NATIVE AMERICAN 

VETERANS 

DOL Needs a Clear 

Plan to Improve 

Employment and 

Training Services on 

Tribal Lands 

Report to Congressional Requesters

September 2013 

GAO-13-664 

United States Government Accountability Office
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-13-664, a report to 

congressional requesters

September 2013

NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS

DOL Needs a Clear Plan to Improve Employment and 

Training Services on Tribal Lands

Why GAO Did This Study

The unemployment rate for all veterans 

has risen since the beginning of the 

economic downturn, but the 

unemployment rate for Native 

Americans living on tribal land has 

been higher. In addition, tribal land is 

frequently located in remote areas 

characterized by limited economic 

development, which can make finding 

a job challenging. DOL administers 

several grant programs that provide 

employment assistance to all eligible 

veterans, including Native Americans. 

In response to a statutory mandate, in 

October 2010, DOL submitted a report 

to Congress recommending that the 

agency take actions to increase 

employment and training opportunities

for Native American veterans living on 

tribal lands. GAO assessed (1) the 

status of DOL efforts to implement the 

report's recommendations and (2)

whether and how DOL can improve on 

its efforts to implement the report's 

recommendations. GAO reviewed 

federal laws, regulations, and DOL 

guidance; interviewed DOL, state, and 

tribal officials as well as Native 

American veterans; and conducted site 

visits to tribal lands in four U.S. 

regions.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that DOL develop a 

written strategy to implement the 2010 

recommendations that incorporates 

roles and responsibilities, goals, costs, 

and time frames. DOL should also 

expand collaboration with other

agencies to leverage resources and 

identify and disseminate lessons 

learned from prior relevant efforts. DOL 

agreed with GAO’s recommendations.

What GAO Found

The Department of Labor (DOL) is in the early stages of implementing several of 

the 2010 report’s recommendations, but implementation of the remaining 

recommendations has not occurred. The agency has begun to take steps to 

respond to three of the report’s six recommendations: improve interagency 

collaboration, create an advisory subcommittee for Native American veterans, 

and conduct a needs assessment. To increase collaboration, DOL has 

conducted several listening sessions with tribal leadership and begun 

collaborating with agencies that serve veterans, including the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, to learn more about how to better serve Native American veterans. With 

regard to an advisory subcommittee, DOL is developing a proposal to establish a 

subgroup for Native American veterans on its existing veterans’ employment and 

training advisory committee, and is considering appointing a representative from 

the Native American veterans’ community to serve on that committee. To assess 

need, DOL has identified a potential source for data within DOD that provides

race and ethnicity and address information for returning veterans that could help 

better target visits to tribal land, but its plans to acquire these data are still being 

negotiated and could take time to finalize. However, DOL has taken little to no

action on recommendations to increase outreach, pursue program flexibility, and 

boost economic development. DOL officials told us that leadership transitions 

and budget challenges have contributed to their limited response to date. In 

addition, since delivering the report in 2010, DOL has not developed a strategy 

that specifically establishes roles and responsibilities, goals, costs, and time

frames for implementation of the report’s recommendations.

Recommendations from 2010 DOL Report, Employment Needs of Native American Veterans 

Living on Tribal Lands

DOL could build on its efforts to implement the report’s recommendations, even 

in a constrained budget environment. For example, DOL could expand the 

collaboration it has begun with other agencies that serve Native American 

veterans on tribal land, such as the Department of Education (Education). GAO 

site visits indicated that some Native American veterans received employment 

services from a vocational rehabilitation program administered by Education. 

DOL can consider partnering with this program. DOL could also identify and 

disseminate lessons learned from states that have collaborated with other 

agencies and tribal governments. For example, a DOL program in Montana has

leveraged other agency resources, such as collaborating with the VA Vet Center 

to provide both health and employment services to Native American veterans in 

remote tribal areas using mobile units, an approach that may be applicable in 

other states. To boost economic development, DOL could review information 

from its existing grants and guidance on economic development to disseminate 

to DOL grantees that serve Native American veterans. 

View GAO-13-664. For more information, 

contact Andrew Sherrill at (202) 512-7215 or 

sherrilla@gao.gov.
Page i GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Letter 1 

Background 5

DOL Has Made Limited Progress in Implementing 

Recommendations 11

Expanded Efforts Could Improve Implementation of the 2010 

Recommendations 14

Conclusions 17

Recommendations for Executive Action 18

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 18

Appendix I Groups Interviewed 22

Appendix II Status of Recommendations from DOL’s 2010 Report and 

Steps to Improve upon Efforts 24

Appendix III Selected Recent DOL Grants to Native American 

Communities That Address Workforce or Economic 

Development Needs 35

Appendix IV Comments from the Department of Labor 36

Appendix V GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 39

Related GAO Products 40

Figures

Figure 1: Locations of Site Visits and Telephone Contacts for GAO 

Study 4

Figure 2: Selected Federal Agencies’ Employment and TrainingRelated Programs That Can Serve Native American 

Veterans 9

Contents 
Page ii GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Abbreviations

ACVETEO Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training

and Employer Outreach

BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs

DINAP Division of Indian and Native American Programs

DMDC Defense Manpower Data Center

DOD Department of Defense

DOI Department of the Interior

DOL Department of Labor

DVET Director for Veterans’ Employment and Training

DVOP Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program

ETA Employment and Training Administration

HHS Department of Health and Human Services

JVSG Jobs for Veterans State Grants 

LVER Local Veterans’ Employment Representative

SBA Small Business Administration

TAACCCT Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and 

Career Training

TANF Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

TAP Transition Assistance Program

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VETS Veterans’ Employment and Training Service

WIA Workforce Investment Act of 1998

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Page 1 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

441 G St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20548

September 26, 2013

Congressional Requesters

Native Americans historically have shown a higher rate of military service 

than other ethnic groups. There are currently more than 150,000 Native 

American veterans—some of whom reside on tribal land.1 Tribal land is 

frequently located in remote, rural areas characterized by limited 

economic development, which can make finding a job especially 

challenging. The unemployment rate for all veterans has risen since the 

beginning of the economic downturn—from 3.8 percent in 2007 to 8.7 

percent in 2010—and based on the limited data, the unemployment rate 

for Native Americans living on tribal land has been higher.2

A range of federal programs provide employment assistance that can 

serve veterans of any race or ethnicity; in addition, other federal programs 

 

1 In this report, the term “Native Americans” refers to American Indians, Alaska Natives, 

and Native Hawaiians. We use the term “tribal land” to refer to Indian reservations, Alaska 

Native villages, and Hawaiian Home Lands. More specifically, for the purposes of this 

report, we define (1) an Indian reservation as land established by treaty, statute, executive 

order, or administrative procedure for the use of a designated tribe or tribes, (2) an Alaska 

Native village as a village that (a) was deemed eligible as a Native village under the 

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Pub. L. No. 92-203, 85 Stat. 688 (1971)) and (b) 

has a corresponding Alaska Native entity that is recognized by the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, and (3) Hawaiian Home Lands as land areas that were originally established under 

the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (Pub. L. No. 67-34, 42 Stat. 108 (1921)) and 

are now held in trust by the state of Hawaii for the benefit of Native Hawaiians. Hawaiian 

Home Lands are owned by the state of Hawaii and there is no separate Native Hawaiian 

entity governing the land. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011 approximately 

150,000 individuals identified themselves as Native American veterans. This includes only 

individuals who identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone and not in 

combination with another racial group. Therefore, it likely underestimates the number of 

Native American veterans.

2 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),Office of Indian Services, 

2005 American Indian Population and Labor Force Report. BIA’s American Indian 

Population and Labor Force Report is the only regularly collected source of poverty and 

unemployment data on all U.S. reservations. The Indian Employment, Training and 

Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992 requires the Secretary of the Interior to 

develop, maintain, and publish not less than biennially, a report on the population eligible 

for services provided by the Secretary to Indian people, including information by gender, 

age, availability for work, and employment. Pub. L. No. 102-477, § 17(a), 106 Stat. 2302, 

2305 (codified at 25 U.S.C. § 3416(a)). However, the 2005 report is the most recent year 

these data were collected. See Preparation of the 2013 American Indian Population and 

Labor Force Report, 77 Fed. Reg. 61,780 (Oct. 11, 2012). 

 
 

Page 2 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

offer similar services to Native Americans (veterans and non-veterans 

alike). The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service administers several grant programs to support eligible 

veterans through the Jobs for Veterans State Grants Program.

The Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 required DOL to assess 

and report on the employment needs of Native American veterans living 

on tribal lands, including Indian reservations, Alaska Native villages, and 

Hawaiian Home Lands.3

1. collaborate with federal and state agencies and tribal governments;

In October 2010, DOL submitted to Congress its 

final report committing to address six recommendations (which we 

describe further in appendix II) to:

2. conduct outreach to Native American veterans living on tribal lands;

3. complete an assessment of Native American veterans’ employment 

needs;

4. create flexibility among existing employment programs to better meet 

the needs of Native American veterans;

5. create an advisory committee subgroup on Native American veteran 

employment issues; and

6. boost economic development on tribal lands.

