REPORT

OF THE

Mayor’s Veterans Committee Columbia, South Carolina

September 18, 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In January 2012, Mayor Steve Benjamin established a committee to provide him with recommendations regarding how the City of Columbia could better serve its military veterans. Since that time, the Committee has spent its time investigating the needs of Columbia’s veterans and identifying potential actions that the City could take to address those needs. This report summarizes the issues identified and provides several recommendations for consideration.

Although Columbia and South Carolina have long recognized the moral and patriotic duty to support veterans of military service, there is also a very pragmatic reason for Columbia to assist its veterans, especially those with disabilities. The more than 23,000 veterans awaiting a Department of Veterans Affairs benefits decision represent more than $21,000,000 in cash payments not entering the Columbia economy every year. For the Midlands, which for the purposes of this report includes the counties of Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland Saluda, and Sumter, the amount is over $56,000,000 every year.

Columbia’s veterans face three fundamental challenges: employment, appropriate educational opportunities, and VA claims-related delays. The Committee reviewed a wealth of information to identify issues for which the City could implement practical actions with a reasonable chance of having a real impact. The Committee focused on identifying straightforward and innovative recommendations that can be implemented without significant disruption of existing services, administrative changes, or resource reallocation. The Committee’s recommendations include:

• Appointment of a Veterans Ombudsman • City support to ensure Columbia veterans submit “Fully

Developed Claims” to VA • Establishment of a liaison between the City and VA • Preparation of a consolidated list of veteran support services • Review of City job descriptions for unneeded restrictions • Outreach to veterans considering educational loans

Once implemented, the Committee believes these recommendations will serve to comprehensively assist Columbia’s veterans.

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COMMITTEE REPORT

Why Columbia Should Act

Columbia has long been the proud home of active duty service members and a large veteran community. Few argue that the community should not support our veterans because of their sacrifices during their service to the country. This moral and patriotic duty animates the many existing public and private activities that assist Columbia’s veterans and their families every day.

There is, however, a much more pragmatic reason for Columbia to assist its veterans, especially those with disabilities. There are over 23,000 veterans awaiting the Department of Veterans Affairs to make a decision on their claims at the Columbia regional office. Based on current accuracy rates, backlog, and processing times, VA’s own data show that the average Columbia veteran will wait more than four years to receive the disability benefits he or she earned in service. Some, if they get caught on the “hamster wheel,” can wait much longer, sometimes decades to get a final decision. Veterans do not receive a dollar in benefits while their claims remain undecided.

If each of the 23,000 veterans ultimately receive the average compensation benefit, VA delay costs Columbia’s economy over $21,000,000 a year in cash payments to veterans. The direct cost to the Midlands is over $56,000,000 a year, every year, in lost benefits. And the costs go up as more veterans file claims , VA falls ever farther behind, and the delays grow longer.

Columbia’s Veteran Community

Columbia is an attractive location for United States military veterans for a number of reasons. The proximity of Fort Jackson, Shaw Air Force Base, and McEntire Joint National Guard Base are, of course, principal sources of newly minted veterans. In addition, veterans who retired from service make their home in the Midlands area because of opportunities for federal and contract employment supporting the military, and access to the commissary, post exchanges, and other amenities.

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On the practical side, Columbia is home to the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) Regional Office, the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center Hospital, VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Office, VA Health Care for Homeless Veterans program office, and a Vet Center. In addition, Columbia and the Midlands region offers a broad range of educational opportunities for recent military servicemen and servicewomen, including the University of South Carolina, Benedict College, Allen University, Midlands Technical College, Columbia College, South University, Limestone, Strayer, and other schools. On the intangible side, because of the location of so many military and veterans facilities, the citizens of Columbia and the Midlands have long had members of the military, veterans, and their families as a welcome part of their communities..

The Numbers

In 2011, 21.6 million men and women in the civilian non-institutional population ages 18 and over were veterans. South Carolina ranked 18th in the nation for the number of veterans, with one of the highest veteran concentrations in the Midlands. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports:

• slightly more than 400,000 veterans live in South Carolina;

• approximately 85,000 veterans are located in the Midlands;

• more than 32,500 veterans reside in Richland county;

• women now comprise 14.6% of the Reserves and 15.5% of the Guard; and

• South Carolina has an estimated 35,540 women veterans.

