Disabled Veteran Employment

Adam Mora
Equal Employment Opportunity
Recommendation
July 23, 2016

Table of Contents
Table of Contents ...1
Abstract...1
Introduction.....................................................................................2
Methodology...3
Phase1..4
Phase2..5
Phase3..5
Phase4..6
Discussion..6
Conclusion.7

Abstract
This recommendation report was written by Adam Mora a current Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
Program student. The levels of unemployment for disabled veterans is something that needs to be addressed
and is a topic in the media. The data available from the Department of Labor and students at the University of
New Mexico assisted in collecting data and evaluating the program to date. The program is not succeeding in
what it was created for and information on unemployment is limited. Equal Employment Opportunity act is not
being followed based on veterans preference. Where disabled veterans are categorized as commodity to help
the public sector fill roles that veterans may not be qualified for or left unemployed. The Methodology is broken
down in four phases including interviews, surveys, and alternative options. Discussion incorporates all aspects
of the program and suggest alternatives that are possible.

Introduction
A topic currently discussed in media today is employment of disabled veterans. There are various agencies that
currently assist with employment for disabled veterans. One of those agencies is Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment at the Veteran Affairs. Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment assists with providing
education assistance along with counseling to help disabled veterans obtain degree requirements for a career
they are able to do with their current disability. In some cases veterans were doing their dream job in the
military, and because of their disability they acquired while serving active duty they must change their careers
to something that they are physically able to do
(Affairs). The program is extremely helpful in
obtaining a plan and course of action to get that
desired career. Employment aspect on the other
hand is limited and requires disclosure of disability
rating along with limitations to employers. It turns
out there is a declaration of requirements to employ disabled veterans. This is called veterans preference for
government positions ranging from Federal, State, County, and City. The bad part is these positions are limited
and allow the government and subsidies like contractors to legally discriminate, because they have filled their
required disability preference position.
The program has limited resources and requires an eligibility interview. This interview also consists of a
placement exam which is to determine strengths and weaknesses of each applicant and it also evaluates the
individuals desired career. After the eligibility interview a counseling session with a rehabilitation counselor is
scheduled and in that meeting is where a career plan is made and start school. All individuals are discouraged
from obtaining a job while in the program. When all those requirements are met you are then given the
opportunity to meet with a workforce solution representative. This representative assists with finding positions

in your chosen career path and recommends these positions for you to apply to say he advocates for you, but his
role is only find positions that are veteran preference and may not be relevant to your desired career. Veteran
preference leaves these representatives side baring these veterans when there are other positions available for
them where they dont have to share all of their disability limitations. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission stands by Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (section 501),1 requires
both nondiscrimination and affirmative action with respect to federal employees and applicants for federal
employment who are individuals with disabilities. (Federal Regiser (National Archives & Records Service) It
is the law to not discriminate but when we have individuals advocating for us using our information veterans
lose. There needs to be a process in place that doesnt fully disclose limitations of the disabled veteran so they
can apply for qualified positions and not be passed over because someone in a different department needs them.

Methodology
To study further legal discrimination appointed by the federal government and its subsidies contractors I have
orchestrated the following research plan.
Phase 1: Create a survey to evaluate veterans experience with the Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment Program.
Phase 2: Interview current unemployed veterans in the program.
Phase 3: Interview Workforce Solution representative and study disabled veterans unemployment rates.
Phase 4: Coordinate alternative options based on data.

Phase 1: Create a survey to evaluate veterans

experience with the Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment Program.

How is Vocational Rehabilitation

and Employment Doing?

The survey consists of a 1-5 scale with limited questions that will

Please rate the quality of the service

you received from your counselor.

not expose the individual in the program. This is limited to people

willing to share that they are indeed a part of the program but there
is no way to actually confirm their enrollment into the program.

Disappointing

Exceptional

Please rate the quality of the service

you received from your employment
opportunities.
1

Disappointing

Exceptional

How was your Workforce Solution

Representative?
Knowledgeable?

