BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1509 HEARING DATE: 6/24/14
AUTHOR: Fox
VERSION: 3/25/14
FISCAL: Yes
VOTE: Majority
SUBJECT
Veterans: transition assistance.
DESCRIPTION
Existing law:
Federal law: The Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire
Heroes Act of 2011 (Title 10, United States Code, � 1144) and
implementing federal regulations.
This bill:
1. Requires -- by July 1, 2015 - the Department of Veterans
Affairs (CalVet) to develop a California transition
assistance program (Cal TAP) for veterans, who have been
discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard of
any state.
2. States that Cal TAP's purpose shall be to:
a. Assist veterans in successfully transitioning from
military to civilian life in California; and
b. Complement the federal transition program offered by
the Department of Defense.
3. Requires that Cal TAP include, but not be limited to, the
following California-specific transition assistance
information on: higher education benefits and programs,
vocational training assistance, small business resources,
health care programs and services, mental health resources,
military sexual trauma resources, and housing resources.
4. States the Legislature's intent that the CalVet perform the
above tasks utilizing its existing personnel and other
resources, including its existing internet-based CalVet
Internet Web site to disseminate this information.
BACKGROUND
Transition: Military-to-Civilian
For a significant percentage of personnel, the transition from
military service to civilian life - even during peacetime - has
always presented challenges. According to a Pew Research Center
survey (Dec. 2011) of 1,853 veterans, nearly 30 percent say that
the transition was difficult for them - a proportion that swells
to 44 percent among veterans who have served since the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks.
According to the study, various factors - such as education,
marital status, religiosity and trauma - influenced the
transition process. For example, veterans who were commissioned
officers and those with college degrees experienced easier
readjustment to post-military life than enlisted personnel and
those with only high school diplomas. Veterans who reported an
emotionally traumatic experience while serving or had suffered a
serious service-related injury were significantly more likely to
report problems with re-entry, when other factors are held
constant.
Those who have been transitioning to civilian life since the
onset of the so-called Great Recession (late 2008 - present)
have faced further complications, such as high unemployment,
associated with the global economic crisis.
Federal Transition Assistance
In 2011, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the
"Veterans Opportunity to Work and Hire Heroes Act of 2011" (VOW
Act). The VOW Act requires, among other things, that separating
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service members must attend the Transition Assistance Program
(TAP). A partnership among the Departments of Defense (DOD),
Veterans Affairs (VA) and Labor (DOL), the TAP program provided
job assistance and separation counseling services on military
installations. The program included information and counseling
for pre-separation, employment assistance, relocation, education
and training, health and life insurance, finances, Reserve
affiliation, disabled Veterans, and retirement.
In 2013 the federal government launched a revamped program known
as Transition GPS. The extended 5-7 day transition program
represents an effort to standardize and expand counseling and,
according to DOD, transform the military's approach to
education, training, and credentialing for service members. TGPS
components are:
Pre-Separation Assessment and Individual Counseling :
Separating service members receive individual counseling to
discuss their career goals and start their transition
process. Subsequently, they have a needs and goals
assessment coupled with a counseling session about benefits,
resources, and available assistance across a wide scope of
military separation topics. Each individual develops an
Individual Transition Plan that documents the deliverables
that must be attained to meet the program's Career Readiness
Standards.
5-Day Core Curriculum : The five-day TGPS Core Curriculum
includes a financial planning seminar, a workshop offered by
the VA on available federal veterans' benefits and services,
and a redesigned employment workshop offered by DOL.
Transitioning service members will also undertake a Military
Occupational Code Crosswalk to translate their military
skills, training, and experience into civilian occupations,
credentials, and employment. An Individual Transition Plan
session allows service members to seek guidance from subject
matter experts, identify career goals, and develop a
detailed transition roadmap.
2-Day Optional Career-Specific Curriculum : In addition to
completing the Core Curriculum, transitioning service
members have the option of participating in a series of
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two-day tailored tracks: (1) an Education track, for those
pursuing a higher education degree; (2) a Technical and
Skills Training track, for those seeking job-ready skills
and industry-recognized credentials in shorter-term training
programs; and (3) an Entrepreneurship track, for those
wanting to start a business.
