EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The mission of the Veterans Rehabilitation and Education (VR&E) program is to help qualified, service-disabled veterans achieve independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, obtain and maintain suitable employment.  The American Legion fully supports these goals.  The Independent Living Program (ILP) was established in 1980 by P.L. 96-466, the Veterans Rehabilitation and Education Amendments.  The program serves severely disabled veterans whom the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determined were unable to obtain and maintain suitable employment when achievement of a vocational goal is not feasible.  ILP services and assistance provided to veterans include evaluation and counseling; prosthetic appliances; eyeglasses; communication devices; adaptive automobile equipment; wheelchair training; and other services necessary to enable a severely disabled veteran to achieve maximum independence in daily living.  Veterans may remain in the ILP for a maximum of 30 months.  Chapter 31 of Title 38, U.S. Code limits the number of veterans who can be placed in the ILP to 2,500 annually.  The American Legion supports the removal of the cap.  Additionally, the VA should effectively manage and monitor the number of new ILP participants and provide detail information to Congress on delays in veterans’ services until a decision has been made to remove the annual statutory cap.

The total number of veterans who were rehabilitated through the Independent Living Program in FY 2006 and FY 2007 were 2,162 and 2,756 respectively. In February 2007, the VA Secretary stated that VR&E anticipates a steady increase in the demand for ILP services over the next 10 years. Severely disabled veterans stated that the Independent Living Services assisted them in adjusting to home life and participating with family and community life at a higher level.  For example, a veteran from Georgia described that once he was accepted into the ILP, he was supplied with special walking shoes, an exercise machine, and a computer.  The Independent Living services allowed him to better operate and feel more productive at home.  The program has provided severely disabled veterans much needed assistance and possible hope for future employment.

During this time of war we all have an important mission in enabling our injured soldiers, sailors, and airmen and other veterans with disabilities to have a seamless transition from military service to a successful rehabilitation and on to suitable employment after service to our Nation.

The American Legion strongly supports the ILP and is committed to working with the VA and other Federal agencies to ensure that America’s severely disabled veterans are provided with the highest level of service and employment assistance.  Again, thank you for the opportunity to submit the opinion of The American Legion on this issue.

Madam Chairwoman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the views of The American Legion regarding the Independent Living Program (ILP), which falls under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Education (VR&E) program.

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

Since the 1940s, VA has provided vocational rehabilitation assistance to veterans with disabilities incurred during military service.  The Veterans Rehabilitation and Education Amendments of 1980, Public Law (P.L.) 96-466, changed the emphasis of services from training, aimed at improving the employability of disabled veterans, to helping veterans obtain and maintain suitable employment and achieve maximum independence in daily living.  Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program employment goals are accomplished through training and rehabilitation programs authorized under Chapter 31 of Title 38, U.S. Code.  Title 38 provides a 12-year period of eligibility after the veteran is discharged or first notified of a service-connected disability rating.  To be entitled to VR&E services, veterans must have at least a 20 percent service-connected disability rating and an employment handicap or less than a 20 percent disability and a serious employment handicap.

The mission of the VR&E program is to provide comprehensive services and assistance necessary to enable veterans with service-connected disabilities and employment handicaps to become employable, then obtain and maintain stable and suitable employment.  The American Legion fully supports these goals.  The Independent Living Program (ILP) was established in 1980 by P.L. 96-466, the Veterans Rehabilitation and Education Amendments.  The program serves severely disabled veterans, who VA determined were unable to obtain and maintain suitable employment, when achievement of a vocational goal is not feasible.  ILP services and assistance provided to veterans include evaluation and counseling; prosthetic appliances; eyeglasses; communication devices; adaptive automobile equipment; wheelchair training; and other services necessary to enable a severely disabled veteran to achieve maximum independence in daily living.  Veterans may remain in the ILP for a maximum of 30 months.  Chapter 31 of Title 38, U.S. Code limits the number of veterans who can be placed in the ILP to 2,500 annually. 

Administration of VR&E and its programs is a responsibility of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).  Historically, VBA has placed emphasis on the processing of veterans’ claims and the reduction of the claims backlog, which is extremely important.  However, providing effective employment programs through VR&E must be a priority as well.

Historically, VA has been lacking in its efforts to find employment for disabled veterans. The Vocational Rehabilitation program has historically been marketed to veterans as an education program and not an employment program.  A majority of veterans attended universities and colleges with few enrolled in training programs, such as apprenticeships and on-the-job training that can lead to direct job placement. 

Until recently, VR&E’s primary focus has been providing veterans with skills training, rather than obtaining meaningful employment.  Clearly, any employability plan that doesn’t achieve the ultimate objective, a job, is an injustice to those veterans seeking assistance in transitioning into the civilian workforce.

MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

In 2003, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs established a task force to examine the entire VR&E Program.  The resulting 2004 VR&E Task Force Report contained 110 recommendations to redesign the program to become “a proactive, employment-driven, 21st Century program that can effectively serve veterans with disabilities.”  The task force reported areas of concern in VR&E’s provision of employment services to veterans, workload management, fiscal accountability, performance measurement, and information technology (IT) management including a concern that VR&E’s IT systems did not produce the information and analyses needed to manage program activities.  As of April 2007, VR&E reports that 89 of 110 recommendations have been fully implemented and 13 are planned for implementation.  As of July 2008, VR&E reports that out of the 13 remaining recommendations for implementation, 4 of those will be implemented within 12 months and 8 will be implemented beyond 12 months.  

