Veterans issues and how lawmakers are working to improve Veterans Affairs programs. The event was hosted by the American Enterprise institute. Lets try to get started here. Good morning. Welcome to aei and welcome to our program today. The value of our veterans, our conversation with representatives, mike levin and brad. Im gary smith, im a senior scholar here as strategic studies and im director of aeis program on american citizenship. I amng toi skip a set of am going to skip a set of introductions since we will be talking the next two hours. So those joining us here in joining online or watching on cspan, if you want lengthier bios go to the website and go to the link for the page and you will see everybodys biographies. Let me begin by giving a quick overview of the proceedings. We will first hear from representative mike levin, the recently a district that runs recently elected congressman from californias 49th district, a district that runs along san diego to southern Orange County and quite frankly i have a niece that lives out there, im not sure why the congress and decided to move to d. C. , but nevertheless, it is a patriotic act on his part. He is the chair of the subcommittee on Economic Opportunity with the house of Veterans Affairs committee. Following we will hear from former utterance Affair Committee and the congressman that represents ohio Second District which runs from the outskirts and parts of cincinnati and parties. And parts east. We are pleased that the congresswoman can join us again at aei. We appreciate his willingness to come out of our way. To come our way. After the opening remarks they will join the discussion by moderator and military times reporter, who will after the brief remarks, we will have a and answerion session with our guests aired after that discussion we will , switch to a Panel Discussion with Cynthia Gilman of the the Henry Jackson foundation of military foundation, and my colleague burgess, from aei. The focus of that discussion would be what do we need to do to change the narrative to the to change the narrative of the broken program to the more accurate narrative veterans of social office heads. The Panel Discussion will be followed by a q a session in the mornings event will and probably at 10 00 a. M. Just two housekeeping notes, after our discussion with the members if you would stay in your seat for a few minutes always transition the second panel we would appreciate it. Second for q a, if you would wait for a microphone and as always introduce yourself and as not always, please do ask the question. Let me conclude by noting Veterans Affairs and veteran policies is a subject which aei scholars, have been writing about for some time. But, writing about policy is one thing, and producing legislation lives is veterans quite another, which is why we are delighted to have chairman levin and congressman with us today. They are the bipartisan cosponsors of veterans Education Transition and Opportunity Organization plan. It is a measure that passed in house in late may. Please join me in welcoming congressman mike levin and brad. [applause] good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. We are not voting today as you. As you know. I am grateful to have a somewhat free day before i get on the plane. No better way to begin than to talk about the most rewarding aspect of my service so far in washington, d. C. , which has been chair aity to chair a subcommittee on house veterans subcommittee dealing with housing homelessness, Workforce Development, transition assistance. It is an incredible opportunity, particularly for a freshman, one that i take seriously every day. I am honored to have that chance. Im grateful also to my colleagues across the aisle, the house of veterans Affair Committee, is perhaps the most bipartisan place in congress and theres a lot of interesting stories going around shaking going around washington this week. Its been a crazy week as everybody knows, the story that is not told often enough is a story of bipartisanship that still happens on a daily basis iswashington and our work the best representation of that. I often say that most of the time, if you were to turn off the video and listen to the in our hearings, in our subcommittee in particular, you would not know who the republicans were and you would not know who the democrats were. Were all there in the service of our veterans and service of our country. I hope that is how it always is. I tell you, i think both the chairman and the Ranking Member are doing a terrific job. Same in my subcommittee, im honored to have a guest to from florida and we have built a relationship of respect and appreciation for one another, built on our shared trust and the deep sire that we have two serve our veterans. Im the grandson of a world war ii veteran. My grandfather on my dad side i , think of him all the time. When thinking about how we treat caseswho in many sacrificed everything for andfreedom and our security he taught me a lot about what it means to be a patriot and what it means to serve your country. While i did not serve in the military, nonetheless i have the small opportunity as the chairman of the Economic Opportunity subcommittee to give back to those who have given so much. My grandpa would often talk inut the gaps in the v. A. Or Services Provided to veterans. I remember that well, and for me it is absolutely unconscionable that we would do everythg possible to treat her veterans as the heroes they are. That includes the best health opportunities, Workforce Development opportunities, the best Transition Program can possibly come up with and so much more. Is we areer good news actually passing bills. You dont often hear about that in the press. But in our committee, we have considered Something Like 40 bills. We have passed over half of them. I think about roughly 10 of them, and there are a couple of the staff here, roughly 10 of them in for my subcommittee and i am honored that six of the bills that i helped to introduce, each with a republican has passed the house , representatives. I am also encouraged, i