▶ 0:18:26Chair Moran: Good afternoon. The committee will come to order. I was looking at my opening statement with the intention of shortening it, but the time it was taking me to shorten the statement, I was utilizing up the time I would have saved. But I'm delighted you are here. This is a bit of a different hearing than this committee has conducted in the recent past. I'm very interested in what each of our witnesses have to say and what conversations it may generate.
▶ 0:18:52Chair Moran: The organizations that support veterans are broad, often led by other veterans and their families. We often hear from the department of veterans affairs and the programs and opportunities they provide to serve in nature and's veterans. Today, the focus is on the nonveteran administration side of how we care for those who care for those that served our nation.
▶ 0:19:25Chair Moran: Each veteran is a significant asset for our country, hugely important to their families and the community in which they live and the nation. They demonstrated that in their service. Every veteran is unique and different and the needs are different one from another.
▶ 0:19:44Chair Moran: What has arisen visit -- what has arisen over a period of time is often other veterans and other citizens who rise to the occasion to make sure veterans' needs are being met and I want to thank those who do that every day, individuals in kansas and organizations in kansas and across the country to see the needs of those who served in four.
▶ 0:20:11Chair Moran: Today's hearing recognizes veterans are civic assets and that their success after service is in our national interest. Much of the support available to veterans comes from nongovernmental community resources and today we are discussing how those support integrate with veterans programs . I will introduce the witnesses after I now turn to the ranking member for an opening statement.
▶ 0:20:40Sen. Blumenthal: Thanks, Mr. chairman, thank you for holding the hearing and thank you to all of our witnesses and unusually large panel. I want to thank particularly holly hermes who is yale university's liaison. To veterans.
▶ 0:21:06Sen. Blumenthal: This office has enabled two of my sons who attended yale law school to go there with more aid and service and companionship than they would have otherwise. One a marine corps veteran who served in afghanistan. The other, in navy seal veteran who actually is there right now. I hope he is in class.
▶ 0:21:32Sen. Blumenthal: I'm really honored to serve as ranking member on this committee along with very distinguished colleagues and let me come right to the point. We are here because we need to ensure veterans have what they need when they go from military service to civilian life, often continuing to serve our country.
▶ 0:21:56Sen. Blumenthal: I know about this transition because of my two sons and countless others who have watched and seen and sought to mentor as they go through this sometimes very difficult transition period when it comes to filing a disability claim or how best to use their earned education benefits and access to assistance when they need it most.
▶ 0:22:25Sen. Blumenthal: Unfortunately, this administration has increased the difficulty of our veterans not only in transitioning, but in living through civilian life after they leave the military. All americans are struggling with the increased cost of rent, food, electricity, and yes health care. Most specifically health care insurance.
▶ 0:22:52Sen. Blumenthal: That is why we as democrats are standing firm that there has to be an extension of health care insurance tax credits -- tax credits or subsidies before the end of the year. The administration is prioritizing historic cuts and I mean unprecedented cuts in snap, medicaid, and health care coverage.
▶ 0:23:19Sen. Blumenthal: Americans often don't appreciate that veterans use these programs and depend on them. More than 1.2 million veteran households use snap. Yet this administration refuses to fully fund the program despite orders from courts that they do so.
▶ 0:23:41Sen. Blumenthal: There is no equivalent service like snap through the va or any other federal program to serve as a safety net, meaning these cuts have devastating impact on veterans and their families. And at the same time, reductions in access to private health insurance, medicaid, and funding for community health services.
▶ 0:24:06Sen. Blumenthal: We all know about the clinics that exist in communities with federal support, they will result in veterans relying more on the va for their health care and benefits. Here is a startling number, up to 1.7 5 million veterans and active duty service members' households rely on medicaid. Let me just give you that again.
▶ 0:24:35Sen. Blumenthal: 1.7 5 million veterans and their households rely on medicaid. That is nearly one in 10 veterans under the age of 65. 45% of them rely on medicaid for health care.
▶ 0:25:00Sen. Blumenthal: Of individuals likely to lose coverage because of the great big beautiful bill, which I call the great big blatant betrayal, two hundred 67,000 our veterans. Many of those who escape the impacts of medicaid cuts will instead lose their health care access to an aca premium tax credit expiration. Making their health care coverage unaffordable.
▶ 0:25:31Sen. Blumenthal: Our veterans are suffering just as americans are from looking at the exchanges and the premium on open enrollment as we speak right now trying to figure out how to afford health insurance and they can't do it because premiums are doubling and tripling. Where are these veterans going to go?
▶ 0:26:00Sen. Blumenthal: If eligible, they will go to the va and we will see a dramatically increased reliance on va health care, stretching the capacities of our doctors, our nurses, rva generally, already suffering from cuts and furloughs.
▶ 0:26:28Sen. Blumenthal: The increased reliance will come on the heels of catastrophic and unnecessary cuts to va's workforce and resources by secretary collins, cuts that have eroded the department's ability to support the needs of veterans and according to the departments actuarial firm, for every 1% of increased reliance on va health care, va can expect costs to increase by 2.6 billion.
▶ 0:27:00Sen. Blumenthal: 1%, 2.6 billion. They don't have the money. Those costs have not been accounted for. They have not been accounted for in the funding request or factored into secretary collins' plan to further cuts in va resources. If veterans are not eligible for va care, there is a real fear they will simply lose access to health care completely. Our veterans losing access to health care.
▶ 0:27:31Sen. Blumenthal: It seems unacceptable to me, but it is going to happen given the health care and cost-of-living and the services provided by the groups here today are more critical than ever before. I want to just thank everyone of you and your organizations for what you do.
▶ 0:27:50Sen. Blumenthal: I look forward to hearing your insights and recommendations on how we can make sure that veterans get what they need, what they deserve, what we have promised them. Thank you.
▶ 0:28:03Chair Moran: Thank you, senator blumenthal. I now want to introduce to the committee those who are testifying today. The first witness panel is colonel jason galui, the director of veterans and military families at the george w. Bush institute. The second is mike hutchings, the ceo of combined arms.
▶ 0:28:27Chair Moran: Colonel barbara carson, manager -- managing director of programs and services at the institute of veterans and military families at syracuse university. Jared lyon in, the national president and ceo of student veterans of america. Elizabeth o'brien, the senior vice president of hiring our heroes. And missed holly hermes, the liaison for veteran and military affairs at yale university.
▶ 0:28:59Chair Moran: Colonel, I recognize you for your testimony. >> thank you, Mr. chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of the george w. Bush institute. I'm jason galui, the director of the veterans and military families team. We believe we have a duty to empower veterans and their families to thrive so we can in the words of president george w.
▶ 0:29:27Chair Moran: Bush unleash the potential of a generation of resourceful, determined, and impactful leaders. Veterans can inspire others to achieve common goals for a shared purpose. Veterans tend to have good character, competence, and commitment and can turn the trust of and lead their fellow americans. General dwight as he approached his own retirement from the U.S.
▶ 0:29:52Chair Moran: Army wrote that he faced a monumental career choice with absolutely no experience in making career choices. If soon to be president eisenhower was concerned about his transition, we must expect many transitioning servicemembers will be anxious about there's.
▶ 0:30:11Chair Moran: Veterans and their families, like everyone else in society thrive when they are mentally and physically healthy, are well-informed to navigate civilian life and can make meaningful contributions to their new communities. At the bush institute we focus on veteran health and well-being, education, and employment. Thanks to dedicated public and private efforts, there are tremendous resources available to our families.
▶ 0:30:39Chair Moran: However, fragmentation and complex navigation can cloud the learning and access to these resources. Fortunately, the unique entrepreneurial spirit of the american people complements efforts to reintegrate veterans and their families back into society.
▶ 0:31:03Chair Moran: Led by the bush institute, the vw way is a network of care providers including veteran networks that together tackle the effects of the visible wounds of war. The vw a lot check-in, an innovative solution that connects veterans to high-quality mental and brain health care, regardless of service error and regardless of characterization of discharge.
▶ 0:31:36Chair Moran: Check-in's novelty was an online easy button that he or members could provide, leveraging the power of innovation and technology. It solved the navigational bureaucratic challenges in connecting with the right type of care. It can be paralyzing to learn which resource is most appropriate to address the challenge at hand. Challenge -- check-in reduces the possibility of such paralysis with mental and brain health care.
▶ 0:32:07Chair Moran: It is a strong model for how public and private partnerships can sustain service for their families. Serving be in the uniform, forming general connections and making meaningful contributions are necessary components for sustained success. Discovering opportunities is less clear in civilian life which can make it challenging.
▶ 0:32:32Chair Moran: The sooner a veteran can rediscover their purpose, their connections and contributions, the more likely they and their family will thrive in civilian life. It is not unreasonable to ask a transitioning servicemember, what do you want to do when you get out of the military? But that is an incomplete question. What a veteran wants to do might not match with the civilian world need from that veteran.
▶ 0:32:56Chair Moran: A more complete question a veteran could ask themselves is what do I have that the market needs. What does the veteran have in their talent set, their skills, knowledge, attributes that the labor market wants? Embedded in that framing is the fundamental labor supply-labor demand match. A sustained match affects military readiness.
▶ 0:33:25Chair Moran: When they transition from uniform, the transition is positive and enduring, they will be a great ambassador to encourage others to serve. General george washington was clear in what he said the willingness that our young people will serve in any war shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation. Maximizing sustained success is simply put national interest.
▶ 0:34:01Chair Moran: I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:34:03Chair Moran: Thank you very much. Mr. hutchins.
▶ 0:34:07Mr. Hutchings: Chairman and ranking member and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. I am mike hutchings and I serve as the head of combined arms, dedicated to transforming how america supports those who have served. Each year, about 200,000 servicemembers transition from military to civilian life.
▶ 0:34:40Mr. Hutchings: They often find themselves navigating agencies and organizations that were another -- never efficiently designed to work together. Veterans may face longer wait times, repetitive paperwork and a lack of coordination that may leave them vulnerable. 10 years ago, almost to this day , combined arms was created to change that.
▶ 0:35:01Mr. Hutchings: We have built a technology platform that acts to connect veteran service members to the right local resources in hours instead of months. We do not replace government systems, we complement them by integrating federal, state, and community partners to close the divide. Our network includes partner organizations operating in all 50 states.
▶ 0:35:31Mr. Hutchings: Together, we have connected over 100,000 veterans and families to critical support and coordinated more than 175,000 for things such as housing, employment, mental health care, and financial assistance. These connections have generated an estimated $603 million in taxpayer savings and economic impact while reducing the average wait time to just 26 hours across the nation.
