in the local newspaper. He was excited to learn of this
``second chance'' for Veterans, as his GI Bill benefits had recently
expired. In response to the newspaper advertisement, Mr. Buchanan
scheduled an appointment to review his options with a local Veterans
Employment Representative.
The veteran and veterans' employment representative cross-walked
the VRAP high demand occupations with the Okaloosa and Walton counties
fastest growing occupation list, and considered the veteran's aptitude
and interest. Mr. Buchanan was enrolled through VA's online application
and will register at the Choice Technical Center for a welding
certificate.
I submit to the Committee that Mr. Buchanan is the type of veteran
that this program is meant to help, and hopefully it will provide him
the training he needs.
This bill passed with broad bipartisan and bicameral support and we
owe it to taxpayers and veterans to ensure it is implemented properly.
Prepared Statement of Hon. Corrine Brown, Democratic Member
Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing on the Veterans
Retraining Assistance Program.
I welcome this opportunity to hear what preparations have been done
so far by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) and the Department
of Labor (Labor) to implement the Veterans Retraining Assistance
Program. I hope that both agencies are working together because the
start date of July 1, 2012 is right around the corner. We need to be
proactive in marketing this program and identifying pitfalls that could
derail this program.
The retraining program is limited to 45,000 participants from July
1, 2012, through September 30, 2012, and 54,000 participants from
October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014.
Since money for retraining programs is very difficult to find these
days I hope that both agencies understand how important it is that we
place a veteran in every slot. This program will run for a short period
and we need to make sure we make the most out of the limited time that
we now.
The Bureau of Labor statistics reports that in 2011 about 5.9
million veterans had served on active duty from the Gulf War era I to
the Korean War. Therefore, I expect Labor and VA to find more than
enough veterans to fill all the slots that they will have available. It
would be a tragedy if we do not help veterans take advantage of this
opportunity.
I know that employees from VA and Labor were here last week to
brief Committee staff on key milestones and current status. I
appreciate everyone coming here again to answer more questions.
Since the retraining program started accepting applications I would
like to know if there have been any problems. The key thing that I am
looking for today from both agencies is honesty on where the program
stands today and assurance that all problems are being resolved. Do not
wait until the last minute to tell us that there are problems that
would derail this program. We need to know in a timely fashion if there
are any problems with the program roll out and if any changes are
needed to make sure this program is successful.
The Bureau of Labor statistics reports that the overall
unemployment rate for veterans is 8.3 percent for 2011. The 12 months
that veterans are now eligible for should be a springboard to better
employment in this very difficult job market. The Department of Labor
has listed 210 high demand occupations for the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program.
I would like to ask that the Department of Labor keep an open mind
if opportunities arise to increase the number of high demand
occupations. In this very poor economy we should allow veterans to
pursue all worthwhile occupations that lead to gainful employment.
The VOW act includes the extension of tax credits that were a key
part of the President's agenda. The act expands the definition of
qualified veteran in the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to help
spur veteran hiring in the private sector by giving employers a tax
credit. The VOW act also extends the current categories for veterans
receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
The President should be commended for his leadership and continuing
hard work in getting veterans hired.
Thank you Mr. Chairman I look forward to hearing from the witnesses
here today.
Prepared Statement of The Honorable Allison Hickey
Good morning, Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Filner, and Members
of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the actions
taken by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement the
provisions in title II of Public Law 112-56, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act
of 2011. I am accompanied today by Mr. Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under
Secretary for Economic Opportunity, VBA.
My testimony will discuss implementation of the relevant sections
of the legislation, with particular emphasis on section 211. I will
also review VA's outreach activities aimed at enrolling individuals in
the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) and promoting the
enhanced services provided by VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment (VR&E) program. VA is committed to successfully executing,
in collaboration with other agencies and stakeholders, all provisions
of the law for which we have responsibility.
Section 211_VRAP
Implementation
VA and the Department of Labor (DOL) collaboratively developed the
VRAP application process and the requirements for the information
technology (IT) system changes to support this process. To efficiently
leverage existing systems, VA modified its application for VA education
benefits for use by the VRAP applicants. The VRAP application is
available online at www.benefits.va.gov/VOW, a Web site developed
specifically for portions of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. This site can
be accessed through eBenefits, the GI Bill Web site, DOL Web sites, and
numerous other Web sites. Additionally, Veterans can visit their local
DOL One-Stop Career Center locations for application assistance.