just had a great meeting with a senator a couple days of go. I think a lot of these can get through the senate line as well, especially when we doubt much legislation will get for time and pass the senate get floor time, and pass the senate, i think a lot of these will become law. If you will entertain me, i would very briefly like to explain these six bills. One is with representative and a and i am very grateful with you leading the way with the act and what it would do is create a Fourth Administration in the ea. Its a somewhat controversial plan with the va, everybody else wants it. All the veterans i talked to wanted. What would happen is, you would be able to separate the core work for Economic Opportunity from the benefits administration. The vast majority of staffing and resources at the benefits administration are erected towards disability compensation and claims and there has been a lack of oversight and accountability, such as the g. I. Bill, and the v. A. s portion of the treasures in transition assistance program. Its outdated, its undermining the benefits that our veterans have rightly earned. What we have to do is restructure existing resources. It would actually eliminate redtape rather than create more tape. Again, everybody that i speak with him the actual veterans who will be impacted very much want this to happen. Hopefully, the v. A. Will come around. It might make things a little more difficult for certain in shortterm, in the longterm, our veterans will have a lot of gains from this restructuring, it will be welcoming over time. I wanted to mention some of these other bills. We have one to support disabled veterans housing. Thats one i think have a great shot of getting it through because there is a Senate Companion bill. We want to improve the tap program. My friend, jodey arrington, has been a champion of this and he had a friend who passed a way after service in iraq. He is confident that his friend assistancetransition , or of a wraparound support system that his friend may have had the opportunity to go on and have a more successful postservice career. We have another on Mental Health access. There is a bill we are doing to expand the access to the v. A. Vet centers to others, such as those who served in the National Guard and reserves but who sought a significant amount of clearly the v. A. Vet centers ought to be available to them as well. Then we are trying to also protect our veterans when they go to take out a va loan. I have a bill with andy barr that would help fix that. Scholarshipsem that would make the requirements under the forever g. I. Bill for a stem scholarship commensurate with what most programs are offering. A lot of these are hopefully noncontroversial. Even in todays washington, you never know for sure. You all might know better than i, i have only been here for seven months. Thewhat i have seen as all bipartisanship and rhetoric seems to be set aside in service of our veterans. It should be that way. I hope it is always that way. I can tell you that i have no greater honor than being on the committee. I am an environmental attorney and interested in environmental policy. I have dug deep into those areas. That i didnt expect was that my service on the house Veterans Affairs committee would be as rewarding as it is. And at the early accomplishments i would be able to achieve in washington would be in the Veterans Affairs committee would be six bipartisan bills that we passed in the last seven months. In the spirit of bipartisanship, you will hear from representative wenstrup. I look forward to your ideas on how we can best our veterans. [applause] thank you very much. Thank you all for being here this morning. It is a pleasure to be with you, especially to talk about this particular topic. Mike, you are right when you talk about the v. A. Committee. I would also share this the va committee is probably the Top Committee when it comes to bipartisanship. A lot exists on the other committees as well, just not always at the end of the day. I had a reporter at home one time Say Something about that and i said, how many members of congress and you name . There were only about 10. Its pretty much those see every evening on cable tv. I said what do you think the rest of us are doing all day . The va committee is a place where you get a lot of things done. I look back on the forever g. I. Bill and the mission act that was was cosponsored by every member. I dont think theres too many times you can say that in any other committee. That was a big bill that got a lot done. It was always a pleasure to walk into the v. A. Committee room because you know you are going thatve good conversation is very serious and professional in every way as you are taking care of the veterans. In particular, this particular me inas very important to so many ways for a lot of it does is,use what it focuses on the transition, if you will to civilian life. The opportunities that exist economically. For six years i served on Armed Services and i am also a veteran. I served a year in iraq, 2005 in 2006 as a surgeon there. , in i came back from the war hadnt been home for 15 months. Said, youvist, they dont have to said, you dont have to go back to work for 90 days. I said, im going next week. I am not going to sit around my house. I think that is the important factor. That is easy for me because i had a medical practice to go back to. Not everybody has that luxury. At the time, i was 47 years old. For some people, they are 21 or 22 and havent had something established over a long. Period of time. You start to think about what you went through during that time. It is odd. You come back and the rest of the country is just going about their business. For others, there is gas at the pump, food at the store, and no one knows we just went through very if you dont have somewhere to go and something to do its , very different. There was a book called the face of the american soldier, and it was mostly about how troops would get together and pray before their missions and there was one passage that caught me. It was about a soldier