Two New Veterans Benefits Bills Now Law

Image: “National Veterans Foundation”

"MILITARY TIMES REBOOT CAMP”

“Here’s what the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act and the Forever GI Bill Housing Payment Fulfillment Act mean for veterans and military families. “

“1. No more punishing GI Bill students for the VA’s mistakes.

Last fall, major technology failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs led to delayed and inaccurate payments for thousands of Post-9/11 GI Bill users, as the agency failed to implement a provision of the Forever GI Bill law that changed the way housing stipends are calculated.

In some cases, students grappling with late rent or mortgage bills as a result of the delays faced another challenge: Their schools charged late fees for tuition bills that VA didn’t pay on time, blocked access to campus facilities or did not allow them to register for the next semester of classes until their balance was covered.

Ashlynne Haycock, deputy director of policy and legislation for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, said members of her organization were even advised by schools to take out loans to cover tuition costs — even though the payments were late through no fault of their own.

A portion of the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act, signed into law Dec. 31, requires schools to end these practices if they want to keep enrolling students using GI Bill benefits.

“We are very excited to see this finally come to fruition,” Haycock told Military Times as the bill was making its way through Congress. “We wish it would’ve been in place when things happened with the Forever GI Bill that weren’t so great, but clearly that was a sign that this needed to happen.”

2. VA must fix incorrect payments

About those late payments. The new Forever GI Bill Housing Payment Fulfillment Act holds the VA accountable for retroactively fixing payments that were inaccurate as a result of the technology problems.

To accomplish this, the law establishes a so-called “tiger team” to oversee these reimbursements. The team is required to report to Congress every 90 days on the reimbursement plan, and, by July 2020, report how many GI Bill beneficiaries were impacted, and to what extent.

The bill also holds the department to its promise not to collect on any overpayments made to GI Bill users.

“For many student veterans, every dime counts. That’s why the VA needs to get this right and pay student veterans the full amount of money they were promised,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said in a statement. The senator co-sponsored the legislation, which also became law Dec. 31.

In a Jan. 4 address to some 2,300 student veterans attending the annual Student Veterans of America National Conference, VA Sec. Robert Wilkie assured students that anyone who was underpaid as a result of the technology issues will be made whole.

“The bottom line is: We owe you every penny that you’ve earned,” he said. “That is what the nation has promised you, and that is what you deserve.”

GI Bill users who did not receive a cost-of-living increase on their fall 2018 payments will get a check in the mail for the difference by the end of the month. The rest of the fixes won’t happen until at least December, when the VA is slated to have its updated technology systems in place.

3. More leverage with landlords

VA is also required to do something else for student veterans under the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act: provide them with electronic proof that they will be receiving housing payments from the VA. Students can then show these to landlords.

Students who live in high-cost areas, especially, can have trouble finding housing without a job to put on their application, according to a House Veterans Affairs Committee staffer familiar with the legislation. The documentation from VA would provide information for landlords, such as how much and how long a veteran will be receiving benefits that help them pay for housing.

Another provision of the new law allows the spouse of a service member who dies on active duty to terminate a residential lease for up to one year after the death without being penalized. This expands on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which allows service members to break lease if they deploy or PCS.

4. Local help for transitioning service members

For troops transitioning out of the military, the VA will now post a list of programs and organizations that can help.

The law requires the VA to contract with a non-federal entity to identify these programs, which will include smaller, more community-based organizations, according to the committee aide.

5. Better access to jobs programs for homeless veterans

This provision of the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act is “an absolute game changer” for homeless veterans, said Kathryn Monet, CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, which has been advocating for a law like this for five years.

Previously, veterans had to be either on the streets or in a shelter to qualify for employment assistance under the federal Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program. But now, veterans have 60 days after moving into housing to apply for these services.

The provision applies to veterans participating in the Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing program and a similar initiative for Native American veterans, as well as the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. It also applies to veterans who are transitioning after being incarcerated and other recently homeless veterans, according to a summary of the legislation released by Congress.

“It’s basically the difference between housed and going back to homelessness for some of these veterans,” Monet said, adding later, “We know from our work how important this bill is to fix systemic problems that create unnecessary barriers to housing stability for veterans.”