Applications can be submitted through VA's Veterans' Online Application
(VONAPP) Web site. To be eligible for participation, DOL must determine
that the applicant is unemployed, not enrolled in any Federal or state
job-training program, and is between the ages of 35 and 60. VA verifies
the applicant's Veteran status and type of discharge, and confirms that
the applicant has no other VA education benefits available for use, and
is not in receipt of compensation for a service-connected disability
rated totally disabling by reason of unemployability. After eligibility
has been established, the applicant identifies his or her intended
high-demand occupation category and applicable training institution.
Information about the high-demand occupations, identified by DOL, is
available on VA's VOW to Hire Heroes Web site as well as DOL's Web
site.
VA began accepting VRAP applications on May 15, 2012, earlier than
our original deadline of June 1. In April, VA education claims
personnel received training necessary to process VRAP applications and
provide notifications of eligibility decisions to applicants through
issuance of certificates of eligibility. Claims examiners will use
existing systems to process claims and follow similar procedures to
those for other benefit programs. VA has provided instruction on
aspects of the program that differ from existing benefits. VA's claims
processing IT systems were modified to process and issue payments to
VRAP participants. Once the school certifies enrollment for the VRAP
student, his or her claim will be processed in the same manner as
Montgomery GI Bill claims, using the Benefits Delivery Network. VA will
review daily reports on the number of approved participants to ensure
compliance with the parameter of the law to approve only 45,000
applications prior to October 1, 2012.
To ensure this program's success, VA and DOL staff and leadership
continue to collaborate and develop implementation strategies, share
information, and participate in biweekly meetings to track progress.
Internally, VA staff and project managers meet daily to discuss
implementation status and ensure we remain on track to meet the July 1,
2012, implementation date.
Outreach
A comprehensive outreach program was developed to successfully
launch and implement VRAP. Reaching the target population of 35 to 60
year old unemployed Veterans presents challenges. According to the
latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 400,000
unemployed Veterans are between the ages of 35 and 60. If VA and DOL
are successful in signing up 99,000 Veterans, then one in four
unemployed Veterans in this age range will participate in VRAP. A
centralized system to identify eligible Veterans does not exist.
Therefore, VA and DOL are working with their numerous stakeholders to
reach eligible Veterans, including: other Federal, state, and local
government entities; Veterans service organizations; non-profit
organizations; military associations; military alumni associations; and
private companies. The central component of this outreach plan is the
VOW Web site. Outreach materials and postings on various Web sites
direct interested Veterans and organizations to the VOW Web site for
additional information. Frequently asked questions, employer
information, and VOW fact sheets are also available on the web page.
VA and DOL are working collaboratively to ensure all DOL One-Stop
Career Center office staff have the information and tools they need to
successfully assist Veterans in applying for VOW benefits. VA will
continue to work with DOL to reach as many Veterans as possible.
Prior to opening the VRAP application period on May 15, information
about the VOW to Hire Heroes Act was posted on the Web sites of
numerous organizations, including: DOL, Army (MyArmyBenefits),
America's Job Exchange, Military.com, American Legion Department of
Illinois: First Division, Together We Served, Vets Rock, and Blue Star
Families.
VA developed an outreach and communication strategy that focuses on
several areas. This strategy leverages multiple outreach methods to
ensure that VA reaches the target population of 35-60 year old
unemployed Veterans. We have implemented a comprehensive mix of web-
based outreach and direct stakeholder engagement to reach Veterans who
may not use the internet as their primary method of learning about
benefits.
Emails and Letters
Since March 2012, VA has emailed individuals and groups with the
potential to reach over four million Veterans. VA emailed: 121,000
Veterans and 2,700 employers who use VetSuccess.gov, over 16,000
registered VA4Vets users, and over 80 non-profit organizations. We have
also posted a message on the eBenefits message center. The results have
been encouraging. For example, the Defense Finance and Accounting
Service (DFAS) will distribute VRAP information to all Servicemembers,
National Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, and Federal
civilian employees.