The Columbia area has a number of facilities that provide services for homeless women veterans, such as Angel House, Hannah House, The Women’s Shelter, and a few others. Each facility has its own rules. Women with children have more limited options and there is almost always a need for beds for them. Whether these resources can keep up with the growth in women veterans is also an issue.

The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001 (the “Gulf War II” era) was 12.1 percent in 2011. In addition:

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• young male veterans (those ages 18 to 24) who served during Gulf War II era had an unemployment rate of 29.1 percent;

• young male nonveterans had an unemployment rate of 17.6 percent;

• veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent;

• veterans with no disability had an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent;

• Gulf War-era II veterans who were current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard (particularly significant in South Carolina) had an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent; and

• Gulf War-era II veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both had an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent.

Finally, 26 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported having a service-connected disability, compared with about 14 percent of all veterans. These veterans are facing a continuing degradation of the VA benefits adjudication process.

• At the end of August 2012, 23,282 veterans were waiting for a response on their VA claims from the Columbia VA regional office, the VA office servicing all of Columbia’s veterans, an approximate 12% increase in the last year.

• It now takes 266 days (9 months) for a veteran to receive a response from the Columbia regional office on an initial claim, a 24% increase in the past year.

• If a veteran appeals an erroneous denial, it now takes 1,260 days (or 3 and ½ years) for VA to get to respond.

• At the current rate of production at the Columbia VA regional office it would take 251 days (or more than 8 months) to clear the claims backlog, even if no more claims were received.

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Challenges

Columbia’s veterans face three fundamental challenges in transitioning from the military to productive civilian life: employment, appropriate educational opportunities, and VA claims-related delays and backlog.

Employment

For all the attention and effort both nationally and locally, veterans still experience many barriers to employment:

• Mismatch. Veterans often do not know how to translate their military experience to a civilian resume. Some employers perceive military experience as too specialized to translate effectively the civilian workplace.

• Education. Jobs that are routinely held by in the military by high school graduates require 2 or 4 year degrees in civilian employment; this has become more prevalent in our recent economic times.

• Credentials. It is estimated that 38% of military personnel who separate from the services each year will need a credential or license issued by a third party to qualify their military training.

• Disabilities. Employers are afraid of PTSD and other disabilities, including Traumatic Brain Injury. Of the over 625,800 Afghanistan and Iraq veterans enrolled in the health care systems, more than 31, 600 have been treated for mental health conditions. Nearly 25% of America’s active duty military suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder to some degree.

• Transportation. The lack of reliable transportation limits employment choices for veterans. In the Midlands, our transportation system has been cut dramatically and faces more cuts and raised fees. Even if able to get to work, many employers, including the City of Columbia, require driver’s licenses and cars – even when the specific job description does not require a vehicle or driving.

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• Criminal histories. It is a sad reality that many of today’s veterans will have encounters with the criminal justice system. Economic and medical issues, including huge delays in VA benefits, commonly result in troubles ranging from DUI to check fraud, spousal abuse, and similar crimes. As more than 90 percent of companies recently reported using criminal background checks for their hiring decisions. Veterans who get into trouble while adjusting from military to civilian life can severely limit future job opportunities.

Finally, veterans of all ages return to a job market different from the one they left, especially as the economic situation has deteriorated. Jobs for young men and women without college degrees are more difficult to find. Young men and women who went to the military straight from college who are finding jobs are finding unprecedented low salaries. In addition, young veterans with associate or bachelor degrees can come back to find that they are competing for positions with people their own age with advanced degrees.

