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82–895 2014

A REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VETERANS RETRAINING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 

(VRAP) AND THE HOMELESS VETERANS REINTEGRATION PROGRAM (HVRP) 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (EO) 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 

Serial No. 113–35 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

BILL FLORES, Texas 

JEFF DENHAM, California 

JON RUNYAN, New Jersey 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

PAUL COOK, California 

JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine, Ranking 

Minority Member 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

MARK TAKANO, California 

JULIA BROWNLEY, California 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

RAUL RUIZ, California 

GLORIA NEGRETE MCLEOD, California 

ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire 

BETO O’ROURKE, Texas 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

HELEN W. TOLAR, Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (EO) 

BILL FLORES, Texas, Chairman 

JON RUNYAN, New Jersey 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

PAUL COOK, California 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

MARK TAKANO, California, Ranking 

Minority Member 

JULIA BROWNLEY, California 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

ANN M. KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 

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C O N T E N T S 

September 12, 2013 

Page 

A Review Of The Performance Of The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) And The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) . 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Hon. Bill Flores, Chairman, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity (EO) ...... 1 

Hon. Mark Takano, Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Economic 

Opportunity (EO) ................................................................................................. 2 

WITNESSES 

Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans 

Benefit Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ........................ 3 

Prepared Statement of Mr. Coy ...................................................................... 15 

Accompanied by: 

MG Robert M. Worley, II, USAF (Ret.), Director, Education Service, 

Veterans Benefit Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

Hon. Keith Kelly, Assistant Secretary of the Veterans Employment and 

Training Service (VETS), U.S. Department of Labor ........................................ 4 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Kelly .................................................................. 16 

Accompanied by: 

Ms. Gerri Fiala, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training 

Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor 

STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD 

The National Coalition of Homeless Veterans ...................................................... 20 

Easter Seals Inc. ...................................................................................................... 22 

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(1) 

A REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE 

VETERANS RETRAINING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (VRAP) AND THE HOMELESS VETERANS REINTEGRATION PROGRAM (HVRP) 

Thursday, September 12, 2013 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, 

Washington, D.C. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in 

Room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Bill Flores [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Flores, Runyan, Wenstrup, Takano, 

Brownley, Kirkpatrick. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BILL FLORES 

Mr. FLORES. Good morning. We are here today to gather information on the results of two very important employment related programs, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, or HVRP, 

and the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP. Please 

note that I said that these are employment related programs. 

VRAP is intended to provide short-term retraining to unemployed 

veterans who are mid-career age. As of yesterday, VRAP data on 

VA’s Web site showed that 138,162 veterans have applied for 

VRAP with VA approving 121,060 applications, and a total of 

65,300 individuals are now enrolled in training. With two-thirds of 

the funded training slots now filled, I can call that a success and 

a congratulate VA for the yeoman’s efforts to fill those positions. 

I also appreciate the state employment services efforts to get unemployed veterans into the VRAP system. 

But now comes the real challenge, and that is to take VRAP 

graduates and put them in jobs for which they have been trained. 

This important task will fall largely on the shoulders of the Veterans Employment and Training Service at the Department of 

Labor, and the DVOPs, and the LVERs as they fund in the state 

employments services through the Jobs for Veterans state grant 

program. We have been hearing for months that a major barrier to 

employment for veterans is the so-called skills gap. At this time, 

now we have thousands of veterans that have been given training 

for in-demand occupations that can help fill the skills gap, and it 

is up to VETS to point these veterans in the right direction and 

to get the veterans back to work. 

During our last hearing on VRAP, we heard that there were data 

sharing issues between VA and VETS, and I want to hear whether 

those issues have been solved. I also want to hear from VETS how 

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they are going to monitor the states’ efforts to place VRAP participants, in whom we have invested nearly $19,000 each in an effort 

to give them skills relevant to today’s job market. 

Regarding HVRP, I hope that we hear that the program’s performance is meeting the goals set by VETS. I believe that we have 

been providing about $40 million per year recently to this program. 

And many homeless veterans, especially those with children, are 

sometimes difficult to place. Your grantees, as a result, must find 

ways to successfully serve this vulnerable population. 

One final thing before I yield to the distinguished Ranking Member, and that is to express my appreciation that in the future representatives from VETS will be the experts who will testify on programs authorized under Title 38. For example, VETS should have 

a program manager for both VRAP and HVRP who would accompany Secretary Kelly here today, not the ETA. In saying that, I 

mean no disrespect to the ETA staff who are here today, but if it 

is a Title 38 program or requirement, I think we should hold 

VETS, not ETA or any other DOL entity, responsible. 

Now as a housekeeping note, I would let you know that we are 

going to have votes that are going to be called between 10:15 to 

10:30. We will suspend this hearing for about 30 to 45 minutes and 

then we will resume immediately after those votes have concluded. 

I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member Mr. Takano 

for any opening remarks he may have. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK TAKANO 

Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning. I 

would like to thank our witnesses for taking the time to testify and 

answer our questions this morning. We look forward to hearing 

from both agencies on their efforts to help veterans with these two 

very important programs. We are very interested in the implementation and the progress that has been made by VRAP and where 

we are with regards to outreach and recruitment. 

VRAP is almost two years old and is paying for education and 

training for 63,000 eligible veterans with the hope of raising that 

to 90,000 by the end of the fiscal year. Our questions today will 

center on how we can ensure that this strong beginning continues 

without interruption and without losing the money set aside for 

this program. 

We are also seeking an update on the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, or HVRP, which offers great services to homeless veterans. We would like to see how the grantees are performing and where they are located geographically. 

I want to take a moment to highlight the efforts of my colleague 

Representative Brownley, the Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee, and thank her for the enormous amount of work she 

put into a package of legislation reauthorizing several vital programs that provide help and support for homeless veterans. This 

bill is H.R. 2485 entitles the Helping Homeless Veterans Act. We 

welcome all efforts from our Members that seek to help our most 

vulnerable veterans. 

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Mr. Takano. Today’s only panel consists 

of representatives from the VA and the Department of Labor. I welVACREP180 with DISTILLER

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come back Mr. Curt Coy, VA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, who is accompanied by Rob Worley, the Director of VA’s Education Service. Also Mr. Keith Kelly. Secretary 

Kelly is accompanied by Ms. Gerri Fiala of the Employment and 

Training Administration. Welcome to each of you, and let us begin 

with Mr. Coy. 

STATEMENTS OF MR. CURTIS L. COY, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, VETERANS BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY MG ROBERT M. WORLEY II USAF 

(RET.), DIRECTOR, EDUCATION SERVICES, VETERANS BENEFIT ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS; AND THE HONORABLE KEITH KELLY, ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY OF THE VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICES (VETS), U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; ACCOMPANIED BY MS. GERRI FIALA, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION 

(ETA), U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

STATEMENT OF CURTIS L. COY 

Mr. COY. Thank you, sir. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking 

Member Takano, and other Members of the Subcommittee. I am 

pleased to join you this morning to review the performance of the 

Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, and to discuss the collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Labor in our efforts to ensure successful transitions 

from training to employment. As you mentioned, accompanying me 

this morning is Mr. Robert Worley, our Director of Education Service. 

VA is absolutely committed to ensuring the economic and meaningful employment opportunities of our veterans. VRAP provides 

veterans with the opportunity to build a strong foundation of training on which to build their careers. VRAP helps retrain those veterans hit hardest by unemployment, veterans ages 35 to 60. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, approximately 55 percent 

of reported unemployed veterans fall into this cohort. 

In just under six months of the law being enacted, VA and DOL 

collaboratively leveraged existing IT systems to begin accepting applications ahead of schedule on May 15, 2012, to meet the statutory 

program start date of July 1, 2012. VA received over 45,000 applications in just the first four months the application was available. 

As of this week, as you mentioned, VA has received more than 

138,000 applications and issued over 121,000 certificates of eligibility to veterans. Congress has authorized and the VA has provided over $447 million in program benefits directed to more than 

65,000 veterans. 

Based on current application rates, we anticipate about 141,000 

applications by the statutory end date of October 1, 2013. By the 

way, we continued to receive applications, just this last week of 

about 1,000 applications a week, sir. 

VA expects to reach the 99,000th participant sometime in the 

March/April timeframe of 2014, again based purely on straight 

mathematical projections. This success is the result of a significant 

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outreach effort by VA and partner agencies. Prior to the inception 

of VRAP, VA entered into a memorandum of understanding with 

DOL to ensure veterans have a smooth transition from training to 

employment. Each week, VA compiles a report for DOL with the 

latest information we have concerning VRAP applicants, and we 

are nearing the completion of a new agreement to increase the 

level of data shared between our two departments. 

VA is also working with DOL to receive employment outcomes as 

it becomes available, and we defer to DOL to discuss the employment services offered through VRAP. 