VA used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify areas
with the highest Veterans' unemployment. VA emailed the local
government officials in the 100 counties with the highest Veterans'
unemployment to request their assistance in sharing the message about
the VRAP program and VA's acceptance of applications starting on May
15, 2012.
This month, VA initiated a VRAP email campaign to individuals who
contacted VA via our electronic internet inquiry system within the past
6 months. VA also developed an email subscription that allows
individuals to sign up to receive emails regarding the program. As of
May 15, 2012, VA delivered over 460,000 emails, which were viewed or
opened by 23 percent of recipients (which is 12 percent above the
average ``open rate'' according to MailerMailer').
Additionally, we reached out to several direct-mail organizations to
explore the potential for limited direct-mailings to Veterans.
Social Media
VA is leveraging its social media to reach the target population.
As of May 14, we have posted 15 Facebook messages on the Post-9/11 GI
Bill, VBA, and VA Facebook pages to publicize information about VRAP.
The posts provide general program information and salary outlooks for
specific high-demand career fields. These posts yielded over 1,600
``shares,'' 1,200 ``likes,'' and 250 ``comments.'' VA has posted 13
tweets on the VA and VBA Twitter accounts, which resulted in 174
``retweets'' and 37 ``favorites.'' Also, on May 10, 2012, VA posted a
blog entitled ``Coming Soon: A Program to Retrain Vets.'' Additionally,
on May 15, the day VA began accepting VRAP applications, the White
House's Joining Forces Team sent out a blog notice that reached almost
1.4 million individuals.
VA met with representatives from Google and is developing plans for
advertisements on the Web site in June. We posted VRAP information on
Web sites of more than 20 LinkedIn groups that include about 235,000
members. The groups included military networking groups, Veteran
groups, and industry networking groups.
Media and Partnerships
Several newspapers and media outlets have or will publish free of
charge VRAP advertisements. Publications include: Federal, Air Force,
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Times; the Fayetteville Observer (Fort
Bragg); and the San Antonio Express News. These papers have a
readership of over 300,000 subscribers, which does not include the free
Military Times publications provided to military units. Additionally,
many companies have agreed to include VRAP information on their Web
sites and in their newsletters.
VA is working with employers and community organizations to
distribute information about VRAP. VA routinely monitors media coverage
of Veterans' employment to find and post information regarding upcoming
job fairs and events on VA Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. In
recent months, VA has highlighted VRAP in a variety of interviews and
articles related to Veteran unemployment. Media outlets publishing
information from VA include: the Atlanta Journal, USA TODAY, the Wall
Street Journal, and the Pittsburgh Gazette.
VA is using available internal and external mechanisms to reach as
many unemployed Veterans as possible. VA held numerous meetings and
discussions with stakeholders, such as the United States Automobile
Association, LinkedIn, Armed Forces Services Corporation, and the
National Governors' Association. VBA collaborated with VA's Center for
Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership office, which will outreach
and provide program information to over 1,200 community organizations,
and Veterans service organizations, Veterans alumni groups, non-profit
organizations that serve Veterans, and community organizations in
states with high unemployment rates. VA asked State Approving Agency
partners and over 900 vocational rehabilitation contract counselors to
carry our message. VA field staff continue to participate in local job
fairs, and we have placed particular emphasis on the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes Job Fairs. VA will also conduct a three-
day Hiring Fair and Open House from June 26-28, 2012 and its annual
National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo.
All of VA's outreach efforts are focused on distributing
information about VRAP and directing individuals to the VOW Web site
for additional information. Prior to VA accepting VRAP applications on
May 15, there were almost 17,000 visitors to the VOW Web site, and over
13,000 unique individuals signed up for VRAP emails.
Section 222_Individualized assessment on equivalence between military
occupational specialty (MOS) and qualifications for private
sector employment
The Department of Defense (DoD) will provide the individualized
assessments to Servicemembers and share the assessments with DOL and VA
following the study that DOL expects to begin by October 2012 and
complete in November 2013. VA's VR&E Service is collaborating with DoD
and DOL on the scope of the study. VA uses the assessments to develop
education and employment goals for transitioning Servicemembers who
have applied for education or VR&E benefits. This provision of the law
will enhance our beneficiaries' ability to meet their academic and
career objectives.