Appropriate Educational Opportunities

The “GI-Bill” was such a success in enabling World War II veterans to attend college, that the federal government has funded several educational initiatives for the current generation of veterans. As a result, the Department of Veterans Affairs has paid out nearly $20 billion in post-September 11 education benefits. Each program has specific criteria that must be met to receive benefits. All the programs are intended to assist veterans in obtaining training, skills, and education to enable them to be successful in civilian careers

As an unfortunate side-effect, veterans – and their educational benefits –have been a significant driver in the aggressive growth of “for-profit” schools and training companies. The situation has reached such proportions that signed an executive order while touring Georgia’s Fort Stewart to help protect military families and veterans from aggressive and deceptive recruiting by higher education institutions — especially — seeking their military benefits. The executive order requires colleges to provide more information about student outcomes and financial aid, create a centralized complaint system and directed the Veterans Administration to trademark the term “G.I. Bill” to make it harder for colleges to use materials that look like official government

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sites or improperly suggest that they offer special access to veterans’ benefits. Holly Petraeus, head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has stated that the size of this potential market has inspired for-profit schools to roll out the welcome mat, in too many cases for unprepared or unready students. Some of the concerns have been found in Columbia, especially in education programs for veterans over 40 are causing more concern.

In one instance, a for-profit school went to a homeless shelter and attempted to sign veterans up for a one year network administration course. Many of the veterans at this facility had criminal histories, existing credit issues, and were – at most – high school graduates or had GEDs. The “network administration jobs” that the course was supposedly preparing these veterans to fill require the ability to pass background checks (i.e., no significant criminal history), good credit, associated college degrees, technical certifications, and related experience. The school was signing veterans up for a one year course, $1,100 per month against an educational allowance of $1,473.00. Further, should a veteran drop out, either from a lack of foundational skills or other reason, the veteran remains indebted to the school, although ineligible for the allowance.

VA Claims Backlog

The troubles of the VA compensation system are legend. The current backlog of compensation and pension claims is officially 899,170 as of August 27, 2012. There are reports, however, that the true number is over 1,000,000. Whatever the number, these backlogged claims are literally piled up at VA regional offices around the country. (See attached Exhibit of images from VA report on file storage problems). Although the VA Secretary set a goal of 125 days for resolving an initial claim, there are currently 595,667 claims (66.2%) pending longer than that goal.

Compensation claims received by VA have increased 94 percent since 2001, with 1.3 million received in fiscal 2011. Although VA has nearly doubled the number of people involved in processing claims over the same period, VA records show a slowing processing time. The average time to complete a claim was 181 days in 2001, but it is currently 257 days. Advocates familiar with the problems facing VA believe that it will be 20 years before the backlog is under control.

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There are many reasons that the claims backlog continues to grow despite VA efforts. First, the gross number of claims filed each year continues to increase. The nation has been at war for over a decade, generating more medical conditions subject to compensation. New veterans are filing more claims than their predecessors. Older veterans, especially Vietnam-era veterans, are taking advantage of changes in the law.

New veterans are filing more, and more complex, disability claims. In addition, these veterans are more aggressively filing supplemental claims for increased benefits as their medical conditions change. They are also more likely to appeal an initial denial. All of these factors are contributing to the large – and still growing – backlog of unprocessed claims.

VA data shows that Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans are also filing far more medical issues per claim than any other generation of veterans since World War II. The average number of medical conditions per disability claim, by era:

Iraq/Afghanistan (Gulf War II): 9.14

1991 Persian Gulf War: 7.53

Vietnam War: 5.21

Korean War: 3.84

World War II: 3.71

While there are many reasons that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are filing claims with more total disabilities, one important reason is that these wars have seen much greater use of National Guard and reserve troops than earlier conflicts. These troops tend to be older than regular, active-duty troops, and are more susceptible to certain types of medical conditions. This is especially true when service includes multiple deployments to active war zones. These veterans as well as those of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, are filing more complicated claims, listing more medical problems, than veterans of earlier conflicts. This is an important issue for South Carolina, where many Reserve and Guard units continue to deploy.

Accuracy on VA claims decisions also has declined, requiring more rework, and adding to the backlog. In 2001, VA reportedly had an 81 percent accuracy rate. VA officials said the rate improved to a peak of 90 percent in 2006, but has slipped to 86 percent. Other measures of accuracy indicate a

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much lower accuracy rate. For example, between 70% and 80% of the claims reaching the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims are remanded (returned) to VA because of some legal error or other mistake.

ANALYSIS The Committee reviewed a wealth of information not only to identify

issues affecting Columbia’s veterans, but to identify issues for which the City could implement practical actions with a reasonable chance of having a real impact. This approach eliminated important, but impractical, issues such as “homelessness” and “medical service,” which are the focus of numerous national initiatives. While Columbia should seek to participate in such initiatives as much as practical, it was deemed unnecessary and unproductive for the City to attempt to “recreate the wheel” in such areas.