▶ 0:36:00Mr. Hutchings: Our work has been recognized by the milken institute and the american enterprise institute is a national program of record for veteran transition and reintegration. A bipartisan acknowledgment that coordinated, data-driven solutions can and should be scaled nationwide. But we also recognize the challenge. It is also a fractured landscape .
▶ 0:36:28Mr. Hutchings: Thousands of organizations want to help, but duplication slows progress. Combined arms cuts through the noise. Veterans complete one intake, they tell their story once and they receive access to multiple services quickly. Our partners are held accountable for timely responses and outcome reporting ensuring closed-loop results instead of open-ended referrals.
▶ 0:36:53Mr. Hutchings: Across texas and beyond, combined arms has become a vital conduit to regional, state, and resources. Let me share a few success stories. A U.S. army sergeant found civilian employment in 15 days.
▶ 0:37:14Mr. Hutchings: A mother of three new to houston found stability through our network receiving housing support, food, and financial education through family houston and other partners and a vietnam war veteran, once homeless, found dignity and belonging after being placed in a texas state veterans home through coordinated access with our partners.
▶ 0:37:36Mr. Hutchings: Even small moments show the power of collaboration like the day a va psychologist reached out to us for help and a veteran in crisis was connected for housing within hours well that federal provider discovered new local resources to help others. These stories are not exceptions, they represent a nationally replicable model of coordinated care when local, state, and federal art and or share information and act together, veterans are met with dignity, stability and hope, not barriers in delayed.
▶ 0:38:08Mr. Hutchings: Our veterans are not liabilities, they are leaders and they are civic assets who vote, volunteer, and build communities at higher rates than the general public. When we invest in their successful transition, we strengthen our workforce, we strengthen our neighborhoods and we strengthen our neighbor -- nation. The covenant between our government and veterans is sacred. Federal systems are vital, but they cannot meet every need. Civil society must play a role.
▶ 0:38:37Mr. Hutchings: Take for example the bush institute, our partners at this table, who alongside the combined arms wounded warrior project and a mixture of best in class not often health care institutions and federal agencies have built a connective tissue network for veterans and families to seek care. No single organization can do this alone. Combined arms shows that when data, innovation, and passion comes together, we can deliver results.
▶ 0:39:08Mr. Hutchings: Our organization stands ready to work with this committee, the va , and everyone to strengthen the continuing care for all veterans, all those who have served. Thank you for the privilege to speak here today. It has been an absolute honor and privilege and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:39:23Chair Moran: Thank you very much. Colonel carson.
▶ 0:39:29Col. Carson: Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I'm barb carson, the daughter, mother, is to stir a veterans -- and sister of veterans and a 30 year veteran myself. I'm honored to discuss how we can ensure every veteran and family member can thrive after service.
▶ 0:39:51Col. Carson: The ivmf was founded in 2011 and has served more than 230,000 people in career transition. Each year, about 200,000 people leave active duty and data from our collective consistently shows that veterans describe
▶ 0:40:22Col. Carson: Their transition is difficult or very difficult. Broader evidence shows navigating the maze of benefits can be overwhelming. They often must start over instead of building on the skills and leadership experience they gained during service. That is why ivmf worked together with communities to launch with the america serve coordinated response effort.
▶ 0:40:53Col. Carson: We grew this model and today many of those america serves communities are operating independently. They regularly bring together these local networks, nonprofits and state leaders, many of whom are va grantees like the suicide prevention program. Together, they serve and strengthen the depth and breadth of the resource networks that serve veterans nationwide.
▶ 0:41:25Col. Carson: In short along with many others on the panel, we are coordinating what has been called for, coordinated, transparent and accountable system. We can all commit to doing the same. How we design and manage these systems matters. Evidence shows success rates are far higher when a veteran is guided by a trained navigator, rather than given a curated list of phone numbers.
▶ 0:41:49Col. Carson: Looking at just the federal transition landscape it is easy to understand why the support of a trusted navigator is so instrumental and why the need to monitor the process is so important. 46 programs were identified across agencies beyond the g.I. Bill and there was very low coordination of oversight.
▶ 0:42:13Col. Carson: The veterans metrics initiative, a comprehensive longitudinal study led by penn state university found that two thirds of post-9/11 veterans used at least one program and those who used multiple programs have better outcomes. Our research with the va has shown similar outcomes for patients who seek non-va services through collaboration. In other words, connection and coordination drives success. We take those lessons to heart.
▶ 0:42:42Col. Carson: Earlier today, I vmf and hiring our heroes formally committed to improving our collaboration. We will strengthen to measure our collective impact. We believe it is time to align a national veterans strategy to include federal, philanthropy, and the private sector.
▶ 0:43:14Col. Carson: It would establish shared outcome measures. Evaluation efforts and support cross sector initiative. As part of the strategy, we reinforce the recommendations for more oversight and evaluation of transition programs and encourage data transparency.
▶ 0:43:35Col. Carson: Oversight is not criticism, it is critical stewardship they strengthen the communities where they live. We thank the committee for your leadership, your continued commitment to those who serve.
▶ 0:44:02Col. Carson: The ivmf stands ready to turn these recommendations into meaningful outcomes. Together we can assure every veteran and family who served receives the support they earned and that a grateful nation truly does maximize their success after service. Thank you.
▶ 0:44:23Chair Moran: Thank you. Mr. lyon.
▶ 0:44:30Mr. Lyon: Thank you so much for this opportunity to testify. As a navy veteran and student veteran who has used benefits while also know in pursuit of a phd after my benefits have expired.
▶ 0:44:51Chair Moran: Next time you testify, Dr. lyon, we will note that.
▶ 0:44:57Mr. Lyon: As will everyone at syracuse where I'm studying my phd. [laughter] sva is where federal policy meets lived experience. Va and dod set the standard and we and our partners make it stick on campuses and at the hiring threshold.
▶ 0:45:18Mr. Lyon: We don't replace the va, we extended through public-private partnerships and bring additional capacity at no cost to taxpayers to convert benefits into degrees, careers and we see what align systems can deliver.
▶ 0:45:37Mr. Lyon: Alongside the department of veterans affairs and partners including the veterans of foreign wars, disabled american veterans, american legion and the vietnam veterans of america, we offered a full-service claims clinic that conducted nearly 200 on-site exams in a single weekend. That is the public and private flywheel working. Producing fast, verifiable results.
▶ 0:46:06Mr. Lyon: Today's hearing asks are grateful nation maximizing success after service. We offer three low-cost steps this committee can advance now. First, for trust -- forecast the transition.
▶ 0:46:27Mr. Lyon: Most to leave active duty service or under the age of 35, many with or starting families, yet campuses, employers and organizations plan against imprecise estimates. You can direct dod with the va to publish annual transition forecasts each summer.
▶ 0:46:51Mr. Lyon: With a reliable forecast, the va, nonprofits, and employers can pre-position advising, childcare, internships and hiring pipelines where they will be needed most into timely local action. Better forecasting data can shorten a time for nursing with veteran talent.
▶ 0:47:15Mr. Lyon: With research funded by google.org, we are reducing barriers to education and enhance economic opportunity for veterans. Better data coordination would strengthen that work even further. And connect that data. The dod tracks separations and training. The department of education tracks enrollment, the department of labor tracks earnings. These systems don't talk in real time, leaving congress in va flying partially blind on the outcomes.
▶ 0:47:48Mr. Lyon: We recommend they lead a task force to deliver within 12 months and early employment outcomes with a report back to this committee. So that data follows the veteran. Connected data let's congress oversee impact.
▶ 0:48:17Mr. Lyon: So every public dollar works even harder. About three quarters of student veterans work in jobs unrelated to their field of study. Weakening return on the g.I. Bill. Update va work-study to align with a veterans study field. Allow at least half-time students to participate in supporting veterans who are caregivers and parents.
▶ 0:48:48Mr. Lyon: Digitize timekeeping and prioritize health care, education, and stem and related data skills. Veterans already bring advanced technical training from their military service. With the right academic pathways and paid experiences, they can meet the demand for ai literate talent in every major industry and what the va needs now.
▶ 0:49:12Mr. Lyon: Sva is working to meet these workforce shortages with partners like the blue cross foundation expanding pipelines into nursing and health through their service scholars model. And when va enables career relevant paperwork, sva's career center made possible by the generous support from the walt disney company and our
▶ 0:49:44Mr. Lyon: Employment partners can plug-in immediately opening thousands of aligned goals to translate into earnings faster. Modernizing what taxpayers already fun for. Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:49:58Chair Moran: Thank you. Ms. o'brien.
▶ 0:50:03Ms. O'Brien: Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is elizabeth o'brien, senior vice president of hiring our heroes, and initiative of the U.S. chamber of commerce foundation. I'm also an active-duty spouse during our nation's longest conflict and a proud mom of a midshipman at the united states naval academy. I've seen firsthand how critical it is that our nation's gratitude for services translated into action.
▶ 0:50:34Ms. O'Brien: For more than a decade hiring our heroes has helped transform how the military community transforms desk next to meaningful careers working directly on installations and we now serve more than 80,000 veterans, service members, and spouses each year and over one million to date.
▶ 0:50:55Ms. O'Brien: A grateful nation maximizing veteran success after service embodies the purpose behind our work standing shoulder to shoulder with the va to build innovative pathways that empower veterans to thrive along after they hang up the uniform.
▶ 0:51:10Ms. O'Brien: That is why today, we are sharing we are so proud to be a part of the newly formed veteran of wyman collective, a bold national coalition to help veterans navigate their career journey bringing together the nation's leading veteran and spouse serving nonprofits, and oyer's, and government partners around one mission, ensuring every member of the military community has access to meeting career opportunities, tackling a long-standing challenge to many
▶ 0:51:42Ms. O'Brien: Programs, too little coordination through a seamless referral and data sharing system , a coordinated approach that removes duplication and shared outcome based metrics that demonstrate real impact. Last year alone, hiring our heroes made over 44,000 referrals to partner organizations. The volume proves structured collaboration is not just beneficial, it is essential.
▶ 0:52:07Ms. O'Brien: The collectives founding partners are creating a no wrong door network where veterans and spouses can access trusted high-quality support when they enter the system, for more than a decade, hiring our euros has operated one of the nations larger -- largest and longest skill rich program. It places transitioning service members directly into civilian companies.
