Showing posts with label unemployment. Show all posts

Monday, May 03, 2010

Report: The Community Service Desires, Civic Lives of Returning OEF/OIF Veterans

Flush with important skill sets and valuable experiences, military veterans can be counted among a community's greatest assets. Unfortunately, one barrier they face when out of uniform and in a civilian capacity is a feeling of disconnection from the very people they wish to serve.

So says a a 44-page report, All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service [pdf]. Published last November on Veterans Day by public policy firm Civic Enterprises, it presents the findings of a first ever nationally representative survey focusing on veterans' homecoming transition and civic lives.

The survey found that "only 13 percent of veterans strongly agree their transitions are going well. Yet those veterans who said they had volunteered since returning home had better transitions than those who had not." More:

Nearly 9 out of 10 veterans said Americans could learn something from their example of service, yet only half considered themselves leaders in their communities as a result of their military service.

Nearly 7 in 10 veterans had not been contacted by a community institution, local non-‐profit, or place of worship after their return home.

92 percent of OIF/OEF veterans agreed that serving their community is important to them.

Veterans said a diverse range of issues was important or very important to them: helping military families (90 percent), being involved with disaster relief (88 percent), working with at-risk youth (86 percent), and being involved with the environment/conservation (69 percent).

7 in 10 non-volunteering veterans said they do not have enough information of meaningful service opportunities.

In extended, a portion of the report's statistic-heavy intro.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Virginia Heroes, Marlboro Marine, Vet Unemployment, DoD Study

Notable quick stops well worth a visit:

On Wednesday, 200 social service workers gathered at the Virginia is for Heroes regional conference held at Fort Monroe. A few helpful articles over there, especially "Tune In to Special Needs of Military Families [pdf] ," by Barbara J. Howard, M.D.
Jenny Eliscu offers a heart-tugging update on James Blake Miller, 'The Marlboro Marine,' in the latest Rolling Stone.
Following-up on yesterday's post, the Topeka Capital-Journal editorial board chimes in on news that unemployment in the younger veterans set had shot up to 23 percent in 2005 from 2000's 10 percent rate.
From last week: A University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio research consortium has been awarded $33 million from the DoD to study post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning troops. Their main objective will be to "develop and evaluate the most effective early-interventions for detecting, preventing and treating combat-related PTSD."

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

VA Report: 23% of Young Vets Unemployed, Up from 10% in 2000

From Yochi J. Dreazen at the Wall Street Journal:

A new government report paints a dire picture of the employment prospects of returning military veterans, concluding that young veterans earn less and have a harder time finding work than do civilians in the same age group.

The report prepared for the Veterans Affairs Department found that the percentage of veterans not in the labor force -- because they couldn't find jobs, stopped looking for work, or went back to school -- jumped to 23% in 2005 from 10% in 2000. Half of the young veterans -- ages 20 to 24 -- with steady employment earned less than $25,000 per year, it found.

Young veterans "face career challenges when transitioning from the military service to the civilian workforce," and suffer from higher unemployment than their civilian peers, the report said. "Transitioning into civilian life and the workforce requires help and guidance," the report concluded. "The federal government might consider reevaluating or refining how it serves...these returning young service members to ensure a successful transition process."

Thursday, November 08, 2007

44% of Reserve Forces Dissatisfied with Labor Department Employment Discrimination Help

From AP:

The Labor Department faced questioning from a Senate committee on Thursday about its efforts to help reservists who have been denied their civilian jobs when they returned from active duty.

A Pentagon survey of reservists in 2005-6 found that 44 percent of returning troops said they were dissatisfied with how the Labor Department handled their complaints of employment discrimination based on their military status. That was up from 27 percent in 2004. ...

[More stats:]

Twenty-nine percent of those choosing not to seek help to get their job back said it was because it was "not worth the fight." Another 23 percent said they were unsure of how to file a complaint. Others cited a lack of confidence that they could win (14 percent); fear of employer reprisal (13 percent), or other reasons (21 percent).

This information is very important as far as PTSD is concerned.

More on this along with survey highlights released by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee showing "servicemembers are returning home only to realize that their deployment has put their healthcare, their benefits, and even their jobs at risk."

Sunday, November 04, 2007

VA: About 6 Percent of OEF/OIF Vets Expected to be Diagnosed with TBI

Friday, the VA said that it believes about 6 percent of returning troops seeking care at its hospitals will be diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. From Army Times:

A VA mandatory screening program that took effect in April has looked at 61,285 veterans of the wars. Of those, 19.2 percent were identified on the screening questionnaire as potentially suffering from traumatic brain injuries and were referred for more tests.

While evaluation continues, VA spokeswoman Alison Aikele said officials believe, based on a smaller sample, that the final result about 5.8 percent will be diagnosed with TBI.

Aikele said it is too soon to draw any conclusions from the screening because the program has been under way for only a few months. Until there is more screening and evaluation, VA officials do not want to jump to any sweeping conclusions about brain injuries, she said.

“We did not really know what to expect,” she said when asked if the number of confirmed TBI cases matched VA’s expectations.