Instead, the Committee focused on identifying straightforward and innovative recommendations that can be implemented without significant disruption of existing services, administrative changes, or resource reallocation. And, indeed, once implemented, the Committee believes these recommendations will serve to comprehensively assist Columbia’s veterans.

Veteran “Fatigue”

As an initial matter, the Committee observed what some have labeled “veteran fatigue.” This is a phenomenon similar to “donor fatigue,” where concerned, supportive, and well-intentioned people grow frustrated with constant appeals for donation. This condition affects charities which repeatedly claim – even correctly – that imminent crises require ever more requests for funds. Donors can also grow frustrated when they donate time or money and nothing appears to happen, or the problem appears insurmountable. In essence, even the most ardent supporter can become desensitized to an issue or cause when change is slow to arrive.

Few, if any areas of the country support the military or veterans more enthusiastically than Columbia or South Carolina. Yet, the length of the current conflicts, the seemingly interminable problems with federal veterans’ programs and the VA benefits system in particular, and the need to take care of their own families during recent tough economic times appear to have sapped the community of much of its normal energy in support of veterans causes. In short, while many expressed concern or even outrage at some of

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the problems facing Columbia’s veterans, few were willing to materially participate in yet “another” veterans’ initiative.

This observation underscores the need for the City of Columbia to take the lead in substantive and creative ways of supporting our veterans.

An Abundance of Information Moreover, we do not believe that a lack of information is the problem.

There are any number of private and public veteran service organizations and other entities dedicated to assisting veterans ranging in size from large national organizations to small local non-profits. As an example, the following is a very short list of resources that exist to assist veterans and employers in matching employment needs with veterans:

• Army Career and Placement Center - access to employer database and information on job fairs. www.hrc.army.mil/site/active/tagd/acap/

• Army Career and Alumni Program Fort Jackson - Lists experienced veterans to fill job needs. www.jackson.army.mil/Directorates/HRAcap.htm

• AMVETS Career Center - 65 centers across the country where employers list jobs. www.amvets.org

• Career One Stop Military Transition - There are more than 3,400 One-Stop Career Centers offering employers assistance to connect with and recruit veterans. Many centers offer resources including Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives (LVERs) and Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) staff. The Military to Civilian Occupation Translator shows which military skills and experience are the closest match for a variety of civilian occupations. The Army Partnership for Youth Success (PaYS) provides an opportunity for businesses of more than 500 employees to partner with the U.S. Army. www.careeronestop.org/militarytransition/employers.aspx

• Clearance Jobs - Lists jobs that require security clearances which veterans often have. www.clearancejobs.com

• Corporate Gray - Links employers with transitioning and former military personnel through military-to-civilian career transition

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books, Job Fairs, and Corporate Gray Online. www.corporategray.com

• Department of Defense Turbo TAP - Transition and employment services for veterans. www.turbotap.org/portal/transition/lifestyles/Employment

• Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program/Local Veterans Employment Representative - A Department of Labor initiative for veterans. www.dol.gov

• Farmer Veteran Coalition - Helps Veterans find employment, training and places to heal on America’s farms. www.farmvetco.org

• Helmets to Hardhats - Connecting former military personnel with career opportunities in the construction trades nationwide. www.helmetstohardhats.org

• Hire a Hero - Offers an online military community for Veterans, employers and volunteers to aid Service Members and their families with securing employment. www.hireahero.org

• Hire Heroes - Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) offers transition assistance, job search assistance, and job placement services to veterans and their spouses. HHUSA prioritizes veterans statistically most likely to be unemployed: veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, New Dawn and veterans who are wounded or disabled. www.hireheroesusa.org

• Hire Patriots - Employment opportunities for current, transitioning and former members of all branches of service. www.hirepatriots.com

• Job Connections for Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) Soldiers - Contains information on how to search for jobs and post resumes and provides information on employers and educational programs. http://wtc.army.mil/soldier/careers_and_employment.html

• Job Opportunities for Disabled American Veterans - Job opportunities for disabled American veterans. www.jofdav.com