▶ 0:52:32Ms. O'Brien: We have connected over 10,000 service members in the past five years with over 2500 employers nationwide. 88% of them receive job offers within three months of completion. While we strengthen the ecosystem we are also innovating at the program level. This summer in partnership with the lowe's foundation, we launched the hoh skilled trades academy.
▶ 0:52:59Ms. O'Brien: It is a six-week hands-on training program for transitioning service members, veterans, and spouses. The first class, eight veterans, graduates next week. The pilot is the foundation of a national model and in 2020, we will add three more skilled trades academy including one in the national capital region, one near joint base lewis mccord, one in phoenix, arizona.
▶ 0:53:27Ms. O'Brien: These efforts align with federal policy under public law 119-21. Each program is designed to include wellness and addressing homelessness. We must recognize a veteran success is often tied to a military spouses opportunity.
▶ 0:53:54Ms. O'Brien: Hiring our heroes has become one of the most effective tools to closing that gap. Since 2023 -- 2022 in december, more than 1200 military spouses have completed with an 86% job offer rate and more than half of the positions remote or hybrid.
▶ 0:54:18Ms. O'Brien: This summer, the department announced a strategic pause and placement as it transitions from pilot to permanent program. We respect the process, but the timing is difficult and in an environment of furloughs and economic uncertainties, spouses who face unemployment at six times higher than their civilian peers need access today to those opportunities now more than ever.
▶ 0:54:44Ms. O'Brien: Chairman moran, ranking member blumenthal, the veteran employment collective, the hoh skilled trades academy and the accelerated pilot represent a hold of nation approach to veteran and family success and lead to american prosperity. We remain committed to leading this work with our partners across every sector and building systems worthy of those who serve. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:55:14Chair Moran: Thank you for your testimony. Ms. hermes.
▶ 0:55:18Ms. Hermes: Thank you to chairman moran and ranking member blumenthal and members of the committee for having me here today. As an air force veteran and actively serving reservist, I'm deeply appreciative of the opportunities provided to me by the air force reserve but I'm here today testifying solely in my civilian capacity as el universities liaison for veteran and military affairs.
▶ 0:55:43Ms. Hermes: I'm here to discuss veterans transitioning out of the military and into higher education and share our commitment to veterans and their families and our partnerships with veteran serving organizations. This overview is not exotic today -- exhaustive, but it highlights services we frequently use. They man role as first-year students, transfer students or in our eli whitney students program for nontraditional students.
▶ 0:56:15Ms. Hermes: Eli whitney students take the same in-person classes as other undergraduates and have access to the same faculty instructors and providers, extracurricular activities and international experiences. The program flexibility allows students to enroll full or part-time and advisors have experience guiding adult students. In 2017, yale college had 17 veterans.
▶ 0:56:42Ms. Hermes: Today we have 58 student veterans from every branch of service including our first space force veteran. This fourfold increase is due to yale's partnership with organizations that support veterans preparing for and applying to college. And yale's deep commitment for making education accessible and affordable for all veterans. Yale college continues to meet 100% of financial need for all students.
▶ 0:57:10Ms. Hermes: As an example, 100% of our ad -- undergraduate student veterans attend yale at little or no cost to read veterans are not required to use va benefits and many students choose to utilize it so they may preserve their benefits for future studies or transfer them to eligible dependents. All 14 of yale schools participate in the yellow ribbon program.
▶ 0:57:41Ms. Hermes: The warrior scholar project was started by a gail eli whitney student and in partnerships with colleges nationwide provides intensive one-week academic boot camps for enlisted transitioning service members. Having taught at this program at yale I can tell you from personal experience that this program gives enlisted veterans the confidence to know they have the skills to succeed at a school like yale.
▶ 0:58:07Ms. Hermes: Once students have the desire to attend a highly competitive institution, they turn to service to schools, a nonprofit organization that provides free college application counseling for military veterans and servicemembers. Students come to gail for the research experience for undergraduates. Enlisted veterans conduct stem research and become -- develop skills to become research scientists.
▶ 0:58:34Ms. Hermes: Yale veteran and military affairs serves to support students, faculty, staff and alumni to assist veterans in accessing services and resources internal and external to gail. We have permanent space co. Located with our office of student accessibility services to offer events, programs and disability accommodations that support our students.
▶ 0:59:03Ms. Hermes: As well as the yellow health plan. Yale mental health to provide urgent and long-term services. One of the toughest parts of leaving the service is leaving the close team of colleagues working toward a collective mission. We are bringing together the broader community to support each other and build camaraderie. Yale has an active veteran alumni group, employee group and offers multiple options to earn a commission.
▶ 0:59:35Ms. Hermes: We have 100 students working toward a commission into five branches of the U.S. military. Yale has been teaching and preparing leaders for service in the military and civilian sectors for over 300 years and fully recognizes the important role veterans play in our society. Personally, I'm thankful for yale support of my own military service and I'm proud to support my brothers and sisters in arms as they work toward their future education and career goals.
▶ 1:00:07Ms. Hermes: Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 1:00:10Chair Moran: Thank you very much all of you. Let me begin with a couple of questions. There is a significant number of veterans who don't access either health care benefits or disability benefits. I think those numbers are about 51% do access health care.
▶ 1:00:39Chair Moran: There may be veterans who don't need those services there may be those who don't know about the services that are available. I know that is true. There may be some veterans who know but don't want those services.
▶ 1:00:59Chair Moran: What role do any of your organizations are all of your organizations play in meeting the needs of someone who is not enrolled in the va is there an opportunity to meet the needs of those not accessing care? How do you see your role in that and why is that necessary for meeting the needs of those who serve?
▶ 1:01:31Mr. Lyon: I will start. I appreciate the question because when we look at benefits available to veterans, there is often the do I need it, does someone else need it? So if you earned them, they are available to you.
▶ 1:01:48Mr. Lyon: When you look at those accessing care we see utilization and the va data supports it. We reach out to veterans under the age of 45. Veterans under the age of 45 who are non-retirees.
▶ 1:02:17Mr. Lyon: Those who served eight years or less. They tend to be like myself, former enlisted making their way through education and training. Student veterans of america tries to educate the population on what they have learned. If they decide they need it.
▶ 1:02:35Chair Moran: Let me ask you. Do most of the veterans who you provide assistance to, are they enrolled in the va? Or do they come to you without that?
▶ 1:02:46Mr. Lyon: They come to us without it overwhelmingly, sir. Most of them do not access the benefits they've earned outside of the g.I. Bill. When you look at the data, it is retirees most likely that access disability and compensation at far higher rates.
▶ 1:03:09Chair Moran: Do others want to comment on that topic?
▶ 1:03:17Mr. Hutchings: The veterans we see, 41% are already using va health care benefits. 39% are not enrolled and 18% to 20% are in the current application planning to apply. One of the first things combined arms technology does is say, are you interested? That is when we do the first referrals automated in the system.
▶ 1:03:47Mr. Hutchings: So, one of the beginning steps is informed and educated. It is a broad assumption, but what I've heard anecdotally is either unaware of the support services that were out there or as even some of the combined arms employees, great career, great benefits, not interested.
▶ 1:04:09Mr. Hutchings: My personal vignette is I have a great transition story on paper where I was hired for full-time employment with general electric you're before I transitioned out of the military. I didn't do anything with the va originally. I'm fine, I'm all set, great benefits with the company. And it actually took my dad who was a career army officer kinda bopped me on the head and said, what you doing? You should be connecting with the va and it is one of the best decisions I've made. Thank you.
▶ 1:04:39Chair Moran: Let me follow-up. So how are those who serve, these veterans, who have not access to at the va, any kind of assistance, why are they able to find you, but not the va? Or why did they want to find you and not the va?
▶ 1:05:00Mr. Hutchings: I could say how they find us which is funny and also frustrating, Mr. chairman. We spend a considerable amount of money in marketing dollars to try to reach veterans as far upstream as possible, get the word out about combined arms and our network. It always comes back to us? We joke in the military, the e4 mafia, the lance corporal underground.
▶ 1:05:28Mr. Hutchings: It is word-of-mouth, trust, delivery of services and people recommending what has worked for them. After the hundreds of thousands and millions over the years we spend, it comes back to how did you hear about this? A buddy I served with, someone I serve with told me about it.
▶ 1:05:45Chair Moran: You seem to want to answer the question.
▶ 1:05:48Col. Galui: This is one of the reasons why check-in was created. President bush inspiring this in 2016 wanted those who served to get the help whether it was through va or not and Mr. hutchings mentioned a keyword and that word being trust. At the bush institute, we don't necessarily work directly with veterans and their families, we work with the institutions and the organizations that do.
▶ 1:06:15Col. Galui: So the way that folks find their way to check-in is through the veteran wellness alliance I mentioned during my testimony. Organizations that are part of the vw way, as is combined arms. When veterans decide whenever in their transition timeline to join a veteran pure network, it is through that network where someone who they trust on their side will suggest to them that they should check out check-in.
▶ 1:06:44Col. Galui: That is how they find their way to our program called check-in.
▶ 1:06:51Chair Moran: Trust matters. Senator blumenthal.
▶ 1:06:54Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. Ms. hermes, I remember well my own transition when I was in the marine corps reserves. I finished the full-time part of my obligation five weeks into the ale semester. Other law schools I've been admitted to said there was no way you can start law school five weeks late.
▶ 1:07:23Sen. Blumenthal: But I showed up at yale and frankly it all sounded like greek to me. In fact, it was latin. But yale even before its present program, embraced veterans. Since then, universities and schools have followed the model of welcoming veterans as yale does.
▶ 1:07:55Sen. Blumenthal: I want to commend all the schools I am frustrated that va has failed to do its part. There been widespread and egregious delays in the g.I. Bill payments that are causing real harm to our veterans. They are still left to cover rent and tuition.
▶ 1:08:23Sen. Blumenthal: Schools may be flexible about tuition, but landlords may not get it. Because they've got bills to pay also. And the va's failure to pay these veterans, the article 35 benefits on time has real-life consequences. I would like to enter an article from stars & stripes into the record, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:08:45Chair Moran: Without objection.
▶ 1:08:47Sen. Blumenthal: It says "more than 75,000 students affected by va payment delays for education benefits" and I have an article from the military times if there are no objections, Mr. chairman. "va tech glitch halts g.I.