6. Employment benefits for more reservists

Certain members of the National Guard and reserves called to active duty will have more time to use benefits under the VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program, or Voc Rehab.

The program provides job counseling and other services for veterans with a VA disability rating of 20 percent or higher. Veterans that qualify must use the program within 12 years of separating from the military.

The clock gets paused for Guardsmen and reservists called to active duty. So, if they get activated for a year, they will get another year to complete Voc Rehab.

Before the new law, this did not apply to members serving under particular orders relating to national emergencies and combatant commands. As a result, such service members would lose time to use the benefit as they continued to serve. Now, the clock gets paused for them the same way as it does for their fellow Guardsman and reservists.

Daniel Elkins, legislative director at the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, said the new law will help many of the organization’s constituents. Voc Rehab benefits are “hugely important” for those who are service disabled, and this “is an extremely beneficial expansion to those benefits and long overdue,” he said.

7. Voting changes for military spouses

Military spouses can now elect to use the same residence as their active-duty spouse for state and local voting purposes, regardless of when or where they got married and whether they are currently living in that state because of military orders.

Previously, a spouse had to meet the residency requirements of a state on his or her own merit for the purposes of voting.

8. Enhanced burial rights

The new law allows spouses and children of active-duty service members to be buried in veteran cemeteries, even if they pass away before the service member — something that was previously allowed but only with the VA’s approval.

“We did expedite that,” said Patricia Lynch Watts, director of legislative and regulatory service for the National Cemetery Administration. “We tried not to make that too burdensome on the family, but there is certain information that we had to ask for, and it had to go through the process of being approved here by the secretary or the undersecretary, which could delay plans for burial by the family.”

The law also provides headstones and markers for burials in tribal cemeteries that receive grants from the VA. Watts said this corrects a previous oversight, which granted these for state veteran cemeteries but not those on tribal lands.

There are currently 11 tribal veteran cemeteries across the country and another two under construction, according to information provided by the VA.

Watts said the VA is supportive of both changes."

https://rebootcamp.militarytimes.com/news/transition/2019/01/17/trump-recently-signed-two-veterans-bills-into-law-heres-how-theyll-affect-you/

U.S. Small Business Administration Offers Help to Veterans

"MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE"

"The U.S. Small Business Administration has resources available for veterans who want to start their own businesses or for small businesses that may have been affected by employees who have been deployed.

The numbers are substantial, according to the SBA: Nearly one in 10 small businesses in this country are veteran-owned; veterans are 45 percent more likely to be self-employed than non-veterans; and businesses owned by female vets have increased 297 percent from 2007 to 2012.

The SBA’s website has collected a list of programs that can offer help, especially in navigating the complexities of returning home for members of the Guard or Reserve after being deployed.

It has information on starting a business, financing, mentoring and training and selling to the government. It can be found on the website Veteran Owned Businesses

One example of a resource is the Military Economic Injury Loan, which provides funds to eligible small businesses to meet operating expenses when an essential employee is called to active duty. The filing period for businesses to apply begins on the date the essential employee is ordered to active duty and ends one year after the essential employee is discharged or released from active duty.

Another aspect to consider are laws that make federal contracting more attractive to veterans, particularly those with a service-connected disability. The Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999 established an annual government-wide goal of awarding at least 3 percent of all federal contracts to small businesses owned or controlled by service-disabled veterans.

There’s also Boots to Business, a two-step entrepreneurship training program open to service members and their spouses. The two-day course introduces participants to the opportunities and challenges of business ownership. An eight-week online course allows participants to work through the fundamentals of developing a workable business plan."

SBA Offers Help to Small Business

Meeting Veteran & Employer Challenges During Transition from Military to Civilian Work

Image Eastern Illinois University

Expectations and Reality are Far Apart on Both Sides of the Employment Spectrum

By Ken Larson

Aside from the legal and moral obligations to employ returning veterans, there is a third, vital challenge in the employment transition equation: understanding the vast difference between the military and civilian work environments.  The expectations of both parties must be carefully assessed and communicated with realistic processes for effective transition from military to civilian employment by the veteran.