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in June 2004 that concluded that VA has not been effective in meeting its mandate to find jobs for disabled veterans.  The report agreed with the 2004 VR&E Task Force Report finding that VA had not prioritized returning veterans with service-connected disabilities to the workforce and that the VR&E Program has emphasized education over employment.  The 2004 VR&E Task Force Report stated, “VR&E’s best efforts regarding employment of veterans have resulted in only 10 percent of those participating in the VR&E program obtaining employment,” and stated, “Despite the tens of thousands of VR&E program participants in a given year, the number of veterans rehabilitated by obtaining a job or achieving ILP goals has averaged only about 10,000 a year for several years.” 

Another problem hindering the effectiveness of the VR&E program as previously cited in reports by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is exceptionally high workloads for the limited number of staff.  This hinders the staff’s ability to effectively assist individual veterans with identifying employment opportunities. 

As mentioned above, Chapter 31 of Title 38, U.S. Code limits the number of veterans who can be placed in the ILP to 2,500 annually.  Due to the statutory annual cap on the number of ILP participants, VR&E Service instructed VA Regional Offices (VAROs) to discontinue placing veterans into ILP status as they approached the cap unless approved by VA Central Office (VACO).  From FY 2002 through FY 2006, VR&E issued interim procedures that prohibited VR&E staff from approving new veterans into the ILP unless VACO program officials authorized the placements.  The interim procedures further directed that if authorization were denied, the veteran should be considered a priority for initiation in the new FY and held in the Evaluation and Planning phase until that date.

As a result, the cap was underutilized in FY 2006 and services to entitled veterans were delayed.  An average of 225 veterans per month entered the ILP nationwide from October 2005 through June 2006.  However, during the months of July 2006 through September 2006, subsequent to issuance of the interim procedures, an average of 45 veterans per month entered into the ILP.  Ultimately, a total of 2,162 veterans entered the ILP in FY 2006.  Even though the number of new veterans that entered the program did not exceed the annual cap, VR&E service anticipated exceeding it, which delayed veterans from entering the ILP when they were eligible.  This cap delays benefits to severely disabled veterans who are entitled to participate in the ILP.  VA has made efforts since 2001 to remove the cap; however, the cap remains in effect. 

The American Legion supports the removal of the cap.  VA should effectively manage and monitor the number of new ILP participants and provide detailed information to Congress on delays in veterans’ services until a decision has been made to remove the annual statutory cap, especially during a period of armed conflict.

VA reports that VR&E rehabilitation rates as a measure of Chapter 31 program performance in the annual VA Performance and Accountability Report (PAR).  The PAR should include data on total program participants, including those who discontinued program participation, those who obtained and maintained suitable employment, and those who achieved ILP goals.  Currently, the PAR does not accomplish that.  The PAR should provide accurate and complete information for budgetary and resource decisions. 

Unfortunately, most veterans discontinued participation in the Chapter 31 program and were not rehabilitated.  Data in Benefits Delivery Network (BDN), the major computer system used by VBA to process veterans’ claims, does not provide VR&E management with sufficient information to analyze the reasons for the high rate of program discontinuation.  Once the reasons are identified, the information could be used to design interventions to reduce the probability of veterans dropping out of the program. 

VBA currently has a study, Veterans Employability Research Survey, which is scheduled for completion in September 2008.  Study results will be used to establish nationwide procedures to help reduce the number of veterans who discontinue the VR&E program.    

It seems that the VR&E program has remained in a perpetual state of transition for the past 25 years, according to countless GAO and VA reports.  The 2004 Task Force Report stated that the VR&E system must be redesigned for the 21st Century employment environment.  The American Legion continues to support strong leadership and continued verification of the recommendations made in the 2004 Task Force Report.  In fiscal year (FY) 2006, VR&E funding was $702 million, and the program served about 90,000 veterans.  Adequate funding is needed to assist the management staff of VR&E to continue its implementation of the recommendations. 

REHABILITATION AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES

Numbers of Rehabilitated/Employed Veterans

The above demonstrates the improved outcomes for the VR&E program.

Although there are improvements needed in the VR&E program, veterans who have gone through the program stated that the counseling, training, education, and skills that they acquired led to gainful employment both within the public and private sectors.  A veteran from Massachusetts went into the VR&E and received an associate degree.  Currently, he operates his own small business, while completing his bachelor’s degree.  Severely disabled veterans stated that the Independent Living Services assisted them in adjusting to home life and participating with family and community life at a higher level. 

For example, a veteran from Georgia described that once he was accepted into the ILP, he was supplied with special walking shoes, an exercise machine, and a computer.  The Independent Living services allowed him to better operate and feel more productive at home.  The program has provided severely disabled veterans much needed assistance and possible hope for future employment.

2008 VR&E & INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

The total number of veterans who were rehabilitated through the Independent Living Program in FY 2006 and FY 2007 were 2,162 and 2,756 respectively. In February 2007, the VA Secretary stated that VR&E anticipates a steady increase in the demand for ILP services over the next 10 years.

At this time in the nation’s history, it is paramount that we ensure VA is capable of enabling injured veterans with disabilities to have a seamless transition from military service to a successful rehabilitation and on to suitable employment after military service.  For severely disabled veterans, this success will be measured by their ability to live independently, achieve the highest quality of life possible, and realize the hope for employment given advances in medical science and technology.  To meet America’s obligation to these specific veterans and other eligible VR&E veterans, VA leadership must continue to focus on marked improvements in case management, vocational counseling, and most importantly job placement.

The American Legion strongly supports the ILP and is committed to working with VA and other Federal agencies to ensure that America’s severely disabled veterans are provided with the highest level of service and employment assistance.  Again, thank you for the opportunity to present the opinion of The American Legion on this issue.