▶ 1:09:01Sen. Blumenthal: Bill payments to thousands, advocates say." just so there is no doubt, this article quotes one of the veterans advocates, the director of government affairs for the tragedy assistance program for survivors as saying, "the shutdown is not the cause of this and it needs to be very clear that the reason this
▶ 1:09:33Sen. Blumenthal: Happened is because va's infrastructure failed and they chose not to tell us until after the shutdown started. Va could have told us in august. These delays began in august well before the shutdown, they are not due to the shutdown, but they have been aggravated by the furloughs and firings and cuts that the secretary has unnecessarily imposed before and
▶ 1:10:03Sen. Blumenthal: After the shutdown. For example, secretary collins' choice to throw out I.t. Technicians and shut down the g.I. Bill hotline. I wrote a letter to the va october 9, demanding answers and so far, va has provided none. It has not even responded to my letter. Answers about what can be done as well as what the causes are.
▶ 1:10:31Sen. Blumenthal: Perhaps you can speak to how student veterans are affected when va fails to deliver g.I. Bill payments promptly?
▶ 1:10:39Ms. Hermes: Thank you, senator. We are facing the same challenges described in the media for student veterans across the country. We are able to provide some safety net type funding depending on the situation, but many of these benefits, particularly the chapter 35 are paid directly to families where we have less flexibility.
▶ 1:11:05Ms. Hermes: Though we acknowledge that the delay happened before the government shutdown, we have been facing significant customer service delays and layoffs that have happened during the last year. That administrative peace has been felt by our students when they are looking to solve a problem or correct the situation.
▶ 1:11:28Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. Mr. hutchings, combined arms connects hundreds of thousands of veterans to high quality resources including food banks, housing, and emergency financial assistance. Your organization has reported I believe an increase -- increased reliance by veterans families on food banks and financial and housing assistance. The trump administration as you well know has refused to distribute snap benefits.
▶ 1:12:00Sen. Blumenthal: It is a disaster for many of those recipients, if not all of them. But particularly for one point 2 million veterans who rely on snap. Are there certain populations of veterans most at risk for homelessness and hunger and how do you target them with your services?
▶ 1:12:20Mr. Hutchings: Thank you for your question, senator. It's a very serious concern and thank you for bringing attention to it. What we have seen, data drives everything that we do at combined arms. We look at the data on a daily basis. We have right now over 70 different data visualization dashboards on the pulse about the demand and help for military families based on real-time transactions that occur.
▶ 1:12:50Mr. Hutchings: Recently, we have seen a surge in food insecurity and housing assistance requests. For food and security within the past 30 days about 46% month over month increase in food insecurity assistance. And around 35 or 36% in housing support, financial assistance, rent, mortgage, utility payments.
▶ 1:13:12Mr. Hutchings: I think that is the beauty of this collective network and organizations like combined arms that if there are gaps and if there are pauses in the government, organizations can stand ready to fill the gaps in a short-term capacity. Not long term, but short-term capacity. I think with continued opportunity for integration with federal agencies, we can be more prepared and more resilient and ensure that veterans and military families get the support they need.
▶ 1:13:42Mr. Hutchings: Thank you.
▶ 1:13:42Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. I don't know quite how to say it, but for me, any veteran household going hungry is an abomination. Any veteran going homeless is absolutely abhorrent. And I want to thank all of you because I know you are seeking and many of you are succeeding in providing for veterans in the face of these gaps in federal support. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:14:09Chair Moran: Senator sheehy.
▶ 1:14:11Senator Sheehy: Hello, everyone, thank you for being here today. As a combat veteran myself, married to a combat veteran who got out and had to go through a transition experience, this is a topic particularly poignant to me, my wife, and my family. Do you feel that the va is a partner in the transition process or an idle bystander or an opponent?
▶ 1:14:42Senator Sheehy: How do you feel the va exists -- how does this exist? >> I'm happy to address this. My wife, also a combat veteran, sitting behind me as part of my support staff along with my individually the v.a. Has been a partner in my transition. I havewith v.a.
▶ 1:15:05Senator Sheehy: On both my payms from them personally and my son who attends quinnipiac university and their wonderful coordinator has been wonderful. As I mentioned in my testimony they are a member of the wellness alliance and since its inception they have partnered with us closely across multiple administrations.
▶ 1:15:36Senator Sheehy: Through the collaboration and cooperation we have a strong partnership with v.a. And can have open dialogue, true in this administration and previous ones.
▶ 1:15:50Ms. O'Brien: Liz o'brien, hiring our heroes. We focus economic activity. In terms of how the v.a. Partners with us they have come alongside of us. To include one who worked very closely with us to ensure we are creating opportunities for military spouses to go to work within the v.a. Structure across the country.
▶ 1:16:16Ms. O'Brien: It is unbelievably important that if we can get a military spouse a job it includes -- improves the likelihood of the military members staying in the service. We have worked on installations. From 2011 to 2013, we hosted hundreds of hiring fares and halfway through 2013 we said why are we waiting until they return unemployed veterans?
▶ 1:16:44Ms. O'Brien: We need to be at multiple locations across the globe to make sure we are sharing about transition long before they transition. The ability to meet service members while in service and create opportunities in the v.a. Has been part of that through multiple administrations. We feel they are investing in economic opportunity for service members and being supportive of how we put military spouses to work. >> senator, I love the question.
▶ 1:17:18Ms. O'Brien: Thank you for your service in the service of your wife. The v.a. In spirit is a collaborative partner and everything we are doing. I think all my colleagues would agree. In function some days they are adversaries. In particular when it comes to allocating the funds this body puts forward specifically for technology improvements. It is one of the frustrating things about the g.I. Bill and other v.a.
▶ 1:17:43Ms. O'Brien: Administered benefits that can be a challenge in that by the time the law gets passed, allocations are done and they get down to the person executing them. It can be frustrating to see outdated systems that funds have been put toward that are still outdated systems but in spirit they are partners.
▶ 1:18:05Sen. Sheehy: There can be great people buried in bad bureaucracy and that is true of everywhere, bureaucracy at large.
▶ 1:18:21Sen. Sheehy: It was a bit of a leading question and what you just mentioned is for example, looking at agriculture in america and the slow, not that slow, multi-generation death of ag in this country as families recognize the dirt the farm sits on is worth more than the farmty on is worth more than the farmte on is worth more than the farmt, on is worth more than the farmtu can't blame them, I will set up my kids for the future and sell this farm or they can
▶ 1:18:52Sen. Sheehy: Invest in the nasdaq and do better than soybeans and cattle but we also have a set up that does not support that. When I was getting out, you can get a v.a. Home loan for a four bedroom condo in miami, but cannot use the same loan to purchase agricultural land which feeds america. As an entrepreneur I worked with an all veteran founding team. Incentives have not historically been there to start a business.
▶ 1:19:22Sen. Sheehy: Sometimes that is good, some should not start a business, some should get a job. As you said, the spirit is there to support transition but transition should not be the goal, that is a step in the goal. The goal is to have america take advantage of the tremendous talent we have invested in and create a better population. Veterans do not want handouts and the goal should not be to build a box of freebies for every veteran.
▶ 1:19:51Sen. Sheehy: It should be a let america take advantage of the amazing training and development we have given these individuals so when they come back and serve their country again, whether it is through a nonprofit or top university, starting a business or feeding america as a farmer or working for a tech company, the transition process should be lest -- less focused on the transaction and more on the creation of veterans benefits, loans, programs, they are not
▶ 1:20:22Sen. Sheehy: There to serve themselves but to create a return on investment with the veteran that gives back to america and finds an empowering career going forward. We are grappling with this in the wake of america's longest war as we have had a tiny percentage of veterans that have served of whole country. Never had this small amount of people do multiple deployments over and over. Now they have to find the next chapter.
▶ 1:20:52Sen. Sheehy: Thank you for the work you're doing and I encourage you to continue to engage with us on how to help the v.a. Be a meaningful partner, and the active-duty branches. Let's make sure they are alongside that journey. Thank you for everything you're doing.
▶ 1:21:06Chair Moran: Thank you. Senator murray.
▶ 1:21:09Sen. Murray: Thank you and let me echo something senator blumenthal talked about and point out something I don't think which has gotten enough attention, one to -- 1.2 million of our veterans rely on snap. 1/3 of them are over the age of 65 and 40% of them are disabled. President trump is blocking them from getting the snap benefits they don't go hungry. The money to fund snap exists.
▶ 1:21:39Sen. Murray: Trump has chosen not to use that funding and his administration said there would be partial benefits, they would be late and then he posted yesterday on truth social he will block it altogether. So now we are hearing reports of veterans flocking to food banks, not sure where their next meal will come from. Mr. chairman, my family is one of those families. My dad was a veteran, he got multiple sclerosis and had to rely on food stamps for a while.
▶ 1:22:09Sen. Murray: This is not something we should tolerate. The money exists, is supposed to go out and I hope every member of this committee lets the administration know that they need that money to get out. Mr. lyon, let me ask you about that. What are you hearing from your members who do rely on snap, and tell me why it is so important, student veterans in particular?
▶ 1:22:31Mr. Lyon: Thank you for the question and your ongoing support for our community. We leverage a lot of resource -- research. Basic needs is something we have been looking into the past five years. Food and housing insecurity are remaining challenges for veterans in higher education.
▶ 1:22:53Mr. Lyon: To leverage a yale example, a young aviator got out of the military after world war ii, attended yale, was a baseball player and had two kids at yale all having the g.I. Bill fund all of that. That was george h.w. Bush. That notwithstanding the g.I. Bill is not like that anymore. It is designed for a single person who heads back to school.
▶ 1:23:17Mr. Lyon: When you look at the modern student veteran over half are married or in a committed relationship with children when they had back-to-school, another 20% are single parents and back in school and over 75% of us are working full-time while in school just trying to make ends meet. It is very difficult to transition without a military pension, without health care for life, and that is what the average veteran is doing when they head back to school.
▶ 1:23:45Mr. Lyon: It is no surprise to see benefits like snap relied on while you are back in school trying to make ends meet. When those benefits go away veterans are impacted and family members that rely on it are well -- as well.
▶ 1:24:01Sen. Murray: Thank you for sharing that. I urge our committee members to let the administration know that the money is there and they are legally obligated to give it out. There are people who needed. Let me ask colonel hermes about women veterans, the fastest growing them a graphic of veterans. I have heard from many women veterans that when they return home to civilian life people do not respect their service or assume they are a military spouse and not the actual veteran.
▶ 1:24:34Sen. Murray: It is disturbing we have a secretary of defense who takes every opportunity to insult women who have been in the military, and that I believe as to the barriers women face now when they return to civilian life. Talk to us about some of the barriers women veterans in particular face and they come home and seek civilian employment.