To address your interest in DOL’s actions on each of these 

recommendations since the agency delivered its report to Congress, we 

examined the following: 1) the status of DOL efforts to implement 

recommendations in its 2010 report on employment services and training 

opportunities for Native American veterans on tribal lands; and 2) whether 

and how DOL can improve on its efforts to implement the report’s 

recommendations.

To determine the implementation status of all the report’s 

recommendations, we reviewed the 2010 report and conducted semistructured interviews with officials from the DOL. We also conducted 

interviews with officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

 

3 Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 314, 122 Stat. 4145, 4167. Under section 314 of the Act, the term 

“Native American” includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 

Islander. However, in this report we use the term “Native American” to refer to only 

American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.
 

Page 3 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Office of Tribal Government Relations, and the Department of the 

Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). To identify opportunities for 

improvement, we conducted semi-structured interviews with officials from 

DOL and VA; and in selected states, federal Jobs for Veterans State 

Grants Program directors, state workforce officials, Disabled Veterans’ 

Outreach Program specialists and Local Veterans’ Employment 

Representatives, tribal workforce and veterans officials, as well as tribal 

volunteers who educate veterans about available benefits. We also 

conducted discussion groups with Native American veterans, tribal 

program administrators, and federal agency officials at the National 

Congress of American Indians Annual Convention in October 2012 and 

the VA Eastern Region Training Summit in May 2013. To better 

understand the current status of DOL’s programs with regard to Native 

American veterans on tribal land, we visited four areas, meeting with 

multiple groups in each location: (1) Arizona and New Mexico (Navajo 

Nation and the Hopi and Zuni Tribes); (2) North Carolina (Eastern Band of 

Cherokee Indians); (3) Alaska; and (4) Hawaii. We also conducted phone 

interviews with officials of tribes in Montana (the Confederated Salish and 

Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation) and North Dakota (the Spirit 

Lake Tribe). See figure 1. We selected Native American communities to 

represent a range of geographic dispersion, estimated Native American 

population and unemployment rate, and presence of DOL programs in a 

given community.
 

Page 4 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Figure 1: Locations of Site Visits and Telephone Contacts for GAO Study

a

During our site visits, we met with tribal leaders and officials and held 

discussion groups with 59 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native 

Hawaiian veterans. In addition, we conducted semi-structured telephone 

We conducted phone interviews with tribal program administrators with the Confederated Salish and 

Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana and the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota. 

We did not visit these locations.
 

Page 5 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

interviews with federal Jobs for Veterans State Grants Program (JVSG) 

directors in Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, Montana, North 

Dakota, and Washington state, as well as JVSG staff, state officials in 

these states and officials of tribes in Montana (the Confederated Salish 

and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation) and North Dakota (the 

Spirit Lake Tribe).4

We reviewed relevant federal laws, regulations, DOL guidance, and 

supporting documentation for selected existing DOL grants to Native 

American entities. In addition, we conducted semi-structured interviews 

with relevant associations, experts, and other stakeholders, including the 

National Association of State Workforce Agencies, and National American 

Indian Veterans. Appendix I provides a more detailed list of groups we 

interviewed. We conducted our review from September 2012 to 

September 2013 in accordance with generally accepted government 

auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the 

audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable 

basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We 

believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

In 2011, there were an estimated 150,000 Native American veterans, 

representing less than 1 percent of the entire veteran population, 

according to the U.S. Census Bureau.5

 

4 We selected the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation 

in Montana using the same criteria that was used to select the site visits. The Spirit Lake 

Tribe in North Dakota was selected to learn more about outreach activities conducted by a 

North Dakota Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialist for Native American 

veterans identified by DOL.

Additionally, according to a VA 

report that analyzed Census Bureau data, American Indian and Alaska 

Native veterans were significantly more likely to be unemployed, as 

5 U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey 1-year estimates. These data 

represent only those veterans who reported a single race of American Indian or Alaska 

Native, and do not include American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with any other 

race, nor do they include Native Hawaiian veterans. Therefore, this estimate likely 

underestimates the number of Native American veterans.

Background 

Native American Veteran 

Population and Tribal 

Lands 
 

Page 6 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

compared to all other veterans.6

Tribal lands vary dramatically in type, size, and demographics.

The states with the largest numbers of 

American Indian and Alaska Native veterans were, in descending order, 

California, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico; Alaska had the highest 

proportion of Native Americans among its veteran population.

7 For the 

purposes of this report, we define tribal lands to include Indian 

reservations, Alaska Native villages, and Hawaiian Home Lands.8 They 

range in size from the Navajo Nation, with a population of over 176,000 

American Indian residents spread out over an area of about 24,000 

square miles, to some tribal lands with fewer than 50 Indian residents or 

an area of less than 1 square mile. In addition, most tribal lands are rural 

or remote, although some are near metropolitan areas. Communities 

located on tribal land also often lack basic infrastructure, such as water 

and sewer systems, and sufficient technology infrastructure, such as 

telecommunications lines that are commonly found in other American 

communities. Additionally, in 2008, the Census Bureau reported that 

American Indians and Alaska Natives had almost twice as high a 

percentage living in poverty compared with other Americans—27 percent 

compared with 15 percent. While Native Americans reside in every state, 

the Census Bureau estimated in 2012 that about 20 percent of American 

Indians and Alaska Natives live on tribal lands9 and that 16 percent of 

Native Hawaiians live on Hawaiian Home Lands.10

The federal government has recognized many American Indian tribes and 

Alaska Native populations as distinct, independent political communities 

with inherent governmental powers of limited sovereignty. The United 

States has a trust responsibility to recognized tribes and maintains a 

 

6 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, American Indian and Alaska Native 

Servicemembers and Veterans (September 2012). This study analyzed data from the 

2010 American Community Survey. 

7 See GAO, Indian Issues: Observations on Some Unique Factors that May Affect 

Economic Activity on Tribal Land, GAO-11-543T, (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 7, 2011).

8 Both DOL’s 2010 report and the law that required it defined tribal lands to include: 

Indian reservations, Alaska Native villages, and Hawaiian Home Lands.

9 For this estimate, the Census Bureau defined tribal land as including federal reservation 

and off-reservation trust land and other federal- or state-designated Indian statistical 

areas.

10 These estimates were based on data from the 2010 census.
 

Page 7 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

government-to-government relationship with those tribes.11

As of May 2013, there were 566 federally recognized tribes, including 225 

in Alaska.

Since 1979, 

BIA has regularly published a list of federally recognized Indian tribes in 

the Federal Register.

12 By contrast, Native Hawaiians do not have federal recognition 

or a government-to-government relationship with the United States. 

However, some federal grant programs target Native Hawaiians as a 

group, in some cases along with other populations.13

Native American veterans can be served by a range of employment- and 

training-related federal programs that are administered by DOL and other 

agencies (see fig. 2 for selected examples). Within DOL, two 

organizations administer programs that serve Native American veterans:

the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), and the Division 

of Indian and Native American Programs (DINAP). VETS has 

responsibility for a number of programs that serve veterans. Among these 

is the Jobs for Veterans State Grants program (JVSG).14

 

11 The federal Indian trust responsibility is a legal obligation under which the United States 

“has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust” toward 

Indian tribes. Seminole Nation v. United States, 316 U.S. 286, 297 (1942). The federal 

government has a trust relationship to the tribe and its members and specific obligations 

to provide benefits and services to the tribe and its members. 

Services funded 

through the JVSG program are available to all eligible veterans, including 

those with disabilities and other barriers to employment. JVSG grants 

provide funding to states to support two types of staff positions, Disabled 

Veterans’ Outreach Program specialists (DVOPs) and Local Veterans’ 

Employment Representatives (LVERs), who are generally employees of 

12 Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States

Bureau of Indian Affairs, 78 Fed. Reg. 26,384 (May 6, 2013).

13 Federal programs may have different definitions of American Indian, Alaska Native, and 

Native Hawaiian for purposes of determining eligibility. 

14 38 U.S.C. §§ 4103a, 4104. In addition to the JVSG program, VETS also administers 

programs to enforce veterans’ re-employment rights under the Uniformed Services 

Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994; to provide services to meet the 

workforce investment needs of certain veterans, through the Veterans’ Workforce 

Investment Program; and to expedite the reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor 

force, through the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration program. 