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• Jobs4vets - Employment site offers a job database, career email notifications, a resume database and distribution, a career event calendar and a continuing education guide. www.jobs4vets.com

• Milicruit - Provides virtual career fairs for veterans. www.milicruit.com/employers.html

• Military Connection - an employment resource with job listings for veterans. www.militaryconnection.com

• Recruit Military - A nationwide, full-service, military-to-civilian recruiting firm. www.recruitmilitary.com

• US Army Reserve and National Guard Employer Partnership - Employer Partnership (EP) provides America’s employers with a direct link to some of America’s finest employees – service members and their families. www.employerpartnership.org

• Veteran Employment - Search and apply for jobs online including positions available at businesses and agencies nationwide that offer veteran hiring preferences. www.veteranemployment.com

• VetJobs - Employers can easily find military, National Guard, Reserve Component Members. A leading source for technology skills and security clearances. www.vetjobs.com

• Veterans Today - Job fairs and career center, job search, resume posting. www.veteranstoday.com/career-center

If anything, there may be too many organizations offering too many overlapping services for veterans, as evidenced by websites, such as www.confusedveterans.com, which exist solely to guide veterans to relevant sites. As another example, Easter Seals has recently hired a recently retired Army Colonel previously assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to create a new program that will act as a “clearinghouse” for services for veterans.

This is not to say that veterans in Columbia are aware of the resources available to them. To the contrary, it is our experience that veterans are not aware of the spectrum of available services and spend a good deal of time trying to locate needed services. Further, many veterans service providers in the Columbia area are not familiar with other available services. We provide recommendations to address this area.

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Education Awareness

Similarly, there appears to be no limit to the information available about educational opportunities for qualifying veterans. It is our observation, however, that the available information is almost exclusively skewed toward the potential benefits of obtaining education or training generally, or a specific skill or certification. There is very little, and in some cases no, information regarding: (1) the potential risks of taking on the debt to achieve the desired goals; (2) the non-educational qualifications required (e.g., ability to obtain security clearance, credit worthiness, continuous drug testing, etc.) to secure the advertised positions; (3) the legal and financial impacts from not completing a course of study; or (4) less costly or more achievable alternatives.

Columbia is home to the full spectrum of educational institutions from private tutoring and technical training companies to public two-year colleges and a national research university. While providing a wealth of educational opportunities to veterans of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, the reality is that veterans who have been out of formal schooling for years or decades have difficulty determining which opportunity is a good match for their experience and academic skills. There is a need for objective information and outreach to provide this type of information to veterans contemplating taking advantage of available educational financial assistance.

As might be expected of any area involving so much money in play, there are also a number of scams and unscrupulous operators taking advantage of uninformed veterans.

Improved VA Applications

There is little Columbia can do to address the structural problems of the second largest department of the federal government. Columbia, however, can have an effect on the local VA regional office’s efficiency and effectiveness in processing claims submitted by Columbia’s veterans. Further, because of a recent change in the law, Columbia’s veterans could obtain a windfall of up to one additional year of benefits (in some cases over $30,000) from the effort.

All claims for benefits from veterans residing in Columbia, and all of South Carolina, are processed at the Columbia VA regional office. Essentially all initial benefits claims are submitted by veterans themselves or with the assistance of “service officers” from national veterans groups (such as VFW,

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American Legion, etc.) or state-funded county veteran service offices. The “veteran-friendly” VA system supports a “file now” approach where veterans need only submit a basic application for benefits and wait for VA to respond with a request for the “evidence” needed to support the claim or claims in the application.

Although this approach does not require a veteran to submit any evidence with an initial claim and places the burden on VA to identify what evidence is required and to attempt to get that evidence for the veteran, this process is very inefficient and takes a lot of time. VA has identified the time to repeatedly correspond back and forth in order to obtain (and argue over) the evidence needed to grant a claim (known as “development”) as a significant contributor to the claims backlog.

In an attempt to reduce development time, a few years ago VA implemented a pilot program to expedite processing of “fully developed claims. The pilot was deemed successful and there is now a “Fully Developed Claim” program to expedite processing of certain claims. See http://benefits.va.gov/transformation/fastclaims/. Many veterans advocates are unaware or unfamiliar with this program.