▶ 1:24:54Col. Hermes: Yes, senator, thank you. That is a very important question for our society to wrestle with. As I'm here for yale today I'm in agreement in terms of higher education. In our group of enlisted student veterans which my testimony focused on because that is our most vulnerable group, we have a very small number of women, and I will say even parents or families, because it is very difficult like Mr.
▶ 1:25:23Col. Hermes: Lyon mentioned to support a family while going to college or the g.I. Benefits, the federal benefits we are able to give institutionally cannot support some families as they leave the military. It is a huge challenge and something our society needs to keep wrestling with. We can talk to the v.a.
▶ 1:25:49Col. Hermes: About programs to support that in the future, nationwide, not just at one school or another.
▶ 1:25:56Sen. Murray: Thank you. I have run out of time but this is something I'm concerned about. When we hear discussions about dea and it impacts women who we need in our military. Not just in, but when they come home and are veteran, they don't want to identify as a veteran or don't see themselves as one, and then don't get the services and benefits they are due. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:26:23Chair Moran: Thank you. Senator hassan.
▶ 1:26:28Sen. Hassan: Thank you so much Mr. chair and ranking member blumenthal for the hearing and to our witnesses not only for being here today and sharing your expertise and time with us and advocacy for veterans, but to each and every one of you who has served. Thank you so much for your service.
▶ 1:26:47Sen. Hassan: Lieutenant colonel galui, I would like to discuss the importance of making sure veterans get connected to resources and how facilitating that connection can offer -- often require trust and understanding with a veteran. You discussed the check-in program and detailed how veterans who reach out for help for the programmer first connected with one of two social workers who have an understanding where the veteran is coming from, one is a veteran and the other is married to a veteran.
▶ 1:27:17Sen. Hassan: I think this hits on something important. Veterans need to trust that when they need help, the person they connect with can understand where it is coming from. It is something senator ernst and I worked on with v.a. And the american legion in the buddy check week where veterans are encouraged to check in with each other because peer to peer relationships are important.
▶ 1:27:42Sen. Hassan: As a veteran yourself can you discussed the importance of being connected to someone who understands them and their experiences?
▶ 1:27:48Lt. Col. Galui: Thank you for that question. I think senator moran said this, that trust is everything. It truly is. This entire american experiment we are all persevering in is built on trust. Likewise in the veteran transition when seeking care, specific -- specifically through the bush institute, it is important the veteran trust the initial contact they have.
▶ 1:28:20Lt. Col. Galui: As I wrote in the testimony one of two women part of the wounded warrior project, they personally respond to the person reaching out for care. Within a short conversation the veteran on the other side of the phone will recognize that susan or kiersten understand.
▶ 1:28:41Lt. Col. Galui: When we reference check-in connects people with high quality care, part of that high-quality definition was veteran-centered.
▶ 1:28:51Sen. Hassan: I will follow up Ms. hermes on the line senator murray was pursuing. One thing I hear in new hampshire from women veterans is how lonely they feel in trying to find other women veterans in our small state, especially in rural areas. Can you speak to the need of women to connect with other women veterans?
▶ 1:29:12Col. Hermes: Thank you, senator. That is true. I think it is true for all veterans. We want students to integrate into the community and share diverse perspectives but we have had great luck with having mentoring groups, social groups, even casual meet ups among our undergrads and others that prepare to serve.
▶ 1:29:41Col. Hermes: It is a great point to make that connection helps women veterans learned about these resources and take advantage of them and help them feel supported.
▶ 1:29:50Sen. Hassan: Thank you for that and your work. Colonel carson, you discussed how veterans face what can be a complicated and confusing process to get help during their transition from military service to civilian life and mention the importance of making sure these veterans are able to find the right resources at the right time specific to their individual needs. Senator cramer and I worked with this on our bipartisan solid start act that requires the v.a.
▶ 1:30:19Sen. Hassan: Reach out to the veterans at least three times within their first year of leaving the military with a focus on reaching their individual needs. From your perspective what are additional things we can do to make sure tailored, timely useful information is provided?
▶ 1:30:39Col. Carson: Forecasts can help. Encouraging service and making it easier for them to be enrolled in v.a.. Of course they have agency but that will be great. They have an individual assessment.
▶ 1:31:01Col. Carson: We want their privacy concerns considered but if we can know what they need as they come out through trusted partnerships, we can better serve them.
▶ 1:31:10Sen. Hassan: Thank you. I'm running out of time but wanted to touch on with colonel carson and Ms. o'brien the issue of military spouse deployment and will follow up with a longer question but really appreciate your work on this because one thing we need to focus on is how the problem of military spouses not being fully employed to
▶ 1:31:42Sen. Hassan: Their qualifications can build over years and poses a mounting cumulative impact so I will follow up with a question to the record on that but thank you for your attention to that and thank you to the whole panel.
▶ 1:31:58Sen. Hassan: It is important to us and as we said at the beginning we don't usually get this cross-section of nonprofits who are so critical to the network that we need to have to really make sure we are not only saying how much we appreciate veterans, but showing them with real action that we do.
▶ 1:32:16Chair Moran: Thank you. Senator cassidy.
▶ 1:32:22Sen. Cassidy: I will pick up where senator hassan left off. Colonel carson, senator hassan and I introduced bipartisan legislation to extend and enhance the work opportunity tax credit which gives the employer a credit on the amount of money he or she would spend to hire somebody for a two-year period. The idea is to help those who may have an issue with transition.
▶ 1:32:51Sen. Cassidy: Think of eligibility or those leaving the service. We have learned the first six months after someone leaves service is one of the key times in which they may commit suicide. That loss of structure. I saw your testimony speaking of general eisenhower.
▶ 1:33:10Sen. Cassidy: He did not have a clue [indiscernible] as senator hassan pointed out that we are extending this I hope to the spouse of someone who is a veteran, knowing their constant movement may make it difficult for her to have long-term employment. Any thoughts about that bill, the importance thereof, and why not all my colleagues shouldn't be cosponsored?
▶ 1:33:37Col. Carson: Thank you for the question. I appreciate that it incentivizes the private sector to solve the problem with us and yes it is crucial that military spouses are included in that number. I believe the department of labor looked at including spouses as displaced workers. We help navigate them to opportunities and prepare them. The same is crucial for veterans as you said. The first year is incredibly difficult.
▶ 1:34:08Col. Carson: Ms. o'brien and I have stacked programs together to build bridges. Our program offers credentials. She has pathways for fellowships with employers. If they are looking for our talent that we can help prepare for that opportunity, all the better. So we are supportive.
▶ 1:34:24Sen. Cassidy: I can speak from intuition that a spouse, a trailing spouse during the career of someone in the service, would not have a work record that looks like they have been able to stay at a job for a long period of time.
▶ 1:34:41Sen. Cassidy: Can anybody put numbers on and put the singly -- put succinctly the importance of giving that spouse a work opportunity tax credit?
▶ 1:35:03Ms. O'Brien: Thank you for the question. I appreciate the nod that military spouses are included. For over a decade I was a best of all coach and then married my husband. We moved seven times in nine years. I was coaching at hofstra, west point, university of hawaii, and at division ii schools as we moved across the country and ended up in germany where options were slightly limited.
▶ 1:35:32Ms. O'Brien: When we moved back to the states, I had to make a decision. I love to work, it is meaningful, purposeful and contributes to my family. Now can you imagine when I show up at the age of 40 at hiring our heroes looking for them to help me find a different pathway and instead offer me a job as a coordinator, who is offering? Who else but someone in this space understands there is tremendous value in my work history.
▶ 1:35:59Ms. O'Brien: One piece we work on and alongside the ivmf is the research, how do we translated for employers and work alongside hiring managers, not just recruiters to make sure they are educated to understand what a nonlinear resume looks like and how to figure out what are the skills underlying in each of those positions? As we work with employers we are encouraging them to embrace skills based opportunities.
▶ 1:36:28Ms. O'Brien: As you look at the work opportunity credit we are grateful you are including military spouses. We believe they belong there, and encourage employers to provide feedback and what the administrative burden of being able to include military spouses, it is difficult for employers who are highly regulated to ask the status, marital status, of a potential employee. As you embark on that that would be one piece I would float.
▶ 1:36:56Sen. Cassidy: I like your term, nonlinear resume. It is because I've been married to a guy transferred nine times in seven years, but they can't, unless you volunteer it, they can't say, it looks like you moved a lot, can you tell me why?
▶ 1:37:13Ms. O'Brien: Savvy hiring managers often do which causes military spouses to be eliminated very quickly. When jared applies for a job or colonel carson, you can identify as a veteran. It is difficult for an employer or company to put on their "military spouse" because that is asking their marital status.
▶ 1:37:38Ms. O'Brien: It requires employers working with legal teams to put under identifying status when you are applying to have military spouse on there. In theory those who have been able to navigate it, it puts the military spouse to the hiring manager who is familiar with what a military spouse resume looks like, or a veteran resume.
▶ 1:37:59Sen. Cassidy: Very helpful, thank you all very much.
▶ 1:38:04Chair Moran: Ms. o'brien let me clarify for at least me. So there is a downside to indicating you are a military spouse because it suggests lack of consistent presence so it is a double-edged sword if you are one of the companies interested in hiring the spouse, you may choose not to hire somebody because of the instability of the circumstance, is that true?
▶ 1:38:28Ms. O'Brien: 100% true.
▶ 1:38:31Chair Moran: Senator king.
▶ 1:38:34Sen. King: Thank you, two points. Thank you for calling this important hearing and assembling this very impressive group of witnesses. Want to emphasize something senator sheehy said. You know more than we do. Don't let your contributions to our work end today. Keep in touch.
▶ 1:39:00Sen. King: As thoughts come out based on the hearing, let us know, give suggestions where we can help with authorities, with programs in the v.a., with coordination efforts, all of those things. You are a tremendous resource and want to thank you. Ms. hermes I hope you will convey my thanks to yale. Because yale is the reason for everything I have achieved in my life.
▶ 1:39:26Sen. King: The reason for that is, when they rejected me at the law school, I dedicated my life to making them regret the decision. It has served me very well. Really what we are talking about is transition. I believe the department of the defense and the v.a. Combined should spend as much time, money and effort on transition as they do on recruiting.