Our outreach strategy and work has been extremely successful, 

as evidenced by the over 138,000 applications as of this week. At 

this point, more importantly, we have been working hard to communicate to those veterans who have received a certificate of eligibility, but have not begun to use their VRAP benefits. We have 

sent three separate targeted personal email notes to those veterans. The most recent was just this last week telling them that 

we will no longer be authorized to accept applications at the end 

of this month, and end VRAP benefits payments in March of 2014, 

just six months away. We want to make sure that all eligible veterans are able to take full advantage of their benefits. 

VA recognizes the great opportunities veterans have by way of 

utilizing VRAP and we support pending legislation in the House 

and Senate to extend the program. We look forward to continuing 

our work with DOL to ensure veterans pursuing their training 

goals have a seamless transition into their chosen field of employment. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. Thank you for the 

opportunity to appear before you today. We would be pleased to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Committee 

may have. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF CURTIS L. COY APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Mr. Coy. 

Mr. COY. Yes, sir. 

Mr. FLORES. Mr. Kelly? You have five minutes. 

STATEMENT OF HON. KEITH KELLY 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Flores, and 

Ranking Member Takano, and distinguished Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in today’s 

hearing and for accepting the department’s late submission of its 

testimony. My name is Keith Kelly and I am honored to serve as 

the Assistant Secretary of the Veterans Employment and Training 

Service at the Department of Labor. I am accompanied today by 

Gerri Fiala, Deputy Assistant Secretary from our sister agency of 

the department’s Employment and Training Administration. 

DOL is committed to working with this Committee to ensure that 

our Nation’s veterans have the employment support and the assistance they need to succeed in civilian life. As I discussed in my written statement, the Veterans Employment and Training Assistance 

Program and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program are 

important aspects of the department’s work on behalf of veterans 

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and their families. I will use my time today to highlight some of 

the department’s efforts to implement and administer these programs. 

As many of you know, the Department of Labor has been working diligently with the VA and others to implement the Veterans 

Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP as it is known, by several 

things: conducting outreach; developing guidance; identifying high 

demand occupations; determining applicants’ initial eligibility; and 

providing services to veterans before, during, and after they participate in the program. In addition, the department contacts participants directly via email to provide information on employment 

services and encourages participants to contact their local American Job Centers to begin those job searches. Additionally as well, 

once the VA notifies the department that a participant has exited 

the VRAP program, the Department of Labor provides that individual’s contact and related information to the relevant state workforce agency. 

States must then reach out to participants to offer them employment assistance and report the results of their outreach. 

The Department of Labor’s responsibilities under VRAP have 

created some challenges for the department which I discuss in 

greater detail in my statement for the record. But among them, the 

Department of Labor has had to reengineer or remodify current 

data reporting systems and obtain approval for new data collections. While data is already being exchanged right now, the Department of Labor and VA are in the process of updating this 

memorandum of agreement to reflect an interagency data transfer 

agreement between the two agencies. DOL is also working with the 

states and territories to develop data transfer agreements as well 

as to further facilitate the process. 

Next, I would like to discuss another important employment and 

training program, and that is assisting the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Through HVRP, DOL grantees assist homeless veterans in obtaining meaningful and sustainable employment. 

HVRP is employment focused and each participant receives customized employment and training services to address his or her 

specific barriers to employment. This client-centric hands on approach has successfully helped place thousands of previously homeless veterans on the path of self-sufficiency. 

Within the umbrella of HVRP, the department funds programs 

designated to address difficult to serve subpopulations of homeless 

veterans, including the homeless female veterans, and veterans 

with families, and we have competitive grants for that program as 

well as the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Assistance Program. 

As the Committee is aware, the incarcerated veterans demonstration grants were authorized as a pilot program and are designed 

to support those incarcerated veterans who are at risk of homelessness by providing referral and career counseling services, job training, placement assistance, and other benefits. 

While my written statement goes into much detail about the department’s procedures, selecting grant recipients, as well as measuring the performance, I will just highlight that HVRP funds are 

awarded to eligible applicants through a competitive grant process 

during which there is a rigorous review. Similarly, once grantees 

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are accepted to HVRP, the department works closely with them to 

ensure that they meet all performance outcomes to ensure the success of that program. 

The department does believe that the HVRP is an important and 

necessary program and does look forward to working with this 

Committee to ensure continued success of it. 

In conclusion, the Department of Labor will continue to work 

diligently with this Subcommittee and others on the Committee to 

ensure that veterans and their families have the resources and the 

support they need to succeed in the civilian workforce. 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, Ranking 

Member Takano, this does conclude my statement. Thank you 

again for the opportunity to testify before you today. I will be 

happy to answer questions. Thank you. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. KEITH KELLY APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX]

Mr. FLORES. I thank the panel, and I thank each of you for what 

you do to help take care of our Nation’s veterans. And I will begin 

with a few minutes of questioning. 

Secretary Coy and Secretary Kelly, this question is for each of 

you. Last November when you testified before this Subcommittee, 

a Labor witness testified that there was a glitch in the data sharing agreement that would prevent tracking the success of VRAP 

participants. It is our understanding that this agreement has not 

been signed and is still lost in the bureaucratic shuffle for nearly 

one year after that issues was identified, and almost two years 

since the passage of the VRAP legislation. Now Secretary Kelly, I 

think you touched on that in your testimony. Let me start with 

Secretary Coy first. Mr. Coy, does the VA have any problem providing the data to Labor? And have you provided Labor with an approved agreement? And if so, when did that occur? 

Mr. COY. Mr. Chairman, first off, the straightforward answer is 

no, we have no problem providing that information to the Department of Labor. Since the inception of the program way back in November of 2011 when the program was signed into law, we started 

working with DOL to put together what kind of information they 

needed. Since that time, we have been sharing data with respect 

to names and addresses, and all of the information necessary for 

DOL to, in fact, take care of the employment end of it from their 

perspective. 

What this data sharing agreement does is provide the social security numbers to DOL and as well sort of set out the list of priorities and the rules of the road, if you will. We have been working 

vigorously back and forth with our colleagues at DOL. The agreement now is back in our shop. We got it back from DOL about a 

week or so ago. We have sent it to our general counsel. We expect 

it to be signed by shortly. 

Mr. FLORES. Okay. And just to be clear, I think you said that you 

are providing social security numbers to—— 

Mr. COY. No, sir. We have, providing all of the information, absent social security numbers. 

Mr. FLORES. Okay. Mr. Kelly, since VA is willing to provide the 

data, what is the problem at Labor? And would the lack of a social 

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security number hamper the tracking? And where, I guess the 

agreement now is over on their side so it is out of your hands. Do 

you expect that it would have a quick turnaround once it comes 

back? So really two questions. What is the problem, I mean, are 

you hampered by not having the social security numbers? And 

number two, how quick would the turnaround be once you get it 

back from VA? 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is a good question. 

I do want to emphasize on the front-end right now, we are happy 

to report that the critical information that is needed to run this 

program we are receiving, and that is being passed back and forth, 

and we are already receiving reports. The enhancement of the program with regard to the social security numbers, the department 

needs to develop a system to protect the integrity of the social security numbers within the department. We do not have that at the 

present time to receive and protect the integrity and anonymity of 

the social security numbers. That is being finalized and being 

there. But I do want to emphasize, we are receiving the reports, 

the critical data needed to pass back and forth between us and VA 

with the program that is ongoing right now. In fact, we have several states that have already sent in their preliminary data. 

The social security number will help enhance in the long-term 

haul with regards to the state workforce agencies, as they do with 

their other programs, to do the measurements going back and forth 

with the common thing. We have to have the development of the 

IT system to accept that. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you. Coming back out of the weeds for a 

minute and going back to the 50,000-foot level, Secretary Kelly, 

how would you, give us a description of the results of the VRAP 

program from a VETS perspective? 

Mr. KELLY. From the VETS perspective, the VRAP program, 

thank you, Mr. Chairman, it is a good question. From the VETS 

perspective, it does appear to me we are targeting an unusual audience out there, a little bit older in age, that—— 

Mr. FLORES. I am sorry, I meant from the Veterans Employment 

and Training Services perspective. 

Mr. KELLY. Okay. 

Mr. FLORES. Okay, sorry. 

Mr. KELLY. So—— 

Mr. FLORES. Go ahead. 

MR. KELLY. From the Veterans Employment and Training Perspective, we are working diligently with VA on this program and 

our sister agency in ETA, which does have the data tracking management system of where we are colocated in all of the 2,600 American Job Centers for our DVOPs and LVERs to follow up. We have 

received out of, this is just beginning, there is a time lag that is 

necessary in all of these programs with regards to when you are 

going to get the information upon graduation, there is somebody 

completing a credentialing program, and the time lag to receive the 

wage and hour records to go forward, so we can go back against 

those particular service measurements. And I think we have things 

in place and on track to do that. It necessarily takes almost a year 

for somebody at the completion of a graduation, and at the time 

they offered to go into the program, they go through the training 

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of whatever months up to a year that may be, and come out. We 

are anxious to share that and look at the results and see how well 

it has been. 

