Transcripts For CSPAN2 American Enterprise Institute Discussion On Modernizing The VA 20240714

Lawmakers are working to improve services and programs at the Veterans Affairs department. From the American Enterprise institute, this is one hour and 40 minutes. All right. Lets try to get started here. Good morning. Welcome to aei, and welcome to our program today, the value of our veterans, a conversation with mike levin and bread when strip. Im gary schmitt, im a senior scholar here s in strategic studies at the American Enterprise institute and director of the program on american citizenship. Im going to skip the introduction since were trying to pack in quite a bit in the next two hours, less than two hours. So for those joining us here and or online or watching on cspan, if you want lengthier buyers please go to aeis website and go to the link for the events page and you will see everybodys biographies. So it may begin by just giving a quick overview of the proceedings today. From representative mike levin, the recent 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 he decided to move to d. C. , a patriotic act on his part. He is the chair of the subcommittee on Economic Opportunity with the house of Veterans Affairs committee. Following his remarks 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. We are pleased that the congresswoman can join us again at aei. We appreciate his willingness to come out of our way. After the opening remarks they will join the discussion by moderator and military times reporter, they will then open after the brief remarks and will have the brief question and answer session with a guest here. After that discussion we will switch to a Panel Discussion with Cynthia Gilman of the foundation of military foundation, and my colleague from aei. The focus of that discussion would be what do we need to do to change the narrative 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 to 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 mike and is always introduce yourself and is not always pleased to ask questions. 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 of veterans lives is quite another. Which is why we are delighted to have chairman levin and congressman with us today. They are the bipartisan cosponsors of veterans Opportunity Organization plan. Also known as that all active 2019. A measure that passed in house in late may. Please join me in welcoming them. [applause] good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. We are not voting today as you know, so im grateful to have a free day before i get on the plane. No better way to begin than to talk about the most rewarding aspect so far. This is been the ability to share a subcommittee on house veterans subcommittee dealing with housing homelessness, workforce transition systems and its an Incredible Opportunity particular for freshman, one that is six years everyday. I am honored to have a 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 on, 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 in washington and our work is the best representation of that. Most of the time if you were to turn off the video and listen to the audio in our hearings in the 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 chairman and Ranking Member doctor are doing a terrific job. In my subcommittee, im honored to have a guest to florida and we are built a relationship of respect and appreciation for one another. In built on share in trust and a deep desire that we both have disturbed veterans. Im the grandson of a world war ii veteran. My grandfather on my downside, i think of him all the time. When thinking about how we treat those on many cases sacrificed everything for freedom and security in a keep talking a lot about what it means to be a patriot and serve our 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 immigrant but would often talk about the gaps in Services Provided to veterans. I remember that well, and for me its absolutely unconscionable that we would do Everything Possible to treat her veterans as the heroes is there. And so much more. So, the other thing is, we are actually passing bills. You dont often hear about that. But in our committee, we have considered Something Like 40 meals, we passed over half of them. And roughly about ten of them and theres a couple of them that came from 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 senator couple days ago. Im encouraged that a lot of these can go to the senate line as well. Typically will get past the senate and some of these initiatives actually will pass. If you will entertain me, i would very briefly like to explain these six bills. One is with representative and a very grateful with you leading the way with the act and what it would do is create an administration at the va, its a somewhat controversial plan with the va, everybody else wants it. All the veterans i talked to wanted. What would happen if you would be able to separate the core work for Economic Opportunity, from the benefits administration. Folk rehab, home loan benefits and the transition program. Its outdated, its undermining the benefits that our veterans earned. We have to restructure resources. It would eliminate rather than create more red tape. Everybody i speak with, the veterans who will be impacted, they want this to happen. I hope the va welcome around. It might make things more difficult and shortterm but the longterm, our veterans will have a lot of gains from this restructuring, it will be welcoming overtime. 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 at getting through. We want to improve the tap program. He had a friend who passed away after service in iraq. Hes confident to have this better transition assistance. Its more of a wraparound support system, the opportunity to go on and have a more successful Postal Service career. We have another one on Mental Health access. A bill we are doing to expand the access to vet centers. Clearly the Medical Center are 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. A buildout help fix that. Another con stem cell that would meet the requirements under the g. I. Bill, its what most programs are offering. A lot of these are hopefully noncontroversial. Even in todays washington. You all might know better than i, ive only been here for seven months. What ive seen is the rhetoric seems to be set aside in service of our veterans. It should be that way, i hope its always that way. I have no greater honor than being on the committee. Im very interested in environmental policy. What i didnt expect his service on Veterans Affairs committee would be as rewarding as it is. The accomplishments i would be able to achieve in washington would be the bipartisan bills that we pass in the last seven months. You will hear from representative when strip. Continuing to get your ideas on how we can invest and serve our veterans. [applause] thank you. Thank you all for being here this morning. Its a pleasure to be here. Especially this particular topic. You are right when you talk about the va committee. I would share this, the va committee is probably the Top Committee when it comes to bipartisanship. I got a reporter at one time Say Something about that and i said how many members of congress can you name. Theres only about ten. Its pretty much the people you see every evening on cable. What you think the rest of us are doing . The va committee is a place where you get a lot of things done. I look back on the forever g. I. Bill. The mission act was cosponsored by every member. I dont think theres too many times you consider. That was a big bill. It was always a pleasure to walk into the va committee room. You know you will have good conversation that is very serious and professional. This particular bill that i backed was very important to me in so many ways for a lot of reasons. It focuses on that transition. To civilian life. The opportunities that exist economically. The six years i served on armed services, im a veteran, i served a year in iraq, zero fivn there. When i came back, as a reservist, they said you dont have to go back to work for 90 days. I said, im going next week. I wont say around my house. I think that is important. I had a medical practice to go back to you. Not everybody has that luxury. I was 47 years old. For some people, they are 21 or 22 and havent had something established overtime. You started things about what you go through during that time, it is very odd. Rest of the country is just going about their business. Theres gas at the pump, food at the store and no one knows what you just went through. If you dont have somewhere to go in something to do, its very different. There was a book called the american soldier and mostly about how they get together and do missions and pray, there is one passage that caught me. So getting ready to come home, he had been in iraq for a year. There was a Baghdad Airport and he begins to crack. I said where you crying . He said i dont think we will be able to do as much for other people. I will be bored and it will seem mundane. I think that is very true in so many ways. Why is this important . That was more like, youre getting out, heres your benefits. Then well see you later. To me, its much more important to go further back. Think about what the va has had to do. It had to be reactive to conditions or problems you have had. I think a lot of those come from the fact that you were part of something big. Part of something you were needed every day. You were essential. If