Section 231_Two-year extension to provide Vocational Rehabilitation to
Servicemembers
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between VA and DoD is in place
that covers this 2-year extension, and VR&E Service has issued
procedures for immediate implementation. This MOU covers VR&E
counseling for Servicemembers transitioning through the Integrated
Disability Evaluation System (IDES) at designated locations. Early
access to VR&E services and assistance offers Servicemembers resources
that aid their recovery, transition, and reintegration into civilian
life. Eligible Servicemembers are referred to VR&E if they are:
evaluated by a DoD or VA physician and are determined to have a severe
injury or illness that could cause their referral into IDES; assigned
to a Service's Wounded Warrior Program and are participating in the
Education and Employment Initiative (E2I) program; or being processed
through IDES and referred to a Physical Evaluation Board. The IDES
project plan, which provides for 110 VR&E counselors to be stationed at
selected IDES sites in FY 2012, will enable aggressive implementation
of this section. VR&E Service issued guidance and began providing these
services in February 2012 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada; and the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California.
Additional locations have been identified, and VA is coordinating with
DoD to secure the space needed for full implementation.
Section 232_Expand VA authority to reimburse salaries of Veterans'
participating in a VR&E program
Section 232 of the bill allows VA to expand the Special Employer
Incentive (SEI) program to Veterans participating in a VR&E program,
even if the Veteran has not completed a training program under VR&E.
VR&E issued procedures and staff training to implement this provision
in January 2012. Employers who hire Veterans will receive up to a 50
percent reimbursement of the Veteran's salary during the SEI program,
which typically lasts up to 6 months, while also receiving supplies,
equipment, uniforms, and any necessary accommodations. VA is
responsible for determining eligibility, and participants have an
increased chance of being hired for permanent employment. Veterans
learn valuable skills in practical settings while receiving one-on-one
support from their Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor or Employment
Coordinator.
Section 233_Additional VR&E services to Veterans with exhausted rights
to unemployment benefits
VR&E has worked with DOL to identify and conduct outreach to
Veterans who may qualify for an additional 12 months of vocational
rehabilitation services under section 233 of the VOW to Hire Heroes
Act. VR&E instructed field personnel to begin accepting referrals and
applications in February 2012. VR&E issued final procedures and
training to the field in May 2012, so that individuals may begin
rehabilitation programs by June 1, 2012, the effective date of this
provision.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to
answer any questions you or other Members of the Committee may have.
Prepared Statement of Mr. Ismael ``Junior'' Ortiz
Good morning Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Filner, and
distinguished Members of the Committee. Thank you for the invitation to
participate in today's hearing on ``Reviewing the Implementation of
Major Provisions of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.'' As I stated
when I testified before the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity in
December, the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 is an important part of
the Administration's efforts to ensure that America fulfills its
obligations to our returning Servicemembers, Veterans, and their
families.
President Obama, Secretary Solis, and Secretary Shinseki are
committed to serving these brave men and women as well as they have
served us. In support of this goal, the Department of Labor (DOL) is
working to implement the VOW Act along with other new initiatives to
train, transition and employ Veterans. These initiatives are in
addition to the core programs DOL has been administering for decades,
providing Veterans and transitioning Servicemembers with critical
resources and expertise to assist and prepare them to obtain meaningful
careers, maximize their employment opportunities, and protect their
employment rights.
DOL is fully committed to serving our transitioning Servicemembers,
Veterans and their families through our current programs as well as new
initiatives like VRAP. DOL ensures that Veterans, disabled Veterans and
eligible military spouses receive priority of service by the staff of
all DOL-funded employment and training programs including the many
programs operated out of the approximately 2,800 One-Stop Career
Centers (One-Stop Centers) that serve as the cornerstone for the
Nation's workforce investment system. As you know, much of the
Department's work with Veterans and other eligible individuals is
concentrated on maximizing the employment and training opportunities
developed through strong relationships with the State Workforce
Agencies. DOL has decades of experience working with the employer
community, at both local and national levels, to recruit, train, and
find employment for Veterans and transitioning Servicemembers.