Civilian Knowledge of the Military Environment Has Diminished

As a country, America has been at war nonstop for the past 13 years. As a public, it has not. A total of about 2.5 million Americans, roughly three-quarters of 1 percent, served in Iraq or Afghanistan at any point in the post-9/11 years, many of them more than once.

The Tragedy of the American Military

War was much closer to home when the draft existed and military participation ran higher during WW II and the Vietnam Conflict.

The Nature of Today's Wars and a Cynicism with Regard to Their Outcome Impacts the Veteran and the Civilian Outlook

Ultimately, the military’s discontent may stem from dissonance between the commitment to, and pride in, the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and the knowledge that these sacrifices have not yielded the desired results.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan arguably have prompted a crisis of confidence within the military itself.

Despite a six-year, $287 million effort to make troops more optimistic and resilient, an Army survey found that 52 percent of soldiers scored badly on questions that measured optimism, while 48 percent reported having little satisfaction or commitment to their job.

Understanding the Military's Morale Crisis

Veterans bring these issues home and find a civilian employment environment that does not have a focus on combat life and death, but rather an emphasis on long term thinking, collaboration, viewing actions with respect to the impact on internal and external customers and politically correct human resource considerations.

The assumption on the part of the employer is that the strength and training of the individual coming out of the military environment permits a reasonable transition. It does not.

We Must Educate and Develop Programs to Bridge the Gap from Both Ends.

A transition partnership between the veteran and the company is necessary. Expectations must be adjusted to reflect the differences in both venues.

Military core values such as – oaths, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a culture of direct command, and a narrow focus on the task at hand are no longer available when the veteran leaves the military. 

In the civilian environment political correctness, strategic group awareness, tact, organization factors, and a broad view of mission and achievement are required.

A veteran is therefore not so much entitled to a job as he or she is entitled to be understood, and to be allowed to understand the civilian job environment, growing into it.

Professional Roles are Vital

There are two important types of professional roles to consider when hiring and managing military veterans in the business venue.

As a veteran who made the transition to civilian professional work and ultimately owned a small enterprise, and as a counselor who supports veterans in becoming business owners, my experience over several decades indicates military men and women do well in Role 1 below. They have the most challenges with Role 2.




Role 1 TechnicalScientific, engineering, logistics, electronics, design and similar skill sets where direct supervision, team building, corporate policy compliance and human resource planning and utilization are not major factors.
VS
Role 2- ManagementFunctional process capacities responsible for hiring, evaluation, supervision, compliance with civilian law and department activities involving group dynamics, customer relations and sensitive human factors.


http://themilitarywallet.com/military-to-civilian-transition-tips/

I came out of the military having had a leadership role in engineering, base development planning and combat support. I served in war zones in Southeast Asia and on highly classified missions. I was not a manager. I was a military leader in specialized skill sets under Role 1 above.

I knew how to direct people who followed orders without question because the Uniform Code of Military Justice to which we swore an oath said they must do so.

I felt uncomfortable in jobs involving Role 2 above because they were foreign to me. I later adjusted, learned the venue and became skilled as a manager in the corporate world. I preferred staff assignments, however for most of my career.

The corporate venue seemed enormously political and bureaucratic to a former war fighter like me. I was not that tactful. I cut to the chase often and did not always take everyone with me when I made a decision.

Once I grew into a Role 2 performer, I found in interviewing, hiring, evaluating and managing young veterans, even seasoned ones, who had retired and joined the civilian work force, that almost all were better suited for Role 1. It took years and effort on my part to fit them into Role 2 and some never made it.Management Analysis and Moving Forward

The principal reason for the logic conveyed above is that the military environment may seem to be structured in a way that fits Role 2, but the military does not turn out individuals who are suited in the knowledge and experience necessary in the civilian environment and they are not very good at it without extensive training and adaptation.

Enterprises have multiple-faceted challenges and they require multiple- faceted people. Even though individuals may hold a specific position job title, success in the civilian work force demands avenues where the human resource can contribute in multiple ways.

If a contributor has experience and training in several areas the business can utilize, that makes him or her  a valuable resource and it is likely they will be professionally fulfilled and rewarded from doing so. Military personnel have specialty training and focus; few have a wide view of what is in front of them, particularly with respect to military vs. civilian professional settings.

