Veteran Transition Programs Are Too Focused On Education And Not Job Opportunity

“MILITARY TIMES”By Jonathan Lehrfeld

“Services are overly focused on education instead of direct job opportunities, and there is limited evidence such federally funded initiatives are working, according to a report published by the Rand Corp.“

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“Fairly few programs and a small amount of funding are dedicated to help transitioning service members, veterans and their families utilize their military skills as they enter the civilian labor market, the nonprofit’s report found. Instead, the vast majority of federal funding for transition programs supports classroom time, which, though valuable, should not be prioritized over immediate paths to career advancement, the authors of the report contend.

“Although further education is important for many veterans, most veterans enter the civilian workforce directly and might benefit from more employment-focused support,” the report noted.

With an estimated $13 billion spent annually on education, training and other aspects of the military-to-civilian transition, the nonprofit is offering recommendations to ensure the government’s investments are adequately meeting the needs of the roughly 200,000 service members discharged each year.

The Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, identified 45 programs across federal agencies that provide employment support for service members, veterans and their dependents. It noted, according to the RAND report, that more than 90 percent of federal expenditures across those initiatives were allocated to educational assistance, but that “just under 50 percent of participants enrolled in education or training programs.”

Meanwhile, the authors of the analysis said they found virtually no evidence any programs they examined had a direct effect on transition outcomes, and that some initiatives — like the Department of Defense’s Transition Assistance Program — were associated with lower wages for program participants.

In addition to suggesting a broad refocus to increase spending on programs that help troops and vets transition more efficiently, as well as more consistent budget reporting for related initiatives, the authors of the report advised that the Pentagon outsource career counseling through vouchers for troops and vets to work with private sector professionals.

The RAND report follows others in recent years from the GAO, which likewise called for enhancing transition programs. In one from last fall, DOD concurred with the GAO’s recommendations, such as assessing the effectiveness of its credentialing programs that allow troops to obtain civilian certifications and licenses before they leave service, and identified planned steps toward their implementation.

The report also comes as President Joe Biden’s administration has sought in recent months to recruit, hire and retain military spouses through special programs and by easing restrictions.

“Our investments in our service members’ training and education, financial readiness, and health and well-being, coupled with the whole of government efforts to support their transition, are proving effective,” Ashish Vazirani from the Pentagon’s personnel and readiness office told lawmakers last fall.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/06/12/transition-programs-not-working-too-focused-on-education-report-says/

About Jonathan Lehrfeld

Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media

GAO Report – Pentagon Failing To Connect ‘At-Risk’ Exiting Service Members With Support Agencies

“TASK AND PURPOSE” By Nicholas Slayton

“The military calls it a “warm handover.” But data from the last two years shows that around 10% of troops transitioning to civilian life who were deemed at risk didn’t get the assistance the military is supposed to provide.”

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“It can be difficult for service members to reenter civilian life after their time in the military. For certain military members, who the Department of Defense deem as “at risk,” the military links them with other government agencies that can provide additional help, such as the departments of Labor and Veteran Affairs.

That’s according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, released this past week. The GAO found that the Transition Assistance Program often does provide contact information to exiting troops, but does not guarantee that the service members actually connect with them, let alone get the support they need.

The report, ‘Service Members Transitioning to Civilian Life: Agencies Can Improve Warm Handovers for Additional Assistance,’ looks at cases from April 2021 to March 2023. It found that while the Department of Defense conducted a warm handover for at least 41,000 service members, another 4,300 didn’t get the assistance those handovers are supposed to provide. 

That puts these future veterans in a difficult position. Leaving the military means a loss of housing, healthcare and often work. In the two-year window the GAO looked at, 267,745 service members separated from the military. 15% of them were deemed at risk.

“According to DOD’s policy, service members who do not meet all applicable career readiness standards (such as developing a financial plan or completing an individual transition plan) are to receive a warm handover,” the report says. “The military is also to provide warm handovers to those who did not receive an honorable discharge, do not have a post-transition housing or transportation plan, identify as needing peer support, or are likely to face major readjustment, health care, employment, or other challenges associated with the transition to civilian life.”

Additionally, the GAO found that the military has not actually assessed if the warm handovers are effective or not. Transition Assistance Program counselors told the GAO that although they think these efforts can help, they lack any information to study how much they are helping, and how counselors can improve for the future.  

The GAO report lays out some recommendations for the military to address this. Many are procedural, outlining a need for updated contact information for supportive agencies and developing a system to better verify when at-risk service members do connect with agencies via a warm handover. Additionally it calls for better communication with the VA and Department of Labor to both guarantee exiting troops do connect, and that there is more data for verification.”

https://taskandpurpose.com/military-life/departmant-of-defense-troops-veterans-reentering-civilian-life-transition-program

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nicholas Slayton is a contributing editor for Task & Purpose, covering conflict for over 12 years, from the Arab Spring to the war in Ukraine. His previous reporting can be found on the non-profit Aslan Media, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, The Daily Beast, and the Los Angeles Downtown News. You can reach him at nicholas@taskandpurpose.com or find him on Twitter @NSlayton and Bluesky at @nslayton.bsky.social. Contact the author here.