you dont have somewhere to go when you come back, it is very challenging. Stress is very real. If youve been in the environment and see what we see it hasnt affected you in some way, 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. Went from being so essential and needed and then you come back and have nothing. Its important that you have a plan. Within the va, a great opportunity to make sure we are really focusing on opportunity for veterans, not only when they first get out but beyond that. But they continue to have opportunities. For transition assistance, or to go back further. I want to see more you get recruited, your young thinking about joining, the recruiter says, what you want to do in the military . I want to be a marine. Army, infantry. Heres what that 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 are in 44424 years, lets talk about that. Your two heres out, a professional saying your path in the military, if you stay in and here is a path otherwise. If you graduate college and you get your degree can you dont have a job wind up, thats not a great 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, the va being reactive, most suicides we hear about, happen in uniform. They happen later. I think its because of that situation if you have nowhere to go and no one to understand what youve been through. Wake up everyday with a purpose. It makes a difference. Thats what you have in uniform. All of these things are so very important as we move forward and try to pass legislation. The army, we say soldier for life. Lets mean it. We will be with you and we will help you. Imagine a parent sitting there who hears 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. Thats where we are going. Jodi has picked up that ball and run with it as well with you. I think it is important. Lets break the stigma. I was in an event with Major League Baseball owners and george bush showed up unexpectedly. He said what are you doing in town . Im here to work with veterans. Help the veterans with transitioning, happen figure out how to put a resume together and apply for a job. When they asked for qualification and skills, you cant just for sniper. You got to say, i Pay Attention to detail, i show up for work on time and you can count on me. There are so many people trying to help with the transition. We need to do our job and do all we can. I also met a veteran one time who lost both legs and was in a band, playing guitar. I began talking to him, this was a military event. He said you know, i am not a wounded warrior, i am still a warrior. I think we should look at all of those. I think most dont your pity, they want you to appreciate what youve done want you to know they are still in the game. Thank you all for being here this morning. [applause] thank you both so much. You and traffic. Not just with the outback but the overall thought of how benefits are delivered at the va. You and i were on this stage, you were talking about this same bill, 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 collaborative . This idea of not just sending out checks but working with veterans to personalize it . I do. Its helping another human being and working with human beings and i think we were seeing tht more and more. Its, the culture is improving in that regard. Maybe its always been but i think as long as ive been in congress as far as the v. A. Committee, thats been the feeling. I agree. My Health Centers in my district, i think the team is doing a fantastic job at the local veterans that i speak with our getting extremely high quality care. Looking holistically at the whole person and their needs. I think the challenge we face in san diego is there are too many who are falling through the cracks who are eligible for services but are not getting the services, who for many reasons that happens. We have an issue as im sure you know with a veteran homelessness in our area. Theres roughly 1300 or so Homeless Veterans throughout the greater san diego area. My hope is in time a lot of hard work and great people around the community we can dramatically reduce that number, but too many are falling through the cracks and you have a lot of folks with discharges other than honorable discharges or not this is owed taken advantage of any services. They are only eligible for certain services. Some of myno colleagues, i know scott peters my colleague scott peters has a couple of bills that would expand some of the Housing Services that are eligible for bash voucher program, but weve got to do all we can to make sure people are not falling through the cracks that anybody is getting the services they need. Have a huge problem with addiction and opioids, not jut in the veteran community but throughout our population to grab a big problem with homelessness, not just the veteran community but throughout the population. Everything i have seen the v. A. Both locally and the folks here secretary wilkie and others ive spoken with are doingo everythig they can to address the problems that exist but weve just got to stay on it. We cant let upp at all. Weve got to, i think that that act is a a great way to focus d target resources that exist to make sure theyre being used most effectively, cut through red tape and actually serve the veteran the best way possible sort that was going to be my next question. If youre seeing doesnt prove its and it will sink veterans unemployment reaching historic lows, do we need to worry about this . Is this just aue matter of the system function on its own and maybe this programs are doing fine . Well, there are two component of it. What were trying to do on one front is be prevented. When you talk about homelessness, and how do we get the new veteran as they are leaving servicew to immediately not drift towards homelessness, right . Thats what you do, talk about trying to do unfriended. But the same time theres a lot of catching up to do with those that have been out there for a while not knowing where to turn. We always appreciate, im sure you do, too, when somebody calls your office, because they are looking for guidance sometimes but theres also something that you and you said in the community, and thats a big part of it, too. It has been so wonderful to see how many private citizens or private groups havew popped up o try and be there. In cincinnati we have, its private, tristate veteran center, and veterans can show up and get engaged with anything, talk about the benefits, have assistance with maybe something at the hospital, work towards employment. The v. A. Cannot necessarily be a headhunter for everybody, but the centers are. And those are things that were seeing take place that didnt exist before. And so i think hopefully the next generation will find themselves in a better position than say previous generations. I would just add we have a veteran weve got a huge number of marines and the type of folks from the navy and others that, serve in our great weather and to want to come back. So are greater san diego region according to secretary wilkie with within the next decade was the most veterans of anywhere in the United States. Its important to be we have a veteran on staff dealing with veteran constituent casework. What ive learned throughnd 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. Own bureaucracy can get in its own way. So the idea here is that you create a Fourth Administration, you target those resources on things like housing homelessness, workforce of him, transition assistance and all the rest and you are better able to have a clear set of targets, standards and then implement those. One area that is particularly problematic, the overall rate of veteran homelessness has remained roughly steady, which is not c good, but the rate of Women Veteran homelessness is going up dramatically in certain places. That is a real challenge, something we really have to look at. The other thing i will say is that the amazing 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. Great example in our t region is the veteran standdown. We have two, the main single standdown and the north county standdown for those who on the brink of homelessness or who are almost come forward to get those Wraparound Services from a wide variety of organizations. Thats being done because these people are falling through the cracks. They need a nonprofit. The same with we have a similar Veterans 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 a great jobt the v. A. , people are doing a great job locally and nationally. I think we can always do better and sometimes the system can get in the wake of effectiveness and thats what i think were trying to address. You said earlier you spoken to senator tester. I checked with committee, 24 bill so far. How many think you can get through the senate . Are younk optimistic . We have seen this stall before, not for any reason other than some v. A. Opposition and some institutional just locking up. I hope that we can get a good number of them that are not as controversial, you know, hotline or passed through unanimous consent. They obviously have own process over there, and i know senator tester and t Johnny Isakson hada really great working relationship. My hope is this really does get on the radar because weve already seen that are things we can get done. Blue water navye act, a great example of something that many years in the making democrats and republicans came together, great leadership from chairman takano and ranking y member row and then the folks in the Senate