▶ 1:39:54Sen. King: There was a lot of activity and it has improved recently, but it still is not where it wants to be. There are two or three issues I have been involved with and I would like your quick thoughts. One is pre-enrolling in v.a. Health care before you leave active duty. You are nodding. Is that a good idea?
▶ 1:40:16Col. Hermes: Yes, senator, absolutely.
▶ 1:40:20Sen. King: So there is not that gap. Secondly, a form 2648 has a box on it that says, if you opt in, want your contact information shared with a state veterans agency, we would like to change that to an opt out because people often do not check boxes and reverse the presumption so that people, unless they object to it, they can have their contact.
▶ 1:40:47Sen. King: My idea is if you get a state veterans organization structure in connection with vso's, I would like someone to meet the new veteran when they are coming to the airport. That won't happen unless you have this, unless you reverse this presumption. Is that something you think is a good idea?
▶ 1:41:08Mr. Lyon: You can envision the flights we have to take the same concept to a newly returning veteran to a community. All politics is local, all transition is local. To the extent we can meet them at the airport that would be phenomenal.
▶ 1:41:25Sen. King: But we can't do it unless we know they are coming, and the only way to know is if their contact info is conveyed. You would support that change?
▶ 1:41:33Mr. Lyon: We would support that change, the opt out.
▶ 1:41:37Sen. King: Finally, tap motion, having vso's involved in the top process before active duty member leaves. That strikes me as common sense. You are nodding. That does not go in the record, this guy cannot record nods. >> yes, senator, we agree having vso's would be a great idea.
▶ 1:42:03Sen. King: Thank you. Mr. hutchings, I'm fascinated by your website. Coming into this hearing not fully aware of what combined arms did, my suggestion is that the v.a. Should create such a website but it sounds like you have done it.
▶ 1:42:20Sen. King: Question is, how do we make veterans aware of this rich resource you have created and may be it should be on a form somewhere, check here if you want to hear from a website provider that can give you access to 40,000 resources across the country. How can we help get this resource you created into more veterans hands?
▶ 1:42:50Mr. Hutchings: Thank you for your question, senator. To your earlier point I will keep in touch. Very common sense recommendations you made and we all agree with. It is a question we are constantly struggling and iterating with as an organization, how can we make more -- people more aware of our partnerships, collaborations, collectives?
▶ 1:43:23Mr. Hutchings: I think it is continue discussion and integration in the form of pilates with -- pilots with federal and state agencies.
▶ 1:43:31Sen. King: If veterans are handed a card with a website or series of websites, if you are planning to go to school here are students, veterans. It is a matter of making connections and I'm trained to think of how this can be done through the official process where everybody is passing through, rather than just people who hear it by word-of-mouth.
▶ 1:43:58Mr. Hutchings: You said it at the beginning of your remarks. If the dod and v.a. Were working together to spend as much on transition as we do on recruitment, it is bringing the department of defense of the table to hold an equal part, and accountable part of that transition.
▶ 1:44:15Sen. King: We are spending most of the time talking about the v.a., but the dod is a big part of this, that is where it starts. Again, share your ideas, but I think this is a very important hearing. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:44:29Chair Moran: Senator slotkin.
▶ 1:44:32Sen. Slotkin: Thanks to all of you. If you're coming to me you are almost at the end, I'm the end of the line here. Thank you for what all of you do. A former cia officer and pentagon official, I did three tours alongside the military in iraq, and was a military spouse. So thank you for working on this very important issue.
▶ 1:44:57Sen. Slotkin: A couple years ago in 2020 when I was in the house I had a bunch of veterans come up to me at a veteran event in michigan and say, they just had no idea what they were eligible for. Typical, I heard there are programs but I don't know. We wrote, along with it on this committee, something called the solid start act signed into law in 2022 which required the v.a.
▶ 1:45:23Sen. Slotkin: To reach out three times in the first year of separation to ensure we are showing all the services the v.a. Has. Again, many would be solved by opting out rather than opting in, if we signed people up for v.a. Health care originally. This was my attempt at least having some outreach.
▶ 1:45:44Sen. Slotkin: And it is good, but the thing I'm struggling with is, with all the programs you all wonderfully do, how do we make sure people have any idea? While signing up for something and checking a card and all that might have worked with veterans of my age, the 9/11 era, the newest veterans are going to be coming out of service with no
▶ 1:46:17Sen. Slotkin: Even history of reading their snail mail or email, it is all digital, how do we get to them? I guess this is a question I could maybe ask Mr. lyon if you could answer, how do you amalgamate all the services so that our newest veterans will have a one-stop shop? And how do you make it available in a form they want to consume it in, not what their parents generation wanted?
▶ 1:46:46Mr. Lyon: First off thank you for your service as well, senator. I appreciate the question. I wish there were an easier answer and I'm not sure that there is. It starts with organizations like ours provided to testify today. We are grateful for those invites. We collaborate out site rooms -- outside rooms like this, too. The majority of us that we'll get out will be enlisted like I was.
▶ 1:47:16Mr. Lyon: The majority of those that get out as enlisted are not going to retire. When we think of the localized aspect of transition, returning back home to a small town in michigan or anywhere in the country, it starts with those units. People don't get out of the army, they get out of their unit. They are getting out at the smallest level of service.
▶ 1:47:43Mr. Lyon: If we tied officer promotion evals, for instance, to the transition success of their troops, you would see a shocking improvement in the transition process. [laughter] that is one radical idea for you, senator.
▶ 1:47:58Sen. Slotkin: I like that one, that is good. We need to think of how the next generation will be consuming their information. I was pushing for, let's move from snail mail because people don't know their addresses or where they will end up when they separate so let's at least go to email. I was pushing for the big development of taking their email address when they separated, their civilian email address.
▶ 1:48:24Sen. Slotkin: But we need to think differently, particularly because private sector companies know how to target communities and pump them the algorithms. I want to pump the veteran the algorithm, there is a new program you can get discounted disney tickets or whatever.
▶ 1:48:40Mr. Lyon: The first sergeant or chief, have them there, meeting the troops kneecap to kneecap where they are.
▶ 1:48:49Sen. Slotkin: Given so many organizations are not affiliated with the government in any way, just really good people wanting to do good things for our veterans, how do we make sure there is some strategic use of resources, that we don't have repetitive organizations or what we call silos of excellence over here that do not talk to each other?
▶ 1:49:11Sen. Slotkin: Mike, you want to take that or who wants to take that, but, I'm worried we have all this great effort but it is not -- it is sometimes redundant in effort.
▶ 1:49:23Mr. Hutchings: Thank you, senator. You are 100% correct. There is incredible repetition within the support space and duplication of effort. There was a great component called out from a cohesive collaboration strategy to better identify guidelines and principles and a national veteran data commons like Mr.
▶ 1:49:45Mr. Hutchings: Lyon said about integrating disparate data sets together with state agency data and community-based organization data, data maps standardized basically have real-time needs and demand signals of what veterans and military families need at the national level. A a strategy and data informed strategy.
▶ 1:50:06Sen. Slotkin: If you gave this to a bunch of really smart when he four-year-old programmers, we have all this data, maybe it is you -- really smart 24-year-old programmers, we have all this data, maybe it is you. Appreciate your work, everyone.
▶ 1:50:24Chair Moran: Senator banks. It is not true that senator slotkin is the last ask questions. It is now senator banks' turn.
▶ 1:50:34Sen. Banks: We have seen a lot of progress in reducing veteran unemployment. The rate right now at 3.1% is lower than the general unemployment rate which is really good. But I know that underemployment is still a problem. I appreciate all the work of your organizations are doing to match veteran skills to great jobs to help them find meaningful careers.
▶ 1:51:00Sen. Banks: In indiana we have a successful organization recognized by the labor department for the important work they do and it partners with more than 500 employers in our state and they have placed over 800 hoosier veterans and jobs. We are proud of the work they do. Colonel galui, with the veteran unemployment rate near 3% sometimes we forget what a serious problem that rate was in the past.
▶ 1:51:33Sen. Banks: You referenced unemployment among young veterans was 29% in 2011. Can you give us a history lesson? How did we solve that, what were good things that happened along the way to bring that rate down?
▶ 1:51:48Lt. Col. Galui: Thank you senator for your question. A quick version of history is, 10 or 15 years ago the conversation would have been about getting veterans jobs and the response from corporate america was, it was robust. We saw many companies committing to hiring veterans at high levels, getting them jobs.
▶ 1:52:12Lt. Col. Galui: Fast forward to today, an rate among veterans lower than the nonveteran counterpart. A great news story that veterans are getting jobs. The question we are asking if the bush institute is, our veterans getting the right jobs? Our plan going into this policy process is, the U.S. economy can employ veterans better.
▶ 1:52:39Lt. Col. Galui: In my testimony I referenced the framing of that transition question. Instead of asking service members what they want to do when they get out of service, it is only one half of the equation. What is at the labor market wants or needs from them? Perhaps a veteran should be thinking about what it is they have, their skills, knowledge, experiences, education, that has evolved in their career.
▶ 1:53:08Lt. Col. Galui: I would say the transition begins at a session and understanding how your skills are evolving is important. It requires participation at the union level so when you have time to separate, you have a better way to address your own employment question to try to understand the labor supply, labor demand match.
▶ 1:53:31Sen. Banks: Talk about that more, unpack the labor supply-demand mismatch and how to solve it.
▶ 1:53:38Lt. Col. Galui: That is a large economic question, broader than just veterans. The better we can employ our human capital and labor force as a nation, the stronger our economy will be, the stronger position we will be in. With respect to veterans in their transition, and this might be a role for the department of the defense. Senator king brought up, we talked a lot about the v.a.
▶ 1:54:05Lt. Col. Galui: But there is a dod role, helping active service members understand how their skills are evolving. The service members the become veterans can translate not just their military specialty into a job but articulate tangible skills and intangible skills to employers.
▶ 1:54:28Sen. Banks: I'm a big fan of what the institute does and I visited with you all there and in my office. Has the institute done any research at all on the impact of artificial intelligence on veteran skills and potential job opportunities in the future for better or worse?
▶ 1:54:48Lt. Col. Galui: We are in that process. The gentleman behind me leads our policy working group, a collaborative effort across academia, government -- former government officials and industry leaders coming together in an entrepreneurial way to address these questions. We will have policy recommendations next year.
▶ 1:55:10Sen. Banks: Are we optimistic or concerned about how veterans will be impacted?
