BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: SB 354 HEARING DATE: 4/9/13
AUTHOR: Roth
VERSION: As introduced
FISCAL: Yes
VOTE: 21
SUBJECT
Department of Veterans Affairs: monitoring outcomes for
veterans: Director of Employment Development: disclosure of
information.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law:
Establishes the California Department of Veterans Affairs
(CalVet) and assigns it responsibility for various programs
and services to benefit military veterans.
This bill :
Requires CalVet to develop outcome and related indicators to
assess the status of California veterans, monitor the quality
of services provided to veterans, and guide decision-making
on improving those services.
Provides that CalVet may access any data (not otherwise
restricted by state or federal law) necessary to monitor the
outcomes, including data held by other state agencies or
departments.
Requires CalVet to provide a level of confidentiality for
information in its possession that is equal to, or greater
than, the protections in place for data accessed through
other state agencies or departments.
Provides that CalVet may establish advisory bodies to guide
and inform the selection of outcomes and the strategy for
monitoring and reporting those outcomes.
Requires CalVet to report (on or before March 1, 2015) to the
Senate and Assembly Committees on Veterans Affairs both of
the following:
o All the outcome indicators and include
recommendations on ways to establish a system for
monitoring outcomes, including additional staffing or
technology, if necessary;
o Regulatory or fiscal barriers to development
of a monitoring system.
Becomes inoperative as of March 1, 2019.
Existing law :
Provides that specified information obtained in administering
the State's employment assistance/unemployment insurance
programs is not publicly available and is reserved for the
exclusive use and information of the Director of the
Employment Development Department (EDD) in the discharge of
official duties.
This bill :
Requires the Director of EDD to permit CalVet to receive
quarterly wage data information in support of that effort.
BACKGROUND
CalVet Delivery of Veterans Services
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In October 2009, the State Auditor released an audit of CalVet,
which concluded, in part, that:
1.CalVet sees its role as providing few direct services to
address issues that California's veterans face, such as
homelessness and mental illness. Instead, it relies on other
entities to provide such services and its Veterans Services
division (Veterans Services) is responsible for collaborating
with these different entities.
2.CalVet has only recently shifted its attention from its
primary focus on veterans homes, deciding that Veterans
Services should take a more active role in informing veterans
about available benefits and coordinating with other entities.
3.CalVet did not formally assess veterans' needs nor did it
include key stakeholders, such as the CVSOs, in its strategic
planning process, nor did it effectively measure its progress
toward meeting the goals and objectives identified in its
strategic plan.
CalVet 2010 Veterans Needs Assessment Survey
Between February and May 2010, CalVet conducted a survey to
learn about veterans' needs and to find the best way to
providing veteran services and benefit information. The survey
was conducted between February and May 2010. The summary of
results included the following:
a. In general, 53% of respondents responded employment
needs as the most critical to veterans in general, followed
by healthcare (44%), learning about benefits (37%), and
training/education (35%).
b. Respondents aged 39 years and younger were the most
likely to report needing a job, training/education, and
healthcare. In fact, the need for a job,
training/education, and healthcare decreased with age, with
respondents aged 70 or older being the least likely to need
these benefits.
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Veterans Unemployment
With nearly two million veterans-men and women who have
previously served on active duty in the United States (U.S.)
Armed Forces - California is reported to have the largest
veteran population in the U.S. Several state and federal
agencies provide assistance to California's veterans, including
California's workforce agency, the EDD. EDD administers
millions in federal grants and state discretionary workforce
development funds for a number of veterans programs.
EDD assists veterans and their eligible spouses in their search
for employment through job placement, employment resources, and
training opportunities. EDD participates in a variety of
programs of special interest to veterans, including:
" Transition Assistance Program - Provides a smooth
transition for individuals leaving the military and entering
civilian life.
" Unemployment Compensation for Former Service Persons -
Provides recently separated veterans with unemployment
benefits while they search for work.
" Federal Contractors Job Listing Program - Provides a large
source of job openings for which veterans are given
priority.