Getting it over the light and signed into law by the president. That would be a huge deal for Vietnam Veterans whove been out of the loop when it comes to the benefits that the rightfully deserve. Just one example and will have more Success Stories and help the needy will cover it. I hope that the narrative isnt just its dysfunctional, nothing happens in washington but rather that there are a lot of disagreements, also some very big agreements as well and they things we are getting done, specifically for evidence and for our military families as well. Great. Weve we fully cut these childrr a few more minutes. I did promise ie would open it p to audience questions. Just wait for the microphone and please introduce m yourself. One thing i want to sue a a quick. I want to thank the Committee Staff, my personal stuff for you guys are doing great job, working together. Partisanship has nothing to do with it. Just trying to be effective and working for our veterans is what drives them, and i thank them for their work. [applause] my name is logan, and other question about the that act. I think both i thank both you cant pigeon forge are doing in the end of the committee assignments. The vet op act sounds like civil rights by another name. You talked about their housing, access to quality education, employment but justice for gis come for substantive voters is often a hodgepodge of poorly enforced and largely unknown federal statutes that need some more attention. Im thinking a a special of the soldiers amendment underta the hate crimes prevention act of 2009 past tene years ago as well as thet department of labor overseas but resides within title 38 of the u. S. Code. Before any Fourth Administration stands up, my question, first, the first ghost you congressman levin and the second to both. Before any Fourth Administration stands up under the vet op 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 the provides that do exist for soldiers and veterans . Secondly, would either do or both of you be willing to sign letters, open letters to federal Agencies Holding them to account for the civil rights laws for soldiers and veterans that are not enforcing . Well, i want to thank you for your service and for asking that. Id be happy to work with our Committee Staff and talk about the hearing scheduled that we have coming up. I know we have an august field hearing at and finisher will py more opportunities throughout the session and i be happy to work with you and some are in or is a woman so my personal office. There she is in the back. I dont think is here from hvac who kind of helps manage the calendar but we would be happy to speak with you about that because its an important concern and ensure that you would love having a hearing on implementation of the vet op act. The second question, id be happy to w look at that, and if you could circle up with faith before we go this morning i be happy to follow up. And thanks for your service and thanks for your advocacy. Thats the important thing. The jobs that we sit in, its a matter of hearing back from people and taking appropriate action aced on whats going on. Part of the idea, its not adding more people. Its 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. Everyone to bring more attention to this particular area of benefits that are out there for veterans and make sure theyre getting it because we think its such aat high priority. Actually thats what the time to do is to prioritize. I think that would fall in line with what you are asking and concerned about as far as those rights and benefits. If we were how the fourth emaciation these are the topics that potential potentially thaw administration could be focusing on, maybe not on the legislative side but we talking about heres other ideas, other approaches to these topics that just are getting pushed by the wayside by all the demand on vba right now. It would give greater attention and greater followup. Exactly right, thats the idea. I think we have time for one more, if there is anyone else. If not, i can catch you guys lose a couple minutes early and let you get back home. Appreciate it. Appreciate the time here. Thank you so much and will be interested to see when you come back in september if you can push this through, unless you put something that it might make it to the senate next week. I have no idea what the senate will do, but maybe some and this realm are clairvoyant and can tell us but i do know that senator tester is deeply committed, personally committed these issues and im sure the same goes for senator isakson. I think if anything can get done, were going to get it done. Great. Im goinge. To ask everyone to stay seated while the congressman get out of here and while we reset the stage for our next panel. I wanted to give you guys one more round of applause. Thank you so much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] so we have a lot to process their from what the congressman said, and you and i as a reference have always talked about this on the stage and, unfortunately, youre still talking about it because it hasnt advanced too much. Let me introduce the panel very quickly. Going to ask you all to talk about a little bit about the work youre doing and how that connects to this in the moment, but to my site here i have rory rileytopping, founder of rileytopping consulting and former staff director. Mike hutchings, she stillll the officer. Cynthia gilman Senior Vice President to the henry m. Jackson foundation, and Rebecca Burgess with aei. Rebecca, let me start with you because when were talking about this vet op act and talking about look the care benefits we talking about a very different way of thinking about what v8 delivers, what the a provides to veterans. Shifting from that idea of sending checks after making the chicks get on time to a more proactive, a more detailed cooperation with the veteran on some of those economic opopportunity goals, so look, youve been working on this for a while. Are we getting any better . The congressman said they think v. A. Is getting more personalized, v8 is starting to step into this role more. Do you agree . Its trying very hard, rig . It gets an a on effort, unkindest efforts. It always has but where we really lacking is the intelligent kindness aspect of this, which is v. A. Is so structured in a way that is centered around disability and the idea that a veteran is the recipient. Its been this way since before 1930, so this week, in 1930, Herbert Hoover sat down and said this is a crazy system. With all these disability benefits and things are services for veterans that are being served to various different agencies. Lets bring them all together under one agency where we can get some accountability for this. And guess what, by 1989 when president reagan 80 80 cabinet agency, the same discussion was happening about this being too much of an amalgamation of different programs that were being taken care by different people. When senator glenn, talking about the moon landing this week and helped push that to, the idea was still about how do we get benefits to that trend . How do we have some accountability for it . But no one in the entire almost 100 years ever asked what is the end goal of our care and the services the federal government gives to veterans . Were so asking the same question, and on that score v. A. Has not done a good job of thinking through the longterm of what is the end goal of what we are t trying to do. Is it simply deliver services for veterans or is it let veterans be in the driver seat of their own successful careers and lives as civilians after this . Youve done quite a bit of work with veterans benefit issues,s . Especially appeals issues. Our with that idea now . Is it just send out the check, deny the check and not think about the concept behind why we are reimbursing these veterans, why were trying to, why we wee sending this money out . Theres a couple things that interrelate to what rebecca just said in terms of, you asked about you on this date a year ago, what kind of progress had been made, was the cooperation from v. A. . I always make the analogy tradition review for veterans which we did not have for 200 years. The first review act was introduced in 1976 and it was in past until, when va became a Cabinet Department in 1998. These initiative, particularly thinks that of all significant policy shifts, often take more time i think that a lot of us would like to see. But back to the point about just getting disability checks, statutorily our disability compensation loss for veterans are designed to make up for the average impairment in earnings capacity. Or and when our ratings disabilities codes were written, most of them were written in 1945. And so we had a very different economy. What impacted your ability to work in orthopedic disability, for example, had a much greater impact on ones ability to work when we were all larger a query in economy. Where as the inverse is today where it gets Something Like a child discipline or tbi, thats kind of a much good in fact, on your average earnings capacity today. Dva has been working to update all of the rating systems, that process has taken a lot longer that i think a lot of people want to see but you see that interrelation with altima we want to make veterans hall. Big picture, just giving them aa check in and of itself isnt always whats going to make someone whole. We need to emphasize these other programs. I mean, itsll interesting because you need to update those ratings and make