Located in:
- Jobs for Veterans’ State Grants
(OMB Control Number: 1225-0086)
The Jobs for Veterans’ State Grants (JVSG) are mandatory, formula-based staffing grants to States (including DC, PR, VI and Guam). The JVSG is funded annually in accordance with a funding formula defined in the statute (38 U.S.C. 4102A (c) (2) (B) and regulation and operates on a fiscal year (not program year) basis, however, performance metrics are collected and reported quarterly on a Program Year basis (as with the ETA-9002 Series). Currently, VETS JVSG operates on a multi-year grant approval cycle modified and funded annually.
In accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 4102A(b)(5) and § 4102A(c), the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training (ASVET) makes grant funds available for use in each State to support Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) staff. As a condition to receive funding, 38 U.S.C. § 4102A(c)(2) requires States to submit an application for a grant that contains a State Plan narrative, which includes:
a. How the State intends to provide employment, training and job placement services to veterans and eligible persons under the JVSG;
Current Narrative:
The primary objective of the JVSG is to develop and support activities to increase employment and job training opportunities for veterans and eligible persons. DVOP and Consolidated Positions staff (CODL) Specialist staff will provide individualized career services to:
- A special disabled or disabled veteran , as those terms are defined in 38 U.S.C § 4211(1) and (3); Special disabled and disabled veterans are those:
- Who are entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs; or,
- Were discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability;
- Homeless, as defined in Section 103(a) of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a));
- A recently-separated service member, as defined in 38 U.S.C § 4211(6), who at any point in the previous 12 months have been unemployed for 27 or more consecutive weeks;
- An offender, as defined by VPL 03-14 Change 2 who has been released from incarceration within the last 12 months;
- Lacking a high school diploma or equivalent certificate; or
- Low-income (as defined by VPL 03-14 Change 2)
- Any veteran ages 18-24;
- Vietnam-Era veterans (IAW VPL 03-19);
- Transitioning Service Member in Need of individualized career services as outlined in current guidance;
- Injured and Wounded Military, Family Members/Caregivers as outlined in VPL current guidance.
Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) Specialists and Consolidated Position Staff (CODL) Specialists will conduct outreach to those organizations and entities where there is a potential of veterans/eligible persons with SBEs who would visit those organizations. One of the purposes of this outreach is to develop a relationship with these organizations so veterans/eligible persons can be referred to the DVOP/CODL even when the DVOP/CODL is not physically at the location.
During outreach, DVOP/CODL specialists will provide itinerant services at homeless shelters and other sites where homeless veterans congregate.
DVOP/CODL specialists provide individualized career services to incarcerated veterans by networking with the Missouri Department of Correction to identify those veterans recently released or are scheduled for released from a corrections facility.
The goal of DVOP/CODL outreach is to locate veterans/eligible persons with Significant Barriers to Employment and assure that they are provided individualized career services through the case management framework and given enhanced opportunities for successful careers. The provision of individualized career services will result in successful transition into civilian employment for separating service members, reintegration into the workforce for the homeless and reduced recidivism for the incarcerated veterans.
Missouri also participates in mobilization and demobilization briefings for the National Guard/Reserve soldiers and their spouses. Missouri will also collaborate with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), Veterans Commission, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Department of Corrections, Department of Mental Health, Federal Bureau of Prisons and other public organizations to identify veterans with SBE and provide them individualized career services with the goal of meaningful employment.
Missouri provides individualized career services to targeted veterans/eligible persons through a variety of means. DVOP/CODL staff assigned to four VA medical facilities assist veterans with Significant Barriers to Employment with their efforts to reintegrate into the workforce. DVOP/CODL staff conduct outreach to Missouri probation and parole offices and prisons so they can work with released veterans to assist them with their employment needs. DVOP/CODL staff provide itinerant services at homeless shelters and at other locations frequented by homeless veterans.
DVOP/CODL staff will provide outreach services to veterans at service delivery points (SDPs) that have no LVER or DVOP/CODL assigned. In rural areas, Missouri will assign CODL staff to maximize services, affording regularly scheduled availability at remote Career Centers or other sites where DOL funded programs operate to maximize opportunities for veterans and minimize travel requirements for unemployed veterans. Outstation/outreach sites may include Career Centers, Military Installations, National Guard and Reserve component armories, Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) facilities, homeless shelters, prisons and other sites as appropriate and agreed to by impacted parties. CODL staff will conduct outreach to employers and conduct outreach to community agencies, veterans' organizations, etc. and share information gained from these contacts with SDP staff.
As established in legislation, the JVSG program is but one component of an umbrella of programs that are required by law to provide priority of service to veterans. The DVOP/CODL specialists and LVER staff funded by the grant fill a particular niche in the overall program of services to veterans. As indicated in VETS policy, DVOP/CODL funded staff provide individualized career services to veterans/eligible persons with Significant Barriers to Employment (SBE). The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) provides for the provision of individualized career services to certain eligible participants such as veterans and eligible spouses. Likewise, the DVOP/CODL staff should be used to target specialized individualized career services to those veterans/eligible persons with SBE who are most in need.
It is vital to the success of the veteran/eligible person job seeker that an effective partnership between the DVOP/CODL/LVER, Career Center programs, other federal/state/local agencies, and veteran organizations be fostered and maintained.
The DVOP/CODL will share case management for veterans enrolled in WIOA and other programs with the providers of those programs. Sharing case management (dual case management) will ensure maximum cooperation between programs and enhance employment for veterans/eligible persons with Significant Barriers to Employment. Common measures, business knowledge gained through outreach, and a shared interest in exiting participants at an appropriate time makes it feasible for multiple staff to assist with job search and job development activities.
LVER and CODL staff participates on Business teams as outlined within the workforce region’s “single point of contact plan.” The plan outlines the Career Center’s strategy to promote the area’s workforce services, including promotion of veterans/eligible persons among employers. This approach assures maximum opportunity to promote the veteran/eligible person as a trained, skilled and reliable product to market to the employer. All staff conducting employer contacts will promote veterans and veteran programs and document their contacts in the State’s electronic data system.
Because the JVSG grant provides funds to exclusively serve veterans, other eligible persons as defined at 38 U.S.C. 4101(5), VPLs 03-14, Changes 1 and 2, 07-14, and 3-19, Missouri will not assign DVOP/CODL/LVER staff to functions that may conflict with this purpose or which conflict with Title 38, Chapter 41 requirements, applicable regulations (20 CFR 1001, et. seq.). They will not provide services to non-veteran customers or be assigned to tasks that will lead non-veterans to request or expect to receive services from the DVOP/CODL/LVER. Contact with customers who are not veterans is inevitable. When such contact occurs, the DVOP/CODL/LVER will exercise tact and courtesy in directing the customer to the appropriate service.
Missouri’s automated data system (MoJobs) provides reports identifying veterans registered with no services, disabled veterans and all veterans registered within a county. Reports are also generated that report Career Center staff activity including referrals, services provided, employer/provider contacts and job developments. Those reports, as well as the 9173 reports from WIPS, Managers Report on Services to Veterans, and the required Self Assessments monitored by local and Central Office management to verify the provisions of the Veterans State Plan are being observed.
Missouri will conduct monthly internal audits as well as 100% audit of the JVSG program annually. We will look at the veterans/eligible persons served to ensure that only those with Significant Barriers to Employment are receiving services from the DVOP, as well as to ensure they are receiving individualized career services through the case management framework.