Federal Programs Serving 

Native American Veterans, 

Among Other Groups
 

Page 8 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

state workforce agencies.15 DVOPs and LVERs provide services 

including skills assessment, job search assistance, and outreach to 

employers on behalf of veteran jobseekers, among other services. JVSG 

grants are awarded to states, and although Native American tribes are 

not eligible grantees under the program,16 Native American veterans who 

are otherwise eligible can be served by DVOPs and LVERs. In general, in 

order to provide services on tribal land, DVOPs and LVERs schedule their 

visits to tribal land on a case-by-case basis. JVSG funding is allocated to 

each state in proportion to the number of veterans seeking employment 

within the state. Additionally, the JVSG program is a mandatory partner in 

the Workforce Investment Act system of American Job Centers, or onestops, where services are provided by a range of employment and 

training programs in a single location.17

 

15 For more information on the JVSG program, see GAO, Veterans' Employment and 

Training: Better Targeting, Coordinating, and Reporting Needed to Enhance Program 

Effectiveness, 

In 2012, there were 2,600 

American Job Centers nationwide, and according to DOL, 12 are located 

on or affiliated with tribal land.

GAO-13-29 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 13, 2012).

16 Under the authorizing statute, a “state” includes any state, the District of Columbia, and 

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and may include certain other territories. 38 U.S.C. §§ 

4102a(b)(5), 4101(6).

17 The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 created a comprehensive workforce investment 

system that brought together multiple federally funded employment and training programs 

into a single system, called the one-stop system. Pub. L. No. 105-220, 112 Stat. 936 

(codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq.). In 2012, DOL issued guidance 

encouraging the use of American Job Centers as a uniform name for one-stops. DOL 

Training and Employment Guidance Letter 36-11, Announcement of American Job Center 

Network (June 14, 2012). 
 

Page 9 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Figure 2: Selected Federal Agencies’ Employment and Training-Related Programs That Can Serve Native American Veterans

Note: Whether an individual Native American veteran is eligible to receive services depends on the 

program eligibility requirements, which vary across programs. It was beyond the scope of this review 

to identify the specific eligibility criteria for each program. This list of programs is not intended to be 
 

Page 10 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

exhaustive, and there may be other federal programs that serve Native American veterans but are not 

listed here.

a

The Departments of Defense, Labor, and Veterans Affairs, in partnership with other federal 

agencies, administer the Transition Assistance Program for servicemembers who are transitioning to 

civilian life.

b

These programs may serve eligible American Indians and Alaska Natives, as defined by each 

program.

c

DINAP, within DOL’s Employment and Training Administration, serves 

Native American veterans under Section 166 of the Workforce Investment 

Act (WIA) of 1998. This program serves all eligible Native Americans—

veterans and non-veterans alike—including American Indians, Alaska 

Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

These programs may serve eligible American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, as 

defined by each program. With regard to Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), 

although Native Hawaiians are not eligible for tribal grants under this program, the state of Hawaii is 

eligible for TANF grants, and eligible Native Hawaiians can be served by this program.

18 Under the program, in 2012, DINAP 

administered grants to Native American entities in all 50 states, including 

Alaska and Hawaii. These grants support comprehensive workforce 

investment activities for Native Americans, including employment and 

training services for jobseekers. The Jobs for Veterans Act established a 

priority of service requirement for veterans in qualified DOL job training 

programs, including WIA programs.19

Other federal agencies also administer employment and training-related 

programs that serve Native American veterans, among other groups. 

These programs include the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian 

Affairs’ Indian Job Placement and Training program; Department of 

Veterans Affairs programs including Vocational Rehabilitation for 

Disabled Veterans; and the Department of Education’s Vocational 

Rehabilitation Services for American Indians with Disabilities, among 

other federal programs. In addition, the Department of Defense (DOD), in 

partnership with VA, DOL, and other agencies, administers the Transition 

Assistance Program, which provides mandatory, multiple-day transition 

WIA Section 166 grantees must 

therefore give priority to veterans over others seeking employment and 

training services. 

 

18 29 U.S.C. § 2911. For definitions of these terms for purposes of eligibility for services 

under WIA Section 166, see 29 U.S.C. § 2911(b). Section 166 authorizes DOL to make 

grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities, Indian-controlled 

organizations serving Indians, or Native Hawaiian organizations. 29 U.S.C. § 2911(c)(1).

19 Pub. L. No. 107-288, § 2(a), 116 Stat. 2033, 2033-34 (2002) (codified as amended at 

38 U.S.C. § 4215). See also 20 C.F.R. pt. 1010. 
 

Page 11 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

briefings at military bases to facilitate servicemembers’ transition to 

civilian life, including a focus on preparation for employment. Additionally, 

the Small Business Administration (SBA) administers programs to 

facilitate self-employment for veterans and Native Americans, including 

American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

DOL’s 2010 report was prepared in response to a provision in the 

Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. This provision required 

DOL, in consultation with VA and DOI, to submit a report assessing the 

employment needs of Native American veterans living on tribal lands to 

the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs. The Act further 

required that the report include recommendations for improving 

employment and job training opportunities for such veterans, and a 

review of current and prior government-to-government relationships 

between VETS and tribal organizations. DOL contracted with a consulting 

firm, which issued a report to DOL in March 2010, and relied on 

interviews and surveys of federal and state officials, tribal organizations, 

surveys of Native American veterans, and focus groups. The contractor’s 

report focused on VETS and the JVSG program, but also considered WIA 

Section 166 and other relevant programs. The contractor found little or no 

attention by the JVSG program to the needs of Native American veterans, 

and although it noted some progress in relationships between DOL and 

tribal governments, it found little awareness of VETS programs among 

tribal organizations. Based upon the contractor’s report, DOL issued its 

final report, including six recommendations, to Congress in October 

2010.20 DOL’s report included recommendations for short- and long-term 

actions DOL could take in key areas, but did not include a specific 

timetable for implementation.

DOL is in the early stages of implementing several of the report’s 

recommendations, but implementation of the remaining recommendations 

has not occurred. The agency has begun to take initial steps to respond 

to three of the report’s six recommendations: improve interagency 

collaboration, create an advisory committee subgroup for Native 

American veterans, and conduct a needs assessment. DOL has taken 

little to no action on the remaining three recommendations: increase 

 

20 DOL did not release its report to the public. 

2010 DOL Report on 

Native American Veterans 

on Tribal Land

DOL Has Made 

Limited Progress in 

Implementing 

Recommendations 
 

Page 12 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

outreach, pursue program flexibility, and boost economic development. 

DOL officials told us that leadership transitions and budget challenges 

have significantly contributed to their current position and limited 

endorsement of these recommendations. For detailed information on the 

status of each of these three recommendations from DOL’s 2010 report, 

see appendix II.

Collaboration. To respond to the recommendations to increase 

collaboration with federal and state agencies and outreach to tribal 

governments, DOL has begun collaborating with agencies that serve 

veterans, including VA and BIA, to learn more about how to better serve 

Native American veterans and has conducted several listening sessions 

with tribal leadership.

Advisory subcommittee. The 2010 report also recommended that DOL 

create an advisory committee subgroup on Native American veterans’ 

employment issues to the DOL Advisory Committee on Veterans’ 

Employment, Training and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO).21

Needs assessment. DOL officials told us that they have no plans to 

conduct a needs assessment to develop better data on Native American 

veterans living on tribal land, citing potentially prohibitive costs to 

conducting a comprehensive assessment. However, DOL has identified a 

potential source for data within DOD that provides race and ethnicity as 

well as address information for returning veterans. This information could 

help DVOPs and LVERs target their visits to tribal land, but DOL’s plans 

to acquire these data are still being negotiated and could take time to 

finalize. In the interim, DOL has identified VA data that, while not 

comprehensive, in the short term, might provide an estimate of the 

number of Native American veterans on tribal land.

DOL 

officials told us that although VETS may offer proposals to the committee, 

the ACVETEO members decide—because the ACVETEO operates 

independently—whether to establish a new subgroup. DOL is currently 

developing a proposal, to be presented to ACVETEO, to establish a 

subgroup for Native American veterans, and is also considering 

appointing a representative from the Native American veterans’ 

community to join ACVETEO.

 

21 38 U.S.C. § 4110.
 

Page 13 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Outreach. The 2010 report recommended that DOL launch a 

communications program focused on outreach to Native American 

veterans on tribal land by establishing a public information campaign to 

share information about VETS programs through the use of the web, 

direct mail, newspapers, and social media. However, DOL officials told us 

that they have not initiated such a campaign due to limited funding.

Program flexibility. A DOL official said that the agency has not pursued 

the recommendation to provide additional program flexibility, explaining 

that under the JVSG program, states already have some flexibility under 

current law to permit them to build solutions to fit their needs. The report 

recommends that DOL identify, on a program-by-program basis, available 

flexibilities to meet the needs of Native American veterans living on tribal 

lands. While DOL has indicated that it is open to identifying any such 

opportunities that exist under current law, to date it has taken little action 

in this area.

Economic development. With regard to economic development, the 

2010 report noted that programs to support economic development—

such as financing and support for new businesses—lie outside VETS’s 

authority. However, the report also noted that economic development 

should be a major focus across federal programs addressing employment 

concerns for Native American veterans. To date, DOL officials told us 

they had taken no action on this issue and emphasized that, with regard 

to economic development, DOL’s focus is on the role that skills can play.

