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Are Vets' Employment Programs Working for Veterans? Hearing

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Are Vets' Employment Programs Working for Veterans? Hearing S. HRG. 109–632 JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT THREE YEARS LATER: ARE VETS’ EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS WORKING FOR VETERANS? HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRUARY 2, 2006 Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 27-354 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:16 Nov 17, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 H:\RD41451\DOCS\27354.TXT SENVETS PsN: ROWENA COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho, Chairman ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii, Ranking Member KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina JAMES M. JEFFORDS, (I) Vermont RICHARD M. BURR, North Carolina PATTY MURRAY, Washington JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada BARACK OBAMA, Illinois JOHN THUNE, South Dakota KEN SALAZAR, Colorado JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia LUPE WISSEL, Majority Staff Director D. NOELANI KALIPI, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:16 Nov 17, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 H:\RD41451\DOCS\27354.TXT SENVETS PsN: ROWENA CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2, 2006 SENATORS Page Craig, Hon. Larry E., Chairman, U.S. Senator from Idaho ................................. 1 Akaka, Hon. Daniel K., Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Hawaii ............... 3 Isakson, Hon. Johnny, U.S. Senator from Georgia ............................................... 4 Murray, Hon. Patty, U.S. Senator from Washington ........................................... 5 Burr, Hon. Richard M., U.S. Senator from North Carolina ................................. 7 Salazar, Hon. Ken, U.S. Senator from Colorado ................................................... 8 Obama, Hon. Barack, U.S. Senator from Illinois .................................................. 9 Thune, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from South Dakota ........................................... 49 WITNESSES Principi, Hon. Anthony J., Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs ....................... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Larry E. Craig ............... 14 Ciccolella, Hon. Charles S., Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor ........................................................... 15 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 Response to written questions submitted by: Hon. Larry E. Craig ...................................................................................... 21 Hon. Daniel K. Akaka .................................................................................. 27 Hon. Barack Obama ..................................................................................... 29 Nilsen, Dr. Sigurd R., Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office ................................................. 30 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 31 Response to written questions submitted by: Hon. Larry E. Craig ...................................................................................... 46 Hon. Barack Obama ..................................................................................... 48 Poriotis, Wesley, Chairman, The Center for Military and Private Sector Initia- tive ......................................................................................................................... 65 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 68 Proposal, Veterans Job Development Corps ............................................... 71 White paper, Branding the Veteran ............................................................ 80 Written questions submitted by: Hon. Larry E. Craig ...................................................................................... 83 Hon. Barack Obama ..................................................................................... 83 Sharpe, Jr., Joseph C., Deputy Director, National Economic Commission, The American Legion ........................................................................................... 83 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 85 Response to written questions submitted by: Hon. Larry E. Craig ...................................................................................... 89 Hon. Barack Obama ..................................................................................... 92 Weidman, Richard F., Director of Government Relations, Vietnam Veterans of America ............................................................................................................. 92 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 95 Written questions submitted by: Hon. Barack Obama ..................................................................................... 100 Hon. Larry E. Craig ...................................................................................... 100 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:16 Nov 17, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\RD41451\DOCS\27354.TXT SENVETS PsN: ROWENA IV Page APPENDIX Madsen, Roger B., Director of the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, prepared statement .............................................................................................. 107 Miller, Randy M., Chairman and CEO of ReadyMinds, prepared statement ..... 108 GAO report ............................................................................................................... 113 Table, Fiscal Year 2005 DVOP and LVER Actual FTE Utilization .................... 173 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:16 Nov 17, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 H:\RD41451\DOCS\27354.TXT SENVETS PsN: ROWENA JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT THREE YEARS LATER: ARE VETS’ EMPLOYMENT PRO- GRAMS WORKING FOR VETERANS? THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2006 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:33 a.m., in room SR–418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Larry Craig (Chair- man of the Committee) presiding. Present: Senators Craig, Burr, Thune, Isakson, Akaka, Murray, Obama, and Salazar. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY E. CRAIG, U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO Chairman CRAIG. Good morning, everyone. The U.S. Senate Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs will be in order. Let me welcome all of you to the Committee this morning. Thank you. Today, we will be discussing a most important topic, jobs for our Nation’s veterans. Each year, roughly 200,000 service members are separating from active duty, and for the most of them, obtaining a job is a critical step in successfully transitioning to civilian life. Last year alone, over 42,000 of those separating service members were 20 to 24 years old, who served in Operation Enduring Free- dom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ensuring a smooth transition for those young service members who bravely fought for freedom should be a national priority. Yet as the chart behind me shows, these unemployment rates among young veterans have risen dramatically since the war on terror began and now are approaching double the unemployment rate of nonveterans in the same age group. I must add, in a strong econ- omy, as is true in most areas of our country, these figures just don’t fit. This trend suggests to me that we, as a Nation, must do more to help those young veterans succeed in civilian life and in the ci- vilian job market. Much of that help must continue to come from leaders in the business community and in the public sector who recognize the distinct advantages in hiring former service mem- bers. Some of that help will come from employment programs that can provide veterans with resources, knowledge, and assistance that they need to find meaningful employment. Today, we will examine the effectiveness of two such programs administered by the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:16 Nov 17, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 H:\RD41451\DOCS\27354.TXT SENVETS PsN: ROWENA 2 and Training Service, the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program, and the Local Veterans’ Employment Representative Program. For most of a decade, Congress, GAO, and others have expressed con- cern that these programs are not focusing on those most in need of services, including recently separated veterans and veterans with disabilities. In fact, in 1999, the Commission on Service Members and Vet- erans Transition Assistance found that those groups of veterans often did not receive the services they needed because the program structure was outdated, inflexible, and unfocused, and because there was no real accountability for employment outcomes. That led to years of hearings, proposals, and reports, which eventually culminated in the passage of the Jobs for Veterans Act of 2002. In December of last year, the GAO completed a comprehensive review of the changes that have been made in
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