TACE IV Newsletter - Winter 2009
GAO Report:
VA Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E)
Better Incentives, Workforce Planning,
and Performance Reporting Could Improve Program
January 2009 – Report (GAO-09-34)
By launching the Five-Track Employment Process, Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E) has strengthened its focus on employment, but program incentives have not been updated to reflect this emphasis. VR&E has delineated its services into five tracks to accommodate the different needs of veterans, such as those who need immediate employment as opposed to those who need training to meet their career goal.
However, program incentives remain directed toward education and training. Veterans who receive those services collect an allowance, but those who opt exclusively for employment services do not. While VR&E officials said they believed it would be helpful to better align incentives with the employment mission, they have not yet taken steps to address this issue.
VR&E has improved its capacity to provide services by increasing its collaboration with other organizations and by hiring more staff, but it lacks a strategic approach to workforce planning. Although there have been staff increases, many of VR&E’s regional offices still reported staff and skill shortages. The program is not addressing these workforce problems with strategic planning practices that GAO’s prior work has identified as essential. For example, VR&E officials have not fully determined the correct number of staff and the skills they need to serve current and future veterans.
Download the GAO Report: VA VR&E 
(www.gao.gov/new.items/d0934.pdf)