Since delivering the report in 2010, DOL has not developed a strategy 

that specifically establishes roles and responsibilities, goals, and time 

frames for implementation of the report’s recommendations. Our past 

work identified key practices for implementing organizational change 

efforts to improve an agency’s programs, including establishing a 

coherent mission and integrated strategic goals to guide the effort; setting 

a timeline to build momentum and show progress from day one; and 

dedicating a team to manage the implementation process.22

 

22 GAO, Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and 

Organizational Transformations, 

Although 

there is no established set of requirements for developing a plan to 

implement a new effort, components of sound planning are important 

because they define what organizations seek to accomplish and identify 

GAO-03-669 (Washington, D.C.: July 2, 2003).
 

Page 14 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

specific activities to obtain desired results. According to senior DOL 

officials, DOL has prepared a draft internal memorandum that describes 

some of the findings from listening sessions conducted with tribal leaders 

and contained a few recommended action items that address some of the 

2010 report recommendations. However, according to DOL officials, the 

memorandum does not address each of the six 2010 report 

recommendations. It also does not identify costs, roles and 

responsibilities, or project time frames.

DOL could expand on its efforts to implement the 2010 report’s 

recommendations to improve employment service delivery to Native 

American veterans on tribal land, even within its constrained budget 

environment. For detailed information on opportunities for DOL to better 

implement the 2010 report recommendations, see appendix II.

Collaboration. DOL could expand its collaboration efforts to include other 

federal agencies that administer programs that serve Native American 

veterans, such as the SBA, and the Departments of Education and Health 

and Human Services (HHS). For example, working with SBA could 

provide DOL access to information that might aid Native American 

veterans in remote areas with limited employment opportunities by 

providing access to training and support for veterans interested in selfemployment. An official from SBA agreed that additional collaboration 

would improve self-employment training opportunities for Native American 

veterans. In addition, DOL can leverage state level collaborations with 

other agencies and tribal governments. For example, during our site visits 

we learned that some DVOPs and LVERs have leveraged other federal 

and state agencies’ resources to help serve Native American veterans. 

For instance, in one state, a DVOP that serves Native American veterans 

in remote communities joined VA’s mobile units to provide both health 

and employment services to Native American veterans to reduce travel 

time and reach additional veterans. However, to date, DOL has not 

identified promising practices for possible dissemination to other JVSG 

grantees.

Advisory subcommittee. We have stated in past work that federal 

agencies have used a variety of mechanisms to implement interagency 

collaborative efforts, including supporting the establishment of 

Expanded Efforts 

Could Improve 

Implementation of the 

2010 

Recommendations 
 

Page 15 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

interagency work groups.23

Needs assessment. Options may exist for DOL to develop or obtain 

better data to assess the needs of Native American veterans returning to 

tribal land. Currently, no mechanism that we could identify exists to share 

data with tribes on the number and timing of Native American veterans 

returning to tribal communities. In the absence of timely data on the 

population of Native American veterans who need employment and 

training services, state agencies and JVSG staff must try to gauge and 

meet needs in other ways. DOL could develop or obtain better data on 

Native American veterans returning to tribal land by coordinating with 

DOD and VA or other agencies that maintain contact information on 

recently separated veterans. Specifically, according to a DOD official, 

DOD data on separating servicemembers are shared with VA, which 

modifies the data for its own purposes and then shares the data with state 

veterans’ agencies. According to this official, the data include fields for 

ethnicity, including Native American ethnicities. As a result, the data that 

state veterans agencies receive from VA may be helpful to DOL in 

identifying recently separated Native American veterans.

In addition to including Native American 

veterans on the Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training

and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO), DOL could appoint qualified 

individuals from other agencies that serve Native American veterans, 

such as BIA and HHS. Both BIA and HHS administer programs that may 

be used to provide employment training to Native American veterans on 

tribal land. Including BIA and HHS on the ACTEVEO could provide 

additional opportunities to leverage resources and share knowledge that 

could result in improved access to employment and training services for 

veterans on tribal land.

Outreach. DOL can leverage the outreach activities conducted by state 

and local entities. For example, JVSG staff in several states have 

conducted training sessions in tribal communities focused on veterans’ 

transition to civilian life, while other JVSG staff have built on a VA 

initiative that trains volunteers in tribal communities to educate veterans 

about employment and training services available to them. In addition, 

some tribal officials and Native American veterans told us that some 

veterans prefer in-person outreach. To this end, veterans outreach staff in 

 

23 GAO, Managing for Results: Key Considerations for Implementing Interagency 

Collaborative Mechanisms, GAO-12-1022 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2012).
 

Page 16 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

some states have been leveraging libraries and tribal colleges to conduct 

outreach to tribal veterans.

Program flexibility. Although few tribal officials and Native American 

veterans we spoke with identified opportunities for additional program 

flexibility in the JVSG program, DOL could consider ways to use existing 

program flexibility to better serve veterans and enhance service delivery. 

Specifically, DOL is considering plans to ask states to explicitly describe 

their efforts to serve Native American veterans in their required JVSG 5-

year grant operating plans, which could help ensure that states consider 

the needs of Native American veterans when preparing their plans. 

However, to date, DOL has not established a time frame for completion. 

Encouraging grantees to describe their plans to address the needs of 

Native American veterans in their state could increase the likelihood that 

grantees might design a service delivery strategy that takes into account 

the unique needs of the various tribal communities they serve.

Economic development. DOL has the potential to better understand and 

support economic development by reviewing its existing grants and 

guidance on this topic and identifying lessons learned to disseminate to 

JVSG state and WIA Section 166 grantees.24

 

24 For examples of past DOL guidance related to economic development, see DOL 

Training and Employment Guidance Letter 12-10, Supporting Entrepreneurial and SelfEmployment Training through the Workforce Investment System (Nov. 15, 2010); DOL 

Training and Employment Notice 25-09, Think Entrepreneurs: A Call to Action –

Integrating Entrepreneurship into the Public Workforce System Throughout America (Jan. 

22, 2010); and DOL Training and Employment Guidance Letter 13-07, Use of Workforce 

Investment Act (WIA) Funds for Workforce Development Activities in Support of Economic 

Development (Dec. 11, 2007). 

 In the past, DOL, through its 

Employment and Training Administration (ETA), has awarded grants that 

have aligned employment and training grants with economic development 

needs. Recent grantees have included tribal entities. For example, ETA 

awarded a grant to a tribal college to train workers, foster business 

development and promote entrepreneurship on tribal land. DOL has an 

opportunity to review such grants to disseminate lessons learned on the 

extent to which Native American veterans participated in and benefited 

from grant-funded activities, as well as opportunities to incorporate 

economic development principles into existing grants. For example, 

DINAP recently visited an Arizona tribe to identify lessons learned on its 

progress in implementing a grant that aims to increase job opportunities 

for veterans and others in occupations that reflect employers’ need for 
 

Page 17 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

skills, according to ETA officials. However, DINAP’s grant review 

activities to date have not involved VETS, nor has there been any 

technical assistance developed in connection with these activities, 

according to a DINAP official.

The 2010 DOL report provides the foundation upon which to develop a 

strategy for achieving the recommendations’ goals. However, DOL has 

not yet developed a strategy to implement all of its recommendations to 

improve employment and training services for Native American veterans 

living on tribal land. Until DOL develops an overall strategy that 

establishes the roles and responsibilities, costs, and time frames for 

implementation, it will be difficult to determine whether DOL is on track for 

effectively implementing the recommendations.

Under current budget limitations, DOL must approach the needs of Native 

American veterans in tribal communities with a response that is both 

proportionate to the needs of this community and cost-effective. It is 

essential for DOL to properly target its efforts to ensure that those most in 

need of services receive assistance. Without current information on the 

number of Native American veterans living on tribal land and a fuller 

understanding of their needs, DOL will be unable to appropriately identify 

and target those services. DOL has taken some initial steps to conduct 

outreach to tribal communities and has begun collaboration with other 

agencies. However, without conducting additional outreach and 

collaboration with other organizations within DOL and other federal, state, 

and tribal agencies that serve Native American veterans, DOL may miss 

the opportunity to leverage the knowledge and resources of those 

agencies that are already serving veterans in tribal communities.

Without adequate job opportunities, employment and training services 

alone may simply frustrate Native American veterans seeking 

employment. While economic development is not DOL’s primary mission, 

the agency has an opportunity to better understand and support 

economic development on tribal land by reviewing its existing grants and 

guidance on this topic and identifying lessons learned to disseminate to 

its grantees that provide these critical employment and training services 

to Native American veterans on tribal land and forming partnerships with 

other agencies that can support these efforts. Without action from DOL to 

provide improved access to employment and training services, many 

Native American veterans that have honorably served their country will 

remain at risk of being underserved and unemployed.

Conclusions 
 

Page 18 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

To strengthen DOL’s efforts to respond to the 2010 report 

recommendations to improve employment services and training 

opportunities for Native American veterans on tribal land, we recommend 

that the Secretary of Labor undertake the following three actions:

1. Ensure it has a written strategy to position the agency to efficiently 

and effectively respond to the 2010 recommendations, including the 

identification of roles and responsibilities as well as the goals, costs, 

and time frames to complete their implementation.