Mr. FLORES. Okay. I thank the panel, and I now yield to Ranking 

Member Takano for five minutes. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Coy, can you tell me, you are with Veterans Affairs, right? 

Mr. COY. Yes, sir. 

Mr. TAKANO. What does the memorandum of understanding between the VA and the DOL encompass? Please help me understand 

what it covers? 

Mr. COY. Absolutely. I do not have it here in front of me, but our 

data security people on both the VA side and the Department of 

Labor side. And what it does, it sort of sets out the rules of the 

road of how DOL can use this information, how we are to transmit 

it to DOL, and it provides the information, if you will, in terms of 

the VRAP applicants’ information in terms of social security number, name, address, and so on and so forth. 

Mr. TAKANO. Okay. When veterans complete a program at a college or a technical school, how do they get referred to the Department of Labor and what services do they get? 

Mr. COY. I will defer to our friends and colleagues at the Department of Labor. When we get information on a veteran who has either left the program or completed the program, we pass that information over to the Department of Labor and they reach out and 

contact each of those veterans. The Department of Labor has been 

extremely aggressive in terms of reaching out to veterans. As soon 

as a veteran receives a certificate of eligibility, we pass that information to DOL and they reach out to that veteran, basically saying 

congratulations, you know, you have got a COE, and here is our 

services, and so on. 

When there is a change in that veteran’s status, in other words 

they have completed, they have dropped out, or whatever the reason is, we also notify Department of Labor and they reach out 

again. So it is a continuous loop with respect to reaching out to 

those veterans. With that, I will pass it to our colleagues at DOL. 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Representative Takano. With regards to 

when it gets passed back to the Department of Labor, and then the 

outreach goes back out to what I stated in my testimony, some of 

the reverse engineering to put information back out there. The Employment and Training Administration with, in conjunction with 

our DVOPs and LVERs, we make three-time efforts to reach out 

there and continue to find these folks after they have graduated or 

after they have reached their certification and see where they are 

at on that. And we do have from a handful of states, it is very preliminary, some data that is coming in now upon that outreach efforts and how many desire more services from our department, or 

how many already found a job, and how many are still in the program and training. And there is no contacts back after several attempts to outreach. We have used emails. I think there was three 

or four email blasts that went out there, and telephone numbers 

to stay in touch with them. We think on the preliminary efforts 

from a few states that it appears to be working quite well. 

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Mr. TAKANO. Can you tell me, which veterans are eligible? All 

veterans? 

Mr. COY. It is unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 

60, cannot have a dishonorable discharge, cannot have any G.I. Bill 

benefits remaining to them. There are some other nuances but 

those are the biggies, if you will, that makes a veteran eligible for 

the program. Unemployed, 35 to 60, and have no G.I. Bill benefits. 

An interesting aside, of those who have not been approved for the 

program, about 75 percent of those folks who have not been approved, the reason they have not been approved is because they already have G.I. Bill benefits, if you will, in their account. We consider that a really good news story. We tell them go use your G.I. 

Bill benefits that you have now before you start using any VRAP 

benefits. 

Mr. TAKANO. Do you expect to fill all the slots before the VRAP 

expiration date on October 1? 

Mr. COY. It is a good question and it is a challenge. Right now 

we are at 65,000. As I indicated in my oral statement, if we just 

did the math in terms of the graph of how many we were receiving, 

how many COEs, and how many people are enrolling, at the same 

rate we would expect to reach 99,000 about March or April timeframe. But I would caveat that, Congressman, by saying that for 

example, if you began your VRAP training in January, you are only 

going to get three months of VRAP benefits. So one would expect, 

anyway, that a veteran who may have that certificate of eligibility 

may in fact kind of go, I am only going to be able to use three 

months, maybe I will not begin training. So that is going to be the 

real outlier, is trying to see as we get down toward the end of the 

program how many people are going to continue to enroll knowing 

full well that they are not going to have all the benefits coming to 

them. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, my time is up. 

Mr. FLORES. Okay. Thank you, Takano. Mr. Wenstrup, you are 

recognized for five minutes. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Coy, I have a 

question. I appreciate that the program focuses on the high demand career fields. I think that that is important to the success of 

the program, obviously, Simple question, do you have any problem 

finding enough community colleges and vocational schools that provide that type of education in high demand career fields? 

Mr. COY. Thank you, Congressman. When we look at the high 

demand occupations, there is about 211 of them. And so we have 

not heard from veterans that they are having difficulty finding a 

school. I think that the challenge we get from many veterans is the 

requirement in the statute to be a two-year school or community 

college, we originally used just community college, we converted 

that, and we looked at it, and are now accepting VRAP students 

into two-year schools. And that was early on in the program we 

had to make some adjustments with respect to that. But it, in some 

cases, has in fact been a challenge for veterans to say, I want to 

go to this university. So for example, they may live across the 

street from a four-year university, but live 25-miles from a twoyear community college or technical school. And they are being told 

VACREP180 with DISTILLER

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you cannot go across the street, you have to go to a community college. And that is in the statute. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you. I yield back. 

Mr. COY. Yes, sir. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Mr. Wenstrup. Ms. Brownley, you are 

recognized for five minutes. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to my colleague, Mr. Takano, for highlighting a bill that I introduced to extend the authorization for a year for several of the homeless programs. And actually, I think many of the VSOs would prefer to see 

that extension even longer than a year. But I was hoping that perhaps Mr. Kelly, you might be able to comment on, you know, if 

these programs are not reauthorized what you believe the impact 

is? And I had a couple of specific programs, you know, sort of under 

that umbrella of homeless programs. One around the Homeless Female Veteran Program and how successful that program is. And 

also I am curious to know how many veterans have gone through 

the Incarcerated Veteran Transition Program and how successful 

you think that program is also? And maybe the Department of 

Labor has something—— 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Madam Congresswoman. With regards to 

the Homeless Veterans Program, from our views and our data it is 

very successful. It has got about a 65 or 66 percent success rate of 

people who have hit the bottom to get them back into the economy. 

They are coming in at above minimum wages. They are getting 

okay salaries and that. And probably most importantly, is when 

you measure it out at six months, are they still there. I might add 

I just was up in Maryland, there is quite a model program up there 

for homeless veterans where they actually house people there. And 

the success rates of going through the process, they can keep 200 

on campus at one time. And I visited about two weeks ago. And so 

when you see it on the ground what is going on out there, they 

have really got a high success rate. And I guess for lack of a better 

work have given these people their dignity back. And they are very 

proud of that. And it is very targeted, at least the job search and 

some of these other things, the training. And it is kind of tailormade for each one and what their issues are, and get back in that. 

But I do have to say I have visited now, this is the third homeless 

veteran training program or homeless veteran facility. And the 

data support is very high. 

I will note, you mentioned on the female veterans, we are seeing 

a growth in that area, the female homeless veterans is growing. 

And this particular grantee would love to sit there and try to see 

if they can get more facilities, especially for women, so they can 

keep in touch with their children, or with children. And so we are 

seeing it growing in that particular area and recognize that there 

is certainly more work to be done on it. But those that participate 

and that are in the program, for the dollar cost, it is a pretty high 

success rate. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. And the incarcerated transition program? 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Congresswoman. It is just about the 

same data on that, about a 60 percent success rate on those in the 

incarcerated program as well. And to capture these people, if that 

is the best word, before they get out on the street, and make sure 

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that they can make this transition. The success rate and the employment rate is, a little lower on the employment rate and the employment salary. But the success rate is again about 60 or 65 percent. I guess this is a case where you have a helping hand to get 

somebody to make that transition. 

So yes, we are supportive in the Department of Labor for the 

continuation. You know, the incarcerated program is a pilot program out here with a hard stop on September 30th. And the homeless veteran, including the female one, we are supportive of the 

continuation of both of them. The cost benefit certainly appears to 

support it. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. So in terms of our homeless population among 

veterans, it seems as though what you are saying in many cases, 

we are improving and these programs are effective. I think it is fair 

to say at the same time, we still have a growing population of 

homeless vets. So it is, I think there is probably still more that 

needs to be done. I am not sure that, obviously 60 is not good 

enough, 100 percent is what we are looking for. And the growing 

population of homeless and how we mitigate that and make sure 

that we can begin to decrease that population that is transitioning 

in a homeless status. 

Mr. KELLY. And do you want me to comment on that as well? Or 

no? Thank you. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Well I have 17 more seconds and I will take the 

liberty to use them. 

