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.)

ICYMI: VFW Testifies on Veterans Health Bills

In Case You Missed It:  On Monday night, VFW Legislative Associate Shane Barker appeared before the House Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee to discuss pending legislation to improve veterans’ health care. To view an archived webcast of the hearing, click here.

In his remarks, which can be read here, Barker expressed VFW’s support for bills that would create accountability within Department of Defense and VA for the Federal Recovery Coordination, or FRC, program (H.R. 3016); improve access to VA and DoD informational databases for Vet Centers (H.R. 3245); ensure caregivers for service members suffering severe illnesses also have access to VA caregiver program benefits (H.R. 3279); codify safety standards for homeless veterans’ transitional housing (H.R. 4079); and establish a burn pit registry for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans possibly exposed to toxins from open-air burn pits overseas (H.R. 3337).

Barker expressed VFW’s support for the concept behind one bill, H.R. 1460, which would automatically enroll service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan with VA healthcare. However, Barker said that the VFW was concerned that veterans who do not deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, but suffer service-connected injuries, would not be given the same priority for VA health care as their deployed counterparts. The VFW asked for the bill to be amended to include mandatory enrollment for non-deployed service members that satisfy the VA’s enrollment requirements.

The VFW opposed H.R. 3723, a bill that would overhaul VA’s fee basis system by insisting that VA enter into contracts with private health care providers. The VFW is concerned that VA could not successfully execute the types of contracts necessary to properly anticipate and successfully deliver the kinds of acute care needed by veterans that must utilize the fee-basis system. Barker also went on to say that the VFW was concerned that new business practices could encourage veterans to leave the VA health network entirely, threatening the viability of the VA health care system. The VFW suggested that VA instead focus on implementation of the Patient Aligned Care Team, or PACT, model and the Patient Centered Community Care, or PCCC, program to improve care delivery for current beneficiaries and veterans who need to utilize fee-basis care.

To view a full list of witnesses from Monday’s hearing and to read their prepared remarks on each of the bills, click here.

Your VFW will continue to work closely with the subcommittee as these bills move through Congress, ensuring all of our concerns are addressed before a subcommittee mark-up. To voice your opinion on these bills directly to your representatives in Congress, click on the VFW Action Corps page here, and as always, check back regularly with this blog for updates.