2. Identify and disseminate lessons learned and promising practices 

from DOL and other agencies’ efforts. To identify such lessons or 

practices, DOL could:

a. Review efforts by JVSG grantees to improve DVOP and LVER 

outreach, such as the use of mobile units to conduct outreach on 

tribal lands; and

b. Review DOL’s portfolio of employment and training grants and 

guidance related to economic development for application to 

JVSG and WIA Section 166 grantees.

3. Expand collaboration with other agencies to leverage agency 

resources. This effort could include working through the ACVETEO 

and other efforts, strengthening relationships with agencies that also 

serve Native American veterans, such as DOD, VA, SBA, and BIA, as 

well as building relationships with other agencies that serve Native 

American veterans, such as Education and HHS.

DOL Comments. We provided a draft of this report to DOL for review and 

comment. DOL provided a written response to this report (see app. IV). 

DOL agreed with our recommendations and identified actions it has taken 

to implement the recommendations of the 2010 report. Regarding our first 

recommendation, DOL noted that it is working to develop a written 

strategy to implement the 2010 recommendations. However, DOL noted 

that it must first develop a better understanding of the extent of 

unemployment and training gaps on reservations nationwide, among 

other pieces of information, to establish a more comprehensive plan of 

action, and cited the need for an update to the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) report American Indian Population and Labor Force Report—last

published in 2005—as key to developing its plan. To the extent that there 

are obstacles to implementing the 2010 recommendations, such as 

incomplete data, it is important that DOL proceed with developing a 

written strategy that explicitly identifies such obstacles and proposes 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation
 

Page 19 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

ways to mitigate them. One mitigation strategy, consistent with our 

findings and recommendations, could be to further leverage collaborative 

relationships with other federal agencies. 

Regarding our recommendation to identify and disseminate lessons 

learned and promising practices from its own and other agencies’ efforts, 

DOL agreed to review efforts by the JVSG state grantees and their 

DVOPs and LVERs who serve Native American veterans. DOL noted that 

its Division of Indian and Native American Programs (DINAP), located 

within the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), already 

reviews employment and training grants related to economic development 

for application to DINAP’s WIA Section 166 grantees, and will continue to 

do so. DOL added that it held national conferences for the WIA Section 

166 grantees, which provided a platform for sharing best practices. While 

these actions are useful, in order to fully leverage the department’s 

efforts, dissemination of lessons learned and promising practices should 

extend beyond these grantees to the JVSG program and the DVOPs and 

LVERs whose efforts are supported by the JVSG grants. For example, 

information about ETA grants that include Native American veterans 

could help DVOPs and LVERs learn about promising practices and inform 

the Native American veterans they serve about additional training 

opportunities. Finally, another way to disseminate lessons learned and 

promising practices is through technical assistance. However, a DINAP 

official acknowledged, as we indicate in this report, that no technical 

assistance has been developed to date in connection with its efforts to 

review ETA grants for lessons learned.

Regarding our recommendation to expand collaboration with other 

agencies, DOL agreed and noted that collaboration with other agencies 

has been effective in addressing the needs of Native American veterans 

living on tribal land. DOL also noted that it will propose that the 

ACVETEO establish a subcommittee to advise its members on issues 

and services related to Native American veterans on tribal lands.

VA and BIA Comments. We provided a draft of this report to VA and 

BIA for review and comment. Both provided technical comments, which 

we incorporated, as appropriate. VA generally agreed with our findings. 

VA noted that under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding 

between VA and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian 

Health Service signed on October 1, 2010, there are shared opportunities 
 

Page 20 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

for coordination, collaboration, and resource-sharing for workforce 

development, and cited six action steps reported in FY 2013.25

Tribal Groups. Additionally, we provided selected tribes, with whom we 

met during site visits, with a draft of pertinent excerpts and incorporated 

their technical comments, as appropriate.

BIA stated 

that it was an outstanding report. 

As agreed with your staff, unless you publicly announce its contents 

earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 30 days from its 

issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to interested 

congressional committees; the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs; the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs; and other 

interested parties. The report also is available at no charge on the GAO 

website at http://www.gao.gov. 

Please contact me on (202) 512-7215 or at sherrilla@gao.gov if you or 

your staff have any questions about this report. Contact points for our 

Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on 

the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in 

appendix V.

Andrew Sherrill

Director, Education, Workforce,

 and Income Security Issues

 

25 See GAO, VA and IHS: Further Action Needed to Collaborate on Providing Health Care 

to Native American Veterans, GAO-13-354 (Washington, D.C.: Apr 26, 2013). 
 

Page 21 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

List of Requesters

The Honorable Patty Murray

Chairman

Committee on the Budget

United States Senate

The Honorable Bernie Sanders

Chairman

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

United States Senate

The Honorable Mark Begich

United States Senate

The Honorable Mazie K. Hirono

United States Senate

The Honorable Jon Tester

United States Senate
Appendix I: Groups Interviewed 

Page 22 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans 

Federal agency officials Department of Labor (DOL), Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, including senior 

agency officials, and State Directors for Veterans’ Employment and Training (DVETs) from 

Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, North Dakota, and 

Montana 

 Department of Labor (DOL), Division of Indian and Native American Programs (DINAP) 

 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Tribal Government Relations 

 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 

 Small Business Administration (SBA) 

 Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) 

State officials State veterans coordinators from Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Alaska, Hawaii, North 

Dakota, and Montana 

 Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialists (DVOPs) and Local Veterans’ Employment 

Representatives (LVERs) from Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Alaska, Hawaii, and 

Montana 

Tribal leaders, program 

administrators, and veterans 

Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico 

Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah 

 Hopi Tribe of Arizona 

 Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians 

 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation 

 Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota 

 White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota 

Native Hawaiian program 

administrators and veterans 

Veterans to Farmers Initiative 

Big Island Workplace Connection 

 Papa Alo Lokahi (Uncles and Aunties initiative) 

 State of Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs 

 State of Hawaii, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands 

 Alu Like 

Alaska Native program administrators 

and veterans 

Cook Inlet Tribal Council 

Alaska Tribal Veterans Representatives 

 Knik Tribal Council 

 Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association 

Associations and Other Groups Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development 

 National Association of State Workforce Agencies 

 National Congress of American Indians 

 Salish Kootenai College 

 National American Indian Veterans 

 19 Tribal Nations Workforce Investment Board, Arizona 

 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 

Appendix I: Groups Interviewed 
Appendix I: Groups Interviewed 

Page 23 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans 

 United Tribes Technical College 

 U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Native American Enterprise Initiative 

 Alaska Native Village CEO Association 

Source: GAO interviews. 
Appendix II: Status of Recommendations from 

DOL’s 2010 Report and Steps to Improve upon 

Efforts

Page 24 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Appendix II: Status of Recommendations 

from DOL’s 2010 Report and Steps to Improve 

upon Efforts
Page 25 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Appendix II

DOL Recommendation Status

DOL is in the early stages of implementing the report’s recommendations 

related to improving collaboration with federal and state agencies and 

tribal governments. In October and November of 2012, a DOL official 

conducted several listening sessions with tribal leaders in Arizona and 

with a tribal workforce administrator in California to learn more about the 

needs of Native American veterans. 

In preparation for conducting its listening sessions, DOL Veterans’ 

Employment and Training Service (VETS) staff met with officials from 

other organizations within DOL and other agencies that serve Native 

American veterans. VETS staff received guidance from DOL’s Division of 

Indian and Native American Programs, VA’s Office of Tribal Government 

Relations, and the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (BIA) to identify potential sites and to inform how DOL should 

structure its listening sessions. One DOL official told us of preliminary 

plans to meet quarterly with both VA and BIA to discuss issues related to 

employing Native American veterans.

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

There may be additional opportunities for DOL to expand its proposed 

approach to improving collaboration with other agencies and tribal 

governments. At the federal level, DOL has reached out to initiate 

collaboration with VA and BIA, but it currently has no plans to initiate 

collaboration with other agencies that offer employment and training and 

other support services to Native American veterans, such as Education, 

HHS, SBA, or DOD. For example, our site visits indicated that some 

Native Americans veterans received employment services from 

Education’s Vocational Rehabilitation Services for American Indians with 

Disabilities program. DOL can consider partnering with this program to 

jointly serve Native American veterans. At the tribal level, DOL’s efforts to 

reach out to selected tribes has focused on tribal leadership to date, but 

has not included tribal veterans agencies.

In addition to efforts at the federal level, at the state level, there have been 

efforts to collaborate with other agencies and tribal governments. 

However, to date, DOL has not made efforts to identify promising 

practices to improve service delivery and disseminate them to other state 

grantees. For example, during our site visits we learned that some DVOPs 

and LVERs had made their own efforts to leverage agency resources and 

partner with leaders in tribal communities:

• In North Carolina, a LVER established relationships with the Eastern 

Band of Cherokee Indians’ veterans’ service organization to begin to 

bring services to veterans in the community.