who was getting ready to came home who had been in iraq for a year. A ratty Baghdad Airport and he begins to cry. They said, why are you crying, we are going home . He said, i dont think we will be able to do as much for other people as we did here and that i will be bored and it will seem mundane when i get home. I think that is very true in so many ways. Why is this important . My colleague friend mentioned the transition assistance program. , heyoint it was like youre getting out and here are your benefits and i want you to know what you deserve and we will see you later. Me, it is much more important to go further back. Think about what the v. A. Has had to do. They have had to be reactive to any conditions or problems that you may have i think a lot of those come from the fact that you were part of something big. Part of something you were you are part of something that was needed every day. You were essential. If you come back and you do not have somewhere to go in somewhere to drive forward, it is very challenging. Posttraumatic stress is very real. If youve been in the environment and see what youve seen and that hasnt affected you in some way, shape, or form, then there is probably something wrong with you. But if youve been there and it does have an effect on you to some degree, i consider that normal and should be addressed. To the level that you need. As is what i like to term post essential stress. You went from being so essential and so needed and then you may come back and have nothing. So it is important that you have a plan. V. A. , there is a great opportunity to make sure we are really focusing on opportunity for veterans, not only when they first get out but beyond that that they continue to have opportunities. That to me is important. For transition assistance, i want to go back even further. I would love to see war and more that when you get recruited, you are a young man or woman thinking about joining the military and you get with the recruiter and the recruiter says what you want to do in the military . I want to be a marine. I want to be in the army, i want to do infantry. Ok, here is what that path looks like. Imagine the recruiter saying, what you want to do after . Its talk about that right now, too. Lets prepare that path. Whether you will be in for four years or 24 years lets talk , about that. When you are two years out from reenlistment and you are having a conversation with a professional and they say here is your path if you want to stay in and here is the path otherwise. Are you going to use the g. I. Employment,u into take everything you learn in the military and parlay that into a job if you graduate college and you get your degree and you dont have a job lined up and you dont know where you are going, that is not that great of a day. If you take that uniform off and you know where you are going next and what the opportunities are, that is much better. You look at what happens as i talk about the v. A. Being reactive. Most of the suicides we hear so much about dont happen in uniform, they happen later. I think they happen later because of that particular situation if you have nowhere to go and no one around to understand what you have been through and to wake up every day with a purpose. That makes a difference and that is what you have when you are in uniform. So i think all of these things are so very important as we move forward and try to pass legislation that helps our veterans. In the army, we say soldier for life. Lets mean it. Soldier for life, but we will be with you and we will help you and we will guide out a path and a career for you. Imagine a parent who is sitting there who hears a recruiter say, what you want to do after . We want to get you there, too. That is huge. This bill is a strep step in that direction. As was mentioned, the t ap program is where we are going. When i was in Armed Services, this is a conversation started having. Jodey arrington has picked up that ball and run with it as well with you. I am sure mike and i appreciate that so much. I think it is important. Lets break the stigma that so many have that was mentioned earlier. I was at an event with Major League Baseball owners and george bush showed up unexpectedly. The owner got up and he said, what are you doing in town . He said, i am here to work with veterans and help the veterans ing and are transition help them together a resume and apply for a job. When they ask what the qualifications and skills are, you cant just put sniper. Pay attentiony, i to detail, i show up for work on time, and you can count on me. Those are the types of things we have got to do. There are so many people trying to help with this transition and we need to do our job here in congress to do everything we can to do that. I also, in the line of that stigma, i also met a veteran one time who had lost both legs and he was in a band, laying guitar. I began talking to him, and this was at a military event. Know, i am not a wounded warrior, i am still a warrior. I think we should look at all of those who served and i think that most dont want your pity, they want you to appreciate what theyve done and what you and let you know they are still in the game. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all for being this morning. I guess we will start our conversation. [applause] congressman, thank you both so much for the remarks. Standingam the last between you guys and getting back to constituents. You and traffic. Let me build off of what you were just talking about, not just with the act, with the overall thought of how benefits are delivered and how programs are delivered at the v. A. You and i were on this stage a year ago talking about the same bill, the same idea. Do you feel like the va is Getting Better at shifting from the idea of delivering benefits as a process to something that is a collaborative effort . This idea of not just we send out the checks but we are actually working with veterans personalize that and to figure that part out . Personally, i do. I can speak to v. A. Health centers that we have in my district that i think have really taken that approach more and more. It is not just pushing paper but helping another human being and working with them and i think we are seeing that more and more. The culture is improving in that regard. Be as it hasy always been, but as long as i have been in congress, as far as the v. A. Committee, that has been feeling. I agree. My two v. A. Health centers in my district, one in la jolla and one in oceanside, they are doing a fantastic job. The local veterans i speak with are getting extremely high quality of care, looking holistically at the whole person and their needs. I think the challenge we face in san diego, is there are too many falling through the cracks who are eligible for services but not getting the services who for many reasons that happens. We had an issue, as im sure you home with no with veteran homelessness. In our area, there are roughly 1300 or so veterans throughout san diego. My hope is that in time with a lot of hard work with the community we can to magically reduce that number. Too many are falling through the cracks. Hu have so many with ot discharges rather than honorable discharges that are not taking advantage of any services and they are only ultimo for certain services. My colleague, scott peters, has a couple of bills that would expand some of the Housing Services available. We have got to do all we can to make sure people arent falling through the cracks and that everybody is getting the services they need. We have a huge problem with addiction and opioids, not just in the Veterans Community but throughout our population. We have a big problem with homelessness. Everything i have seen, the v. A. Both locally and the folks here that ive spoken with are doing everything they can to address the problems that exist. Have to stay on it. We cant let up at all. Act is ao, i think the great way to focus and target the resources that exist to make sure they are being used most effectively and cut through red tape and actually serve the veteran in the best way possible. If you are seeing those improvements and veterans unemployment reaching historic lows, do we need to worry about this . Is it just a matter of the system functioning on its own and maybe these programs are doing fine as a second fiddle . I think there are two components of it. On one are trying to do front is be preventive, so when you talk about homelessness and how do we get the new veteran as they are leaving service to immediately not drift toward homelessness . That is what we are trying to do on the front and. There is a lot of catching up to do with the those who have with those who have been out there for a while and dont know where to turn. We always appreciate, and i am sure you do too, when summit because your office because they are looking for guidance. There is also something you mentioned in the community and that is a big part of it. It has been so wonderful to see how many private citizens or private groups have popped up to try and be there. Cincinnati, tristate veteran center is private and veterans can show up and get engaged with anything and talk about their benefits and have assistance with something at the hospital and work towards employment. The v. A. Cannot necessarily be a headhunter for everybody. But these centers are. Those are things that we are seeing take place that didnt exist before. I think that hopefully the next generation will find themselves in a better position than say devious generations. Veteran program right in the heart of my district and we have a huge number of marines and a ton of folks from the navy and others come and serve in our great weather and they want to come back and the greater san diego region, will have the most veterans of anyone in the united dates. It is really important to me that we have a veteran on staff dealing with veteran constituent casework. What i have learned through that experience of having a great corpsman on our team who has a very active caseload with veteran casework is that everyone is wellintentioned but sometimes the v. A. s own s ownucracy can get it way. So you talk about Workforce Development, transition and all the rest and you are better able targets, clear set of standards and then implement those. Is particularly problematic, the overall rate of veteran homelessness has remained roughly steady, which is not good. But the rate of Women Veteran homelessness is going up dramatically in certain places and that is a real challenge and something we really have to look at. The other thing i will say is work being done by nonprofits should not be a substitute for the core work of the v. A. A lot of those nonprofits have sprung up because the v. A. Still has gaps. A great example in our region is the veteran standdown. We have the main san diego sandown and we have the north county standdown where those who are on the brink of wholeness homelessness or are homelessness can get the variety of organizations. That is being done because these people are falling through the cracks and they need a nonprofit. We have a veteran center which is incredible, but still is not a substitute for the core mission of the v. A. We can always do better. People are doing a great job at the v. A. , locally, and nationally. I think we can always do better and sometimes the system can get in the way of effectiveness and that is what we are trying to address. Earlier and you said you passed 24 bills. How many do you think you can get through the senate . We have seen this stall before, not for any reason other than some v. A. Opposition and some are locking up. A goodpe that we can get number of them that are not as or passedial, hotline through unanimous consent. They obviously have their own process over there, and i know that they have a great working relationship. My hope is that this really does get on the radar because we have seen that there are things that we can get done. The navy act being a great act of something that many years in the making, democrats and republicans came together and great leadership and the folks in the Senate Getting it over the line and