As a result, we are able to provide millions of Veterans with the
training; assistance and support they need to find and retain
employment. During the last program year alone (PY 2010), DOL served
over 1.7 million Veterans in various employment and training programs
with strong outcomes. For instance, the annual outcome data reported on
December 31, 2011 shows that nearly 570,000 Veterans who were
unemployed at the time of their program participation found employment
within 90 days of program completion.
The VOW Act has enhanced and added to the programs and services DOL
provides to Veterans, transitioning Servicemembers and their families.
Since the legislation was enacted in November of 2011, DOL has been
working diligently to implement the provisions as I will explain
section by section below:
VETERANS RETRAINING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Section 211 of the VOW Act established the Veterans Retraining
Assistance Program for unemployed Veterans aged 35 to 60. The VRAP,
which entitles eligible Veterans to retraining assistance for up to 12
months when they pursue a qualified program or training, must be up and
running no later than July 1, 2012. The VOW Act specifies that the
Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) and DOL will jointly administer
the process for determining Veterans' eligibility for VRAP.
Specifically, DOL is responsible for determining applicants' initial
eligibility based on age, employment status, and previous participation
in other job training programs. Following DOL's determination, the VA
is required to certify applicants based on several additional criteria,
such as the conditions of an applicant's discharge from active duty
service and his or her eligibility for other forms of assistance. Other
DOL-specific requirements include identifying the high-demand
occupations that will be the focus of VRAP training, and contacting
Veterans within 30 days of completing or terminating the VRAP training
to inform them of the employment placement services that are available
to them. The VOW Act also requires DOL to work with VA to establish a
process for resolving appeals of eligibility determinations made by the
agencies.
We are well on our way to fully implementing this program. Early
on, DOL established the necessary Memorandum of Agreement with VA to
execute this program. DOL then identified over 200 high-demand
occupations in which Veterans could be trained. These occupations were
selected because they meet the VRAP training criteria and are projected
to have high growth rates and/or large numbers of openings based on
Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections for 2010 to 2020
(more than 10,000 national openings and above-average projected growth
rates of greater than 14.3 percent over the period). In fact, the more
than 200 high-demand occupations represent 14,796,700 total projections
over this period. Additionally, DOL has enhanced the My Next Move for
Veterans Web site to display VRAP information during online career
searches, which allows VRAP applicants an opportunity to explore and
learn about their career options. After working closely with VA to
create an online application process, we began accepting applications
on May 15, 2012.
Outreach and Technical Assistance
DOL has been engaged in an extensive outreach effort in
collaboration with the VA to inform eligible Veterans, the public
workforce system, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), and other
stakeholders on VRAP. These efforts include the creation and
dissemination of fact sheets, press releases, blog entries, email
alerts, flyers, and other communication techniques. In addition, both
the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) and Employment and
Training Administration (ETA) have issued guidance to their respective
constituencies. VETS issued Veterans' Program Letter 7-12, and ETA
issued Training and Employment Notice 43-11, which provided information
about VRAP to the public workforce system. We will make additional
information available as procedures and protocols for implementing the
program are finalized. DOL has strongly encouraged State Workforce
Agencies, Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and
Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVERs) funded by VETS
through the Jobs for Veterans State Grants Program, and other workforce
system stakeholders, to assist potentially eligible Veterans who come
into a One-Stop Career Center, and to reach out to potentially eligible
Veterans who have previously received services through the Wegner-
Peyser Act, Workforce Investment Act (WIA), or from DVOPs or LVERs.
DOL's regional offices will maintain contact with the states, DVOPs,
and LVERs, as well as support outreach by providing technical
assistance, information about possible outreach opportunities, and
informal check-ins.
A DOL and VA webinar was held on May 9, 2012 to inform and train
the public workforce system on the VRAP program. The webinar included
398 attendees, and over 4,800 people have viewed the archived webinar
to date. Topics included: an overview of the VRAP program, the
eligibility determination process from both the DOL and VA perspective,
a discussion of the high demand occupations for VRAP, a demonstration
of changes to the Web site My Next Move for Veterans, which included
changes to sync with the VRAP program and a walk-through of the online
application by VA staff. DOL also sent out an email push to more than
4,000 members of the workforce system. The audience of the webinar and
email push included: State Directors of Veterans Employment and
Training, State Labor Commissioners, State Veterans Agency Directors,
State WIA Liaisons, State Workforce Administrators, State Veterans
Coordinators, members and staff of local Workforce Investment Boards,
One-Stop Career Center Managers, ETA Regional Administrators, and VETS
Regional Administrators.