Mr. KELLY. Well yes, my comment would be, yes, we are seeing 

the demographics change some on that now. On the homeless veterans it is primarily the Vietnam Era veterans, my generation of 

veterans. Now we are seeing some of the younger veterans, and 

particularly the women veterans and their issues is what the department is trying to address, women veterans’ issues broadly. It 

is growing and it is concerning. And we are fighting it. The goal 

of the President is to have no homeless veterans by 2015. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Ms. Brownley. Mr. Runyan, you are recognized for five minutes. Just as a note, votes have been called. So 

we will let Mr. Runyan finish his questions and then we will suspend and resume. I will advise the Members that the Capitol Police 

have suggested that we take the tunnel this morning because there 

is a large demonstration at Independence and New Jersey. So Mr. 

Runyan, you are recognized for five minutes. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Kelly, about 30,000 

of the 65,000 people who have enrolled are no longer in the training. How many of those have been placed in jobs? Do you have any 

metrics on this? 

MR. KELLY. Thank you, Congressman. That is a very good question. And I stated in my testimony, and I am prepared to even go 

into further detail here, the time lag when somebody enrolls, signs 

up for the program, enrolls and takes the training, depending on 

the length of the training, that they wound up to a year, or an 

eight-week, or a six-month training, the time they leave that, and 

then the time that they go out there, there is a time lag necessarily 

as with all the programs, when the wage and hour records that 

they do become employed, or they do get involved. And so the time 

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lag, that time to measure that is going to be necessarily, really if 

you look at here somebody going in in the spring, it is almost, it 

is 11 months to a year out that that will, we will get the data, the 

information on how successful they have been in becoming employed. The outreach is going on. That is going on. The data to 

come back with hard data to verify it, I think I indicated we have 

three states that have got preliminary data, Texas, Kansas, and a 

northeastern state, I think it is Maine or New Hampshire. So the 

data is just beginning to trickle in now on some of those that may 

have at the very onset of the best case scenario got into the program and came out. I would be most happy that Gerri here, who 

their agency manages that whole data system program, probably 

can give you a more accurate succinct answer. 

Ms. FIALA. I will be very quick, but just the third state is Kansas. That we have some very, very preliminary outreach information on. And it is a very small sample size. It is about a little over 

300 people, and it is outreach, remember, not outcomes. But of that 

very small sample, about 55 percent responded to the queries of the 

states and to encourage them to contact the, for the VRAP program, to contact if they needed employment assistance. Fifty percent of the people that were contacted and responded to the request 

said that they needed assistance, they took the offer of assistance. 

Twenty percent of them said, you know, we already have jobs. We 

do not need assistance. And 30 percent declined any further workforce services. But this is a very small, informal sample just of the 

outreach. 

In terms of, I just want to reinforce what Assistance Secretary 

Kelly said. There is about a year lag between the person who exits 

the program, whether they have completed or dropped out of the 

program, and us getting the first outcome data. We use the same 

measures for the VRAP program that we use for other Department 

of Labor programs. And we also, this data is reported through employers on their wage records. This is a cost-effective way of obtaining information data on three outcomes that we are tracking. We 

track whether or not they entered the job. We track whether they 

were retained in that job at six months. And we track at, what was 

the average of the six month’s income for them. And so 90 days 

after they have had their last service, they are considered to exit 

the system. And it is at that point that they enter into the outcome 

reporting system. And remember, there is a time lag for unemployment insurance wage records to be reported. So we will have outcome data more, we will have some minimum data for perhaps people who dropped out or had a very short training program and entered last August at the end of this year. And that outcome data 

will continue to track actually through 2015. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Mr. Kelly, do you believe the authorization level for 

the homeless veterans reintegration program is appropriate? 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Congressman. You said the reauthorization—— 

Mr. RUNYAN. The authorization level? 

Mr. KELLY. For the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, is 

it appropriate? Yes, I do. 

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Mr. RUNYAN. If the funding was increased, do you believe that 

you would see a decrease in competition for grant funding, which 

would lead to a less successful program? 

Mr. KELLY. I did not catch the last part. If you could restate that, 

it would help me. 

Mr. RUNYAN. If the funding was increased—— 

Mr. KELLY. Yes? 

Mr. RUNYAN. —do you believe it would decrease the competition 

for grant funding which would decrease, would make a less successful program? 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Congressman. If the funding was increased, there is more demand for the grants than there is supply 

of the money it will cover. So I, we have seen this in the last couple 

of years. The amount of money available for the grant program to 

go out has actually gone down several million dollars. So really the 

competition this last go round really got enhanced because there 

just was not the amount of money to take on any new programs 

out there. So long story short is that the demand still far outstrips 

the supply of some good grant applicants for the program. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Thank you. Chairman, I yield back. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Mr. Runyan. We have five minutes and 

39 seconds left to vote, 342 Members have not voted. So we are 

going to go ahead and recognize Ms. Kirkpatrick for five minutes 

for this first, to conclude this first round of questions. 

Mrs. KIRKPATRICK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, the 

fact that we have any veteran in this country who is homeless is 

not acceptable. And I thank the panel for being here today and testifying. But I have to tell you the statistics do not support your testimony. And let me explain that. In Arizona, 21 percent of the 

homeless population are veterans. That means on any given night 

2,213 people, veterans who have served our country, are sleeping 

in the city parks. And I have to tell you, when I drive by those 

parks, and I look out, and I realize that one in five are veterans, 

here is what I see. They do not have an address. They do not have 

email. Many of them do not have cell phones. How are you communicating with those homeless veterans, which I really believe are 

the core of homelessness, when you testify today that communications are by email? That is not getting to them. So I would like to 

hear from the Department of Labor and also the VA, how are you 

reaching those veterans who are sleeping in the city parks every 

night with no other form or communication? 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Congresswoman. I want to clarify something. When I said we are contacting by email, I was really referring to the VRAP program, not the Homeless Veteran program. Because you are absolutely correct. They do not have an email address, or very likely may not have one. And we fully agree with you 

that it is terrible that this many veterans would be homeless. 

And so in that, how do we do the outreach for the homeless veterans out there? You really have to go back and be networked with 

your local community. That is where it has got to come from. We 

cannot see it from here, exactly what is going on. And what I witnessed, I guess, in visiting two of these homeless sites, one in San 

Francisco and now this other one in Baltimore, they are really 

plugged in and with other Federal agencies and others, but really 

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at the local level out there. They are the ones that knows what is 

going on out on the street, for lack of a better word. And so it has 

to come at that local community, government level. And then we 

can assist them then with the grants that we have and what not. 

But they are the ones that are out walking around the communities, under the bridges. As a matter of fact, at the one in Maryland, I think they stated that at certain times they take from the 

community, they have the working relationship with their city government, they take in surplus homeless people during, because 

they have the capacity, if they have the capacity, during some of 

the winter months. So it really does come down to the local community level, that that contact has to be made to do that. Through our 

American Job Centers and our DVOPs and LVERs, they are 

plugged into a system, that whole program. And then to put them 

and say here, here is a program at the Federal level that we may 

help in that. I hope that clarifies you on how to do it. Because you 

are right. They are not easy, if it is one in five sitting on a park 

bench, how do you find them and get hold of them to get them into 

the system. 

Mrs. KIRKPATRICK. Mr. Chairman, let me just close with one 

comment. I hope that you will consider some innovative ways to 

reach these veterans. We recently had a stand down in my district. 

And I watched veterans who would not give their address, and I 

have to think that many of those did not have an address. But they 

are proud. You know, they are not going to go to those centers and 

ask for help. And so in a lot of ways, they are veterans who are 

off the grid. And so I just hope that you will consider some innovative ways to respectfully and with dignity reach those homeless 

vets who are just off the grid. And I will close with that. Thank 

you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. KELLY. Thank you. 

Mr. FLORES. Thank you, Mrs. Kirkpatrick. I have polled the 

Members of the Subcommittee and we have concluded that we will 

be finished with the first round of questions. I would like to say 

this with respect to the submission of testimony. We had asked 

that the testimony be submitted by noon on Monday. Unfortunately 

we did not get Labor’s until 5:01 yesterday. That made it difficult 

for me to be prepared for this meeting. So I would ask in the future 

that you all please honor our request with respect to timing. 

In closing, I want to thank all the Members for their attendance 

today. And I want our witnesses to know that the Subcommittee 

will continue to monitor the progress of the data sharing agreement for VRAP. And I would appreciate it if you all would work 

together to try to conclude that as quickly as possible. I was glad 

to hear that you had come up with interim measures to deal with 

the data sharing. 

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that all the Members have five 

legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 

include any extraneous material on today’s hearing topic. Hearing 

no objection, so ordered. This hearing is now adjourned. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 10:44 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Statement of Curtis L. Coy 

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Takano, and other Members of 

the Subcommittee. I am pleased to join you this morning to discuss the implementation and performance of the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) as 

well as the collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Labor (DOL) in our efforts to ensure successful transitions from training to employment. 