sure you are reflecting, but are your support programs also reflecting the changes will . If youre saying tbi is more significant in todays economy, are you thenms look at what Additional Services you need to get those folks to the employment they may want or they may need . I think youre right, and so i think the issue is yes, people are looking at them but the need to do more than just look at them. One of l a the phrases that we r a lot is when we have these conversations, people often admire a problem, and instead of just admiring the problem and saying yes, you know, we should do more, its, we talk about accountability. What does that look like . Its a great buzzword but since the v. A. Has been in existence no one has been able to nail down and implement that. In order to provide access to social services and resources to veterans in a fast and efficient manner. We accomplish that in four different waysment we have a coworking, collaborative shared facility in houston, texas, 56 nonprofit and government agents all Work Together to provide services to veterans and this causes what we call intentional collaborative collision. As theyre dealing with veteran intakes, and as veterans are getting connect today services, you can pop over a cubical and say i have this service, can you provide this service, can you work with them . Its quick for lateral and get veterans connected quickly. The second thing is an integrated technology system. We utilize sales force, the number within crm in the world and allows us to have lateral transfers and custom back end systems to make sure were capturing the data and resources that they need and then the third thing that we have is upstream marketing and really, what were trying to do there is to work with the bases and the communities around texas to ensure that no veteran falls through the cracks. That we can get them before they transition from the service and wrap our arms around them and get them in the combined system. And the fourth thing, Community Engagement. Once veterans transition from the service they go into the combined system and they have employment and working and have a great house, in the texas community. The next thing that we do in order to connect them to their community and their tribe again is we have all of these Different Community levels so we have affinity groups and then we have Community Leaders and through our affinity groups we have everything you can think of. Christian veterans network. Eagle scouts veterans network. Veterans in energy. Veterans in technology and everything under the sun we have, and they hold the events in the year and through the houston communities. Weve served 5,000 veterans and of the 5,000 veterans weve connected 17,000 research, resource referral connections. So that means on average when a veteran is transitioning, theyre looking for three Different Services and through the combined arms, all working together nonprofit and government agencies, we can fill the gaps and connect them to those services and additional. They require all organizations to respond to that veteran in 96 hours or less. So they can show up in houston or intake survey on combined arms and 96 hours or less, we track everything and hold those organizations accountable to make sure that the veterans get the resources that they need. And talking about the foundation. The foundation for the advanced military medicine was authorized by congress about 36 years ago to serve at the intersection of military and civilian medicine and medical research. While we support about 800ish programs, Research Programs globally at any given time, we also look for opportunities to fill gaps that exist and about eight years ago, we saw big gaps and that was that we had Many Service Members leaving active duty service transitioning home with billions of dollars being spent to assist in that transition experience with absolutely no data to guide us in terms of who needed what services and what services did and didnt actually work. So, they took that on. We facilitate add publicprivate Research Project and worked very closely with the va and academia and the private sector to launch what is a study thats still ongoing, its called the Veterans Metrics Initiative study and its looking exactly at that question. Who Needs Services and the services that can be provided by both the public the adod predominantly, and the private sectors, what actually moves the needle and we have just completed the sixth of our sixth planned waves of data collection. We were able to recruit a very large cohort and we reached across all services to include guard and reserve, inviting them to participate in this study. Because it was privately funded predominantly, were able to incentivize folks to stay with us every step of the way and, in fact, we had so many people wanting to come back after wave after wave, that we found ourselves having to close our waves down early and thats kind of an unprecedented problem to have in the longitudinal business. So we have just completed our threeyear look at that transition experience. We are collecting data from the same cohort every six months with the 50,000 who we invited, about 9600 participated. And so we are in the process of continuing to look at, examine, speak about and publish on the findings that we are getting. I want to ask you a little more about the findings in a minute, but i want to ask both of you, and im trig to think of how to phrase this so i dont get myself in trouble. Why, why do we need your organizations . Shouldnt arent these things the va and dod should be doing . These i mean, where were 18 years into the current wars, this is not a new problem. Weve had veterans coming back and weve had the transition issues. Why are we still seeing these gaps here . So what i would say is we were absolutely billed its built by veterans and run by veterans and the idea came over, a couple of guys drinking a beer one night and saying all of these guys, all of these gaps in services and organizations arent moving fast enough. We have got the veterans need services well get together and be the Backbone Organization and thats what we did. Where my concerns lie is the flexibility and speed of the organizations to maintain this longterm. We have 56 member organizations so 56 different organizations working together and were working all the time. So, i have concerns that the va would be able to handle something. I mean, 1. 6 million veterans in texas, 300,000 in houston, coming in and out of our door every day and were working almost 24 7 and i have concerns on a larger level and sustainable level of the ability to provide services to veterans. And youre partnering with va on some of the research. So its not completely like theyve ignored this, but, i mean, why cant why does an outside force have to be pushing va to do this or to be looking at these things . So a Service Member spends time on active duty and its within the dod system. He or she gets out and is eligible for va benefits. The one universal truth though is people do not go home to federal agencies, they go home to communities. So we wanted to take a look at the transition experience across the board, and i think the dod does a fantastic job looking within the purview of the dod, the va does the same, but we wanted to bring all parties together. And i why did somebody else not do it . I dont know. Were just really happy that we were able to and that we got the support that we did across the board to be able to do this work. One of the things with all of these transition programs and elevating them that comes up and you and i have talked about this a couple of times, this idea of trying to balance the narrative of the probing broken veteran who comes back with the reality of folks who may need assistance, but arent, arent a mess. Arent somebody who is on the brink of homelessness and breakdowns and the stereotypes that we see out there. So, is there i dont want to say a concern, but how do you balance, you know, elevating these programs, making this information more available with that idea of perpetuating the narrative . Rebecca, why dont you start . Weve talked about this. I think you start by thinking the veteran has a life after service that involves being a fully functioning member of society and the highest they reach in military service is nothing compared to the highs they reached afterwards and gives awe very different perspective about how you think about their health. You start thinking about whole Health Models and that is what kind of helps you see that they might have particular issues, problems, challenges at the moment and you have to ask yourself, which ones of these are permanent and which one of these are for a moment that can be healed and that we can move forward . So va still has no, no measures in place, no mechanisms in place that ask, require, or even kind of suggest that maybe getting some health and Mental Health assistance should be not just promised, but should be with a have you towards healing, that maybe you should be seeking improvement. It has no mechanisms in place for that which tells you its not about improving yourself, its just about maintenance of you at a particular level. And then you have to ask, what is that particular level . Is it simply receiving a text that tells you that you, in the eyes of the federal agency, are worth x amount of dollars, which is is not a way to live . That doesnt give you an identity that actually gives you the motivation and the purpose