TRAINING AND REHABILITATION FOR VETERANS WITH SERVICE-CONNECTED
DISABILITIES WHO HAVE EXHAUSTED RIGHTS TO UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
UNDER STATE LAW
Section 233 of the VOW Act amends current law to allow individuals
with service-connected disabilities who have exhausted Unemployment
Insurance (UI) benefits under state law to seek assistance from
additional rehabilitation programs specified in the legislation as of
tomorrow, June 1, 2012. The VA is primarily responsible for the
administration of this provision; however, DOL had a key role in
providing VA with input to developing the eligibility determination
process. The agreed approach for determining that an individual has
exhausted regular state UI benefits is that VA will send a letter to UI
agencies with the applicant's information to request validation of
exhaustion of benefits along with a release of information form
indicating the applicant's consent. To determine that the individual
has no future entitlement to regular state benefits, they will be
instructed to apply for benefits and receive a denial. This process
allows for a review of all recent employment that may trigger new
benefit entitlement. It is also used for other benefit programs that
require information related to UI, such as the Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program. The Department is in the process of issuing an
Unemployment Insurance Program Letter to the states that describes the
program and shares VA's approach to validating both exhaustion of
regular UI benefits and/or no new/additional entitlement to state UI
benefits.
MANDATORY PARTICIPATION OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES IN THE
TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (TAP) OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Section 221 of the VOW Act requires mandatory participation, with
some exemption authority, in the Employment Assistance, Job Training
Assistance, and Other Transitional Services under title 10 United
States Code section 1144, better known as the TAP Employment Workshop.
While this requirement is the responsibility of the Secretaries of
Defense and Homeland Security, the Secretary of Labor is required under
this section to enter into a detailed agreement to carry out this
section with the aforementioned Secretaries and the Secretary of VA.
The department leads are in the process of redrafting the Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA) to ensure there is clear understanding and guidance as
to how the mandatory participation requirement will be carried out.
INDIVIDUALIZED ASSESSMENT FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES UNDER
TRANSITION ASSISTANCE ON EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN SKILLS DEVELOPED
IN MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
REQUIRED FOR CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Section 222 of the VOW Act requires DOL, in consultation with the
VA and DoD, to enter into a contract with an organization for a study
that identifies equivalence of skills between military and civilian
employment. DOL currently has online tools that ``identify
equivalences'' by enabling Veterans to enter a military occupation code
or title and look up related information on related civilian careers
and on related job openings by geographic area. DOL has also received
information from DoD regarding their ongoing skills assessment
activities.
Our plan is to leverage current DoD research already underway to
identify additional equivalencies and enhance existing online tools to
support individualized assessments. We also plan to expand the work
being conducted by DoD to identify civilian equivalencies for
additional military occupations not included in the current DoD study.
TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM CONTRACTING
Section 223 of the VOW Act requires DOL to contract out TAP
counseling, employment services, and assessments at all locations by
November 21, 2013. The contract specifications and statement of work
have been drafted to meet this requirement. DOL published a Request for
Information (RFI) on May 14, 2012, to gather information to help make a
decision on what steps to take next. As DOL testified before the
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity last year, we are in the process
of changing over to an all-contract facilitator staff for the DOL
Employment Workshop and believe we are on track to meet this
requirement by the deadline. In the interim, the VETS-funded state
employees currently facilitating the workshops are being trained in
delivering the new curriculum. Professional contract facilitators will
be trained in delivery of the new curriculum once the contract is in
place.
IMPROVED ACCESS TO APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES WHO ARE BEING SEPARATED FROM ACTIVE DUTY OR RETIRED
Section 225 of the VOW Act permits members of the armed forces who
are eligible for TAP to participate in Registered Apprenticeship or
Pre-Apprenticeship programs. DOL believes there are numerous
opportunities for Veterans in the Registered Apprenticeship system and
is exploring potential connections to the United States Military
Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) and Guard Apprenticeship Program
Initiative (GAPI). Last month, we created a VA/DOL flyer outlining
benefits available to transitioning Servicemembers under the VOW Act
that includes language referencing TAP eligible Servicemembers' ability
to participate in either the Registered Apprenticeship or Pre-
Apprenticeship programs. In addition, we have established a working
group of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship
consisting of employer, labor and public representatives from the
Registered Apprenticeship Community to identify options to improve
access for Veterans to Registered Apprenticeship programs.