Implementation of VRAP 

On November 11, 2011, the President signed into law the ‘‘VOW to Hire Heroes 

Act of 2011’’ (Public Law 112–56). Within this law, section 211 established VRAP 

to assist unemployed Veterans, ages 35–60. VRAP provides up to 12 months of educational assistance to Veterans enrolled in a VA-approved program at a community 

college or technical school that will train the Veteran for employment in any one 

of 211 high-demand career fields. To be eligible for participation, the Veteran must 

not have been enrolled in any Federal or state job-training program in the six 

months ending on the date of application, must have received other than a dishonorable discharge, must have no other VA education benefits available for use, and cannot be in receipt of compensation for a service-connected disability rated totally disabling by reason of unemployability. The law authorized VA to provide VRAP benefits to 45,000 participants who met eligibility requirements beginning in fiscal year 

(FY) 2012 and an additional 54,000 participants beginning in FY 2013. 

In just under 6 months of the law being enacted, VA and DOL collaboratively leveraged existing IT systems to begin accepting applications on May 15, 2012, to 

meet the statutory program start date of July 1, 2012. VA received over 45,000 applications in the first 4 months the application was available. As of August 29, 2013, 

VA has received more than 136,000 VRAP applications and issued over 119,000 certificates of eligibility to Veterans. VA has provided over $418 million in program 

benefits directly to more than 63,000 Veterans. More than 30,000 VRAP participants are currently enrolled in school. VA continues to look for ways to increase the 

number of VRAP beneficiaries and has notified the Regional Processing Offices to 

continue accepting applications until 99,000 Veterans have enrolled in training or 

October 1, 2013, whichever occurs first. 

Partnership with DOL 

The 211 high-demand career fields eligible for training assistance under VRAP 

were identified by our partners at DOL. To date, the most popular areas of study 

under VRAP are: Computer support specialist; Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselor; Business operations manager; General and operations manager; 

Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanic; Heavy and tractor-trailer 

truck driver; Cook; Medical assistant; Paralegal and legal assistant; and Registered 

nurse. These ten careers account for over 48 percent of all VRAP enrollees. 

VA entered into a memorandum of understanding with DOL, prior to the inception of VRAP, with the goal of ensuring Veterans have a smooth transition from 

training to employment. VA compiles a weekly report for DOL that indicates the 

location of VRAP applicants. VA and DOL are nearing completion of a new data 

transfer agreement with DOL to increase the level of data shared between the two 

Departments. VA is working with DOL to receive employment outcomes as it becomes available. We defer to DOL to discuss employment services offered to VRAP 

participants. 

VRAP Outreach 

VA developed an aggressive outreach campaign to raise awareness about VRAP. 

VA produced and aired two radio public service announcements on more than 1,600 

stations. VA also produced and aired two Internet and television advertisements on 

the following networks: CBS, ABC, Verizon, Comcast, the Pentagon Channel, DisVACREP180 with DISTILLER

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ney, and ESPN. These advertisements were geographically targeted to reach the 25 

counties or metropolitan areas with the highest unemployment. VA also created 

multiple print advertisements and worked with several periodicals to have advertisements published to include the Military Times and its service branch counterparts. 

To increase VA’s Internet presence, VA created a VRAP Web site, which has had 

more than 3 million visits since its inception. The success of the VRAP Web site 

can be attributed to our Google Ad campaign that resulted in over 30,000 visits to 

the site as well as our direct e-mail notifications of the program sent to more than 

800,000 Veterans. Over 200,000 e-mails were read, and over 75,000 of those who 

read the e-mail visited our VRAP Web site. Additionally, VA continues to discuss 

the VRAP program using our numerous social media presences. 

VA collaborated with DOL and the Department of Defense to ensure VRAP was 

included in the newly revised Transition Assistance Program (TAP). The new TAP 

provides Servicemembers with information on VRAP, so they are aware of the program and its benefits. VA has also worked with Veterans Service Organizations, 

such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, to train their national 

staff on VRAP and to provide information to them for dissemination at their national, regional, and local conferences, as well as for inclusion in their national 

membership publications. VA created postcards, posters, and pamphlets for distribution at national, regional, and local events such as job fairs. VA coordinated with 

several nationwide retailers to have VRAP flyers distributed to their customers during Veterans Day 2012. In addition, VA sent e-mails to over 1,000 community colleges and trade schools to publicize the program. 

VA is not only focused on contacting potential VRAP applicants but is also making 

significant efforts to reach those Veterans who received a certificate of eligibility 

and have not yet enrolled in school. We currently have over 75 e-mail distribution 

lists containing over 3,000 e-mail contacts and continue to actively spread the word 

about the VRAP opportunity. 

VRAP Success Stories 

VRAP has proven to be a valuable program to Veterans who are eligible to take 

advantage of its benefits. Eligible Veterans have been able to turn negative personal 

circumstances into accomplishments by pursuing education opportunities through 

VRAP. One particular Veteran, John Luque, had completed 4 years of active duty 

in the Navy before leaving the service and starting a career in real estate. Unfortunately, once the real estate market crashed, his projects dropped overnight, and 

John became unemployed and homeless. John then moved to Utah and received assistance from the Utah Department of Work Force Services who recommended that 

he go to college. After initially thinking that he was not qualified to be a ‘‘student,’’ 

John took a placement test and was able to successfully enroll at Salt Lake Community College. Working with the VA’s VetSuccess on Campus Counselor at the school, 

John applied for VRAP benefits and has now almost completed his associate’s degree in business. VRAP has afforded John the opportunity to achieve his goals of 

opening a non-profit organization that provides emergency housing for homeless 

Veterans and becoming a Veteran community organizer. VA has a full video describing John’s story on the VA YouTube Channel. 

Richmond Community College posted an article on its Web site on May 30, 2013, 

about another Veteran who has excelled in school using VRAP. The Veteran has 

made the Dean’s List and was recently awarded a scholarship from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute to assist with the costs of his program’s 

second year. VA recognizes the success that Veterans can achieve by utilizing VRAP 

and supports pending legislation to extend the program to additional Veterans. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I welcome any questions you, or the 

other members of the Subcommittee, may have for me. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Hon. Keith Kelly 

Introduction 

Good Morning Chairman Flores, Ranking Member Takano and distinguished 

Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf 

of the Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) regarding the Veterans’ Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). I commend you all for your tireless efforts to ensure that America 

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1http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/ten—43—11.pdf 

2http://www.dol.gov/vets/VPLS/VPLs/VPL%2007–12.pdf 

3http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEGL/TEGL—8—12.pdf 

fulfills her obligations to our returning service members, veterans, and their families. 

President Obama, Secretary of Labor Perez and I are committed to serving these 

brave men and women as well as they have served us by ensuring they have the 

opportunities, training, and support they have earned to succeed in the civilian 

workforce. The Department will continue to work with Members of Congress to provide our returning servicemembers, veterans, and their families with the critical resources and expertise needed to prepare them to obtain meaningful careers, maximize their employment opportunities, and protect their employment rights. 

Implementing Veterans’ Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) 

Section 211 of the ‘‘VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011’’ (Public Law 112–56) established VRAP, an important program that provides retraining assistance that enables 

unemployed veterans aged 35 to 60 to pursue an associate degree or certificate in 

a high-demand occupation. VRAP presents a valuable opportunity for thousands of 

unemployed veterans to develop in-demand skills necessary to enter new careerpathways. The Department is committed to the success of this program and has 

been working diligently with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out 

the VRAP provisions since the VOW Act was enacted in November of 2011. 

DOL has assisted in the administration of VRAP by, among other things, conducting outreach to veterans, developing guidance for the workforce investment system, identifying high-demand occupations, and determining applicants’ initial eligibility based on age, employment status, and previous participation in other job 

training programs. In addition, the Department works to support veterans before, 

during, and following their participation in VRAP with employment services and assistance, such as assisted job search, resume development, and interviewing skills. 

The Department takes these responsibilities seriously and has been working diligently to ensure the success of the program. 

For example, the Department, in concert with our colleagues at VA, has been active in promoting the awareness of the VRAP program both at the national level 

and at the grass roots level through the nation-wide network of approximately 2,600 

American Job Centers (AJCs), Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans’ Employment Representative (LVER) staff, and other 

workforce system stakeholders. The Department issued guidance, technical assistance, and information to state and local workforce investment systems strongly encouraging them to refer eligible veterans to the program and requiring them to provide participants with employment assistance after completing or leaving the program. This outreach effort has contributed to the enrollment of over 63,000 veterans 

in training for ‘‘high-demand’’ occupations. Additionally, in collaboration with VA, 

and to help support the full use of benefits by eligible applicants, the Department 

has sent three rounds of emails to individuals who were accepted into VRAP, but 

who have yet to enroll. 