• In Montana, a DVOP established a partnership with the mobile VA Vet 

Center to provide both health and employment services to Native 

American veterans in remote areas (see fig.).

Recommendation Summary

The 2010 report found that there 

was a need for increased 

collaboration across federal and 

state agencies with tribal 

governments in improving 

employment for Native American 

veterans. The report suggested 

that agencies that address the 

employment needs of Native 

American veterans, such as DOI 

and VA, could work with DOL to 

help address barriers that Native 

American veterans often face in 

accessing and maintaining 

meaningful employment. Closer 

collaboration between these 

agencies could boost focus on the 

veterans’ needs and help to 

leverage agency resources to 

provide more coordinated service 

delivery.

The report also proposed that 

offering services in true partnership 

with tribal governments brings local 

knowledge, local relationships, and 

cultural understanding. To better 

serve Native American veterans, 

the report recommended the 

following specific actions:

• leverage agencies’ 

resources; and

• partner with tribal 

governments.

Improve Agency Collaboration

DOL Has Taken Initial Steps to Increase Collaboration,

but Efforts Can Be Expanded
Page 26 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts (cont.)

JVSG staff in Montana visit the Crow Agency using a VA Vet Center mobile 

unit, May 7, 2013.

During our site visits, we also brought together tribal workforce and 

veterans’ agencies, and these meetings often served to initiate 

discussions for future collaboration between them in specific areas, such 

as the use of incentives for employers to hire veterans and assistance in 

preparing resumes that explain veterans’ military backgrounds and skills. 

However, DOL has issued no guidance or technical assistance to its 

Native American WIA Section 166 grantees to encourage collaboration 

within tribal governments or to help them develop their own outreach 

plans. DOL officials told us they expect to provide additional guidance in 

this area beginning in 2014.

Alaska, New Mexico, and North Dakota offer cultural competency training 

to staff serving veterans, which some JVSG staff said was beneficial in 

their efforts to serve Native American veterans. In addition, some Native 

American veterans emphasized the importance to them of culturallysensitive services.

Improve Agency 

Collaboration (cont.)
Page 27 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

DOL Recommendation Status

The 2010 report recommended that DOL create an advisory committee 

subgroup on Native American veterans’ employment issues.DOL officials 

told us that although VETS may offer proposals to the committee, the 

ACVETEO members decide—because the ACVETEO operates 

independently—whether to establish a new subgroup.

According to agency officials, DOL is currently in the process of 

developing such a proposal to present to the ACVETEO to establish an 

advisory committee subgroup on Native American veterans. In addition, 

DOL is considering appointing a representative from the Native American 

veterans’ community to participate on the DOL ACVETEO. However, DOL 

has not specifically identified who they might appoint for this position. 

Currently, the ACVETEO has members from VA, DOL, DOD, and SBA, 

but does not have members from other agencies that provide employment 

services to Native American veterans, like BIA and HHS.

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

Our past work has stated that federal agencies have used a variety of 

mechanisms to implement interagency collaborative efforts, including 

establishing interagency work groups. In addition to including Native 

American veterans on the ACVETEO, DOL has the opportunity to appoint 

qualified individuals from other agencies that serve Native American 

veterans, such as BIA, HHS, and Education. Members from other 

agencies that also support employment and training services on tribal land 

could provide the opportunity for DOL to coordinate efforts, share 

knowledge, and leverage agency resources to provide services to Native 

American veterans living on tribal land.

As DOL develops its proposal to create an ACVETEO subgroup, it has the 

opportunity to encourage the committee to form the group in a way that 

enhances and sustains its collaborative efforts. Our past work suggests 

that to establish effective work groups or other mechanisms for 

collaboration, agencies should: 

• define and articulate a common outcome;

• establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies;

• identify and address needs by leveraging resources;

• agree on roles and responsibilities;

• establish compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate 

across agency boundaries;

• develop mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on results;

• reinforce agency accountability for collaborative efforts through agency 

plans and reports; and

• reinforce individual accountability for collaborative efforts through 

performance management systems.

Recommendation Summary

The 2010 report found no 

coordinated federal response to the 

issues facing Native American 

veterans. While DOL, DOI, and VA 

all have employment assistance 

programs that serve Native 

American veterans, there is 

currently no platform that allows for 

the coordination of various agency 

efforts on behalf of Native 

American veterans, according to 

the report. To increase the 

coordination of agency efforts and 

focus on the specific issues 

impacting Native American 

Veterans, the report recommended 

that DOL:

• create a subgroup focused 

on Native American veterans’ 

employment issues under the 

DOL Advisory Committee on 

Veterans’ Employment, 

Training, and Employer 

Outreach (ACVETEO), which 

would be comprised of agency 

representatives, Native 

American Veterans, and others 

engaged in providing 

employment and training 

opportunities; and 

• that the subgroup meet 

periodically and include 

representatives from the VA, 

DOD, DOL, DOI, and other 

departments, as appropriate.

Create Advisory Subcommittee

DOL Is Developing a Proposal to Establish

an Advisory Committee Subgroup
Page 28 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

DOL Recommendation Status

DOL has no plans to conduct a formal needs assessment of the 

employment and training needs of Native American veterans. The cost 

and complexity of such a project would likely be prohibitive, according to a 

DOL official. However, regarding the recommendation to estimate the 

number of Native American veterans on tribal land, a DOL official told us 

that the agency is in the early stages of identifying potential data sources. 

Specifically, DOL has identified a potential source for data within DOD that 

provides race and ethnicity as well as address information for returning 

veterans that could help DVOPs and LVERs target their visits to tribal 

land, but its plans to acquire these data are still being negotiated and 

could take time to finalize. In the interim, DOL has identified data from VA 

that, while not comprehensive, might in the short term, provide an 

estimate of the number of Native American veterans on tribal land. 

Regarding outcome data, DOL does not collect data on veterans served 

by the JVSG program by race or ethnicity. However, according to a VETS 

official, DOL is planning a comprehensive review of its approach to 

tracking veterans’ data. Although DOL does collect data on Native 

American veterans served by its WIA programs, it does not track those 

served on tribal land.

With regard to the recommendation on job placement and training plans, 

currently, all servicemembers develop such Individual Transition Plans 

through mandatory participation in the Transition Assistance Program 

(TAP), which is currently being revised. However, although DOL provides 

information through TAP that could help veterans returning to their 

communities, such as how to access DVOPs and LVERs at American Job 

Centers, as of July 2013, due to changes in agency priorities, DOL had no 

plans to include contact information for WIA Section166 grantees, which 

could help Native American veterans returning to tribal land. According to 

a DOL official, providing this level of information during TAP sessions, 

which are applicable to all veterans, would be impractical. Additionally, as 

of July 2013, a DOL official acknowledged that there are no specific 

changes to TAP that focus on Native American veterans. However, DOL 

told us that there will be overarching changes to the TAP program that will 

aid all transitioning servicemembers.

Regarding service delivery, DOL requested and received information in 

November 2012 about DVOPs’ and LVERs’ services to Native American 

veterans, but to date, has not fully reviewed this information to identify 

promising practices that could improve services for these veterans.

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

Currently, no mechanism that we could identify exists to share data with 

tribes or JVSG staff on the number and timing of veterans returning to 

tribal communities. During our site visits, most DVETS and state officials 

said they do not know when veterans return to their communities, and 

most tribal administrators we spoke to said they receive no notice of their 

return—at a point when these veterans would most likely need

Recommendation Summary

The 2010 report recommended 

conducting a needs assessment by 

reviewing existing federal and state 

programs and services available to 

Native American veterans, in order 

to identify unmet needs and 

eliminate inefficiencies with the aim 

of improving service delivery. 

The report recommended the 

following key actions:

• obtain a reliable estimate of 

the number of veterans living 

on tribal land in need of 

employment services by 

working with VA and BIA; and 

add outcome measures for all 

programs to track Native 

American veterans; and

• assist veterans with the 

transition to civilian life by 

providing them with a job 

placement and training plan 

and with a list of available 

resources.

Assess Needs

DOL Could Pursue Opportunities to Develop

Better Data on Veterans Returning to Tribal Land
Page 29 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts (cont.)

employment and training services. Furthermore, both tribal administrators 

and officials at the state level identified various data sources that they 

used to estimate the number of veterans living on tribal land, including 

2002 Census data, and tribal veterans and health agencies’ data. Such 

data, however, may not reflect the need for employment and training 

services. For example, tribal health agency data are likely to reflect Native 

American veterans’ needs for medical care, not necessarily for 

employment and training services, and not necessarily the needs of 

recently separated veterans.

In the absence of timely data on the population of Native American 

veterans who need employment and training services, state agencies and 

JVSG staff must try to gauge and meet needs in other ways. For example, 

in North Dakota, the state workforce agency provides pamphlets on JVSG 

services to the state veterans’ agency for inclusion in welcome packets for 

returning veterans. In another state, a LVER who has recently begun 

working with one tribe told us that he plans to gauge demand for his 

services based on attendance when he visits the tribe.