COLLABORATIVE VETERANS' TRAINING, MENTORING, AND PLACEMENT PROGRAM
Section 234 of the VOW Act amends chapter 41 of title 38 U.S.C. to
require DOL to establish a collaborative Veterans training, mentoring
and placement grant program. More specifically, the Secretary would
award grants to not more than three eligible nonprofit organizations
for periods of 2 years to provide training and mentoring for eligible
Veterans who seek employment. While $4.5 million was authorized to be
appropriated for the period consisting of FY 2012 and 2013, funds were
not appropriated for this new program. Although VETS cannot carry out
Section 234 at this time, on April 30, we issued a Solicitation for
Grant Applications for 2012 Veterans' Workforce Investment Program
grants. These VWIP grants are similarly intended encourage innovative
practices, including mentoring.
ENHANCEMENT OF DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMON CREDENTIALING AND LICENSING OF
VETERANS
Section 237 of the VOW Act amends section 4114 of title 38 U.S.C.,
requiring VETS to conduct a demonstration project on credentials in
consultation with ETA, followed by a study and a report no later
than180 days after November 21, 2013. VETS and ETA staff are working
closely to complete the procurement process and begin the demonstration
project by June 30, 2012.
INCLUSION OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN ANNUAL REPORT ON VETERAN JOB
COUNSELING, TRAINING, AND PLACEMENT PROGRAMS OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR
Section 238 of the VOW Act amends section 4107(c) of title 38
U.S.C. by requiring the annual report mandated under that section to
include new performance measures on DOL Veteran counseling, training
and placement programs. DOL has developed the Information Collection
Request to modify and extend the Labor Exchange Reporting System to
collect the new data and is awaiting approval as part of the Paperwork
Reduction Act. Additional data elements will be added to the Labor
Exchange Reporting System (LERS) to collect median earnings as well as
average earnings. We anticipate this change occurring before July 1,
2012.
CLARIFICATION OF PRIORITY OF SERVICE FOR VETERANS IN DEPARTMENT OF
LABOR JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS
Section 239 of the VOW Act amends current law to clarify that
priority of service includes ``giving access to such services to a
covered person before a non-covered person, or if resources are limited
giving access to such services to a covered person instead of a non-
covered person.'' To enforce and track this change in law there will be
another report requirement added (9002F) to the LERS by July 1, 2012 to
the system for Priority of Service Reporting.
EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING TRAINING AT THE NATIONAL VETERANS'
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICES INSTITUTE (NVTI)
Section 240 of the VOW Act amends section 4109 of title 38 U.S.C.
to require that Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists
and Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER) who receive
training from NVTI are given a final examination. Examination results
are required to be shared with the entity that sponsored the DVOP or
LVER who received the training. DOL oversaw the creation and validation
of examination currently in place. DOL also developed the remedial
training and testing for those who do not pass the final examination.
The first examinations were administered to the NVTI trainees on May
21, 2012.
REQUIREMENTS FOR FULL-TIME DISABLED VETERANS' OUTREACH PROGRAM
SPECIALISTS AND LOCAL VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT REPRESENTATIVES
Section 241 requires the Secretary to conduct audits to ensure that
DVOPs and LVERs are complying with the mandated responsibilities and
further, are not serving non-Veterans. Additionally, Section 241 allows
state governors to request a waiver and hire consolidated DVOP/LVER
staff. VETS will issue a Veterans Program Letter (VPL) clearly
articulating the expectations for the DVOPs and LVERs under this
section to the state workforce agencies. Finally, DOL is developing
auditing protocols for pilot testing. The audits will begin in the
third quarter of this fiscal year. To implement the consolidated
position, DOL developed the relevant criteria and is now working with a
few states to validate the process and determine potential impact on
the overall workforce system. DOL expects to implement this section in
July 2012 to coincide with the release of the Jobs for Veterans State
Grants' (JVSG) state planning guidance issued that month.