In May 2012, DOL issued formal announcements providing the workforce investment system, including DVOPS and LVERs, with general information on the VRAP 

(Training and Employment Notice 43–11 1 and Veterans Program Letter 7–12 2) and 

formal policy guidance, updated last month, on providing employment assistance to 

VRAP participants after they exit the program (Training and Employment Guidance 

Letter 8–12 3) in October 2012. In addition, upon participants’ acceptance into the 

VRAP program, the Department sends them a welcome e-mail providing information 

about the network of AJCs, including an online tool to locate AJCs in a selected 

area. This welcome e-mail further explains that veterans are entitled to priority of 

service within the AJC network and encourages veterans to reach out to their local 

AJCs while still in training to begin job search activities. When VA notifies the Department that an individual has exited VRAP, the Department sends a second email reminding the veteran of the AJC network and online resources. Following this 

second e-mail, the Department provides each state workforce agency with the contact information of each VRAP participant, so that the agency can offer them employment assistance and report the results of their outreach efforts to the Department. 

DOL’s responsibilities under VRAP have required, among other things, modifications to current reporting systems, approval of new data collections, and development of processes and data management tools to ensure states and local areas can 

offer employment assistance to VRAP participants as they enter and exit the proVACREP180 with DISTILLER

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gram, offer employment services, and track their employment outcomes. For instance, to capture data for VRAP participants, the Department created an entirely 

new reporting system specific to outreach activities and altered its existing reporting systems to capture employment outcomes. In the October 2012 guidance, as updated, the Department provided information to the state and local workforce investment system on how to collect and submit this data. For each VRAP participant, 

states are now responsible for collecting data on whether the individual received assistance, was contacted and already found employment, was contacted and did not 

wish to receive assistance, or was non-responsive to the outreach of employment assistance. The first report accounting for all outreach to VRAP participants from program inception through September 30, 2013, is due to the Department by November 

15, 2013. Successive reports are due within 45 days of the end of each quarter. The 

Department has been working directly with its state contacts to ensure outreach is 

being conducted and will provide additional assistance and monitoring as formal 

outreach reporting begins later this fall. 

Moreover, DOL is leveraging the core employment services provided under the 

Wagner-Peyser Act to track the employment outcomes of VRAP participants who receive employment assistance from AJC staff. Specifically, the Department is making 

modifications to its Labor Exchange Reporting System (LERS), currently used by 

several DOL programs, to collect information about services provided to and employment outcomes of VRAP participants. Only participants who accept the Department’s offer for employment assistance and enroll at an AJC are included in this 

reporting. 

LERS outcomes include three measures used across employment and training programs serving adult populations, commonly referred to as the Common Measures, 

to gauge program success. These are as follows: Entered Employment Rate; Employment Retention Rate; and Average Earnings. The Common Measures are captured 

using state wage records and are reported to the Department within 45-days of the 

end of each quarter. The capture of outcomes is automatically initiated after a participant has gone 90 days or more without receiving an employment or training 

service. 

As described earlier, the Department has updated the standard state performance 

reporting systems to provide employment outcome information for those VRAP participants who receive services from AJC staff. In addition, DOL has been working 

with VA to develop methods for more comprehensive reporting of performance outcomes for all VRAP participants. This broader VRAP reporting has posed some challenges to the public workforce investment system, comprised of AJCs, state workforce agencies, and various partner organizations, which is by design decentralized 

and locally-driven. The Department has had to reengineer current data-reporting 

systems and reverse reporting processes to allow an exchange of information between the Department and the states. This task has required both a memorandum 

of agreement and the development of an interagency data-transfer agreement between the Department and VA. The data transfer agreement between the Department and VA is currently being finalized and will increase the Department’s access 

to VRAP participant data. Additionally, the Department is beginning work with the 

54 states and territories to develop data-transfer agreements that will further facilitate the dissemination of VRAP participants’ contact information and give states the 

option to receive participants’ Social Security numbers in addition to the contact information they are already receiving. The Department has also sought and received 

approval for a new data collection specific to the workforce investment system’s outreach efforts. These processes, which sometimes take years to complete, have been 

carried out in a matter of months. 

In addition, some states have reported to the Department challenges in maintaining their performance data reporting, both in terms of limited physical computer 

systems and technical staff. The Department has responded by providing extensive 

technical assistance in the form of webinars, guidance documents, tutorials, and a 

dedicated e-mail helpline for inquiries. The Department will continue to work with 

the states and others to ensure the success of VRAP. 

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) 

Another important program aimed at providing training and employment services 

to veterans is the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). The HVRP 

provides employment-focused and supportive services to assist homeless veterans attain meaningful civilian employment and to stimulate the development of effective 

service delivery systems that address the complex problems facing homeless veterans. The HVRP is one of the only nationwide Federal programs that exclusively 

focuses on helping homeless veterans to reintegrate into the workforce. 

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HVRP funds are awarded to eligible entities through a competitive grant process 

outlined in the annual Solicitation for Grant Applications. Eligible entities in PY 

2013 included: State and local Workforce Investment Boards, Native American tribal organizations, for-profit/commercial entities, public agencies, and non-profits, including community-based organizations. Grantees provide an array of services to 

homeless veterans through a holistic case management approach, which includes 

critical linkages to a variety of support services available in local communities. Successful grant applicants must specifically describe how their outreach to homeless 

veterans will build an effective level of collaboration with other entities, such as the 

Department of Veteran Affairs, Grant and Per Diem (GPD) grantees, Housing and 

Urban Development and Veterans’ Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD–VASH) Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grantees, Health and Human Services 

(HHS) grantees, and Department of Veterans’ Affairs Homeless Veteran Supported 

Employment Program (HVSEP). 

HVRP operates on the principle that when homeless veterans attain meaningful 

and sustainable employment, they are on a path to self-sufficiency and their susceptibility to homelessness is diminished. HVRP is employment-focused; each participant receives customized employment and training services to address his or her 

specific barriers to employment. Services may include occupational, classroom, and 

on-the-job training, as well as job search, placement assistance, and post-placement 

follow-up services. HVRP’s client-centric, ‘‘hands-on’’ approach has successfully 

helped place thousands of previously-homeless veterans, some of whom were chronically homeless, on a path to self-sufficiency. 

Within the umbrella of the HVRP, the Department funds two additional programs 

designed to address difficult-to-serve subpopulations of homeless Veterans, the 

Homeless Female Veterans and Veterans with Families Program (HFVVWF) and 

the Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program (IVTP). HFVVWF is a competitive 

grant program that targets the subpopulation of homeless female veterans and veterans with families. The IVTP demonstration project grants currently authorized as 

a pilot program that sunsets on September 30, 2013, are designed to support incarcerated veterans who are at risk of homelessness by providing referral and career 

counseling services, job training, placement assistance and other benefits. Eligible 

IVTP participants include veterans who have been incarcerated and are within 18 

months prior to release, or within six months after release from a correctional institution or facility. 

In addition, through HVRP the Department supports ‘‘Stand Down’’ events. A 

Stand Down is a local community event collaborated between local VA programs, 

other government agencies and community agencies serving the homeless, typically 

held over one to three days, where homeless veterans are provided a wide variety 

of services, which can include temporary shelter, meals, clothing, hygiene care, medical examinations, immunizations, state identification cards, veteran benefit counseling, training program information, employment services, and referral to other 

supportive services. Funding for employment services and incentives for homeless 

veteran participants, such as hot meals and climate appropriate clothing, is provided through non-competitive grants awarded on a first-come, first-served basis 

until available funding is exhausted. 

HVRP Grant Process 

Most HVRP grants are competitive in nature, with the Department soliciting bids 

by advertising opportunities on the Federal government’s consolidated website: 

www.grants.gov. Once the bid period closes, the Department assembles grant review 

teams under the direction of the Department’s Grant Officer. These teams review 

each bid and score it according to the selection criteria announced in the solicitation. 

The bids are then ranked based upon their objective scores, although the Department reserves the right to consider geographical dispersion and other factors when 

making the final selections. Once selections are made, Congressional notifications 

are completed and the Department issues a press release of the grant awardees. 

DOL staff then conducts post-award meetings to ensure all new grantees are fully 

informed of grant implementation and reporting requirements. 

All HVRP grant recipients are measured against four performance outcomes outlined in our policy guidance and if a grantee is unable to meet any of the four outcomes the grantee will be placed on a corrective action plan. The performance outcomes are: (1) Enrollments; (2) Placements; (3) Placement Rate; and (4) Cost per 

Placement. DOL staff works closely with grantees to help them succeed and to 

achieve all of the four performance outcomes. DVOP and LVER staff also support 

HVRP grantees by providing critical resources to help grantees achieve entered employment and retention goals through case management, direct employer contact, 

job development, and follow-up services. 