towards a successful life, which we know from so much data, not just around veterans, but about societies and individuals is that that sense of identity is the thing that actually motivates you, gives you the purpose to have a fully functional place. And its is that a metric that you can get to . If a check arrives and easy to cash, i guess for anyone, how can you quantify that . How can you find a way to say ive improved my quality of life by 10 . You know, ive been able to transition 30 faster than i would have without this program . Are there ways to get and i guess, cynthia maybe with the veterans initiative, you can talk to what youve collected and what youve seen so far on that . So there are three aims to the study. The first is lets track wellbeing and wellbeing changes over time with the population and we looked at four doe mains of wellbeing. So we looked at their health, which is physical and emotional. Theyre financial, their vocation, which is employment and education and their social relationships. In order to track that we developed a wellbeing instrument that was done by our va Research Team up in government. Took them about a year, but they did create a wellbeing instrument thats been validated and it was applied at each of the six ways that we reached out to our folks and we took a very holistic approach. We wanted to know, so lets take employment. Do you have a job . If you have a job, how are you functioning in your job . Are you excelling or getting in trouble . And how satisfied are you with your job . So in each of our doe mains were tracking that over time. Were also asking the folks to tell us what programs and services theyre using to assist them, if any, in the transition experience and what we then do is look at what are the components of all of these thousands of programs that are being reported and they can be publicly provided programs or private, and were breaking these programs into their component parts. Thats our second aim so we can accomplish the third aim, which is to look at what are the components of the different programs that are moving the needle on wellbeing outcomes. If we want to look at employment. We look at what are the components of employment programs. Resume writing. What we find, those who do participate in programs where resume writing is a component of the program, that is a very strong predictor of veterans getting jobs on subsequent ways of the survey. So thats the kind of analytical way that were trying to look at how are folks doing, and we have general findings on that as well, and, yeah. So how is that data being used right now . Are you sharing that with va . Are they acting on it or is it a report on a shelf thats collecting dust . Gosh, i hope not. Thats way too much to let dust collect. Its a fabulous question and we appreciate it. Were facilitating research. Hjs is not a think tank organization. We are not lobbyists. Our goal and part of the reason for being here and our president and ceo, dr. Csravala is is here and the study, all of the findings are on our website and we hope that others in the room can take it and run another way. And youre saying i have write another white paper about this one. You can. I just want to pick up a reference about your studies sitting on the shelves and collecting dust. Theres one from 2007, if you remember in the wake of walter reed, we did two separate studies about disability benefits and that was an issue that came up was in other countries theres more of an emphasis on quality of life and there was some conversation, so i would encourage everyone to dust off their 2007 Commission Reports and go back and look at those, about how do you account for quality of life . They did a lot of analogies between the Australian Government where that plays a greater factor in how they handle veterans benefits, and one of the other things that that Commission Report brought up was the fact that theres no emphasis on rehabilitation in our current disability system which transitions into why people are advocating for this Fourth Administration. And ultimately, you shouldnt just there are certain disabilities that, i mean, if youre an amputee, your leg is not going to grow back. That is what it is. But you know, with ptsd, for example, theres a lot of literature thats out there that you can get treatment and overcome a lot of the symptoms that you may experience in the immediate sense and it becomes manageable and much less disabling. Unfortunately, a lot of times, because we have this culture that weve been discussing about victimhood and disability benefits that were not focused on how to get better. Its just once youre labeled as being disabled, youre almost stuck there and thats one of the things that i think we also need to get away from. So youve seen the inner workings of va and the inner workings of congress, you know, giving oversight there. If the administration was stood up in 2008, 2007, do you think that report gets more attention and focus on that or is it just institutional malaise . Is it, you know, can we really expect in another layer of bureaucracy, even if its not adding more people, to be thinking in a whole different way here . So, i know this is often one of the criticisms that comes out of Commission Reports and that one included, is that people make recommendations that are that recommend lots of substantive change and the government doesnt love substantive change. So when that happens, people talk about these recommendations and then often times, nothing happens or we see very small pieces of reform. So had we had this conversation in 20072008, i mean, i remember being on the hill, we had a followup conversation in 2012, and it had been five years and just looking back at what have we done, what have we not done . And we hadnt done a whole lot. So even if this had been on the table, i dont a, i dont know that it would have made its way into law, and two, just to your second point about bureaucracy, i think this gets to rebeccas earlier point of what weve reorganized the d. A. A lot through the years and weve had limited success with that, too. So, you know, i was having a conversation with a colleague recently about, you know, maybe we have to have a deep dive into, you know, what are these programs . Do they make sense . In the Previous Panel the congressman alluded to a lot of the programs are disjointed and is there political will to do that deep dive and reorganization and despite all of the bipartisanship, i dont know there is ultimately, so youre at the front line of these joint programs and resources, the veterans that come to you guys, do they have a sense of the scope of whats available . Or is there a lot of just basic education work that you have to do to just let folks no, hey, resume writing and resources, benefits, whatever, its out here and you just dont know about it . Absolutely, theres a basic education component of it and i think theres a gap in dod policy, actually, with the transition. The way that, you know, a person leaves his community. They enter into the service, they go to three, five, whatever duty stations over there, time and service, all over the country, sometimes all over the world and they go overseas to iraq, afghanistan, and then they come back and they decide to leave the service and theyre going through Transition Assistance Program and then basically, for the most part, going back to the communities that they left from. So theres this major gap in the expectation that theyre going to travel, you know, leave these duty stations and then reform kind of these new habits and then immediately adjust to civilian life. These habits that they are muscle memory over the years. So i think we need to reframe that and i love the congressmans point, great to have you, what branch do you want to be in . And what do you want to after service . That needs to be talked about the entire time of the Service Members career and they need to be prepared for the transition well in advance and i believe its the point of the communities to welcome the veterans back in with open arms. That community should embrace the veterans and there should be a lot more Community Engagement so thats a lot of what were trying to do with combined arms. Kind of the third thing is, were actually working with the va right now and we just trained 15 va cast managers in houston to start utilizing our system. So the va when they get people they cant provide the resources for, they utilize our technology to refer those veterans to us and we expect them to one of the other 55 member organizations. And just jumping back in the question i asked earlier. When folks are taking advantage of those resources and the eyed of the broken veteran, if i have to ask for help, maybe its all can you describe just what kind of services these are . This is not this is not the full range of disability benefits and thousand dollar checks that i need to survive. Were talking about everything, between the 56 member organizations there are 400 services, 400 resources that we can provide. Education benefits, housing employment. Employment for mill spouses, we help with special visas, intermenters and translators to help them come back to the United States. And these are through the member organizations and covers all type of discourage. Other than honorable discharges, we have some out of the 56 that someone can help you out. Thats the jegenius of the collaborative organization. If an organization cannot handle it on its own, which its shown it