signing the bill by the president paired that will be a huge improvement for veterans who have been out of the loop with the benefits they rightly deserve. Just one example and we will have more success stories. I hope the media will cover it. I hope the narrative will not be that it is dysfunctional and nothing happens in washington. Rather, there are a lot of disagreements also agreements and big things we are getting done specifically for the veterans and military families. Lets open up some audience questions. Please introduce yourself. One thing i want to say it real quick period want to say thank the immediate staff and my personal stuff. You did a good job. You are working gather. Partisanship has nothing to do with it. Just wanting to do better is what drives them. I thank them for their work. [applause] is logan isaac and i am a disabled veteran. I think thank both of you congressman for your service. The act sounds like civil rights by another name. You talk about fair housing, access to quality education, employment, but justice for gis and Service Members and veterans is often a hodgepodge of poorly enforced and largely unknown federal statutes that need some more attention. Especially the soldiers well as thes department of labor overseeing title 38 within the u. S. Code. Before any Administration Stands up, i have two questions. Administration stands up under the act, would you be willing and able to hold a hearing underneath in your committee, the Economic Opportunity subcommittee, to look into how to consolidate and expand and strengthen those civil rights that do exist for soldiers and veterans and secondly, would either of you or both of you be signed willing to sign open letters to Agencies Holding into account civil rights laws for veterans that they are not enforcing or do not seem to know about. I want to thank you for your service and asking that. I would be happy to work with the Committee Staff and talk about the hearing schedule we have coming up. I know we have an august field hearing and i am sure we will have more opportunities throughout the session and i would be happy to work with you, and somewhere in here is faith williams. I do not think justin is here who helps manage the calendar, but we would be happy to speak with you about that because it is an important concern and im sure he would love hearing having a hearing on implementation. The second question, i would be happy to look at that, and if you could circle up with faith before we go this morning, i would be happy to follow up. Your service and advocacy. That is an important thing. It is a matter of hearing back from people and taking appropriate actions based on what is going on. Is not addingea more people, it is focusing on an area that has been neglected because of the overwhelming amount of work that goes into some of the other areas in the vba. We wanted to bring more attention to this particular area of benefits that are out there for veterans and make sure they are getting it because it is such a high priority. That is what we are trying to do, prioritize. I think that would fall in line with what you are asking and concerned about as far as those rights and benefits. Are you saying that if we had the administration these were the topics that administration could be a focusing on and not on the legislative side but we talking about that here are other ideas and approaches to these topics that are just getting pushed by the wayside by all the demands on vba right now . Greater attention and greater followup. Exactly right. We have time for one more if there is anyone else. If not, i can cut you loose a couple minutes early and let you get back home. I appreciate it and the time here. Thank you so much. We will be interested to see when you come back in september if you can push this through, unless you have heard something that might sneak through next week. I have no idea what the senate will do. But maybe some are clairvoyant and can tell us. The senator is personally committed to these issues and im sure the same goes for senator isaacson. I think if anything can get done, we will get it done. I will ask everyone to stay seated while the congressmen get out of here and while we we set the stage for the next panel. I want to give you around of applause. [applause] thank you very much. Thank. I appreciate it. [indistinct conversations] so we have a lot to process therefrom what the congressman said. I have already talked about this on this stage and unfortunately we are still talking about it because it has not advanced. Let me introduce the panel quickly, i will ask you to talk about what youre doing. To my side, the founder of a Consulting Company enforced house Veterans Affairs director. Mike hutchins, chief officer of combined arm. With let me start with you. When we are talking about this act and talking about looking at benefits currently, we are talking about a very different way of thinking about what the v. A. Delivers and provides to veterans. Shifting from that idea of sending checks out and making them get on time to a more proactive, more detailed cooperation with the veteran on some of those Economic Opportunity goals and transition things and other things. You have been working on this for a while. Where are we . Are we getting any better. The v. A. Starting to step into this role more, it was said, do you agree . It is trying hard. It gets in as on aplus on effort. Where we are lacking is in the v. A. Is so structured in a way that it is centered around disability and the idea that a veteran is a recipient of a check. It has been this way since before 1930. And we hoover sat down have all these disability benefits and things for services and for veterans that are through various agencies. Lets bring it under one agency where we can get some accountability for this. Reagan, when president made a cabinet agency, the same discussion was happening about this being too much of an amalgamation of programs being varies programs. The idea was still about, how do we get benefits to veterans and how do we have some accountability for