Narrative: b.

The primary objective of the JVSG staff is to develop and support activities to increase employment and job training opportunities for veterans and eligible persons. DVOPs and CODLs will provide individualized career services to the following targeted groups as outlined in Veterans’ Program Letter (VPL) 03-14, 03-14 Ch.1 & 2, VPL 07-19, and VPL 03-19;

1. 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;

2. Homeless, as defined in Section 103(a) and (b) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a) and (b)) as amended;
3. A recently-separated service member, as defined in 38 U.S.C § 4211(6), who has been unemployed for 27 or more weeks in the previous 12 months;
4. An offender, as defined by WIOA Section 3 (38), who is currently incarcerated or who has been released from incarceration;
5. A veteran lacking a high school diploma or equivalent certificate; or
6. Low-income individual (as defined by WIOA Section 3 (36)).
7. Veterans aged 18-24, veterans aged 18-24 who possess limited civilian work history which can make transitioning to the civilian labor force difficult.  Based on this fact, veterans between the ages of 18 and 24 may benefit from individualized career services provided by a DVOP specialist.
8. Vietnam-era Veterans, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 4211. The term “Veteran of the Vietnam Era” is an eligible veteran of whose active military, naval, or air service was during the Vietnam era.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data indicate that there are still a sizeable number of Vietnam-era Veterans in the workforce, and many face difficulty in finding and maintaining employment.
9. Eligible Transitioning Service Members, Persons, and Caregivers:              
   1. Transitioning members of the Armed Forces who have been identified as in need of Individualized Career Services;
   2. Members of the Armed Forces who are wounded, ill, or injured and receiving treatment in military treatment facilities (MTF) or warrior transition units (WTU); and 
   3. The spouses or other family caregivers of such wounded, ill, or insured members.

DVOP staff are also located permanently at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in Columbia and Kansas City.  In addition, DVOP staff are located at the Fort Leonard Wood job center to assist service members at the Warrior Transition Unit, in accordance with VPL 13-14, Change 2.  Staff assigned to the Fort Leonard Wood job center also provide services to those eligible services members who are exiting the military.  In addition, Missouri operates the Career Skills Program (CSP) in conjunction with Fort Leonard Wood to place exiting service members into internships with civilian employers.  A LVER is dedicated to this program, as well as a representative from the Department of Defense SkillBridge program.

Missouri has a very small Native American veteran population and does not have any tribal lands.

Missouri places CODL staff in the rural job centers to serve the needs of the veterans or eligible persons and employers in those locations who would normally not receive timely services from a DVOP or a LVER in a traditional model.