Any program that could result in a quicker (and hopefully more accurate) resolution of a veteran’s claim should be used whenever possible. As of August 6, 2012, the “Fully Developed Claim” program is even more attractive because Public Law 112-154 authorizes a two-year period beginning on August 6, 2013, where veterans who submit a “fully developed claim” will receive the awarded benefits from the date of award back to up to a year before the application was submitted (referred to as “retroactive benefits”). This is a specific change from the general rule that benefits are only paid from the date of the application. Further, the delayed implementation date raises the possibility that some veterans stand to receive a higher retroactive payment be delaying an application until after August 6, 2013. This, too, is a difference from the existing process where an earlier application is always preferable to a later one.

The “Fully Developed Claim” program and the window for increased retroactive awards created in Public Law 112-154 create an opportunity for Columbia to positively impact a veteran’s VA benefit claim in two ways: a shorter processing period and a larger retroactive payment. A City-sponsored

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program sponsored to ensure that its veterans submit “fully developed claims” will have several substantial, positive results: veterans will get their benefits sooner, they will get a larger retroactive payment, and VA will be able to improve its claims processing metrics. We recommend such a program be implemented well before August 2013 to ensure that all eligible veterans have their fully develop claims ready for filing when the retroactive payment window opens.

Such a “Fully Developed Claim” initiative is a key to freeing up potentially millions of dollars of VA benefits not being paid to veterans because of VA delays in processing claims. As shown in the attached calculation, if each of the nearly 15,000 veterans’ claims currently awaiting processing at the Columbia VA regional office were to receive the average compensation benefit, it would inject over $14,000,000 a year in cash payments to veterans in the Columbia area. For the eight county Midlands area the backlog is over $36,000,000 a year, every year. If even a fraction of those and future claims could be processed sooner and avoid being “backlogged,” many millions of dollars will be awarded to veterans – and put into the Columbia economy.

D. Rosinski

D. Albritt0n

P. Robinson

September 18, 2012

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RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee submits the following Recommendations for the City’s consideration. The individual recommendations are largely independent and can be implemented individually or in conjunction with other City initiatives as opportunity allows.

Recommendation 1

Columbia should appoint an independent “Veterans Ombudsman” to monitor developments affecting Columbia’s veterans and to represent veterans’ interests before the City.

Although veterans are a large and respected part of our community, their unique issues and interests are not well known or understood. As discussed in the Committee report, veterans issues can have a direct and substantial economic impact on the City and its services. An individual familiar with veterans issues should be appointed to act as the City’s interface with the veterans’ community and advocacy groups and to provide advice regarding issues potentially impacting veterans’ interests.

Recommendation 2

Columbia should authorize a competitive grant to ensure that Columbia area veterans seeking VA benefits submit, to the extent possible, “fully developed claims.”

VA has implemented a “Fully Developed Claim” program to shorten the processing time for claims meeting certain criteria at the time of initial application. In addition, Congress has authorized a “bonus” of up to a year of retroactive benefits for veterans who receive an award on a “fully developed claim.” Columbia can leverage a modest grant funding an advocacy group especially trained to assist veterans in preparing and submitting “fully developed claims” so to take advantage of the VA’s program.

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Recommendation 3

The City should establish a liaison with the Columbia VA regional office and conduct periodic status meetings.

The Columbia VA regional office controls the processing of all South Carolina veterans’ claims. It is imperative that Columbia understand what VA is doing to improve its claims processing performance and what Columbia can do to assist the office. On the other hand, VA should be fully aware of the Actions that the City has implemented and is considering implementing to allow a full exchange of ideas going forward.

Recommendation 4

Columbia should prepare and maintain a consolidated list of resources available to veterans in need.

Extensive services are available to veterans from federal, state, and local public and private entities. Veterans have reported that they either have been unable to find needed services in a timely manner or have had to make numerous inquiries before identifying which organization could help them. There is a need for a consolidated listing of services with contact information for veterans seeking assistance. The process of compiling such a list also offers an opportunity to perform at least some level of investigation into the organizations listed and so provide some level of assurance to veteran seeking assistance.