cannot, it should collaborate with organizations that are more agile and move to provide services to the veterans. If there are these community outrae outrae outreach i guess im going back to the va, a for effort here. And bureaucracy for thinking this way, should the goal just be to set up that safety net and then find Community Organizations and call it a day. Is it realistic for a behemoth like the va to get the checks out on time, getting the disability checks out on time . I think absolutely. The point its funded by taxpayer dollars and at the end of the day, the va remains our most recognizable service, so its going to automatically kind of set the tone for the narrative how the public thinks about veterans. I think they have that responsibility not only to care for physical bodies, but reputations and set up the narrative. Who are our veterans and where are they at and what do they need . And i say that the veterans are a part of National Military service, how we treat them and talk about them directly influences who is going to think of actually joining on the front end. And so whether that happens within va, i think that discussion should be happening within va, but it should be a concern between legislators and perhaps administrations of stepping back, once again, and saying what is it . What is it that were asking them to do . Is it possible what were expecting them to do . If not, whats the core of that, that drive. Were at a wonderful moment to do that because frankly, the demographics within the veteran population are going to change incredibly rapidly and that will force a change in how we go about giving those services and we should do it now and do it on the front end of this, rather than our traditional methods of putting bandaids on scandals that happened yesterday. Im going to open it to the crowd in just a minute. Whoever has the mic to get those ready. Before we get to that, the congressman said not enough folks are paying attention to this issue and not enough folks are on this issue, ive got to get him more copies of that paper because were writing that issue. This has not been the predominant of the health care and va. Its the choice act and the mission, im wondering if each of you could talk and well start with you. How do you feel like there is attention on this and how do you derive more attention to these issues which affect Everything Else . If youve got the employment transition issues down better youre going to see health issues, youre going to see suicide issues become easier to deal with, i shouldnt say easy to deal with, but its going to have that secondary effect. So, how do you refocus there . So, i think you refocus by showing all of these things are interrelated and i write a lot about the social determinants of health the last panel that we didment and if you focus on things like employment, housing, they have an impact on your health outcomes. And if you are happy at home, you have a home, youre employed. Youre less likely to have greater impacten our physical health, youre less likely to be suicidal. So i think we need to, rather than just focusing on all of these things in a vacuum, we need to shift that narrative to show that theyre interrelated and for all of these programs, we always talk about how much they cost. And if we have this focus on returning people to a healthy place because, again, we have all of these things that fit together. Theyre employed. Theyre healthier, then that actually drives down some of our Health Care Costs in the long run. Really bad at doing that part. Super bad at it, yeah. But were going to get better. Do you feel like, you know, all the work youre doing here, are there days that you walk in and you say, why is no one paying attention to this . Why are we not. Well, you know, ill get to that. Thats the specific part of the question. The way we need to think about it, we need it reframe it as citizen is the next branch of service at all levels, thats kind of how we need to think about it so theres some mission and some purpose behind it. Everything you were just talking about, is getting a veteran good employment, good housing, thats the combined arms model is all set up to do that and thats what were trying to do is once you connect veterans to social services in a rapid and efficient manner and provide those services, these veterans go on in the community and absolutely thrive. Theyre all Success Stories. We have 5,000 Success Stories from these veterans and we just need to continue to provide these services and we need to continue to partner with great organizations out there to amplify this message. Okay. Veterans are not one size fit all. And one of the clear take aways that is emerging from this study is that the majority of folks who leave service and transition into civilian life do fine. And what we are also starting to see is that there is there are folks that we can predict who probably will not do fine and we are seeing that people present their likely outcome at baseline. And so, if we can take the research thats being done, and it is being done by scientists who write scientific papers, but were also taking these papers and putting them into graphics, because we have to make sure that they dont just sit on the shelf. We want the va. We want the dod to take this wellbeing instrument and give it to the transitioning folks during the program, if not before, but at least then. And say, this individual likely is going to be fine. We dont have to worry too much, but this one, and we can sort of tick off what the factors were looking for, are going to send up red flags and start doing interventions targeted to that individual before they leave service and then follow them on and we hope, we havent done this part of the study, but we hope to be able to reverse some of those negative jut comes by doing these sorts of targeted interventions. Okay. Rebecca, i know you read plenty in military time and you see coverage on these issues, again, that issue that this is not the number one narrative, this is not the number one legislative priority. Youve been working on this for a couple of years, sort of screaming in senators faces over the next few months, how are you going to im not saying that you wont do that, how do you elevate this issue . I think one of the ways of what were doing right now here. Its something this think tanks can do. We can elevate conversations and give voice to conversations and make sure they get to places and communities that dont think about these often. The veteran community often talks to itself and the other part of the work i do is with Civic Education. The Civic Education is great at talking to itself. And wondering why the questions dont get left from others outside of it. The themes and issues and things that veterans face, are things that multiple veterans face. Weve got skills gaps and questions about education and health care through all levels of the society. Sometimes there might be solutions outside of this community, but sometimes the people outside of this Community Think this is so special and cordoned off cant get anything to it. Part of what ai is doing in this space is to try and make sure that people understand make sure this conversation is a general conversation, a public conversation that we should all be a part of. At the end of the day theyre social aspects. Theyre better, healthier, wealthier, happier, maybe. And in the end to their nonveteran peers, should be the story were telling. Theres something i wanted to mention, ever since the g. I. Bill happened in the 1940s in the wake of world war ii and in the 70s we went to an all volunteer force, among the top two reasons why people say they want to join the military out of patriotic wanting to serve our nation or for education benefits. Our va side of the equation has never actually never acknowledged that aspect of the were look at what are your basket of injuries, then well tell you who and what you are. Its never said wow, you want education through your service. Lets talk about how the g. I. Bill is the key to the door of employment, which is the pathway to your success. And if we could think about it that way, if va would think about it that way, it could be incentivizing its own self to help veterans in that way. Ive had the panel to myself for a while, is there any questions from out here . Yes, sir. Joe cooperssmith from georgetown university, the director of veterans initiatives and also professor of medicine. And i want to you mentioned the public image of veterans as damaged and that it hurts them, yet, if you look at data, veterans do pretty well. Their employment is good. They do well at the jobs they have. In education they actually do better than others. So how do you get that image to the public and at the same time, not the worry is that if you get too much of that image to the public, people wont be concerned about benefits anymore. So how do you balance those two things and get a better image of veterans in the public, which, at present, isnt there, and really, how it hurts them . This is a major struggle. For me, as somebody who writes about va and writes about veterans. Theres a lot of Holding Va Accountable and worrying that youre per perpetuating the stereo type. So please tell me how i do my job. This goes to the point that cynthia made earlier, veterans are not one size fits all and i wrote about this recently as well. In that i was watching an hvac hearing and veterans want, veterans want. What veterans are they talking about . Theres just so many different types of veterans and i think in the same way that we have a narrative generally that were not supposed to stereo type people based on other characteristics, we should not stereo type them based on their veteran status, either. So i mean, obviously, this is a conversation that we need to continue to have because like you acknowledged, that balance is really important and i dont know that weve figured it out yet, you know. I had that conversation with the secretary a couple months ago about being on on the time that they were talking about a lot of the vietnam programs and the irony when it was created it was put in the hands of Alan Cranston who ran on an antiwar platform and politically, it was he want today present veterans as victims because he was antivietnam and that furthered his narrative that war was bad. And so a lot of these programs, at least more recently, stem from that dynamic. So i think as we try to strike that balance, again, we have to not politicize a lot of veterans issues, and i think we also just continue to have to acknowledge the diversity and again, that this just is not a one size fits all. Is that something that the administration can help with . Is that something if theyre some of this is just pr, but if theyre promoting the Success Stories theyre talking about, some of the other advantages and again, this is someone looking for help writing a resume because we know the skills they have. Does that help shift the perspective . I think from a perception standpoint it potentially does. Another point that rebecca just made, a lot of people go to service for patriotic duty and education benefits and some of those veterans i think are reluctant to seek help from the va subsequently because they think, oh, well, im not disabled and why want people to associate me in that way, but if they had more of a distinct program that they could go to at the va and identify with, that might be more helpful in having some of these more successful veterans that often times are know the driving media narratives, have an association with va and also take that back to their communities. So when theyre talking about their service and their involvement with the va, theyre telling positive stories, not just necessarily stories about how unhappy they are because they couldnt get an appointment. Talk about how were doing. And making me squirm here with the media coverage. Sure, i can speak specifically from a nonprofit standpoint in terms of telling Success Stories, right . So you have a lot of these nonprofits, theres a lot of veterans serving nonprofits out there. A lot of them doing great work and great impact and outcomes and a lot that dont as well. They would be extremely concerned. Thats the reality of the situation. They would be extremely concerned in telling Success Stories because there goes their funding. Like the donations would stop. And foundations would stop giving and so thats like a genuine concern for a good portion of the nonprofit industry. I feel like this is where, when youve got that data youll be able to just hold this up and people say, no, here is what were seeing. Here is the actual picture of folks who are transitioning successfully, but needed this amount of help. This is what were seeing with increased quality of life. Is that part of the collection here . So thats what we asked others to help us do. Come to us and ask to see our findings, and help us amplify that message. We have a lot of funders who are supporting this effort, very large corporations and weve said to them, bring in your communications people. Help us get the word out, and its not happening. And so were a little concerned about that because now we have real live findings and data that we think can help drive not only the interventions i talked about earlier, to help individual veterans as theyre getting out, but also, if youre a funder and you want to know what program you should be funding because of what programs are built on components that are actually working versus not. If you are a veteran wanting to avail himself or herself of a program that is shown to be successful, we want that word to get out as well. We would love the help of the media and you know, i dont know. Are good news stories, if the plane landing on time safely exciting. Youre going to get my card after this. Weve got a lot of things to talk about. Rebecca, you want to weigh in on this . Youre doing a i get that a lot. I read multitimes and task and purpose and occasionally another guy ben kesslinger from the wall street journal. Lets not give too much to the competition. If i want to know whats going on in veteran land. But if the public know theres a wait list story at vfrment va, if you ask your standard well educated yale person, they would not be able to tell there are three different administrations in it. They dont know that. Maybe they know its a health care system, maybe not. I dont know. And so, our media, right, is not welldwalted or perhaps interested in educating themselves about these issues that they are issues and i can part of that goes towards coming back to the kindness thing, is that americans have never ever not wanted to help veterans, right . So its an incredibly emotionally fraught area which makes it difficult to talk about in terms of real policy. If seems if youre ever pushing back on something, it sounds like youre taking away, youre denying the service and sacrifices of those who have done it, but it is a real policy area and if we started, those of us in the academic and science communities and Research Communities actually started talking about these things as though theyre serious policy issues, i think that then health media and those who are covering the policy issues realize that these are policy issues, theyre not simply matters of the heart, that we want to put, you know, a dog in a veteran, we all love puppy dogs, on a web page and say were good. I think thats a part of it and culling the rest of the stories through how we talk about research even. Cynthias research. Research talking about new discoveries of transition stress, rather than everything being simply pt schlt s and pt. A family member, going unnamed, alex breaks my heart that every one of these vets comes back with ptsd. And i said thats not the case and i know youre not reading my stuff now. [laughter] add one thing to that. When you talk about serious policy areas, think about heshg health care and look at hhs on medicaid. Its Common Knowledge in the medicaid space the 10 of sickest patients drives 90 of costs and if we had conversations about the numbers, i dont know the exact numbers of the va, im guessing theyre similar. Its a given that this small percent of the population that needs the benefits is driving it and it also lets the people know that theres the other 90 out there. So okay. And i feel like ive gotten this half of the room my back to. That i have a question over here . Sorry, im a professional question asker. Im a disabled vet and its a similar question, but from a different angle, i think. Leo, youve talked about the broken narrative, and when i think of broken narrative i think of Human Dignity and that the 105th congress made suicide a National Priority and often thats often what drives headlines, suicide. What didnt get reported in the 105th was this conference in reno, nevada on prevention. The primary recommendation of like 80some odd recommendations had to do with prejudice, bias, discrimination and talking mostly about homophoba and racism and its the question of suicide and dignity within the veteran community. And so in 2009 i mentioned the soldiers amendment under the hate crimes prevention act and protects us Service Members and families up to five years after discharge. When that was passed by jeff sessions, actually, the congressional that was voted on was that the military would be put on equal footing with other protective classes and 2013, the United States commission on civil rights held a hearing here in d. C. Asking a similar question about civil rights for our military members. And two commissioners asked that explicit question without knowing the soldiers amendment. Should we make the military a protected class . And most recently, i have been kind of into this because of how it affects me, but im really interested in whether or not, and this is my question, do any of you in general or in particular, see any value in narrating the military community to include veterans . We know theyre a vulnerable population, do you see the value socially, policybased wise, in narrating them as a kind of protected classes and issue of social justice and parity . Its interesting, because its, you know, cuts both ways, right . Its the you dont want to be seen as outside of the community, but there are a lot of challenges that are there. So how do you balance those two of making sure the veterans are a are getting the services they need and getting that protection without, i guess, making them feel like theyre removed from the community completely or some sort of second, second class, second group thats somehow separate from the folks around them . So, i think from a lawyerly standpoint, protected is a term of art when its related to your status in that particular class. Whether members of the military should be a protected class. I dont know off the top of my head if we have what the research is whether people are looking at discrimination on that basis, something i have not researched specifically so