ICYMI: VA and Labor Officials Update Congress on VOW Act

In case you missed it:  Yesterday the House Veterans Affairs Committee hosted a hearing to discuss the implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. Your VFW was on hand to hear VA and Department of Labor officials discuss progress in implementing provisions of the comprehensive veterans’ employment law, which the VFW helped Congress to pass late last year.

VA Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training Services Junior Ortiz appeared before the committee to explain how their agencies have collaborated to implement new programs established by the VOW Act.

To view a full list of yesterday's witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, click here. To view an archived webcast of the hearing, click here.

One of the VOW Act’s key provisions was the establishment of the Veterans Retraining Assistance, or VRAP, program, which offers one year of Montgomery G.I. Bill-style education benefits to unemployed veterans between the ages of 35-60 who are ineligible for other VA education benefit programs. In April, VA commissioned a web site to highlight programs like VRAP, and started accepting applications for the program on May 15 – two weeks ahead of the scheduled May 30 due date.

Hickey said that to date VA has received more than 12,000 applications to participate in the program, crediting the initial results to extensive outreach through the VFW and more than 200 nonprofit community organizations, as well as in military publications and local public service airtime.

House VA Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Ga., expressed concerns about VA and VETS outreach to veterans’ employment representatives at DOL employment one-stop centers across the country.

Ortiz admitted that VETS did not conduct early outreach because policies were not in place until early May. However, the department was able to quickly deliver accurate information to each one-stop, and hosted a successful webinar for workforce development staff prior to VRAP implementation on May 15.

During the hearing Hickey addressed concerns on over-enrollment in the initial roll-out of VRAP, explaining that if 45,001 veterans registered for the 45,000 available slots, the extra veteran would still be verified through the program and informed that he or she would be eligible to receive compensation for training starting Oct. 1, when an additional 54,000 slots become available.

Hickey also explained that to date, only 23 percent of veteran applicants have been turned away from the program, but that of this 23 percent, applicants were either not veterans or were eligible to use another VA education program. She then explained that VA was providing veterans with their notice-of-eligibility for those other VA education programs “in the same breath” as their denial for VRAP, allowing veterans to enroll in a program and receive their VA education benefits in a timely manner.

Since it was signed into law, veterans’ advocates have been skeptical about the one-year cap on benefits. Ortiz explained that veterans who enroll in the program will receive extensive follow-up from VETS to help find jobs once they exhaust their benefits, complete a career training program, or simply terminate enrollment.

The VFW will continue to monitor implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, and we encourage veterans to log on to benefits.va.gov/VOW to learn if you are eligible to participate in any new programs. Check back regularly for updates.

(Image: Yesterday's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Department of Labor and VA implementation of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

VA Introduces VOW to Hire Heroes Act Web Site

The VA today launched a new Web site, highlighting the latest programs implemented through last year's VOW to Hire Heroes Act, the comprehensive veterans' employment bill that VFW helped sign into law.

The new site, benefits.va.gov/VOW,  focuses on four specific improvements to VA programs designed to help veterans find quality careers or hone the skills necessary to compete in a cut-throat civilian job market. Each section describes new programs in detail, offering specific eligibility information and policy changes that will allow veterans to more easily access available employment and job training resources.

Two of the most significant programs are the extension of additional G.I. Bill-style education benefits for unemployed veterans between the ages of 35-60 through the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP, and the extension of additional Vocational Rehabilitation benefits for unemployed disabled veterans.

Unemployed veterans who qualify for VRAP will be offered an additional 12 months of education benefits to help develop new job skills. Program enrollment is limited to 45,000 veterans during fiscal year 2012, and to 54,000 participants from October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014.

Department of Labor and VA will begin to accept applications for VRAP starting on May 12, 2012. Your VFW will keep you posted with details on how to apply.

Unemployed disabled veterans who have already completed Vocational Rehabilitation will also be eligible for an additional year of Voc Rehab benefits starting June 1, 2012, and VA is already accepting applications to participate in the new program.

The VFW has made veterans' employment a top priority for the last few years and scored a major victory for veterans with last year's passage of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. With this in mind, we encourage all eligible veterans to learn about the new programs included in the law and take full advantage of the benefits and programs you have earned.

VFW Joins Labor to Observe Redesigned TAP Program

Last week the VFW had the opportunity to sit in on the Department of Labor's latest iteration of the redesigned transition assistance program, or TAP. DOL Veterans Employment and Training Service, or VETS, is in the process of reworking the curriculum for its two-and-a-half day employment workshop in an effort to ensure that transitioning service members have all the resources necessary to pursue a meaningful civilian career after military service.

"Observing the latest iteration of the TAP redesign process was a critical step in offering insight into how the program is delivered," said VFW Deputy Legislative Director Ryan Gallucci, who sat in on last week's TAP workshop at Fort Belvoir, Va. "VFW members expect us to have our fingers on the pulse of the veterans' community, offering this kind of insight to veterans' policy decision-makers, which is why the VFW is happy that VETS chose to include stakeholders within the veterans' community to not only observe the program, but to offer our unique perspective on how we believe the program should proceed."