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We in the Department are proud to report that from July 2011 to March 2013, 

the HVRP enrolled 16,412 participants and 10,744 (66 percent) were placed into employment, earning an average wage of $10.74 per hour. During this same period, 

over 65 percent of those who were placed into employment continued to be employed 

6 months later. Despite the myriad challenges in moving unemployed homeless veterans into employment and housing, the Department believes the HVRP has shown 

encouraging results. The Department remains committed to the Administration’s 

goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015 and looks forward to working with the 

Committee to ensure the continued success of the program. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the VRAP and HVRP programs display our Nation’s commitment 

to our servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The Department of Labor is 

dedicated to the success of these programs and will continue to work diligently to 

provide these brave men and women with the employment and training services 

they need and deserve. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Takano, and Members of 

the Subcommittee this concludes my statement. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

f 

Statements For The Record 

THE NATIONAL COALITION OF HOMELESS VETERANS 

Chairman Bill Flores, Ranking Member Mark Takano, and distinguished 

members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on 

Economic Opportunity: 

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) is honored to present this 

Statement for the Record for the legislative hearing on September 12, 2013. On behalf of the 2,100 community- and faith-based organizations NCHV represents, we 

thank you for your commitment to serving our nation’s most vulnerable heroes. 

This written statement will focus on NCHV’s longstanding support for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) – the only federal program specifically 

dedicated to helping homeless veterans prepare for and enter employment, and providing follow-up mentoring and counseling to help them remain employed. 

HVRP is one of the most important tools in our nation’s toolkit to end homeless- ness among veterans by 2015. The program has been authorized by Congress at $50 

million a year since 2005. Despite serving about 16,000 veterans with serious and 

often multiple barriers to employment each year, and its standing as one of the 

most successful programs in the Department of Labor portfolio, it has never received 

the full level of funding authorized by Congress. In FY 2013, HVRP was funded at 

$38.1 million. 

NCHV strongly supports a full annual appropriation of $50 million for HVRP to 

increase the number of homeless veterans served by the program. We also endorse 

reauthorizing HVRP through 2018, as proposed in H.R. 2150, the ‘‘Homeless Veterans Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2013.’’ 

Finally, NCHV strongly supports the intent of Section 6 of H.R. 357 – extending 

HVRP eligibility to veterans who are fast-tracked into permanent housing. When 

the original regulations for HVRP eligibility were drafted, there were no veteranspecific programs designed to quickly move homeless veterans from the streets into 

housing. Today, that is the prime objective of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) ‘‘Housing First’’ policy. 

HVRP is particularly vital to veterans receiving vouchers under the HUD–VA 

Supportive Housing (HUD–VASH) program. Helping these formerly homeless veterans re-enter the workforce offers the greatest hope they will become progressively 

less dependent on government assistance as they advance to independent living in 

permanent housing. 

Description of Program 

HVRP is administered through the Department of Labor-Veterans Employment 

and Training Service (DOL–VETS). VETS administers competitive grants to several 

types of community partners, including state and local government agencies, private 

service providers, and faith- and community-based organizations. Organizations 

must reapply for funding every three years, and must meet or exceed their program 

goals to remain competitive. 

Organizations awarded HVRP grants provide their homeless veteran clients with: 

• Job training and professional development services 

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• Career counseling, and resume preparation 

• Job search and placement assistance 

• Follow-up services to ensure job retention 

• Vital supports like clothing, referrals to housing resources, health and substance abuse treatment services, and transportation assistance 

Roughly 16,000 veterans each year benefit from the services that HVRP provides. 

In recent years those services have been increasingly utilized by younger homeless 

veterans. The returning soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen who served in Iraq 

and Afghanistan (OEF/OIF era) face unemployment rates of 10% as of August 2013. 

Many of these out-of-work veterans fall into homelessness – 12,700 OEF/OIF veterans were homeless at some point during 2010. 

HVRP is the most effective program available to address homeless veteran’s financial issues – by helping them become gainfully employed. With relatively small 

grants to already-existing community service delivery systems, HVRP capitalizes on 

the expertise and infrastructure of its 143 community-based partner organizations. 

Despite the breadth of services offered by HVRP, they currently can only be 

accessed by veterans meeting the definition of ‘‘homeless’’ in the McKinney-Vento 

Homeless Assistance Act. A veteran who is housed through the HUD–VASH Program does not meet that definition. Placement of chronically homeless and extreme 

low-income veterans in permanent housing with a HUD–VASH voucher is a priority 

under the new VA policy of ‘‘Housing First.’’ This policy places a homeless veteran 

as soon as possible into stable, safe housing with intense case management. Though 

this is a sound and results-proven policy, the current rules prevent veterans who 

are placed in HUD–VASH housing quickly from receiving the benefits of HVRP. 

As a nation we are committed to ending homelessness among veterans by 2015. 

Though progress is being made to reach that goal, a fully funded and properly applied HVRP is a critical, strategic component of the campaign. 

Unique Aspects of HVRP 

HVRP is the nation’s only employment program wholly dedicated to serving homeless veterans. Despite the multiple barriers to re-employment most homeless veterans face, the HVRP program requires its grantees to successfully place clients in 

jobs, and to provide follow-up services to help them remain employed for nearly a 

year. HVRP is so successful because it does not just fund employment services; it 

guarantees job placement and job retention supports. 

Through HVRP, these men and women are given an opportunity to build the 

skills necessary to enter the workforce. The program provides wrap-around supports 

including residential stability, health services, and counseling. Furthermore, HVRP 

providers do not abandon their veterans when they become employed; regulations 

stipulate they must provide follow-up services for 270 days after the veteran returns 

to work. 

At an average cost of $3,295 per placement, HVRP clients can expect to find a 

job with an average wage of $10.48 per hour. The job placement rate of HVRP 

grantees is, in many cases, higher than that of veteran employment programs overall. 

Recommendations 

H.R. 2150 would re-authorize HVRP at its current level of $50 million annually 

through 2018. The long-term nature of veteran enrollment in HVRP (often almost 

two years) means that year-to-year authorizations are hard on the community partners administering the services. For each veteran helped, a two-year commitment 

must be made to a program of support, training and post-employment follow-up. 

The Department of Labor has stated that historically the low funding levels have 

not impacted the quality of services but have limited the number of veterans served 

by the program. Increasing the funding would undoubtedly increase program capacity and reach more of those who need these services. The most recent estimates 

place the number of homeless veterans above 62,000. Although this represents a 

17% drop since 2009, the fact remains that tens of thousands of homeless veterans 

still need help to get off of the streets. 

An interesting footnote to the economic impact of HVRP is that the government 

expense of providing these services – average job placement cost of $3,295, average 

hourly wage of $10.48 – returns about 150% of the program cost in federal and state 

tax revenue during the first year of employment. 

‘‘Housing First’’ paradigms place the emphasis on providing stable, safe, and permanent housing to homeless veterans as soon as possible in order to properly support their recovery from homelessness. These data-driven, results-proven paradigms 

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sistance. The recovery and reintegration of homeless veterans requires stable, safe, 

and permanent housing, as well as job training and placement assistance. 

Ensuring a stable income – through employment opportunities or earned veterans’ 

benefits – is the surest way to prevent recurring homelessness and to end chronic 

homelessness among veterans. ‘‘Housing First’’ was never meant to mean, and never 

should mean, ‘‘Housing Only.’’ NCHV supports extending eligibility for the HVRP 

program to veterans fast-tracked into permanent housing in the HUD–VASH program. 

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this Statement for the Record. Thank 

you also for your commitment to ending veteran homelessness. NCHV is confident 

you will continue your unwavering support of veterans in crisis in the future, and 

we look forward to working with this subcommittee for the duration of the Five Year 

Plan to End Veteran Homelessness, and beyond. 

Thank you for your service, 

John Driscoll 

President and CEO 

Joshua Stewart 

Policy and Communications Assistant 

National Coalition for Homeless Veterans 

333 1⁄2 Pennsylvania Ave. SE 

Washington, DC 20003 

202.546.1969 

f 

EASTER SEALS INC. 

Chairman Flores, Ranking Member Takano and members of this Subcommittee, 

Easter Seals thanks you for holding this hearing to review the performance of the 

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP). Easter Seals is a national nonprofit organization that provides essential community-based services and supports 

to veterans, military families, individuals with disabilities and others. Since World 

War II, Easter Seals has helped to address the unmet needs of U.S. soldiers returning home with new service-connected disabilities. Through our national network of 

73 community-based affiliates, Easter Seals assists veterans and military families 

through our medical rehabilitation, caregiving, employment, adult day, therapeutic 

recreation, reintegration and other quality programs. Easter Seals regularly fills the 

gap between the services veterans and military families need and the services currently available through government or other entities. 

Easter Seals appreciates the Subcommittee’s focus on the employment and reintegration needs of America’s veterans by examining HVRP and the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. The men and women who have served our country 

must have full access to the reintegration supports and services they need to help 

in their transition to civilian life. Easter Seals partners regularly with federal, state 

and private entities to help provide reintegration and other services and supports 

to veterans and military families. For example, Easter Seals trains caregivers of seriously injured Post-9/11 veterans for the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ (VA) 

National Veteran Caregiver Training Program. Easter Seals New Hampshire works 

with the New Hampshire National Guard and others to provide case management, 

counseling, housing support, employment and other services to help military families during their service to our nation. And through our partnership with the Dixon 

Center for Military and Veterans Community Services, Easter Seals has teamed 

with businesses and community foundations to launch veterans’ employment, financial planning and reintegration programs in Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New 

York, Ohio and Oregon. Easter Seals believes no veteran or military family should 

suffer from a lack of access to or understanding of how to navigate reintegration 

services. 