i dont know off the top of my head. But i think that i would caution, when we make people members of a protected class, it can be also isolating and furthering of identity politics and they feel that one. Things that weve talked about, as part of this conversation, is that being a veteran is just one part of peoples identity and perhaps not how they first and foremost identify themselves. I use my husband when we have these conversations all the time and people often tell me that he doesnt seem like a veteran and im like, okay, what does a veteran seem like to you. Breathe fire and he didnt introduce himself and say, hi, im richard, im a veteran, thats just not how you necessarily identify to people first and foremost right off the bat. So i think big picture were talking about veterans as citizens and trying to bring people more together as opposed to isolating them on certain characteristi characteristics. So i think its a very interesting conversation, but i dont know just, again, based on those the limited knowledge that i have on how other areas have become protected classes for purposes of constitutional law that thats necessarily the direction that we want to go in here. Mike, let me ask you, when youve got those Community Groups who are working with you, does that aggravate the distance or break down the distance . Does it feel like do you hear from veterans that you feel like theyre a charity case or is it, oh, good, you sort of stood and now youll see me as another human being and not as a handout or something. Sure. The Community Groups definitely breakdown the distance, right . Because then our members are all out in the community continually and a majority of our members, the same thing, you know, hi, im mike hutchings, not hi, im mike hutchings, im a veteran. You know, im mike hutchings, heard you had a Technology Group and love to partner with you, and they have drinks and hold out together. Were trying to promote that assimilation in the community and you wouldnt know that, oh, he doesnt seem like a veteran. Thats the kind of thing we want to get away from the stereo type, what is a veteran and what appears to be a vet. Its a United States citizen just like the rest of you all and chose a Different Community path and lets hang out. Thats the community were trying to promote. So let me ask you, so where do we go from here . Because rebecca, weve been talking about this for a while and were looking at pretty busy fall. We do have a budget deal now, so maybe that takes some of the attention away. They doesnt have to worry about top lines and what not. But whats the you know, if this were to become law, were still talking about some time for implementation and some time for changes. What is our timeline for forcing that thought change in va to not just processing the checks, but to the more hole list particul list holistic, interacting with people. I think in my ideal wonderful world, this would pass in in congress and it would force or it would ask va, since va seems reluctant to do this, to work with congress how this would be implemented so va feels it can invest itself in the new thing and ask va to really step back and ask itself, how can it, and how dos it help veterans at the end of the day and what is that help for . And we need to do that sooner rather than later as i mentioned because of the demographic change. Also, because, you know, well, theres lots of questions about the sustainability of our budget where, as you know, you could say its a measure of success that were now close to 220 billion for va budget, but i just caution that at the turn of the century, 1890, va benefits took up 40 of the u. S. Budget. The entire federal budget and there was such a backlash that then basically veterans lost everything and i dont think we want to do that again. I think thinking through right now, having those questioning, what are our obligations to the veterans and the American People and how you do that is actually something that im trying and many other, you know, vfos and groups are trying to do to educate not just congress, but staffers. Theyre so busy they never thought to ask what is va for at the end of the day. Do you think that backlash is a real problem . It still seems to be if we keep shovelling money, throwing resources at them. That va budget has grown steadily offer the last 18 years, so i think at some point people start asking questions, why, why given that we do have a more robust welfare system we didnt have the robust welfare system in the 1890s, the social system programs were built out of the model of va care. Lbj, a champion to many people in terms of civil rights and social programs actually want today get rid of all specific va welfare programs because he said, i want this for everyone. Why should if we just focus on veterans that might take my whole program away. I think that thats not inconceivable. A president coming down the line, a congress coming down the line. The American Public down the line would stop and ask itself those questions. As we wrap up here, you know, weve talked about what were hoping for congress, a couple of shots over here, public here and the audience behind the camera there. What do they need to be looking at now . If im a citizen who is just whos just tuning into this. What do i need to be thinking about when im thinking about veterans and what i should be expecting . So i think very small question there. [laughter] well, i think its just reiterating some of the points that weve made, is that, you know, veterans come from all walks of life. They dont fit into a one size fits all model in terms of their needs, health care, education, employment, disability benefits. It just varies. Its a spectrum as opposed to you fit into this box. So, i think people just need to recognize that being a veteran is not a beall, endall in terms of who a person is and i think if we approach veterans as, again, just part of the citizenry, i forget the phrase that mike used earlier. Citizen of service i think thats a great slogan, you should write that down. [laughter] i would, you know, i would say that, you know, veterans are assets, not deficits and the second thing i would just encourage everyone to do is connect with veteran Service Organizations with those charities, read this research and everyone can be, you know, more educated in the room. This is research i was unaware of and the first thing im going to do is go back and read that. The more education we have the better everyone can get on how we reframe the current narrative with our veterans. And just before we go down the panel, on the veterans are assets idea, theres a lot of support for veterans, a lot of support for the military. Is it an issue of not going past that, that flag waving Yellow Ribbon idea or is it a matter of folks think that, oh, you know, you served and thats great, but what do we do with you now . There was actually a great article that came out here recently and it was talking about how a lot of Corporate America and veterans have all of these numbers and a lot of experiences, the veteran employment rate is up, but the retention rate, a lot of veterans are leaving in the first year of corporate jobs because the corporation was not prepared culturewise and a variety of other factors, to connect with that veteran. I think the onus is on both sides, not just the government or nonprofits, on the veterans themselves. When you do the transition, you have to research, you have to grow your network. You have to push yourself and a lot of the times i think people and veterans themselves have this perception like theres all of these handouts. I can leave the service and my transition is perfect and im going to get a corporate job and im going to be happy. Theres work on all fronts. Besides reading the data which were going to dive into after this, what do you want people to take away here . Veterans are people, too, and they came into military service with their own individual backgrounds, and so i dont know that we can attribute well, i think we cant attribute everything that a person experiences post military to whatever happened to them in the military, so, there are things that certainly are attributable. Part of what we just added to the study were adverse childhood events that people who are reporting adverse childhood events are having different outcomes than others, so, i just think its important and these are very complicated issues and hard to put in media sound bites, i understand that and so i wish you luck with that. Rebecca, ill let you have the last word here. Excellent. So, cynthias research and some will be on our website after this event so feel free to visit ai. Com for that and go then to other research. I think that we Start Talking about veterans and social assets and encourage that veterans see who invest in their own success and that can be invested in for the rest of society and that in terms of a policy space that we Start Talking about the issues, veterans policy issues as serious issues. Great, thank you all so much and to ai for having the panel. Hopefully well be talking about this bill passing in the next few months here and well do that. Ill ask for one more round of applause for those folks. [applaus [applause] in 1979 a Small Network with an unusual name rolled out a big idea. Let viewers make up their own minds. They opened the doors for washington policy making for all to see, unfiltered content from congress and beyond. 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