A 2009 executive order called for actions to increase veteran employment in the federal government. But concerns have been raised about the retention and job satisfaction of newly hired veterans. We found that, compared to similar non-veterans, veterans: Left government jobs at a higher rate (6.7% vs. 5%) between FYs 2014-2018Resigned 1.6 times more oftenLeft in their first 5 years at higher rates...

Across the federal government, 45 programs provide servicemembers, veterans, spouses, and dependents with help establishing civilian careers, including education and employment services. The programs frequently provided similar services to similar populations. For example, 25 programs offered educational counseling. The programs reported efforts to coordinate activities, such as co-locating educa...

The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays tuition, housing, and other costs for veterans pursuing higher education. It has provided $94 billion in benefits to veterans since 2009. This testimony examines which schools are receiving the most Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition payments, how their students are faring, and how school closures affect veterans. 50 schools received over 30% of all tuition payments—$1.4 bill...

About 200,000 servicemembers transition to civilian life each year, according to DOD. Some veterans may struggle to find civilian employment. For example, a veteran may not know how his or her military training could apply to a civilian job. Federal law requires DOD and the Coast Guard to establish centers to provide help. We found they have established more than 300 employment assistance centers...

We identified the available education and employment benefits to help servicemembers, veterans, and their families achieve civilian jobs. We found 11 agencies offering 45 programs. A 12th agency also administered a tax exclusion for GI Bill benefits, which allows recipients to exclude these benefits from their taxable income. We found no existing inventory that could easily give Congress or poten...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responsible for overseeing schools nationwide that provide VA education benefits to veterans. To help provide this oversight, VA contracts with state agencies to oversee schools in their states and provide outreach and training to school officials and allocates them funding to cover the cost of oversight, outreach, and training activities. However, since...

In a March 2018 report, GAO assessed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) November 2017 plan for changing how veterans appeal disability claim decisions and found that VA could do more to successfully implement these reforms. The March 2018 report made four recommendations to address planning gaps. Since then, VA has updated its plan and taken some steps to address aspects of these recommendat...

The United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard), which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), lacks complete or reliable data on participation in the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), designed to assist servicemembers returning to civilian life. According to senior Coast Guard officials, a major reason why data are not reliable is the lack of an up-to-date Commandant Instruction...

The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) plan for implementing a new disability appeals process while attending to appeals in the current process addresses most, but not all, elements required by the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (Act). VA's appeals plan addresses 17 of 22 required elements, partially addresses 4, and does not address 1. For example, not addressed is t...

In fiscal year 2016, the Department of Defense (DOD) lacked data for 48 percent of National Guard and Reserve members and 12 percent of active duty servicemembers which resulted in DOD potentially misstating performance of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) in its public reporting. Under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, DOD must require that all eligible separating servicemembers participa...

Veterans surveyed and interviewed by GAO said the on-the-job training (OJT) and apprenticeship programs offered under the Post-9/11 GI Bill—the largest education benefit program overseen by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—have helped them transition to civilian life, though program data show relatively few veterans have participated. Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits were initially available...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identified $416 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments in fiscal year 2014, affecting approximately one in four veteran beneficiaries and about 6,000 schools. Overpayments most often occur when VA pays benefits based on a student's enrollment at the beginning of the school term and the student later drops one or more classes (or withdraws from school alto...

In 2019, out of about 1 million disability claims the Veterans Benefits Administration processed, about 18,000 were for veterans living abroad. The VBA often uses medical exams to determine if disability benefits are warranted. Claims from veterans living abroad increased 14% from FY2014 to FY2019. In this period, claims processing times improved. Veterans' access to disability exams abroad also i...

This testimony discusses our work on information technology challenges at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Despite spending over $4 billion annually on IT: VA still doesn't have IT systems that fully support critical services—e.g., veterans health care, the Family Caregiver Program, and disability benefits.Some VA IT management processes do not effectively implement federal IT acquisition law...

Each year, we make more than 1,000 recommendations to help improve the federal government. We alert department heads to the recommendations where they can save the most money, address issues on our High Risk List, or significantly improve government operations. This report outlines our 33 priority open recommendations for the Department of Veterans Affairs as of April 2020. We recognize VA is en...

Turnover in key occupations threatens VA’s ability to deliver on its mission. Specifically, about a third of VA’s workers in 2017—including many senior leaders—would be eligible to retire by 2022. Also, VA medical facilities had a vacancy rate of 11% last year, including 24,000 medical and dental jobs. VA has worked to solve these problems, but additional efforts are needed. Our recommend...

Wartime veterans with limited means age 65 or older and veterans with certain disabilities are eligible for VA’s pension benefit. Those who need help with daily activities, such as bathing, may receive higher payments. These veterans, with an average age over 80, are among the most vulnerable to financial exploitation. Scams that target them include selling bad investment advice and charges for...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has serious, long-standing problems managing health care and disability benefits. Several areas related to VA’s performance appear on our list of High Risk issues. This testimony focuses on VA’s difficulty recruiting and retaining its workforce, and recommendations we’ve made in this area, among other things. VA has lost a lot of human resources staff and...

Most veterans using VA health services receive medical care in VA-operated facilities, including 172 medical centers and over 1,000 outpatient facilities. For years, we have documented VA’s struggle to provide timely medical care. We testified about VA’s efforts to address some of our recommendations on how to improve. For example, veterans may be referred to a non-VA provider from the commu...

Noncitizens who serve in the U.S. military may be eligible for citizenship. If a noncitizen veteran violates immigration law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement may seek to remove the veteran from the country. However, ICE policies require it to take additional steps prior to removal actions, such as considering their service record. We found ICE did not consistently follow these policies from 2...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is in need of transformation and should address longstanding management challenges that we currently highlight on our High Risk List. Since 2000, we have made more than 1,200 recommendations to improve management and operations at VA, and VA has implemented approximately 70% of them. Implementing the remaining recommendations could significantly improve VA’s o...

The VA plans to replace the Veterans Choice Program in June 2019 with the Veterans Community Care Program. The Veterans Choice Program allowed eligible veterans to obtain health care services from providers not directly employed by VA (community providers). We testified on challenges and lessons learned from the Veterans Choice Program that could help VA successfully implement its new program. Th...