Easter Seals fully supports the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Homeless Veterans 

Reintegration Program. HVRP is the only federally-funded program focused exclusively on the employment of veterans who are homeless. Congress created HVRP 

recognizing the critical role employment plays in recovery and understanding the 

unique, individualized needs of each veteran who is homeless or at-risk of becoming 

homeless. The program provides job training, counseling, and placement services to 

expedite the reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor force. More than 

16,000 homeless veterans or veterans who were at-risk of homelessness received job 

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1 U.S. Department of Labor Fiscal Year 2014 Congressional Budget Justification 

training and employment assistance through HVRP in its last recorded program 

year. 1

One of the individuals helped recently through HVRP was Donald, a 48-year old 

veteran from Oregon. He enrolled in Easter Seals Oregon’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program earlier this summer looking for help in finding a job. The 

former Oregon Air National Guard Member had been out of work since 2008. With 

no steady income, Donald found himself homeless, broke and socially isolated. He 

was determined to get back into the workforce, but didn’t think he had much to 

offer an employer. Donald simply identified ‘‘general employment’’ as his goal when 

he entered the program. It wasn’t until an in-person meeting with his Easter Seals 

HVRP employment specialist that Donald talked about his time in the military as 

an aircraft fuel systems mechanic helper and his 14 years of experience as a forklift 

operator. The Easter Seals employment specialist recognized the many natural talents Donald had and the work skills he developed through past civilian and military 

jobs. Donald’s immediate goal was to get back into the workforce as quickly as possible. Donald dreamed of visiting all 48 states in the continental United States and, 

together with his employment specialist, identified a career as a long-haul truck 

driver as a viable, in-demand option. His long-term goal was to earn a Class A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Easter Seals Oregon immediately connected Donald 

to transitional housing at a nearby Salvation Army housing complex and provided 

him with a monthly bus pass so he could easily attend meetings and, eventually, 

jobs interviews. Together with his employment specialist, Donald updated his resume, linked to the local VA center for other services, and registered with several 

staffing agencies in the region. Just a few short weeks after entering Easter Seals’ 

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, Donald was hired by a local manufacturing company in a permanent job as a forklift operator. He works full-time and 

earns $10 per hour, with full benefits. Donald cited ‘‘networking skills, online job 

search assistance, resume update, housing stabilization, reliable transportation, and 

encouragement’’ as services that Easter Seals Oregon-HVRP provided that helped 

him get this job. Donald is also pursuing his long-term employment goal. Donald 

is applying to a local truck driving school that has an excellent track record in educating and finding jobs in the field for past Easter Seals HVRP clients. With the 

help of HVRP and the personalized attention of his Easter Seals employment specialist, Donald is working full-time, is in stable housing and is well on his way to 

achieving his long term career goal. 

Donald is just one of thousands of homeless veterans across the country being 

served through HVRP. The program works, in large part, due to the holistic, personcentered care coordination model that Easter Seals has used for several decades in 

helping individuals with disabilities achieve their dreams. Easter Seals commends 

Congress for creating a program that recognizes that veterans face multiple barriers 

to securing a job and maintaining stable housing. The HVRP model works directly 

with each veteran to develop an individualized employment development plan and 

to connect the veteran to training, employment services and other community supports to help achieve their goal. The Department of Labor noted in its FY 2014 

budget justification that its traditional job training and employment programs are 

‘‘often not well suited on their own to assist homeless veterans’’ and described how 

‘‘helping homeless veterans requires a substantial amount of outreach and job development with employers as well as the coordination of individually tailored support 

services and training interventions.’’ HVRP providers can help to pay for reasonable 

expenses or connect them to available community services that are required for the 

veteran to succeed in achieving his or her employment goal. In the case of Donald, 

Easter Seals Oregon provided several supportive services to help him achieve his 

employment goal including the purchase of a monthly bus card and the connections 

to the VA and the local transitional housing provider. Other supportive services examples include child care, health care, assistive technology, and counseling. 

Our nation has made tremendous progress in tackling the homeless problem 

among U.S. veterans. The U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2012 

Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness noted that veterans’ homelessness fell by 

7.2 percent since January 2011 and by 17.2 percent since January 2009. HVRP and 

other programs developed and supported by Congress, including the Supported 

Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) Program, HUD–VA Supportive Housing Program, and Grant and Per Diem Program, have effectively provided the individualized support and assistance needed to reverse the trend of homelessness among veterans. While homelessness is declining, challenges still remain, particularly for 

women veterans and veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation 

Iraqi Freedom (OIF). The VA’s National Center on Homelessness among Veterans 

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2 VA National Center on Homelessness among Veterans, New Research on Homelessness 

among Veterans, 2011 

reported in its supplemental report to Congress 2 that young OEF/OIF veterans and 

female veterans are at two times greater risk to become homeless than their nonveteran counterparts and three times at greater risk to live in poverty. The Department of Labor projected that it will serve 20,000 eligible veterans in FY 2014, with 

a particular focus on women veterans. Easter Seals affiliates in Indiana, Maryland, 

New York and Oregon have partnered with DOL to help accomplish this important 

goal. For example, Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis will help to meet the urgent needs of 150 homeless veterans in the eight-county region around Indianapolis. 

Easter Seals New York will serve more than 100 homeless female veterans living 

in the New York metropolitan area through a new HVRP. However, new resources 

and improvements to the HVRP program are needed to help meet the needs of these 

veterans. 

Based on Easter Seals’ experience and our commitment to America’s veterans, we 

respectfully urge Congress to strengthen the HVRP program and to increase our nation’s effort to meet the reintegration needs of our veterans. 

1. Reauthorize the HVRP Program: The current HVRP authorization expires 

at the end of fiscal year 2013. Easter Seals endorsed the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program Reauthorization Act of 2013 (H.R. 2150), which would extend 

HVRP through FY 2018. Easter Seals commends this Subcommittee for favorably 

reporting the bill to the full House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and we urge Congress to complete action on this critical legislation. 

2. Fully Fund HVRP: HVRP is currently authorized at $50 million annually, the 

save level proposed in the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2013. However, the program has only been funded at $38 million the 

last two fiscal years. While we understand the difficult fiscal environment, Easter 

Seals recommends that Congress fully funds HVRP at its authorized level of $50 

million to better meet the needs of homeless veterans and veterans who are at-risk 

for homelessness. 

3. Expand Veteran Eligibility of HVRP: Easter Seals supports H.R. 1305, 

which would expand eligibility to HVRP to also include veterans who are participating in and receiving rental assistance through the VA’s supported housing program (HUD–VASH) and veterans who are transitioning from being incarcerated. 

These vulnerable veterans should have access to HVRP. Easter Seals is pleased that 

the Subcommittee took the first step toward helping these vulnerable veterans by 

reporting the bill favorably to the full VA Committee. 

4. Create Waiver To Make Housing An Allowable Expense: The goal of 

HVRP is to leverage existing community housing resources by connecting eligible 

veterans to available transitional and affordable housing programs. Homeless veterans in some communities struggle to achieve their housing and employment objectives because of the lack of transitional or affordable housing in their area. The 

lengthy waiting lists and the prohibition on using HVRP funds to pay for rent or 

housing deposits delays and, in some cases, prevents a veteran’s ability to meet his 

or her goal. Easter Seals requests that Congress and DOL add an allowable expenses waiver to allow, on a case-by-case basis, a grantee to pay the first month’s 

rent or a deposit for an apartment as part of a veteran’s employment development 

plan. 

5. Create HVRP–Like Program To Address Reintegration Needs: The individualized, holistic care coordination model used in HVRP is the root of the success 

of HVRP. The model is a key component of the VA’s Supported Services for Veterans 

Families (SSVF) program that is also aimed at preventing veterans’ homelessness. 

The community-based, holistic approach ensures veterans and their families have 

access to a continuum of care that is local, timely and effective. Easter Seals recommends that Congress create a pilot program at the VA that uses this holistic 

model to address the reintegration needs of veterans in need. Programs like HVRP 

and SSVF are targeted at a population when they are most at-risk. Providing veterans with these supportive services and access to care coordination earlier in the 

process will more quickly and effectively respond before the problems turn to crisis. 

Easter Seals commends Congress and this Subcommittee for its commitment to 

helping to end veterans’ homelessness. The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program at the Department of Labor is one of the most effective tools in helping homeless veterans and veterans who are at-risk of homelessness to get back on their feet 

and contributing to their communities. Thank you for your support of HVRP and 

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your interest in strengthening the program. Easter Seals looks forward to working 

with Congress to help America’s veterans and military families with the services 

and supports they need to succeed in their communities. 

Æ 

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