However, the 5.8 percent figure appears low. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, a joint Pentagon-VA research effort, 14 percent to 20 percent of troops in previous conflicts have had traumatic brain injuries. The Center says there are reasons to expect a higher percentage among troops in the current conflicts because improved body armor has made them more likely to survive injuries that would have been fatal in previous wars, and because of the prevalence of roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades to attack U.S. forces. The blasts from such weapons can easily cause concussive brain injuries.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

BusinessWeek Covers Unique Struggles of the Reservist-Entrepreneur

Members of the Reserve or National Guard deployed overseas have unique struggles when compared to their active duty counterparts. Charles Moskos, professor emeritus of sociology at Northwestern University, says one of the unique stressors they face is a financial penalty for long deployments coupled with fear over losing their civilian job or small business while away. BusinessWeek covers the plight of the reservist-entrepreneur in their January 30, 2007, issue.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...

A few grafs from BusinessWeek:

"The small businessmen or women, or the lawyer or doctor, more than any other [self-employed] segment, have made the greatest sacrifices," says John Goheen, spokesman for the National Guard Assn., a Washington-based advocacy group. He argues more support is needed. "In a dynamic economy, people come and go, businesses start and fail in 18 months—that's quite a long time," Goheen says.

William Elmore, the associate administrator for Veterans Business Development at the SBA, estimates that about 6% of the 550,000-plus active Reserve and National Guard members are self-employed, and that 9% of all Reserve and National Guard in the labor market are self-employed. Elmore is charged with the difficult task of building awareness of the programs and delivering support to servicemen and women, with a limited budget. ...

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chair of the Senate Committee for Small Business & Entrepreneurship, has been working for several years to introduce a Military Family Bill of Rights, a bill that includes comprehensive and direct assistance for military members and their families, including loans, grants, and tax credits for Guard and Reserve members who own their own small businesses or work for one.

Please read the whole piece, and then head over to BusinessWeek's 'Entrepreneurs Who Serve Their Country' slideshow.

Caring for Returning Vets, Not a Cost of Waging War?

A good article appeared over at Military.com a few weeks back looking at a few of the issues that some of our troops may face after they return home. In a media and political environment that seems to favor only 'happy' stories and talk, most Americans fail to realize that we may have very real problems of OEF/OIF veteran homelessness, unemployment, and suicide if we don't provide funds and services to meet their needs as they transition back into civilian life.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Lexington VA Hospital's One-of-a-Kind PTSD Program

As the VA struggles to find the resources it needs to deliver top notch care to our returning veterans, some programs rise to the challenge. Lexington, KY's VA Hospital offers a unique residential rehabilition program to help local veterans coping with PTSD.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...

From WTVQ Action News (ABC-Channel 36):

The medical community admits it was slow to recognize the debilitating condition, but continues to catch-up to try to help Veterans of all wars. Part of that progress is a one of a kind residential rehabilitation program at the V.A. Hospital on Leestown Road in Lexington. Group and individual therapy teaches coping skills, adjustment skills, anger management, relaxation and all the things needed to try to help the Veterans dimish their PTSD symptoms.

The Veterans we spoke to in the program said it's successful, effective and in some cases life saving. "I've tried to commit suicide twice," said Vietnam Veteran Paul Louallen of Lexington. Like countless other Veterans, Louallen suffered in silence for decades, not knowing what was wrong. He couldn't control his anger, nightmares and irrational thoughts. "I'd go days without sleeping. I was afraid to go to sleep," Louallen said. He couldn't hold down jobs, alienated friends and couldn't manage a successful personal relationship with anyone. He, like many Veterans suffering from PTSD, turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the emotional pain.

The veterans being treated in this important program include those who served in wars from Korea to Iraq. They are very satisfied with the treatment they're receiving.

The Clinic Coordinator for the program is V.A. Hospital Psychologist Bruce Nerenberg. "These Veterans can sit around in a circle because they feel that the other Veterans are watching their back, there's that kind of trust and they talk and share and realize that they're not alone," said Nerenberg. There are an untold number of Veterans who may not realize they're suffering from PTSD or refuse to get help because of the stigma of weakness that society attaches to the disorder. Program coordinator Nerenberg said the courageous aren't those who deny they have a problem, but rather those who get help.

Veterans may be referred to this program by their primary care physician or VA doctor. Call the Lexington VA Medical Center for more details at 859-281-3949.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Returning Troops Battle Unemployment

US Dept. of Labor reports unemployment figures for veterans ages 20-24 at over 15% (the civilian rate for the same group: 8%). The Daily Herald [Everett, WA] is reporting on this story:

The House of Representatives passed several bills last week dedicated to aiding veterans who have seen combat and are still active in the military. The package is on its way to the Senate. But the issue of helping returning veterans find a job may have been overlooked. ...

Support is what the Legislature had in mind last week when it passed House Bill 2564, which prohibits discrimination of veterans when it comes to jobs, insurance and credit. At least one combat veteran thinks that support is in the wrong place. "A lot of folks won't hire me because I'm military," state Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, said a young soldier told him. "They say, 'I'm afraid you'll go PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) on me,' or 'I'm afraid you'll be redeployed.' "

Both scenarios are possible for those returning from combat who are still in the military. "With what these kids are seeing over there, it's virtually impossible not to have some form of PTSD," said Ernie Butler, a Vietnam-era veteran and spokesman for the Northwest Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Some expect to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan for a second or third tour of duty. With the threat of losing a worker at any time, employers may opt not to hire a soldier, said Tim Probst, chief executive officer of the Washington Workforce Association.

Click on 'Article Link' below tags for more...

The Seattle Times chimed in on the issue in a recent editorial, stating that "military personnel deserve fair treatment." The Senate is also addressing this issue, with Senator Larry Craig [R-ID] calling for "major improvement" in helping young veterans find work.