it . No one in that entire almost 100 years ever asked what is the end will of the care and services that the federal government gives to veterans . We are still asking that same question. Not donecore, v. A. Has a good job in thinking about what is the end goal of what we are trying to do. Is it simply to deliver services or let veterans be in the driver seat of their own successful careers and lives as civilians after this . A bit ofve done quite work with Veterans Services paired where are we with the idea now . Is it just send out the check, denied the check, and not think about the concept about why we are reimbursing these veterans and why we are sending this money out . There are a couple of things that interrelate to what rebecca just said in terms of you asked about you are on the stage a year ago and what progress has we made and where is the cooperation . I think the analogy to traditional review that we didnt have for 200 years. The first review act wasnt passed until when the v. A. Became a Cabinet Department in 1988. , includingatives policy shifts, take more time then we would like to see. Back to the point about just giving disability checks, statutorily, the compensation laws for veterans are designed to make up for the average makeup for capacity andarning our ratings codes were written, most written in 1945. So we have had a different conomy what. Impacted your bility to work, and orthopedic disabilities had a greater impact on ones ability to work on the economy than it does today. And that is a greater impact on earnings capacity today. Va has been working to update a ratings systems and those processes have taken that into you see elation and picture, just giving them a check in and off going to make someone wholly to emphasize tose other programs you need make sure that youre reflecting s t are your support program also changing . Reflecting that change as well . Are you saying youre looking at youll need to get folks to the importance they may want or need . Yes think the issue is that people are looking at them but need to do more than just look at them. One of the phrases we hear a lot dmire problems and more. E should do lnd nobody has been able to nai down and implement that. We need to come together more around substances opposed to just looking at these things. Its a start. Its not enough. Talk about what youre seeing are doingorganizations had this area. Sure. As you mentioned earlier, im chief officer for combined arms, nonprofit hinking that intertwines collaboration and innovation in order to provide access and social services to veterans in a fast, and efficient manner so that is accomplished in four ways. Ave a shared facility 56 ouston, texas which agencies Work Together to rans andservices to vete this causes what we call intentional collaborative collision as theyre dealing with veteran intake and as eterans are getting to these services you can pop over and say i have this person and i cant provide this service. Can you work with them. Its very, very quick to do lateral transfers and get quickly. Connected econd, we utilize sales force amedicine. To have about eight years ago saw big that is we saw many billions of r was dollars being spent to assist in experience with no data in erms of who needed what services and what services did, and didnt work. So we facilitated a public and private Research Project and with the da losely to launch what is called a Veterans Initiative study and exactly at that d estion and Services Provide by the public and private sectors what moves the needle . And were able to reach out to 50,000 men and women, inviting them to participate in his study because its rivately funded were able to incentivize folks to stay with way. Very step of the we had so many people wanting to ourselves we found having to close down early. That is an unprecedented problem to have. Collecting data over about 9600 ed participated and so were in the of and look at findings. I want to ask both of you, nd i want to think how to phrase this. Why do we need your organization . Mean, why still seeing these gaps here . I would say is that its run and built by veterans idea came over and a couple beer, right . A there are veterans to make this did. N and that is what we he flexibility in speed of the organization to maintain this. E had 56 different organizations working together have concerns va would be able to handle something. 1. 6 million veterans in 300,000 in houston. And were working and i just and concerns a larger level abilityble level of the erans. Vide services to vet youre partnering with the va. I mean, what and why does this outside force have to be pushing to do this . To be looking at these things . Is withinrvice member the system. People do not go home to federal but to communities. So we wanted to take a look at he experience across the world wanted to bring all and why did her someone else not do it . I dont know. One of the things with these elevatedn programs and this is idea of trying to arente andn omeone on the brink of homelessness and emotional there how do is you make this more available of perpetuating a narrative . Ves being a functional member of the society gives you a Different Health and about that is what helps you see they might have issues and problems at the moment and have you to ask yourself which of these are permanent . Are a moment that can be ealed this there are no measures in place that require etting help maybe g be with stance should healing, its not about improving yourself, just about k,intenance and have you to as level . S that this is not a way to live and give you an identity but ives you purpose towards a successful life which we know around much data societies and individuals is is what gives you the fully to have a life. Ional ss for you, and i gue can you quantify improved a y ive 10 . Ity of life by with the k maybe veterans metric, you can talk to have ou collected and seen. First lets track changes over time within the population. So looking at their nd social a relationships. Mored to track that, we a Instrument Team they did create