CAPSTONE Event : Before their separation from the military,
service members participate in a CAPSTONE event, which
verifies that transitioning members have completed the TGPS
curriculum and achieved Career Readiness Standards. Service
members who require additional assistance are referred to
supplemental training opportunities. In addition, through
the CAPSTONE event, all are offered a 'warm handover' to
appropriate government agencies and organizations that will
be able to provide them continued benefits, services, and
support as veterans.
Military Life Cycle Transition Model : The TGPS program is
intended to incorporate career readiness and transition
preparation into the entire span of an individual's military
career. In the past, transition and preparation for the
civilian workforce occurred late in a service member's time
in the military - near the point of separation. Under TGPS,
these concepts are integrated earlier to ensure that the
counseling, assessments, and access to resources to build
skills or credentials occur at earlier stages of a service
member's military tenure.
The original TAP program and its TGPS successor have made
significant gains in assisting separating military personnel,
but certain shortcomings appear built into the system. For
example, the service members often have difficulty getting
state-specific information. California state agencies, county
veterans service officers, and California nonprofit
organizations have worked to directly participate in TAP/TGPS
sessions on military bases located in California - but
participation varies from base to base and the material
presented is not uniform in substance or approach. Furthermore,
only a portion of personnel at such bases intend to stay in
California after separation. Most are moving back to their
states of origin or other areas.
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A greater problem resides on the flip side of that paradigm: The
majority of separating service members who intend to live in
California comes from military bases located outside of
California - in other states and countries. The California state
agencies and nonprofits are unable to directly engage them in
state-specific discussions during the military's mandated
transition process.
State Transition Assistance
The State of California long has partnered with the federal
government in generally delivering veterans benefits, but lacked
a dedicated, comprehensive, uniform program focused on
transition.
In August 2011, Governor Brown issued an executive order
establishing the California Interagency Council on Veterans
(ICV), which was directed "to identify and prioritize the needs
of California's veterans, and to coordinate the activities at
all levels of government in addressing those needs." The ICV
created four workgroups oriented around specific areas of
veterans' need: Education, Employment, Health and Housing. The
Employment Workgroup itself created "sub-workgroups" to focus on
very detailed matters, including a sub-workgroup charged with
developing a state-level, post-military transitional assistance
program to complement the federal program.
COMMENT
Author comments :
The curriculum for [TGPS] workshops is entirely maintained by
the federal government, leaving little-to-no state-specific
employment, education, business and other career choices
information. AB 1509 complements the federal Transition GPS
(TGPS) by ensuring that veterans discharging in California or
moving to California after discharge have the state specific
benefit information and tools they need.
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Committee staff comments :
1.As conceived, the Cal TAP program will complement the federal
TGPS program and address some of its remaining shortcomings:
a. Cal TAP will offer California services, benefits,
support, and programmatic information that it is not
possible to include in a nationwide uniform program, such
as TGPS.
b. Cal TAP will be available for veterans on their
discharge if they so choose, or even much later, when they
have taken some time to come back to civilian life and
focus on their next steps.
c. Cal TAP will be available to veterans who discharge in
another state and come to California, providing crucial
California-specific information they would not get
otherwise.
d. Cal TAP would provide the Department with an opportunity
to connect in person with veterans which it does not have
via its paper or online Reintegration Form and in
particular to connect with veterans who may discharge in
another state and come to California.
2.This program will be limited by the same problem that serves
as the primary constraint in providing services to veterans -
the difficulty in identifying and communicating with them,
especially to those whose last military duty station was
outside California.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author.
Support:
American Legion Department of California
ArmedForce2Workforce
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AMVETS Department of California
California Association of County Veteran Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Devry Education Group
Military Officers Association of America California Council of
Chapters
True North Transitions
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California
Veterans Caucus, California Democratic Party
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
Oppose: None on file.
Analysis by: Wade Cooper Teasdale
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