Further, throughout the State, EDD's One-Stop Career Centers
assist job seekers with services such as r�sum� presentation and
vocational training. At some of these One-Stop Career Centers,
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists and local
veterans' employment representatives are specifically assigned
to assist veterans in finding employment. These staff provide
services such as a comprehensive assessment of education, skills
and abilities, identification of employment goals, evaluation of
employment barriers, career coaching, outreach to employers, and
job search workshops, among many other services. Additionally,
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EDD places a 24-hour hold on job postings on its CalJOBS Web
site in order to give veterans first priority in responding to
job openings. Also, EDD conducts several Honor-a-Hero,
Hire-a-Vet job and resource fairs annually. According to EDD,
these fairs provide veterans with access to key employers,
training, education, job placement opportunities, and other
resources.
CalVet provides online resources to assist veterans in finding
employment and in knowing what resources are available to them.
Other state departments provide health, housing, and
rehabilitation, and county Veterans Service Offices provide
supportive services. At the federal level, the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs provides vocational rehabilitation to
veterans with service-related disabilities to help secure
employment. Also, Veterans Affairs has partnered with the
federal Department of Labor under the new VOW to Hire Heroes Act
of 2011 to provide unemployed veterans up to 12 months of job
training assistance.
Lastly, federal law requires federal contractors who have
agreements of at least $100,000 to post certain job openings
with EDD local employment agencies and for those local agencies
to give priority to protected veterans for these job postings.
A 2011 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates
that veterans who served during the Gulf War-era II period, from
September 2001 to the present, have a higher unemployment rate
than the non-veteran population. Over the next seven years, the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that this segment
of the veteran population will increase by over one million
individuals. In addition, the report stated that unemployment
rates for veterans aged 18 to 24 were higher than the rate for
both non-veterans and the rest of the veteran population. In
2011 this group of veterans had a nationwide unemployment rate
above 30 percent.
Similarly, according to an EDD analysis, 15 percent of
California's veterans in 2009 belonged to the Gulf War-era II
population. Further, the analysis shows that among California's
veterans, those aged 20 through 24, represented the highest
percentage of those unemployed-at nearly 27 percent in 2009.
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Among all of California's veterans, this was the only age group
where the unemployment rate for veterans was higher than the
unemployment rate of non-veterans, which for that age group was
18 percent. To address the high unemployment rate for veterans,
in August 2011 the governor directed Veterans Affairs to
establish the California Interagency Council on Veterans to
identify and prioritize the needs of California's veterans, and
to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in
addressing those needs.
For veterans who served in the National Guard or federal
military Reserves, deployment overseas may have derailed
promotion opportunities in their civilian professions. Over the
past decade, the deployment rate for Guard members or Reservists
has increased. Moreover, prospective employers may be reluctant
to hire members of the National Guard or Reserve because those
workers may be called up with little notice.
COMMENT
Author comments :
"Currently the Department of Veterans Affairs does not monitor
what is happening to veterans when they return to California. To
gain a better understanding of veterans' needs, SB 354 would
authorize CDVA to partner with other state agencies to access
veterans information. SB 354 would then direct CDVA to develop a
set of outcome indicators and a strategy to help the state better
understand how veterans are faring and where to help the state
better understand how veterans are faring and where there are
deficiencies, to strategically inform program improvements."
Committee staff comments :
1.This bill is very similar to SB 1258 (Wolk, 2012), which passed
both houses without opposition, but was vetoed. For vote and
veto message, see Related Legislation .
2.On March 13, 2013, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee
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approved Senator Correa's request for a comprehensive audit of
EDD's employment assistance and job training programs for
veterans.
Related Legislation :
SB 1258 (Wolk & Correa, vetoed, 2012)
Requires CalVet to develop outcome and related indicators to
assess the status of California veterans, monitor the quality
of services provided to veterans, and guide decision-making on
improving those services. Senate 33-0; Assembly 78-0.
Governor's veto message : "Executive Order B-13-11 was issued to
address budgeting issues like the ones the author identifies in
the bill. My administration began a new process for
collaborating with the Legislature this year, particularly in
establishing program goals and measuring program outcomes. We
should give this new process time to work."
SB 722 (Correa, 2013) - referred to Senate Committee on Labor &
Industrial Relations and Senate Committee on Business,
Professions & Economic Development.
Requires the EDD and the Department of Consumer Affairs, on or
before January 1, 2015, jointly to present a report to the
Legislature addressing specified matters relating to military
training programs and state credentialing programs.
POSTITIONS
Sponsor: AMVETS - Department of California.
Support: California Association of County Veterans Service
Officers (CACVSO)
Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
Oppose: None received
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Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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