Listen to the chatter in a VA medical center waiting room or scroll our Facebook page, and you’ll get a sense of one of the biggest issues affecting Veterans: the disability claims backlog. The problem did not begin overnight, and as a result, the solutions won’t arrive that quickly either. But VA took another step to square away the backlog once and for all.

In partnership with the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, VA will ramp up its Fully Developed Claims output in an effort to cut down on the backlog. From Military.com:

“We have been working with VA since last December on its fully developed claims process,” [American Legion National Commander] Koutz said. “Teams of our experts have already gone to VA regional offices in Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other cities to help identify best practices for FDCs, and to further train our own service officers.”

FDCs—claims with all the necessary evidence that can be processed in half the time of normal claims, with better accuracy—are a key part of the solution. A great deal of time spent on a claim is simply waiting for evidence to be submitted and collected. FDCs strip away that antiquated method in order to reach claims decisions much faster.

The Legion and DAV have keyed on a vital aspect of their relationship with VA. Their members are a sounding board for issues affecting Veterans, and their policy experts can channel their experiences into strong, common sense solutions that VA can implement. The two-way communication also helps us to amplify our initiatives to VSO members—which has always been a challenge. So if you know someone about to file a claim, have them look into FDCs along with a Legion or DAV representative, often found right in a VA medical center.

This partnership is just one of the ways VA is tackling the issue. In recent weeks, mandatory overtime has gone into effect for 10,000 claims raters in the agency through the fiscal year, along with a decision to assign provisional ratings to claims older than a year to get Veterans their benefits more quickly.

Photo courtesy of American Legion.

Want to give your time and talents to support the care of America’s Veterans? Volunteers are an invaluable resource for VA and it is impossible to calculate the amount of caring and sharing that VA Voluntary Service (VAVS) volunteers provide to Veteran patients.

There are many ways you can get involved and help fellow Veterans through VA’s Voluntary Service Program. VAVS volunteers have the opportunity to work at hospitals, outpatient clinics, readjustment counseling centers, VA regional offices, and cemeteries.

Some volunteers also provide in-home companionship to homebound Veterans. For example, the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System recruits volunteers to provide a much needed break for primary caregivers. Check out how Caregiver Support Volunteers Karissa Trimpe, Barbara Carling and Richard Hambacher make a difference in the lives of the Veterans and caregivers they help.

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If you thought Veterans were only accustomed to taking orders and not giving them, you might find this surprising: nearly 14 percent of the 26 million small businesses in the United States are operated by Veterans. And later this fall, VA will inject this community with tools and resources to help them succeed.

Today, VA announced the National Veterans Small Business Conference is setting up shop at the St. Louis America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri August 6-8. For three days, Veterans either looking to start or expand their small business will attend more than 200 breakout sessions, with a focus on how to successfully compete for federal contracts. Key federal government and private sector officials will be on hand to discuss and troubleshoot contracting issues and other business issues Veterans may have experienced.

The process to get Veteran-owned businesses certified can be complex, so information sessions on how to get set up and running will be provided, along with outreach strategies to the larger Veteran community.

This conference will mark the third for Veteran business owners. When I went last year, several Veterans told me networking with other businesses was just as crucial as attending classes. Deals were made and business relationships flourished. It cannot be understated how vital Veteran-owned businesses are to the economy; they employ 1.8 million Americans and generate more than $1.6 trillion dollars in annual revenue. With this conference, hopefully we can see the needle on both numbers move a bit.

If you’re interested in attending this year, sign up for updates on the conference page, follow along on Facebook and Twitter, and watch for more information in the coming weeks.

VA has always recognized the value and importance of Veterans being able to see recovery taking place and have a fellow Veteran help them navigate the VA system. As VA peer specialists, or peer support apprentices, you have the opportunity to share experience and knowledge with fellow Veterans as they make the transition into civilian life. The transition can sometimes be difficult with health challenges, mental health issues, employment concerns and more. However, peer specialists and peer support apprentices can help Veterans navigate their way into civilian life more successfully by offering the right tools, resources, and necessary support.

Peer specialists are actively engaged in his/her own recovery and can provide peer support services to others engaged in similar mental health treatment. Peer support apprentices meet all the requirements of a peer specialist but are not yet certified.

As a VA peer specialist or peer support apprentice, you could help fellow Veterans build fuller, richer lives. Find out if you are eligible for either position at the Peer Support Applicants FAQs page and click here to apply for positions today.

Earlier today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Veteran unemployment data for the month of April. The unemployment rate for all Veterans was 6.2 percent last month—a drop from 7.1 percent in March and still below the national average of 7.5 percent. For post-9/11 Veterans, the rate dropped to 7.5 percent in April, compared to 9.2 percent in March.