It all comes down to the workers having an element of control in the future success for both themselves and the company and having the opportunity to realize their potential in that regard.

If the professional is in a narrow, technical discipline and his or her expectations are to have others support them in that role or if they are more comfortable in a "Stove-piped" professional setting and not attuned to group dynamics and the often politically correct nature of the civilian organization, they perhaps belong in technical roles and they do not belong in management roles at the onset of their employ.

Summary

In fairness to veterans and to our hopes for them in the future, we must understand these above distinctions, build on Role 1, understand the risk in Role 2 and assist wherever possible.

Above all, a respectful partnership and realistic expectations must evolve between the veteran and the company for success in transitioning former military personnel into the civilian work force. This must be achieved through education, training, communication and assessment of both the veteran and the company personnel

About the Author:

Ken Larson is a 2 Tour US Army Vietnam Veteran, retired after 36 Years in the Defense Industrial Complex, having worked on 25 major weapons systems, many of which are in use today in the Middle East. He concluded his career with his own consulting firm. As a MicroMentor Volunteer Counselor Ken receives many inquiries from small companies wishing to enter or enhance their position in federal government contracting.

　

Supporting Veterans to Attend Accredited College Programs

This article is brought to you courtesy of June Olson. June recently graduated with a degree in educational psychology. She currently works as a writer on all things education and is always interested in connecting with bloggers online.  You may reach June at june.olsen80@gmail.com

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The argument that many veterans need education and numerous support systems when they return from service is a no-brainer. Adjusting to civilian life after being away at war or stationed abroad is no joke. An economic downturn adds to the problem by making it hard to find a job. Feeling stressed and confused, a veteran must then compete with masses of qualified candidates for very few jobs. Veterans need effective support systems and support for colleges online or on campus that consider all aspects of their needs, including financial assistance and access to educational and/or vocational training.      

When a veteran returns from war, life can be overwhelming. Going from the camaraderie of military life to living alone or readjusting to family is only one factor. Flashbacks to horrifying war images can be common emotional setbacks. Figuring out the next step in life can be mind-boggling and stressful. Especially for veterans who did not go to college or train for an occupation before joining the military, career options can seem limited. Veterans often transition from a situation of a set military schedule and structure to a life of ambiguities and lack of direction.

Searching for work in a tight job market only complicates things. A veteran might be a skilled carpenter but live in an area with no openings in carpentry. Gaining knowledge and skills that can be applied to available jobs is an important first step. Starting college or going back to finish a degree becomes essential for getting a job.

Fortunately, help exists. Veterans interested in college programs that offer two-year degrees or higher can benefit from GI bill programs. The Post-9/11 GI Bill gives veterans who served for at least 90 days on or after September 11, 2001 access to benefits for attending accredited colleges and universities. Benefits include a percentage of tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, a stipend for books and supplies and $500 in cash for veterans who must relocate from a highly rural area to go to school. This program also offers tutorial assistance benefits and reimbursement of up to $2,000 for a certification or licensing test. Veterans can receive benefits for up to 36 months under this bill, which helps them get back on their feet.
 
The Yellow Ribbon Program is another alternative. Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, degree-granting institutions can make funds available for veterans through this program. The tuition amount is left up to the university; the VA matches that amount and pays the university directly. Veterans must then apply to the university, which then looks at its number of open slots and notifies the veteran of acceptance into the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Between 2008 and 2010, the number of veterans who took advantage of VA education programs increased tremendously. Although the number of VA undergraduate attendees decreased during that time, attendance in non-degree and vocational programs saw a significant rise. This trend may continue as more veterans take advantage of educational benefits programs.

Short-term training and education assistance is also available for unemployed veterans through the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. For veterans who are at least 35 and ineligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or other VA-sponsored education benefit programs, this program may be the answer. It gives participants a year's worth of full-time pay while enrolled in an approved technical school or community college. They must train specifically for high demand occupations in a program that leads to a certification or associates degree. Through this and other GI bill programs, veterans can ease the transition to civilian life by going to school and becoming equipped for a tight job market.