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Frederico Juarbe Jr.
Regional TAP Advisory Council Meeting
May
1, 2002
Good morning everyone. Thank you Kevin for that introduction and
for the years of institutional knowledge you bring to the TAP program.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says may you be cursed to live
in interesting times.
Well, I accept that the times are indeed interesting, but I do not see
it as a curse.
In fact, I see it as a unique opportunity.
I have been an advocate for veterans most of my adult life. And I
sincerely believe that all those experiences were preparing me for the
assignment I have now.
I am proud to be the assistant secretary of the Veterans’
Employment and Training Service in 2002.
And I’m proud to have partners like you because without your
dedicated service, VETS’ programs could never reach the veterans we must
serve.
Since 1991, TAP has been providing information to separating service
members and their spouses so that they can make a successful transition to
civilian life.
Working together with our partners, the Departments of Veterans Affairs,
Defense, and Transportation, we now have a distinct but limited window of
opportunity to build a better transition system that will provide 21st century
services to 21st century veterans.
That means keeping up with changing times, both in the content of the
workshops and in the way we deliver them.
I don’t have to remind you that investing the time prior to
separation pays handsome dividends when service members enter the civilian
labor market.
TAP gives its participants a preview of the civilian economy and
prepares them to be successful in it.
When Kevin invited me to participate in this conference, I knew it would
be an opportunity to give you an update on legislative and program
activities. And there’s a lot going on.
But more importantly, it would give me the opportunity to listen and
learn from our most important partners; the men and women who serve veterans
where they live and work; men and women whose dedication to their work is the
critical ingredient to helping veterans find quality employment.
You are on the front lines of service delivery for veterans seeking
employment and training assistance.
You get the job done day in and day out.
You know your mission.
You are committed to your mission.
You live your mission everyday.
We confront a world profoundly changed by events of September 11, a day
of infamy for this generation of Americans…and for all freedom loving
people of the world.
Americans are looking at the men and women of our Armed Forces with a
renewed sense of respect and pride.
For more than a century, San Diego has sent our young men and
women to the far corners of the world to stand freedom’s watch and defend
freedom’s promise of honor, and peace and dignity for all people.
And San Diego has provided them with the hero’s welcome they
deserve when they have come back home.
This Administration understands and deeply appreciates their patriotism,
their dedication, and the skills and experiences they bring to the civilian
labor force.
We know that veterans deserve the best and most up-to-date services that
we can devise.
That's why Secretary Principi and I are joining President Bush to take a
fresh look at all government programs which affect veterans.
One of the ways we are looking to improve the quality and delivery of
employment and training programs is contained in the President's fiscal year
2003 budget.
It would transfer funding for the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program,
the Local Veterans Employment Representatives, and the Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Project grants from the Department of Labor to the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Responsibility for TAP workshops would also go to the VA.
This transfer as part of the President's overall strategy to better
serve citizens by increasing the effectiveness and accountability of all
government programs. It is designed to strengthen services to veterans by
putting them all under the roof of an agency devoted to addressing the needs of
veterans.
The two agencies have been in continuous coordination on this initiative
since last December with assistance from the Office of Management and
Budget. OMB, VETS, and VA have working groups focusing on various
administrative, financial, and legislative implications of the proposed
transfer.
I expect the Administration’s legislative proposal to be submitted
soon.
We intend that this transition be a seamless one. No veteran
should encounter a gap or a reduction in service while these changes take
place.
We cannot afford to allow any veterans to be left behind.
But no matter how this, or any other, legislative proposal plays out in
the coming months, VETS has an important mission to carry out this year, right
now, for every veteran seeking transition services.
And we need to work with you to make sure that our efforts are
successful.
I do not intend VETS or its programs to be in limbo while the
legislative process plays out
To that end, we have been engaged in an active reengineering of the TAP
workshops with all of our TAP partners.
The TAP manual and facilitators’ guide have been rewritten and
redesigned.
By July, I anticipate that the new materials will be in the hands of the
facilitators and available to TAP participants.
You’ll hear more about that project from Kevin and Jan Trunce of
NVTI on Thursday.
We’ve engaged a contractor to survey TAP participants because we
need to know the effectiveness of this program.
The preliminary findings are very positive.
80 percent of those responding said they were encouraged to attend TAP
while they were in the service.
86 percent said they found the information they received during the
workshops was helpful in their transition to the civilian labor force.
But this is not a time to rest on our laurels; I believe it is a time to
build on our accomplishments.
I also believe that the longer I stay in this job, the more I will
understand how much I don’t know.
That’s where you come in.
I need to hear from you on all issues of mutual concern.
It is through clear, candid, and continuous dialogue that we will
improve our working relationships, develop better programs and services, and
thereby better serve all America’s veterans.
It is a major challenge but one from which we must not retreat.
With your prayers and your active involvement, I know we will
succeed.
Thank you.
God bless you all and God bless America.
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