an inl strument that olks and took a holistic approach. And do you have a job . You ave you a job how are functioning . Are you getting in trouble . So were tracking that over time. Were asking the folks to tell us what programs and services theyre using to assist them, if any in the transition experience. What were breaking these s to their component part accomplish our third, which is o look at what are the components of these programs moving the needle on well being outcome. If we want to take a look at at what werelook ere this is a component, that is a strong predictor so that is the kind of were trying to look at how this is doing. Are you sharing that with va . Acting on it . Is this a report on a shelf . Collecting dust . I hope not. Too much work to let the dust collect. Is a not a think Tank Organization and to be here to put this information out there findings are on our website and we hope other hz this the room can take it. Of work in a variety ways. Rent tw studies about disability benefits. There is more emphasis on there is life and some conversation, how do you for quality of life . In the Australian Government that plays a factor and one of the other things is the fact no emphasis and you if your an amp going to leg isnt grow back. This becomes manageable and this of times there is almost stuck oure there and that is one of the things think they we need to get away from. If that report gets more attention . Do you think there is ability to that . On is it just institutional . Can we really another layer of bureaucracy here . Criticism that out the government doesnt love substantive change. People talk about these and happens. Mes nothing i remember we had a follow up ave welooking back, what h done . Done . Have we not ss we have had limited succe with that, too. Maybe we have to have a dive these programs . They make sense and is there and i dont know ultimately. Do veterans have a sense of of what is available . Work just basic education to do . U you dont knownd about it . Absolutely and i think there n dod policy with the transition the way benefits. There is housing. And shelter, really anything you can think of. And it covers all types of discharge as well. So someone can cover down and out. You that is is something that can n a trail. And. These f there are Community Outreach connections, are as if for a result here a is it too much from realistic to ask to think differently about this . They still do have gi ponsibilities for those checks. Out on time. Its funded by taxpayer dollars. The va remains our visible way so its going to set ic tone for how the publ thinks about veterans so it has that responsibility. Reputation. Care for and we think of joining on the so, whether that happens within va that should be t should within va bu be a concerted effort between administration of stepping back and saying what asking them to do . Going to hics are change and that will force a change in how we go about giving those services and so we should end now and on the front of this. And. Perfect we get to that, congressman said not enough ention to paying att and this has not been the dominant narrative. Its been health care and everything. Each of you ing if and how to you drive attention to these issues . This affects everything else, if if you have got employment better . Ion issues down if you focus on social determine nans, like employment, housing, they have a impact on outcome and if you are happy at home, have you a home, youre employed youre ess likely to have greater impact on physical health and to be suicidal. We talk about how much they cost and returning people to a healthy place we have these things together. And theyre emp healthy place we have these things together. And theyre employed and healthier. Drives down cost. Better. Re going to get work you feel like the youre doing doing here, why is this . E paying attention to reframe it as next branch of service at all levels. Some to housing that that. P to do do. Is what were trying to success services. And we need to continue to provide services and continue to partner with organizations out there to amplify this message. Okay. The majority of folks leaving service and transition into fine. Ian life do nd were seeing that people to, nt outcome and we have but were also taking these apers and putting them in a graphics because we have to make dont sit on the self. We want to take this and give it o the folks and theyre go soing set up some red flags and and to do interventions follow on and we hope to be able to reverse some of those negative outcomes by doing these target interventions. In military read ime so how do you that, issue this is not number one narrative iority. Slative pr how do you, youve been working on this. Over the next re few months . How are you getting it sth im in the saying you wont do that. How do you elevate this issue . Ways of k one of the what were doing now, here, this is something that we can do is onversations and give voice to conversations and make places and et to communities that dont think about these often, right . So civil Education Community is great at talking to itself and wondering why questions dont dont get left from others outside of it. Sometimes people think they cant give anything to it so. Part of what theyre trying is trying to make sure this is a and theyreersation happier than their nonmilitary veterans civilian peers. That should be the story we should be telling. There are tl is Something Else i mention. O 70s we went to an all force. Eer our side never actually acknowledge that had aspect. Youlet me tell you then, who are, what you are. Its another said oh. Oh. You want an Education Perfect service. Lets talk about how the bill is of key to the door employment which is pathway to success. It that think about incentivizing e self. N to, you mentioned urts them. Ge, and it h looking at data, veterans do well. Employment is good and they do well in education. How do you not worry, the you get too t if that image isnt there hem . How it hurts t this is a major struggle for me. Is a lot of Holding Veterans