Recommendation 5

Columbia should make the veterans resource list available at each City office, website, and should provide copies to each social service provider in the Midlands.

Veterans and their families need to be able to find available resources when they are needed. A broad distribution and easy availability is critical to the usefulness of the information.

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Recommendation 6

Columbia should ensure that outreach activities, such as job fairs and social services outreach, are held at locations and at times accessible by public transportation.

Many veterans most in need of information and assistance regarding services and employment opportunities do not have, or have very limited access to, transportation. Yet, it has often been the case that job fairs, service provider outreach, and similar efforts are held at locations that are not reasonably close to bus stops or other locations accessible by public transportation. As a result, many of those most in need of a job or service are unable to attend the function. This is simply addressed by an awareness of the problem and scheduling proper locations.

Recommendation 7

Columbia should review its job descriptions and hiring requirements for outdated or unnecessary educational or licensing requirements.

Job descriptions for positions with the City often contain seemingly innocuous requirements that inadvertently exclude well-qualified veterans from those positions. For example, many positions require a drivers license or a personal vehicle but do not involve driving a vehicle. Recently discharged veterans may not be able to afford a vehicle, but can perform the job description and get to work by public transportation. Similarly, educational requirements often require specific degrees or civilian technical certifications, which disqualify veterans who obtained the same or more advanced training in the military.

The City should commit to a plan to review the requirements for each job description whenever a position is posted to ensure that military experience and training are properly recognized.

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Recommendation 8

The City should conduct public outreach on the responsible use of veterans educational benefits and how to minimize the financial risks of higher education.

Veterans are practically inundated with information touting the benefits of seeking additional technical training or initial college degrees under various educational assistance programs. Comparable information on the potential adverse financial and employment impacts from choosing unsuitable or ineffective programs of study is difficult to find, if it exists at all. The City should offer objective information on the commitments and responsibilities of veterans committing to such programs, tools for evaluating the suitability of various programs and institutions, and signs to spot scams and questionable programs.

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REFERENCES

Public Law 112-154 (Aug. 6, 2012)

Society for Human Resources Management, Background Checking: Conducting Criminal Background Checks (Jan. 22, 2010)

benefits.va.gov/transformation/fastclaims/

www.confusedveterans.com

www.va.gov

www.quickfacts.us.census.gov

www.va.gov/WOMENVET/Women_Vet_Pop_FS_10_10.pdf

www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-01.pdf

www.bls.gov/cps

www.bls.gov

www.nfv.org

www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/traumatic-brain-injury-ptsd.asp

www.iava.org/content/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi

www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/veterans-116568-new-claiming.html#ixzz1yl953Uxm

www.mobile.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/us/workers-point-finger-at-their-own-agency-amid-a-backlog-in-veterans-benefits.xml

www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=HENA&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=33233

www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=HENA&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=33233

www.kutnews.org/post/profit-schools-under-fire-targeting-veterans

www.benefits.va.gov/vow/education.htm

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ATTACHMENT – Calculations

Total SC Veteran Population 403,975

Total SC Veteran Compensation $1,328, 000,000

Richland County Veteran Population 32,586

Richland County Percentage 32,586/403,975 = 8.06%

Richland County Veteran Compensation

8.06% of $1,328, 000,000 = $107,100,000

Total Compensation Paid (US) $39,373,549,773

Total Compensation Recipients (US) 3,354,741

Average Compensation per Recipient (US)

$39,373,549,773/3,354,741 = $11,736

Columbia VARO Claims Pending 22,985

Annual Value Columbia VARO Pending Claims

22,985 x $11,736 = $269,751,960

Annual Value Richland County Pending Claims

8.06% x $269,751,960 = $21,742,997

Columbia VARO Backlogged Claims 14,947

Annual Value Columbia VARO Backlogged Claims

14,947 x $11,736 = $175,417,992

Richland County Annual Value Backlogged Claims

8.06% x $175,417,992 = $14,138,690

Midlands Veteran Population 84,568

Midlands Veteran Percentage 84,568/403,975 = 20.9%

Annual Value Midlands Pending Claims

20.9% x $269,751,960 = $56,378,158

Midlands Annual Value Backlogged Claims

20.9% x $175,417,992 = $36,662,360