DOL has an opportunity to develop or obtain better data on Native 

American veterans returning to tribal land by working with other federal 

agencies. Specifically, according to a DOD official, DOD data on 

separating servicemembers are shared with VA, which modifies the data 

for its own purposes and then shares the data with state veterans’ 

agencies. According to this official, the data include fields for ethnicity, 

including Native American ethnicities. As a result, the data that state 

veterans agencies receive from VA may be helpful in identifying recently 

separated Native American veterans. However, until DOL reaches a datasharing agreement with either DOD or the VA, better data will not be 

available to state workforce agencies or the DVOPs and LVERs they 

employ. Recognizing the potential benefits, the DVET for Montana said he 

is seeking access to these data from the state’s veterans’ agency, through 

a proposed Memorandum of Understanding. 

DOL also has an opportunity to identify and disseminate lessons learned 

about states’ efforts to provide short transition briefings tailored to the 

needs of Native American veterans. DVOPs and LVERs have identified 

opportunities to deliver such customized transition briefings for Native 

American veterans in at least two states. In New Mexico and North 

Dakota, DVOPs and LVERs have provided abbreviated transition briefings 

to tribal communities. In our site visits, when we asked about the potential 

value of such customized transition briefings, some Native American 

veterans expressed interest in such an approach. Additionally, in one 

state, DVOPs and LVERs try to reach Native American veterans through 

welcoming ceremonies, according to that state’s DVET.

Assess Needs (cont.)
Page 30 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

DOL Recommendation Status

The 2010 report recommended that DOL launch a communications 

program focused on outreach to Native American veterans on tribal land 

by establishing a public information campaign to share information about 

VETS programs through the use of the web, direct mail, newspapers, and 

social media. However, DOL officials told us that they have not initiated 

such a campaign due to budget constraints, but are currently exploring low 

cost options for conducting outreach.

Although DOL officials report participating in tribal conferences and tribal 

events at the state level, many of the tribal veterans and workforce 

program officials and veterans we spoke with were unaware or had limited 

awareness of services offered by the JVSG program. 

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

There may be additional opportunities for DOL to expand its proposed 

approach to outreach without the use of a large scale public information

campaign. DOL has an opportunity to take a more comprehensive 

strategy and expand outreach efforts that leverage existing state and local 

level efforts. Expanded efforts could help to raise awareness of VETS 

programs for Native American veterans on tribal land while minimizing 

additional costs.

DOL may have an opportunity to learn from the activities of DVOPs and 

LVERs in certain states who have conducted targeted outreach. For 

example, in one state, a LVER shared information about services 

available to veterans through an article in a local newspaper. Several 

states we visited make employment and other resources available to 

veterans and employers accessible through a website. For example, 

according to state officials, New Mexico provides access for jobseekers, 

including those living in remote areas, by creating a virtual one-stop that 

offers certain services online. 

Some tribal officials and Native Americans veterans told us that some 

veterans prefer in-person outreach. To this end, veterans outreach staff in 

some states have been leveraging libraries and tribal colleges to conduct 

outreach to tribal veterans. Conversely, other Native American veterans 

we spoke with suggested that in order to reach younger veterans, DOL 

should consider employing social media to raise awareness of 

employment and training services among veterans on tribal land.

DOL has an opportunity to encourage states to leverage VA’s Tribal 

Veterans Representatives (TVRs), who are volunteers based on tribal land 

trained by VA to provide veterans with information about available 

benefits, to enhance the outreach efforts of DVOPs and LVERs. For 

example, Alaska state officials said that DVOPs and LVERs coordinated

with TVRs to schedule outreach visits. As a result, officials reported 

improved participation in outreach events and better relations with Alaska 

Native communities. A similar volunteer-based initiative exists in Hawaii.

Recommendation Summary

The 2010 report found that 

awareness of employment services 

available to Native American 

veterans was relatively low on tribal 

lands, even among those who were 

eligible. In addition, focus groups in 

the DOL study mentioned the need 

for more information, 

communication, or outreach to 

veterans. The report also 

suggested that any 

communications program take into 

account the generally limited 

communications infrastructure on 

tribal lands and employ multiple 

modes of communication (e.g., 

tribal newspapers, Internet, direct 

mail, social media, and tribal 

gatherings) to reach veterans on 

tribal lands. According to the 

report, DOL’s outreach efforts 

should raise awareness of DOL 

programs and facilitate the sharing 

of data among tribal leaders and 

those engaging in workforce 

development on tribal land 

Specifically, the report 

recommended that DOL:

• create a public information 

program to reach as many 

Native American veterans as 

possible; and

• facilitate the sharing of 

information and data on 

available resources among 

tribal leadership and other 

government entities engaged 

in workforce development 

programs on tribal lands 

throughout the country.

Conduct Outreach

Budget Challenges Limit DOL’s Outreach Campaign,

but There Are Opportunities to Build on Existing Efforts
Page 31 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

DOL Recommendation Status

DOL has not pursued the report’s proposal to explore the possibility of 

DVOPs and LVERs living and working on tribal land, citing the flexibility of 

the JVSG program that states already have under current law. 

Specifically, states now employ DVOPs and LVERs as they deem 

appropriate and efficient, subject to DOL’s approval. Further, DOL 

guidance emphasizes that states have flexibility to assign and place 

DVOPs and LVERs to best address each state’s unique needs. 

The 2010 report suggested that DVOPs and LVERs live and work on tribal 

land and included the proposal that they focus their work on the tribal 

level, rather than the state level. However, JVSG grant amounts appear 

unlikely to support a full-time focus on tribal land, even for the largest 

tribes, and such an approach appears impractical for smaller communities. 

For example, in Alaska, JVSG funds support 4.5 DVOP and LVER staff, 

who are collectively responsible for outreach to 225 Alaska Native 

communities (an average of 50 each). In Alaska, each DVOP and LVER is 

assigned a region of the state, and they told us that they try to visit their 

assigned region at least twice a year. As in all other states, they also must 

balance these efforts with their efforts to serve other veterans because 

under current law, the JVSG grants flow to states to support activities on 

behalf of all eligible veterans in each state. A DOL official described the 

challenge as making optimum use of limited resources.

Nevertheless, with regard to flexibility in general, a DOL official 

emphasized the importance of recognizing the substantial diversity among 

Native American communities. With regard to additional flexibilities that 

could help meet the needs of Native American veterans living on tribal 

lands, DOL has indicated that it is open to identifying any such 

opportunities that exist under current law, although to date it has taken 

little action in this area. 

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

During our site visits, regarding JVSG program flexibility, few state-level 

officials and tribal leaders identified opportunities for additional flexibility as 

a primary concern, except for officials and veterans from several tribes, 

who suggested that JVSG grant funds go to tribes as well as states, which 

is not possible under current law. Additionally, for example, two tribes 

favored establishing funding that would be specifically reserved for 

veterans within DOL’s WIA Section 166 program, one advocated for 

broadened eligibility to allow more veterans to participate in that program, 

and two suggested streamlining application procedures for DOL’s 

programs to raise participation. Some of these proposed changes might 

require statutory changes. However, a few state-level officials, tribal 

leaders and administrators, and Native American veterans also expressed 

the view that a one-size-fits-all approach would be generally ill-advised, 

given state and tribal differences. 

Recommendation Summary

The 2010 report found a wide 

variance of tribal governance, 

geographic dispersion, technical 

and communications infrastructure, 

and economic development 

challenges that indicate that onesize-fits-all programs may not meet 

program objectives for many tribes 

and veterans. The report 

suggested that to the extent 

practicable, and legally authorized, 

programs must deliver flexible and 

adaptable offerings so that tribal 

agencies and veterans can build a 

solution to fit their needs. In 

particular, the report found that 

there were no DVOPs or LVERs 

assigned to live and work in Native 

American communities, although it 

did note that DVOPs and LVERs in 

some states concentrated their 

efforts on tribal lands. In response, 

the report recommended that DOL 

allow for greater flexibility in 

existing employment programs to 

better meet the needs of Native 

American veterans. In order to help 

tribal agencies and veterans 

develop solutions to fit their own 

needs, the report recommended 

the following specific actions:

• explore the possibility of 

assigning DVOPs and LVERs 

to live and work on tribal 

land; and

• identify available flexibilities 

to meet the needs of Native 

American veterans living on 

tribal lands, including any 

additional flexibilities identified 

through consultation with 

Native American organizations 

and tribal councils.

Allow Flexibility

DOL Can Use Current Flexibility to Support State Efforts to 

Serve Native American Veterans on Tribal Lands
Page 32 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts (cont.)