accountable. Veterans are hot one sized fits all. You know . I wrote about this as well. And there are different types of veterans. N the same way there is a narrative were not supposed to stereo type people based on we should cteristics ot based on their veteran status, either. Ation we s a convers need to continue to have. Yet. Avent figured it out i had a conversation being on svac at the time talking about and he etnam programs that to present this and furthered his narrative. Rograms, morehese p recent stem are that dynamic. Its all. Not a one size f they can something help with. People go into service for education benefits and some are to seek help because i dont want to associate me in that way. If have you more of a program, more helpful in having some of these more en cessful veterans that oft imes are not driving narratives. Not just stories of how unhappy they are. Ut how were doing. In terms of success stories, right, you have a lot of these nonprofits out theres the ere is funding. Do you feel this is like youve got that youre fog to be this up . To hold collection of the here . We have a lot of funders are supporting this had effort. And its not happening. That. Re concerned about hat we have real findings t elp hink can drive to h individuals as theyre getting out. But also, if youre a funder and w what program you hould be funding because of grams are are illeding verses not. Good news stories, i dont know. If i want to know what is going on in veteran lands that, is kind of it. Right . Is a they dont know hat and think its a health care system. So theyre not educating themselves whether the issues back to s and coming if youre pushing back it seems like youre taking is a ing away but this started Arch Community to talk about these things serious theyre eart imply matters of the h so that is, i think, part of and talking about everything ptsd. Imply pts, a Family Member says it wreaks my heart that they all ptsd. Ack to you talk about health care. At statistics that 10 patients drive costs. Driving it rcent is lets people know its out there. Okay. Is there a question here . Sorry. Its a similar question but from think. Erent angle, i ongress made c suicide a national priority. This recommendation, theyre talking about about homophobia and racism and cide and Human Dignity within the veteran community. That was passed and voted on, it would be protected in tc. D a hearing here hould we make a military a protected class . And ive been into this because ts me. It affec im interested in whether or not you see the value this nd of ing them as ki protected classes and social parody . And that is interesting. How do you make sure those veterans are vetting services withoutd and protection helling a twrup that is second from the groups around them . Interest a lawyerly standpoint, you know protected is a term of art that particular class. So as far as l veterans and members of the military should protected class, i dont know whether people are experiencing basis. Mination on that that is inning i are not researched. Wed caution, it can be ring of g and furthe politics and i feel that one of the things weve talked about part of this conversation is oft being a veteran one part peoples identity. Selves. They id by them know . People tell me he doesnt seem veteran. Right. Right. I know. He doesnt say hi. You know . Im a veteran. Know . Traying to bring people more together opposed to ice eyes slating them. T i dont esting bu this is based on knowledge purposes of or is titutional law is that necessarily the direction you o go in here. Now youll see something community groups. Are out together had the community, continually. And a majority. Same thing. Hi, im mike hutchings. Hutchings and a veteran. Ology d have you a techn group, wed love to partner with that the kind of et away from. To g e to from here . W looking at a busy fall. Have a budget deal now. To become law, what is our time line for varcing that thought changing a more holistic and interacting with people . My ideal world it would force to work with congress so va would peel it can thing itself in this new ask how it k to t is that rans and wha help for . And we need to do that sooner also, than later and because you know, there is lots of questions about sustainability about the budge it as you can say its a success it took up and how can udget this . Were trying to educate not Just Congress but staffers. R . Ey never ask what is va fo day . He end of the helping you know . That at some point, people start this questions and why ram were both out of the model. Who is a champion of civil rights wanted to get rid programs. That is not inconceivable that it would stop and ask questions. Ose weve got an audience here the camera there. Question. Ry shawl this is in terms of needs, it rum. Es as a spect people just need to recognize end all in e all, terms of who a person is. And. This is a operate slogan. Down. Ould write that and this is research i was unaware of. And im going to go back and read that. He more education we have, the etter everyone can get on how we. Is had an issue of not going t . St tha d yellow waving an ribbons . Yes. A an article is talking about lot of experiences, employment rate is up and retention rate, a next leaving within the year. The corporation is not prepared wise its hot just pc and on the veterans themselves. Have you to put in hard work during your transition. Have you to research and grow i think people are this perception like there handouts. The data were going to dive in right after this. What do you want people to take way here . Veterans will come into military service with their own background so i dont attribute. N tributablee thing as that were adverse childhood events. People are having different outcomes than others. I think its important. This is hard to put into words. So peel free to visit ai. Com access slides and so research. We encourage that message so eople to invest in their own invested at can with in. We talk about the issues that es. Serious issu great. Much. You so to walk around to be here to see afterwards. In 19