RETURNING HEROES AND WOUNDED WARRIORS WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDITS
Section 261 of the VOW Act includes the extension of important tax
credits that were an integral part of the President's agenda.
Specifically, the VOW Act amends Section 51 the Internal Revenue Code
by amending and expanding the definition of ``qualified Veterans'' to
grant a tax credit to employers for hiring certain qualified Veterans,
called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit or WOTC. The VOW Act extends the
current category for Veterans receiving Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, extends and amends the categories
of disability for Veterans with service-connected disabilities, and
established two new unemployed Veteran categories, one for Veterans who
have been unemployed for 4 weeks, and one for Veterans who have been
unemployed for 6 months. VOW further amends the Internal Revenue Code
by allowing 501(c) tax-exempt organizations that hire qualified
Veterans to claim the WOTCagainst the employer's share of social
security tax imposed under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.
While the IRS is primarily responsible for carrying out the tax
credit provisions of the VOW Act, the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs)
process, verify and certify timely filed and eligible certification
requests by employers or their representatives. DOL funds the SWAs'
administration of these provisions, provides technical assistance to
the SWAs, oversees overall implementation and tracks the WOTC data on
the number of certifications issued by the SWAs to employers for
Veterans hired. Once employers receive a SWA certification, employers
can then claim the actual tax credit with the IRS. As a result of the
VOW Act amendments and provisions, ETA issued Training and Employment
Guidance Letter 30-11, which provided the public workforce system with
guidance on this new provision and related IRS guidance on submission
of Form 8850.
Repurposing of Funds
In addition, the Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L.
112-74, Division F, Title I) provided the authority to repurpose
resources from an existing demonstration project to make them available
for other pilots, demonstrations, and research activities, and for
implementation of the VOW Act within the Employment and Training
Administration. A total of $5.489 million of PY 2011 resources is now
available for these purposes, including updating state data systems for
the Priority of Service reporting requirements and adjustments to the
Work Opportunity Tax Credit, updating Federal management information
systems to collect revised performance reports from states to support
implementation of VOW, studying and disseminating equivalencies between
military and civilian occupations, and providing technical assistance
to the public workforce system on implementation of VOW.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Filner, and distinguished Members of
the Committee, DOL and our sister agencies are committed to ensuring
successful implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 in
support of Veterans' success in the civilian labor market. We are well
on our way to fulfilling this goal. Thank you again for the opportunity
to testify today. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may
have.
Prepared Statement of Mr. Mark Andrekovich
MAXIMUS appreciates the opportunity to submit testimony for
consideration by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs as it reviews the
implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act.
For nearly 40 years, MAXIMUS has partnered with state, Federal, and
local governments to provide health and human service programs to a
diverse array of communities. Since 1978, MAXIMUS has helped companies
process eligible new hires through the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit
Program, now the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program (WOTC).
As you know, in late 2011, Congress passed The Veterans Opportunity
to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act, including a tax credit to assist
veterans and wounded warriors in returning to work. On November 21,
2011 President Obama signed the Act into law. The VOW to Hire Heroes
Act has the potential to help veterans obtain employment.
We respectfully request that Congress act, as soon as possible, to
extend the provisions of WOTC that expired, with the exception of the
veterans hiring provision, at the end of calendar year 2011. The
success of the Veterans Tax Credit requires the infrastructure of the
larger WOTC program.
Many businesses that participate in WOTC share the perspective
that, without full WOTC reauthorization, the program falls short in
supporting their hiring needs. The most recent Department of Labor data
shows that less than 2 percent of WOTC tax credits issued were for
veterans. Without reauthorization of the entire WOTC program, the
administrative burden of processing tax credits is too great for
businesses and veterans will not receive the opportunity to obtain the
gainful employment they deserve.
The WOTC program helped businesses and more than 940,000
individuals last year alone. With reauthorization of the full WOTC
program, states and their private sector partners can successfully
implement the new Veterans Tax Credit.
We are writing to ask that Congress ensure the success of the VOW
to Hire Heroes Act and help stimulate economic growth by reauthorizing
the entire WOTC program.