Nevertheless, DOL has an opportunity to consider ways to use existing 

program flexibility to better serve veterans and encourage better outreach 

and service delivery. Specifically, DOL is considering plans to ask states 

to explicitly describe their efforts to serve Native American veterans in 

their JVSG 5-year grant operating plans, which could help ensure that 

states consider the needs of Native American veterans when preparing 

their plans. However, to date, DOL has not established a time frame for 

completion. Allow Flexibility (cont.)
Page 33 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

DOL Status

DOL officials told us they had taken no action on this issue and 

emphasized that, with regard to economic development, DOL’s focus is on 

the role that skills can play. 

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts

DOL has an opportunity to better understand and support economic 

development on tribal land by reviewing its existing grants and guidance 

on this topic and identifying lessons learned to disseminate to JSVG state

and WIA Section 166 grantees. DOL, through ETA, has taken steps to 

boost economic development generally by aligning some of its 

discretionary grants with local demand for skills, and by issuing guidance 

on economic development and entrepreneurship. 

In the past, DOL has awarded grants that have aligned employment and 

training with economic development. ETA has awarded some of its recent 

grants to Native American entities, and some grants included veterans 

(see appendix III). DOL has an opportunity to review such grants for 

lessons learned on how to incorporate economic development principles 

into existing grants for tribal veterans. For example:

• the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona was awarded a grant to 

develop career pathways, a sequenced training approach that 

supports career progression, including a career pathway for veterans; 

and

• United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota was awarded a grant 

to train workers, foster business development, and promote 

entrepreneurship in 19 tribes across 3 states, under a collaborative 

program that also involved the Small Business Administration (SBA) 

and the Department of Commerce.

Additionally, in 2007, ETA issued guidance to highlight allowable and 

prohibited activities under WIA related to economic development, and in 

2010, it issued guidance on the use of WIA funds to support 

entrepreneurship training. VETS and DINAP officials told us that they do 

not automatically receive notification of ETA grants to Native American 

entities or ETA guidance not addressed to their grantees.

During our site visits, many officials and veterans alike, as well as others, 

identified economic development as a need, and some agreed that 

entrepreneurship could be a viable option for some Native American 

veterans. For example:

• In Montana, the Salish Kootenai College offers an entrepreneurship 

program;

• In North Carolina, Cherokee entrepreneurs can seek funding and 

coaching from the Sequoyah Fund, a Community Development 

Financial Institution;

Report Summary

The 2010 report identified the need 

for economic development on tribal 

land as a major problem, and noted 

that, in the absence of job 

opportunities, providing 

employment and training services 

alone may simply frustrate 

jobseekers.

While noting that economic 

development programs are outside 

VETS’s authority, the report noted 

that economic development should 

be a major focus across federal 

programs addressing employment 

concerns for Native American 

veterans.

Although the report did not 

recommend specific actions for 

DOL in this area, it did identify 

activities that federal agencies 

could take related to economic 

development and job opportunities 

on tribal land, including:

• document and publish 

success stories, share best 

practices, and provide 

benchmark information to other 

tribes; and

• sponsor and fund training 

and education for business 

start-ups and entrepreneurs on 

tribal land.

Boost Economic Development

DOL Can Support Tribal Economic Development by 

Applying Lessons Learned from Existing DOL Grants
Page 34 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Possible Expansion of DOL Efforts (cont.)

Native Hawaiian veterans and their families built greenhouses to grow 

crops for supplemental income.

• In Hawaii, the Vets to Farmers initiative, partly funded by a DOL grant, 

trained some Native Hawaiian veterans in sustainable agriculture, 

provided marketing assistance, and continues to help them sell their 

produce to coastal resorts (see fig.); in addition, initiative leaders told 

us that participants could use VA education benefits to cover their 

training costs; and

• In Alaska, the Cook Inlet Tribal Council refers those interested in 

entrepreneurship to the SBA and other resources.

Boost Economic 

Development (cont.)
Appendix III: Selected Recent DOL Grants to 

Native American Communities That Address 

Workforce or Economic Development Needsa

Page 35 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Year Grant 

Awarded

Name of Grant 

Program Grantee, State Purpose of Grant Project

2012 Workforce 

Innovation Fund

Gila River Indian 

Community, Arizona

To increase opportunities for advancement and employment, 

create partnerships, engage employers, and develop career 

pathways, in hospitality, construction, health care, and other 

occupations. 

c, d

2011 Jobs and Innovation 

Accelerator 

Challenge

United Tribes Technical 

College, North Dakota, 

serving 19 tribes in 3 states b

To meet the region’s need for qualified environmental technicians 

and other professionals, accelerate business development 

opportunities for Native Americans, and reduce unemployment in 

economically distressed areas.

2010 Pathways Out of 

Poverty 

White Earth Band of 

Chippewa, Minnesota

To provide green industry and energy training in construction and 

sustainable manufacturing, to provide support services and to 

address Native Americans’ unique circumstances.

2010 Community-Based 

Job Training

Yuut Elitnaurviat, Alaska, 

serving 50 Alaska Native 

villages

To build on training models with proven success, address retention 

issues, and create a career ladder in construction, industrial 

maintenance, and health care. d

2010 State Energy Sector 

Partnership 

Alaska Department of 

Labor and Workforce 

Development

To increase the supply of workers with energy-efficiency skills to 

support energy-efficient end user technology and the geothermal, 

hydroelectric, wind turbine and biomass industries. d,e

Arizona Department of 

Economic Security

To provide targeted training and job placement services for green 

energy industries. d,e

Hawaii Department of 

Labor and Industrial 

Relations

To develop green industries, provide training in green skills, such 

as home energy rating, construction, biofuels, and sustainable 

agriculture, and attract private investment in energy. d,f

Source: GAO analysis of selected DOL grant summaries.

a

In addition, not shown here, some of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and 

Career Training (TAACCCT) grants awarded in 2012 to support training for certain trade-affected 

workers also included Native Americans or veterans in their target populations, or included tribal 

governments as partners, and some of these grants went to tribal colleges. For example, the 

TAACCCT grant project of Mitchell Technical Institute in South Dakota included both Native 

Americans and veterans among its target populations to be served. Tribal institutions and 

governments participating in other TAACCCT grant projects included Fort Berthold Community 

College, Sitting Bull College, and Turtle Mountain Community College, North Dakota; the Port 

Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Washington state; and the Mille Lacs Band of Minnesota Chippewa, 

Minnesota.

b

This grant program also involved funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Small 

Business Administration to support economic development and promote job creation, in part through 

entrepreneurship.

c

The grantee is developing a career pathway model specifically for veterans, according to a Gila River 

official.

d

Veterans were included in the target populations to be served by these grant projects. For the other 

grants shown, veterans were eligible to participate, according to grantee officials.

e

The grant project summary identified Native American entities as partners.

f

Appendix III: Selected Recent DOL Grants to 

Native American Communities That Address 

Workforce or Economic Development Needsa

Grant funds supported an entrepreneurship component in which Native Hawaiian veterans are 

participating. 
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Labor

Page 36 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Appendix IV: Comments from the 

Department of Labor
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Labor

Page 37 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department 

of Labor

Page 38 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 39 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

Andrew Sherrill, (202) 512-7215 or sherrilla@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Brett Fallavollita (Assistant 

Director), Michelle Bracy, and Christopher Morehouse made key 

contributions to this report. In addition, key support was provided by 

James Bennett, Sarah Cornetto, Holly Dye, Kathy Leslie, and Jean 

McSween.

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments 
Related GAO Products

Page 40 GAO-13-664 Native American Veterans

VA and IHS: Further Action Needed to Collaborate on Providing Health 

Care to Native American Veterans. GAO-13-354. Washington, D.C.: April 

26, 2013.

Entrepreneurial Assistance: Opportunities Exist to Improve Programs’ 

Collaboration, Data-Tracking, and Performance Management. 

GAO-13-452T. Washington, D.C.: March 20, 2013.

Veterans’ Employment and Training: Better Targeting, Coordinating, and 

Reporting Needed to Enhance Program Effectiveness. GAO-13-29. 

Washington, D.C.: December 13, 2012.

Regional Alaska Native Corporations: Status 40 Years after 

Establishment, and Future Considerations. GAO-13-121. Washington, 

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Managing for Results: Key Considerations for Implementing Interagency 

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Indian Issues: Federal Funding for Non-Federally Recognized Tribes. 

GAO-12-348. Washington, D.C.: April 12, 2012.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: HHS Needs to Improve 

Guidance and Monitoring of Tribal Programs. GAO-11-758. Washington, 

D.C.: September 15, 2011.

Indian Issues: Observations on Some Unique Factors that May Affect 

Economic Activity on Tribal Lands. GAO-11-543T. Washington, D.C.: 

April 7, 2011.

Veterans’ Employment and Training Service: Labor Could Improve 

Information on Reemployment Services, Outcomes, and Program Impact.

GAO-07-594. Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2007.

Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance and 

Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies. GAO-06-15. Washington, 

D.C.: October 21, 2005.

Results-Oriented Cultures: Implementation Steps to Assist Mergers and 

Organizational Transformations. GAO-03-669. Washington, D.C.: July 2, 

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