▶ 1:55:14Lt. Col. Galui: Optimistic. >> senator, if I could add from the ai perspective public private partnerships are a lot of the answer. We work alongside google and have done 11 state deep dive policy analyses and the beautiful thing is, by leveraging ai we have economies of scale to find what market trends are for the labor force in matching those with skills veterans and their family members bring to the table.
▶ 1:55:46Lt. Col. Galui: It is through things like ai literacy, a big issue in society today. But veterans, based on what they did in the military are bringing a certain level of ai literacy to the table. In addition to Mr. galui's great work at the bush institute, you are having this population already bringing the baseline to bear.
▶ 1:56:09Lt. Col. Galui: If we could combine that with data for where the trends are going that data lives in labor, department of education, department of veterans affairs, department of defense. We bring that together and we can match it immediately in a skills-based manner, to where if you are going to school or not you can leverage these things for a future that is already here, and veterans are well prepared to support strongly the american economy through.
▶ 1:56:33Sen. Banks: My time is expired.
▶ 1:56:36Chair Moran: Thank you. We will conclude this hearing and a little bit, but not quite yet. I have a couple questions I want to still ask and that therefore equity requires I ask senator king if he has anything he would like to ask. I appreciate that. Senator blumenthal I know has a couple questions.
▶ 1:56:58Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. Just a couple questions. We have talked a little bit about mental health but not enough, in my view. I recently introduced the brave act which re-authorizes the staff sergeant parker gordon fox suicide prevention grant program to increase funding to combat veteran suicide, just one
▶ 1:57:29Sen. Blumenthal: Example of the kind of program I think is important. To reach veterans we all know often they are reluctant to seek mental health help in the military and even when they transition out, for many of the reasons associated with the condition itself but also what they feel is the stigma of asking for help.
▶ 1:58:00Sen. Blumenthal: I think it is necessary to increase funding for the v.a.'s mental health program and to enable more veterans to seek help outside the veterans community, whether it is the mental health services offered on campuses, or through employers, or others. Colonel carson you work closely with community partners who provide mental health care.
▶ 1:58:31Sen. Blumenthal: Under the fox grant program, maybe you can speak to why it is so important to fund this program, supporting the mental health of transitioning veterans.
▶ 1:58:38Col. Carson: It has been incredibly helpful already though there are many measures yet to know the outcome, but the reduction in stressors already from the frocks -- from the fox grantees delivery is outstanding. The proposal to continue and expand funding for fox grants along with performance expectations and oversight seems like a smart way forward.
▶ 1:59:04Col. Carson: There are other contributors from each organization here who are doing -- there are many ways to prevent suicide. The economic opportunity, being part of a community, getting an education that takes you to a career you desire are also contributed. This is an important grant and we are already seeing performance.
▶ 1:59:23Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. Lieutenant colonel galui, I know the bush institute does a lot of work there. May be can speak to that.
▶ 1:59:32Lt. Col. Galui: Thank you. Check-in is led by the bush institute but powered by the veterans wellness alliance. Half the members of the alliance are lyrical providers, the best in the nation, to provide service for ptsd, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, sexual abuse, brain injury.
▶ 1:59:57Lt. Col. Galui: The other half of the alliance are peer veterans that work with veterans every day through physical activity or student veterans of america, whether that is disaster relief. These veterans together get connected to check in to mental health care and two constraints on check-in from helping us realize the vision that check-in becomes a front door to mental and brain health care access is
▶ 2:00:27Lt. Col. Galui: Clinical capacity and awareness. We have to balance increased awareness with ensuring we have clinical capacity funding and all of our clinical providers have their own pursuits for fundraising and the bush institute helps them.
▶ 2:00:42Sen. Blumenthal: If we are creating demand for mental health services you have to create supply. I want to give a thanks and shout out to the vso's, veteran service organizations.
▶ 2:00:56Sen. Blumenthal: Whether it is veterans of foreign wars, american legion, disabled american veterans, vietnam veterans of america, afghanistan and iraq veterans, I'm sure I'm failing to cover some of them -- >> [indiscernible] [laughter]
▶ 2:01:16Sen. Blumenthal: Not the first mistake I've made, but let the record reflect that the chairman has interrupted me before I could complete the full list. I could go on, but let me just say, we have heard concerns from them and from advocates like yourself that the v.a.
▶ 2:01:39Sen. Blumenthal: Is not effectively carrying out their referral process to private groups. By referring veterans from the v.a. To community partners like the vso's and yourselves. The v.a. Can ensure veterans of access to the full range of resources and support available, italy's more access -- at least more access.
▶ 2:02:10Sen. Blumenthal: The v.a. Often fails to follow through to make sure veterans connect and receive that support. They are just handing veterans a business card or an email address or phone number rather than directly ensuring veterans are physically and effectively connecting with the community partners.
▶ 2:02:39Sen. Blumenthal: I wonder if any of you would wish to comment on how the v.a. Can improve its referral process or outcomes for veterans?
▶ 2:02:53Mr. Hutchings: Thank you, senator, I would love to comment. Hopefully this could be a future iteration of the fox grant where you are investing in community-based organizations to help fill gaps and supplement support across different modalities, but there also could be a digital infrastructure for these referrals to have data standards, tracking and account ability. That is the big gap currently. We can refer veteran to the v.a.
▶ 2:03:24Mr. Hutchings: And the v.a. Will receive the referrals, but then we have no visibility on outputs, outcomes or service delivery. We have trust in the v.a., but cannot see that. In the same vein, the v.a. Has no infrastructure tool to refer them to community-based organizations. The solution is a business card written on a piece of paper.
▶ 2:03:48Mr. Hutchings: We would recommend at least piloting interoperability for bilateral interagency referrals with great vetted and validated community-based organizations.
▶ 2:04:00Col. Carson: If I may, we have research that shows when these things do happen in a coordinated way with data sharing, it is more successful of an outcome for the veteran. Nonclinical as well as clinical outcomes and we would be happy to provide the research so we can see less variability in how v.a. Units around the country interact with community service partners. We would like to see standardization.
▶ 2:04:26Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you. I want to offer my thanks before we conclude. I know the chairman has a couple more questions, but thank you for spending this time with us. Much more important, thank you for the great work you do. I want to make the point that the v.a.
▶ 2:04:44Sen. Blumenthal: Needs more resources and so do your groups, your groups deserve and need support so you can better help our veterans, through furloughs and firings and contract cancellations that we've seen at the v.a., began before the shutdown. The shutdown should not be blamed.
▶ 2:05:08Sen. Blumenthal: In may have exacerbated the problem, but we need to resolve as a nation that we are not going to inflict pain or cause unnecessary sacrifice from our veterans through the furloughs, cuts and cancellations of contracts we've seen, beginning before the shutdown. I know we live in a very challenging world.
▶ 2:05:34Sen. Blumenthal: You are coping with those challenges in a very courageous and I want to thank you.
▶ 2:05:42Chair Moran: Senator blumenthal, thank you. This has been a really good hearing so thank you for your presentation. Thank you for your time.
▶ 2:05:53Sen. Blumenthal: I agree, thank you.
▶ 2:05:55Chair Moran: I don't know exactly what I expected to come from this, but I'm really pleased with the amount of information I have garnered and the suggestions that come to my mind and some you have made directly about things we could do to assist the private organizations as they care for those who serve. A couple things I would highlight.
▶ 2:06:23Chair Moran: Senator king did this, but I would make the same point again. You highlighted for us the importance of the department of defense. While that is not our committee's jurisdiction, so many things we try to accomplish on behalf of veterans is determined by whether the department of defense fulfills its mission, its task, things they are legally required to do upon transition.
▶ 2:06:53Chair Moran: Too often, failure to see that happen has a significant consequence in so many ways. Maybe we can figure out how we work harder to get dod to do more while we also work to make sure the department of veterans affairs is doing its job.
▶ 2:07:13Chair Moran: I also was -- I'm also appreciative of the highlighting of a topic I had not thought about coming up, the consequences to military spouses. That highlights for me an issue we ought to pay more attention to and solve some of those problems.
▶ 2:07:35Chair Moran: I suppose we stereotype too often, a spouse is a male or female, a man or a woman, and both can suffer the consequences of the careers of their service member their family.
▶ 2:07:54Chair Moran: The idea of how we recruit people to find employment, I think we probably under emphasize finding ways to find employment for the accompanying spouse so I appreciate that being highlighted. It seems to me and I may be wrong, the position I occupy, that members of this committee occupy, we meet people that have an organization interested in caring for veterans across our states, across the country.
▶ 2:08:26Chair Moran: I don't know that a week goes by that someone does not tell me this is my veterans organization, this is what we are doing. I'm in a community in kansas and somebody tells me, you need to see what we just started. Tell me if that is true. Is there a proliferation of organizations like yours, particularly on the local level? Is there something significant about that happening that says that the needs of veterans are not being fulfilled?
▶ 2:08:57Chair Moran: The alternative to that could be, there are people that really care about veterans and are looking for ways to find their role in fulfilling that mission. Is there something we should know about this seeming growth. Is there something that you see that has a meaning for me?
▶ 2:09:22Lt. Col. Galui: Thank you for that question. I attribute it to the entrepreneurial spirit of americans and wanting to do right by veterans regardless of what the federal or state government are doing. At the bush institute we see a variety of veterans service organizations, from the large ones at this table to neighborhood ones trying to find a way to make a difference.
▶ 2:09:48Lt. Col. Galui: I thought of one north of dallas, a neighborhood veterans group. Within their homeowners association finding a way to provide resources to their community. In essex county, massachusetts, they were launching a fund for veterans in essex county. So these are popping up and it is good-natured americans doing the right thing.
▶ 2:10:10Chair Moran: So we should feel good about this?
▶ 2:10:13Lt. Col. Galui: I think so.
▶ 2:10:15Chair Moran: One even in my own family's life that was significant, I understand it started with the realtor in georgia that decided world war ii veterans in his community should be able to see a memorial built in their honor. Look what transpired from an idea from one person in one community to the chorus of lights that are so meaningful to so many veterans.
▶ 2:10:44Chair Moran: I'm interested in, maybe this is you, Ms. o'brien, one, I want you to start hiring our heroes in kansas. You listed community cities where it is growing and I want to be a participant in trying to accomplish at least the mission of what hiring our heroes is doing in my home state. I mentioned this in another hearing.
▶ 2:11:13Chair Moran: I read an article -- I still read newspapers -- about veterans from fort riley, service members soon to become veterans. The community of wichita and the aerospace aviation defense businesses there brought those soon-to-be veterans from fort riley to wichita to see what opportunities were for employment.