In the first graph, we see the monthly unemployment rate for all Veterans since January 2010. The long-term trend shows a clear decrease.

Because chunks of data are often better indicators of real movement, another way to view the trend is by looking at the moving (or rolling) average. Like the chart above, the chart immediately below captures 12-month averages for the periods ending each month since February 2010. What it shows is a modest decline in the unemployment rate of Veterans over the long term. The current 12-month average unemployment rate for all Veterans stands at 6.9 percent—the lowest 12-month average unemployment rate since 2009.

This matters because the moving 12-month average is a far more conservative measure than the month-to-month data. When we see movement in the rolling average, we are confident that there is real movement in the unemployment rate.

For post-9/11 (or Gulf War II-era) Veterans, the monthly unemployment rate decreased to 7.5 percent in April. The chart below demonstrates the declining unemployment rate over time. Because the month-to-month figures for this demographic are volatile, the longer term trend is a more reliable measure that continues to show a consistent decline for over three years.

As we can see below, the 12-month moving average unemployment rate for post-9/11 Veterans has slightly dropped to 10 percent.

Overall, the numbers above are encouraging—as is the declining national unemployment rate. But we know there is still more to be done. In this economy, too many Veterans still can’t find meaningful work, and we’re working every day to remedy that.

VA is collaborating with the White House and the Chamber of Commerce on hiring fairs across the country “Hiring Our Heroes” Program. We also urged Veterans to prepare themselves for the job market by taking advantage of programs like the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Veterans Retraining and Assistance Program (VRAP).

Today’s numbers tell us that Veterans are finding work, but there’s still much to be done, and we can’t let up now. VA, in partnership with the White House,  and private sector, remains committed to ensuring that the unemployment rate for all Veterans continues its downward path.

In 2009, President Obama and VA Secretary Shinseki announced the goal of ending Veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. Together with partners and supporters nationwide, VA is determined to meet that challenge through the Homeless Veterans Outreach Initiative.

As a part of that effort, VA has increased programs and funding to help Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless get back on their feet. Through programs like Compensated Work Therapy and the Homeless Veteran Support Employment Program, VA assists Veterans return to competitive employment by offering vocational assistance, job development and placement, and other necessary tools for success.

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VA for Vets is a  career support program that offers Veterans access to the tools they need to launch or advance their civilian careers at VA, where they can go far to serve their fellow Veterans.

The VA for Vets program features real-time, on-demand, round-the-clock support services. These services include the Career Center, where Veterans can translate their military skills to civilian jobs, take self-assessments, build easy-to-read resumes, apply to open VA positions, and save all results into one profile. The VA for Vets website also offers coaches for Veterans to reach out to for one-on-one support and guidance, from creating a federal civilian resume to transitioning into the civilian workforce. Deployment lifecycle resources, webinars, and videos are also available on the VA for Vets website.

Veterans also have the option to use the VA for Vets Virtual Collaboration Workspace, available 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week, to hold private meetings and collaboration with coaches, supervisors, coworkers, or HR professionals to receive support building a resume, searching and applying for jobs, or preparing for interviews.

Getting started with VA for Vets is simple—click here to register for an account and learn more about how a career at VA can help you make a difference for all the Veterans and families we serve.

My HealtheVet is VA’s online personal health record, designed for Veterans and active duty servicemembers, as well as their dependents and caregivers. It partners users with their health care team, offering the tools necessary to make informed decisions about their health care.

My HealtheVet offers three account types—basic, advanced, and premium. A basic account, which does not require identity authentication, allows users to record information in a personal health journal, track personal health measurements, as well as use the VA Blue Button to view, print, save, or download their information.

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To be sure, last week was a big one for breaking national news, so you may have missed a substantial development with VA’s claim process, and the backlog of claims that have way too many folks waiting for a decision.

From VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey, on Friday:

Effective today, every regional office will begin implementing an initiative to ensure that those who have been waiting a year or more for their compensation claim receive a decision quickly. VA raters will make provisional decisions on the oldest claims in inventory, which will allow Veterans to begin collecting compensation benefits more quickly, if eligible.

In other words, this move makes a clear decision: get compensation to Veterans quickly while their claim is being evaluated.

As the Army Times noted, about a quarter of the million claims out of 570,000 are over a year old, and assigning priority will increase the backlog for a time before the toughest cases get out of the door—and compensation into the hands of Vets.

An initiative to get claims pushed through faster—Fully Developed Claims—will continue to receive priority processing, so if you haven’t filed yet, check out that link to get your claim decided faster.