BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 354 (Roth) - Monitoring Outcomes for Veterans
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: VA 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 354 requires the Department of Veterans Affairs
(DVA) to develop outcome indicators and report to the
Legislature by March 1, 2015 on recommendations for establishing
a monitoring system for veterans. Additionally, SB 354
authorizes the Employment Development Department (EDD) to share
quarterly wage data with the DVA for purposes of the monitoring
system.
Fiscal Impact:
DVA indicates first year costs of $104,000 and ongoing
costs of $98,000 for a Statistical Methods Analyst III
position (General)
Minor costs to DVA for reporting requirement (General)
Unknown additional annual expenses to DVA for maintaining
the database once the information is collected (General).
Potential costs to EDD of $20,000 annually reimbursed by
the DVA (General)
Background: In 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs
conducted a survey to learn about veterans' needs and to find
the best way to provide 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 indicated 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
SB 354 (Roth)
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likely to report needing employment, 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.
EDD currently assists veterans in their search for employment
through job placement, employment resources, and training
opportunities. Some of the programs that are of special
interest to veterans are:
" 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. 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 are provided to veterans.
Additionally, 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. There are also many assistance programs
offered to veterans at the Federal level.
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Proposed Law: SB 354 requires the DVA to develop outcome
indicators that will reflect the following issues: employment
and employment-related information such as earnings; incidence
of suicide; higher education data; and involvement with the
child welfare system and the criminal justice system.
The bill authorizes the DVA to receive data from other state
agencies, but requires the Department to ensure the
confidentiality of that information. The department may also
establish advisory committees and utilize the existing
California Interagency Council on Veterans to assist in the
strategy for developing and reporting the outcome indicators.
SB 354 requires the DVA to report to the Legislature by March 1,
2015 on all the outcome and related indicators it has developed.
The report must also include recommendations on ways to
establish the monitoring system including necessary staffing and
technology, and regulatory and fiscal barriers that may hinder
future development of a monitoring system.
Related Legislation: This bill is similar to SB 1258 (Wolk)
which was vetoed by the Governor last year. The veto message
indicated that time should be provided to develop the
Administrations new process for collaborating with the
Legislature to establish program goals and measure program
outcomes pursuant to Executive Order B-13-11.
Staff Comments: The intent of SB 354 is for the DVA to develop
outcome indicators for veterans which will be used to assess the
status of veterans in California, to monitor the quality of
programs that serve veterans, and to guide decision-making on
how to improve those services.