▶ 2:11:42Chair Moran: I know for a fact of the opportunities for those veterans is significant. Those opportunities exist but we have to figure out how to make the connection. My understanding is that is what hiring our heroes do. I would welcome suggestions for how we as members of congress in our own states can be helpful to the process the chamber has started. Anything I should know?
▶ 2:12:06Ms. O'Brien: Thank you for the question. I'm happy to tell you we have a presence at fort riley and fort leavenworth. We come through multiple times a year. We also hosted an ai roundtable for small businesses in construction and manufacturing several weeks ago. I believe caroline used to be on your staff was unbelievably helpful.
▶ 2:12:35Ms. O'Brien: What is important for anyone who wants to invest in their states there are several models that work extremely well. Invets travels with a spear would we go to over 50 installations around the globe, germany, u.k., hawaii, asia and they bring the jobs with them to service members who would not know otherwise that these opportunities exist, so that is one unbelievably successful model we have seen work at the state level.
▶ 2:13:04Ms. O'Brien: We work very hard to bring skill bridge opportunities to states, especially for servicemembers that want to return home to the state they are from. We are working diligently in kansas to provide those opportunities. And how we create opportunities for military spouses at the community level. We can't do what we do from a national level without those community-based nonprofits that allow us to meet people where they are.
▶ 2:13:34Ms. O'Brien: They become unbelievably important and we find them through our local chambers of commerce.
▶ 2:13:38Chair Moran: Is there a way, this goes back to lack of information I think senator slotkin was talking about. Is there a way to know veterans from a state -- how does an organization, hiring our heroes, how do you find veterans to connect them to their home states? Is it possible?
▶ 2:14:01Ms. O'Brien: It is for us because we get to them before they transition. If they attend events upon installation, we are collecting their zip code from their original home of record. It is something they share with us. We know about 1/3 return to their state.
▶ 2:14:21Chair Moran: Once they disperse, that opportunity is gone?
▶ 2:14:25Ms. O'Brien: Yes. We can share the data and make educated decisions on where we think people may go based on their original home of record. For us the best piece of what we do is we are able to connect with them before they transition. We encourage people to think about, how did we meet young service members and military spouses where they are? It is not even on email anymore.
▶ 2:14:54Ms. O'Brien: What are the digital platforms they are using to gather information? It is not the digital platform I'm using. They are not on facebook, they have evolved and it is changing almost yearly. We get great results if we are texting folks. No one is looking at their email. There are wonderful platforms that exist through social media. I am not our social media manager for good reason.
▶ 2:15:23Ms. O'Brien: It has been an evolution we have had to embrace or we will miss an opportunity.
▶ 2:15:28Chair Moran: You have caused me to rephrase the question from the panel which comes a bit from senator slotkin. What should I be putting on my website that would be helpful to educating those about opportunities?
▶ 2:15:44Chair Moran: I should change my question, what in my social media platforms would be effective, what I should say and what mediums I should use to connect with those who are leaving military service and connecting with an organization to help meet their needs?
▶ 2:16:05Ms. O'Brien: We are doing a deep dive to determine what platform we should be moving our messaging to, based on the fact we are sharing opportunity. Linked in has been a wonderful platform but it depends on the message you're trying to share. If you're trying to connect that scale with veterans it is probably going to be a different platform then linkedin.
▶ 2:16:35Ms. O'Brien: >> Mr. chairman, if I could add, one of the beautiful things, they come from states. What we know from our data, for non-retiring transitioning service members, 80% of them are returning home to where they came from, or where their spouses from.
▶ 2:16:56Ms. O'Brien: One thing you could put on your website or perhaps even better is, just literally working with young kansans who are leaving kansas for active-duty service because they are boomerangs. They are coming back to kansas within six years.
▶ 2:17:10Chair Moran: See you're telling me I'm late, there is an opportunity to do something earlier.
▶ 2:17:15Mr. Lyon: You absolutely can. The time for enlistment tends to be in the summertime but boot camps don't discriminate as to what time you are there. Harder in the summer months, speaking from personal experience. When you look at young folks coming into uniformed service from kansas the instinct is to go to the bases there. That is happening.
▶ 2:17:41Mr. Lyon: What I see happening less in states across the country is working with those going into the armed forces, making sure they are aware of what is in kansas for them when they come back home, because we make the assumption that if they are leaving kansas they are never coming back. They are coming back and when they do you can be there to better meet them and support them.
▶ 2:18:03Chair Moran: Let me take that one step further. What should I know about student veterans of america and how do we connect with those already students in our state?
▶ 2:18:14Mr. Lyon: If you want to figure out where basketball was invented, there are good places in kansas to go do that. When you look at transitioning service members and I will define the non-retired population, a segment of the population, enough to have your niche, that portion of the population, 70 4%, will be in a college classroom within 18 months of taking the uniform off.
▶ 2:18:42Mr. Lyon: Ivmf data tells us since 2011 the most common reason for enlistment in the armed forces is opportunity for education post military service. One thing we can look at in kansas or otherwise is the majority of the transitioning force that will pursue education will do so through community college that the majority of those that attend community college will not access their g.I. Bill.
▶ 2:19:10Mr. Lyon: They will be on average three semesters preserving their g.I. Bill to wear colleges is more expensive, undergraduate and graduate experience. By finding a way to have better identifiers, this is again data, I'm a one trick pony, but having that ability at the community college level in kansas to have an identifier beyond, is this student using the g.I. Bill, are they a veteran or asking did you serve in the armed forces?
▶ 2:19:41Mr. Lyon: That way you know where they are at community college and can better help them as they look to matriculate into four-year programs.
▶ 2:19:47Chair Moran: I assume there is statistical evidence that hiring a veteran has great benefit?
▶ 2:19:53Mr. Lyon: Massive.
▶ 2:19:55Chair Moran: Anything you want but statistically in front of me?
▶ 2:19:58Mr. Lyon: Linkedin's data is phenomenal in this. Veterans without any access to education, training or anything when they separate from the armed forces they separate nine out of the 10 most desirable skills, not credentials, skills, employers are looking for.
▶ 2:20:19Chair Moran: Senator blumenthal, I'm about done. I go last so no one has to stay if they don't want to. We were talking about the fox grants. I would complement senator boozman, it was legislation he introduced that was included in the scott hammond act that I think this committee is very proud of.
▶ 2:20:46Chair Moran: We have introduced legislation, the hope for heroes act that would reauthorize the program for five years and the bill would increase grant amounts to $1 million per this bill passed this committee unanimously in july so we have a legislative item that would be of interest to you and we would welcome your support among our colleagues.
▶ 2:21:13Chair Moran: That program is not currently active because of the shutdown but it is the first time as I understood back in the day in which we did this that the v.a. Became a grantor agency. In my view they were slow to implement. It is one of those things I thought we were doing that had great potential. I hope to see the continued use, fruition and benefit that comes from that.
▶ 2:21:45Chair Moran: Senator blumenthal did I take up more time that you wanted to respond or senator king? Oh no, I should not have said that I thought they both would say no. >> you now know about the filibuster.
▶ 2:21:59Chair Moran: I'm supportive the filibuster.
▶ 2:22:02Sen. Blumenthal: That is good to hear. I'm all set. Thanks to the witnesses.
▶ 2:22:06Chair Moran: Let me do one thing that may prolong the meeting. It did the last time, does not need to, but is there anyone who wants to make certain something that needed to be said that was not said gets to say it?
▶ 2:22:23Mr. Hutchings: Just one point. You were asking the panel what should I be informing veterans returning to my home state on social media or my website? One thing to look at to Mr. lyon 's point about 80% returning back to the state they come from or where their spouses from, it is looking at the state agency level from the secretary and commissioner of either your veteran affairs, department of veteran services, what systems in place.
▶ 2:22:53Mr. Hutchings: That is what we typically see in states, people returning to their communities and very quickly connecting with those state agencies for local support. We have done analysis of all 50 states and over 95% have no digital infrastructure or service delivery mechanism. It is a website with sign posting and a directory which becomes outdated. There is no continuing -- continuum of care or coat -- closed loop process.
▶ 2:23:24Mr. Hutchings: Whether you can provide a nudge to get the state moving forward is something I would recommend.
▶ 2:23:28Chair Moran: That is a really good suggestion. Thank you.
▶ 2:23:31Lt. Col. Galui: Not to prolong too much longer or complicate our challenges before us with two comments. One come as we think about taking care of today's veterans and improving the transition experience for currently serving members I would like to encourage all of us to think about the 12 and 14 year old kids who today do not know that in 15 or 20 years they will be veterans. Our work is doubly or triply important on that front.
▶ 2:24:00Lt. Col. Galui: The second comment and terms of how to reach veterans, what social media platforms today and into the future, we have learned that our foreign adversaries are deeply embedded in our social media and liberally targeting veterans to undermine trust in delivery of care.
▶ 2:24:25Lt. Col. Galui: As we progress through this evolution of our own transition and how we reach people in the digital space, recognizing there are those out there who want to undermine our own way of life, that will make transition that much more difficult. >> I would love to share that technology is important, but not the solution. It does enable many solutions we propose here. I believe senator slotkin said she wants a one stop shop.
▶ 2:24:57Lt. Col. Galui: I would recommend instead, no wrong door. That is what we can provide. If you picture the different networks we have developed and are working with, that we intend to do even more with the veterans employment collective, they might be patches of network but they can be a quilt that is interconnected so there is no wrong door. One thing the committee can do with us is built on what Mr.
▶ 2:25:19Lt. Col. Galui: Lyon suggested, data sharing among agencies, sharing when possible so we cannot be reactive but proactive in solutions and have them be evidence-based and held accountable. We want that from our services and expect from our agencies.
▶ 2:25:35Chair Moran: That is a very nice summary. Mr. galui, I always look in the audience when in speaking to find someone who smiles and nods while I speak. You brought two of yours with you. I have been able to see them both, you were not. They were both very supportive of your testimony and answers.
▶ 2:25:56Lt. Col. Galui: I'm grateful for their support, let the record show that.
▶ 2:26:00Chair Moran: We will bring this hearing to a conclusion. A couple magic words I need to say. Each member of the committee has five legislative days to submit statements or questions for the record. I ask any senator who would like to submit a question for the record to today's witnesses to do so in a timely manner. Members of the committee have an opportunity to ask you in writing questions we would want you to respond to. We want you to respond to those questions for the record received in a timely manner.
▶ 2:26:30Chair Moran: With that, the committee hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]