The VFW will now offer its feedback on the program, as VETS continues to polish its latest product, slated for a complete roll-out this fall.

The VFW has long worked with VETS to ensure service members and veterans have access to the viable civilian careers through a wide array of services offered by VETS like TAP, or career one-stops in each state where Disabled Veterans Outreach Program specialists, or DVOPS, and local veterans employment representatives, or LVERS, serve as direct conduits for veterans in the community to connect with employers in their area.

Over the last few years, modernizing and mandating TAP participation have been top legislative priorities for the VFW. Last year, the VFW succeeded in mandating TAP for transitioning service members through the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, ensuring those who leave the military have a baseline of information with which they can make a successful transition. Now, the VFW is focusing on extending access to TAP resources for veterans who have since separated from the military, pushing for the TAP Modernization Act of 2012, a piece of legislation that would create a pilot program for states to offer TAP resources in places where veteran unemployment is highest.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Fla., introduced the bill, H.R. 4051, and the VFW offered its support during a recent hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. To read the bill, click here. To read VFW's testimony, click here.

Veterans' employment opportunities remain a top priority for the VFW in light of daunting veterans' unemployment numbers over the last few years. Though recent numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the situation is improving, the VFW will remain vigilant to ensure that veterans receive the kinds of career opportunities they have earned. Check back regularly with this blog for updates.

Thanks to Our Readers, VFW Blog Sets Traffic Record

In February -- the shortest month of the year -- the VFW Capitol Hill blog shattered its monthly traffic record with more than 11,000 visitors reading stories and posting comments. The staff of the VFW Washington office wants to thank our readers and supporters for joining the conversation.

We hope you have enjoyed receiving timely and accurate information directly from our office about our day-to-day work here in Washington, and we sincerely appreciate the kind of feedback we've received. Your feedback has helped to inform our decision-making on issues like proposed changes to military benefits and retirement compensation, veterans' health care, and unemployment.

Since Kansas City gave us our own blog, we've seen traffic continue to grow precipitously each month. We know the best is yet to come, which is why we hope you will continue to read and share our stories, and submit stories of your own. After all, members of Congress only listen to us because of the work the VFW does in their home districts.

This month, we received several submissions from advocates coming to Washington for the 2012 VFW Legislative Conference, which you can read on the blog now. We love receiving these kinds of personal stories, and we hope to host more content like this moving forward.

If you have stories or photos of your own veterans' advocacy work you would like us to consider, send them in an email to vfwac@vfw.org. If you want to know the kinds of information we're looking for, we will soon offer an easy "After Action Report" worksheet on the VFW in DC homepage where you simply have to fill in the blanks, and we'll take care of the rest. Once it's live, we'll also post it on this blog.

The voice of our 2 million members truly resonates in Washington. This is why veterans' employment legislation was the only American jobs bill signed into law last year. This is why Congressmen flood the hopper with bills on veterans' issues each election cycle. Let's show them what the VFW is capable of.

In the coming months, we plan to introduce some new interactive features on the blog, like interactive live webchats on veterans' issues and quick videos explaining bills critical to the VFW.

Thank you, again, for making our blog a success. Keep reading and we'll keep working to ensure veterans' issues are a top priority in Washington.

We’re Back, and Looking for Your Stories in the New Year

With Congress still on recess, the work hasn’t stopped for the VFW’s office on Capitol Hill. This week, we returned from the New Years break and hit the ground running to promote the VFW’s legislative priority goals in anticipation of the second session of the 112th Congress.

With almost 470 representatives and senators up for reelection this November, now is the perfect time to reach out to them in their home districts and educate them on issues critical to the veterans’ community. With this in mind, the VFW’s Capitol Hill blog would like to hear from you as you interact with your elected officials to promote the VFW’s legislative priority goals, and to discuss military and veterans’ issues.

Whether you’re meeting face-to-face, attending events, hosting town hall meetings, or attending forums in your area, please send us your photos and information on these events, such as “who, what, when, where and why” for consideration to be published on the blog. We are not looking for photos from political rallies or campaign work; we are looking to highlight the work of the VFW to inform those serving in public office about veterans’ issues.

Our blog has the ability to reach more than 2 million members of the VFW, and thousands more veterans’ advocates, all of whom are interested in making a difference for veterans. However, our voice on Capitol Hill is only as strong as the voice of VFW advocates in Congressional districts across the country. We designed this blog to help share your stories, as well, making sure that we reach our members of Congress and ensure they make the right decisions when it comes to our service members, veterans and their families.

Thanks to the work of our advocates in 2011, we successfully passed comprehensive veterans’ employment legislation with the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, and protected key benefits like TRICARE for Life and presumptive service connected conditions. We also sent a stern message to Congress that we will protect military and veterans’ benefits at all costs with the roll-out of the “10 for 10” campaign. In 2012, we hope to build on these successes, and we hope you will join us in that mission.

To share your photos and stories, submit them electronically to vfwac@vfw.org, and continue to follow this blog, highlighting our day-to-day work protecting our service members, veterans and their loved ones.