Yes | No

Did he help find positions in your

field?
Yes | No
Did you find a job throw this
service?
Yes | No
Please rate the quality of your
experience with them.
1

Disappointing

Exceptional

Please rate the quality of knowledge

the representative had.
1

Disappointing

Exceptional

How were the career option

available to you?
1

Disappointing

Exceptional

Please rate your overall dining

experience.
1

Disappointing

Exceptional

How long did it take to get your first

interview?
1 month
month

Phase 2: Interview current unemployed veterans in the program.

Disabled Veterans at the University of New Mexico who are attending classes using the Vocational
Rehabilitation and Employment program will be essential in gather information of its success. Although this is a
longitudinal interview process it would consist of students who are currently enrolled in class and would also
include students who have completed their degree programs and are currently looking for employment. This
interview process would consist of discussing the entire experience with the program and what is the level of
difficulty in obtaining a position and what they noticed during their experience with Workforce Solutions. I
would ask:
What is your experience with Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program?
Where they stand currently in the program?
If they are looking for employment what their experience has been.
What time frame were they given to find a Job?

Phase 3: Interview Workforce Solution representative and study disabled veterans

unemployment rates.
The difficulties that come from working with a Workforce Solutions representative depend on each individual.
During the interview I would ask the following questions:
What is the procedure for veterans who are looking for a job?
How often do you look for veteran preference positions for your clients?
How often do you have your clients email you ?

Phase 4: Coordinate alternative options based on data.

The alternative options after reviewing the data is 2/3 of people out there have found jobs away from the
government and its subsidies. The importance of this is bypassing the program all together and not relying on
the program that exists to help. This sadly express more problems because in the data this is only referring to
individuals who are accepting unemployment insurance. The veteran population of 21.2 million means 1.1
million people dont have jobs and thats because 5.4% is the same for both disabled and non-disabled
(Economic News Release).

Discussion
The importance of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program is evident based on the numbers
provided by the department of labor. After looking over the surveys a total of five, three individuals are still
unemployed but the other two found positions on their own and in the private sector where veteran preference
isnt an option. There was also a lot of fives with their experience specifically with their degree plan and
completing their education. It varied and was not consistent with their experience with Workforce Solutions.
In the interviews everyone was giving different advice from the same counselor. No one found comfort in
working with Workforce Solutions. With all the data that was out there with the number of veterans that are
unemployed this program should have more success stories. Most of the data was collected from the University
of New Mexico. These students are now avoiding the option to utilize the system that is created to help them. It
seems to encourage the use of their benefits for education, but may be a waiting game to be left searching for
employment on their own.
First time around the discussion consisted of his personal experience with people coming into his office usually
dont want a job. According to him there are about a handful of individuals who really want a positions and
instead of looking for positions that go along with education and job skills refers individuals to find positions
they are interested in and email him privately so he can recommend the position for you and his words will

advocate for you. It was clear that what he does is post the position in the program they use to email you to keep
up with statistical data.
Looking up unemployment rates for veterans is something that is done on a weekly basis according to the
Workforce Solutions representative but only if they are currently accepting unemployment insurance. Which
means the data that is out there is strongly skewed. It is estimated that; Veterans with a service-connected
disability had an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent in August 2015, not statistically different from veterans
with no disability. (Economic News Release). That is 1 out of 3 employed disabled veterans work in the public
sector meaning actually work in government positions.
Equal Employment Opportunity is something that exist to protect all citizens for employment. The loophole that
is available for disabled veterans is that a loophole; just because it comes off as a way to sell you to an employer
as someone who has veterans preference that allows employers to know your limitations and be bypassed for a
position because of your disability. It makes no sense for this to exist its initial intentions are admirable, but
what is going on with number of disabled veterans unemployed it is time for a change. If not a change to that
policy maybe a policy to rotate individuals out of their current positions at Workforce Solutions. We clearly
need to end Veterans Preference because it violates the Equal Employment Opportunity ACT. I would also like
to thank you for taking the time to read my recommendation.

REFERENCES
Affairs, U.S. Department of Veteran. www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab. n.d. Website. 23 July 2016.
Economic News Release. United States Department of Labor Statistics. 22 March 2016. Employment Situation of Veterans
Summary . 23 July 2016.
Federal Regiser (National Archives & Records Service, Office Of The Federal Registar). "Proposed Rules: EQUAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION.",. 79.94 (2014). Business Source Complete. 23 July 2016.