Veteran Benefits Administration

Introduction
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its purpose is to provide financial aid as well as other kinds of assistance to veterans in need, to their families or to their survivors as the case may be. Some of the various kinds of assistance include compensation and pension pay, rehabilitation assistance, support with finding employment, assistance with furthering educational opportunities, obtaining a home loan, and obtaining life insurance. The VBA was set up to facilitate the VA in its mission to care for soldiers and the families of soldiers—to do right by those who had put their lives on the line and in some cases sacrificed them for the good of the country. This paper will describe the strategic goals of the VBA and the social needs it addresses, evaluate the external support the organization relies upon; assess the structure, culture and capabilities of the VBA; and describe its strategic plan and mission statement. Then it will identify the areas where leadership deficiencies exist and where there is potential for improvement. Finally, it will provide a strategic plan to address those deficiencies and introduce effective practices.
Strategic Goals of the Organization and Social Needs It Addresses
The strategic goals of the VBA are that veterans will come to the organization for financial assistance and support to improve their lives. The goals can best be seen in the VBA’s vision statement, which shows that the organization strives to ensure “that the Veterans whom we serve will feel that our Nation has kept its commitment to them; employees will feel that they are both recognized for their contribution and are part of something larger than themselves; and taxpayers will feel that we’ve met the responsibilities they’ve entrusted to us. Courage, honesty, trust, respect, open communication, and accountability will be reflected in our day-to-day behavior” (VBA, 2019).
Thus, the social needs the VBA addresses are: 1) the need to show veterans that their service has not been in vain or gone unnoticed—each soldier’s commitment is valued and in exchange the U.S. government ensures that each solder is taken care of upon returning to civilian life; 2) it provides compensation, insurance and other benefits to veterans; 3) it supports them in pursuing educational opportunities; 4) assists them in finding employment, and 5) helps them in getting a loan to buy a house. Work, family, education, and financial stability are the areas of social need that the VBA specializes in for veterans.
First, the VBA oversees disability compensation that is paid to veterans who have been disabled by an injury or disease suffered or made worse over the course of the soldier’s military service.
Second, the VBA oversees and dispenses pensions owed to to wartime veterans and their survivors. To that end, it ensures that total dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of veterans who are injured or die as a result of service is paid out; this includes disability payments, burial benefits, as well as a fiduciary program for survivors.
Third, the VBA provides life insurance programs so that veterans and their families can have peace of mind about their financial security.
Fourth, the VBA provides the tools for acquiring benefits services—such as outreach programs, partnerships, web communications, and training opportunities. This includes rehabilitation opportunities, independent living services, and vocational counseling services.
Fifth, the VBA oversees home loans for veterans so that they can obtain a house at an affordable rate with no money down.
External Support the Organization Relies On
The VA is funded by the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MILCON-VA) appropriations bill (Panangala, 2018). The 2018 budget request was $182 billion (Panangala, 2018). In short, external support that the VBA relies upon comes directly from taxpayers in terms of financial assistance. However, organizational assistance comes from other places, too.
For example, the VBA also relies upon the assistance and partnerships of various organizations and departments within the federal government, such as the Small Business Administration, Department of Education, Department of Labor, and Office of Personnel. It also collaborates with third party organizations and institutions, hospitals, universities and businesses to help veterans transition successfully from the military to civilian life. Transition Assistance Program (TAP) is one such example. TAP, like the National Association of American Veterans, offers guidance, a variety workshops and seminars, training and many other useful tools and programs that veterans can utilize to better help them find work after transitioning to civilian life. These organizations also work with businesses so that they can link veterans with employers
Structure, Culture, and Capabilities
Veterans’ benefits and services are managed and distributed by VA Regional Offices throughout the United States. The structure of the VBA is hierarchical, with the Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations and the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations overseeing the Operations Center, the Operations Analysis and Operations Management.
The Office of Field Operations oversees the delivery of benefits and services for veterans via 56 regional offices as well as through other entities, including:
· 4 Area Offices
· The Appeals Management Center & Records Management Center
· 8 Regional Loan Centers
· 6 Fiduciary Hubs
· 4 Education Regional Processing Offices
· 1 Education Call Center
· 3 Pension Management Centers & 1 Pension Call Center
· 10 National Call Centers
· 1 Insurance Center & Insurance Call Center
· Operations Center, which implements our Transformation Plan
· Operations Analysis, which conducts STAT reviews and other analysis projects
· Operations Management, which oversees daily field station operations, including performance and workload management and resource allocation (VBA, 2019).
The culture at the VBA is represented by the core values it propagates through its ICARE pillars, discussed in the next section. It is meant to be a culture of respect, empathy, sympathy, and guidance. The capabilities of the VBA are extensive in this regard, as can be seen by the enormous network of resources and offices across the entirety of the U.S.
Strategic Plan/Mission Statement
The mission statement of the VBA is “to provide benefits and services to veterans and their families in an effective, timely and compassionate manner” (VBA, 2019). The VBA also embraces the words of Abraham Lincoln following the end of the Civil War, when in his 2nd Inaugural the 16th President of the United States stated that it was incumbent upon the government “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan,” which is the fundamental mission of Veterans Affairs overall (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2014).
To achieve its mission and vision, the VBA relies upon five core values: 1) integrity, 2) commitment, 3) advocacy, 4) respect and 5) excellence. The VBA strives to act in accordance with the high moral principles and standards of the U.S. Military and the U.S. government. It aims to be dedicated to each veteran who applies for assistance and to advocate on his behalf. It pledges to treat all with respect and to strive to achieve excellence in its service.
Areas Where Management/Leadership Deficiencies and/or Potential Exist
In spite of its considerable network of resources and offices, the VBA still receives ample criticism regarding failures to effectively serve veterans in the capacity the organization sets out to achieve. As Cohen (2019) points out, the VBA like the VA it serves is too big for its good: it is bloated and bureaucratic, backed-up and slow; veterans fail to receive counseling when needed in order to deal with their PTSD; they fail to obtain educational support because the options they have are not adequately explained to them as they transition to civilian life; and they thus fail to take advantage of various programs that have been developed for their benefit. TAP for instance is a program that is designed just for them. The Warrior Training Advancement Course (WARTAC) is another: an education and training opportunity that was developed in collaboration with the Department of Defense for Wounded Warriors and transitioning service members. It consists of 10-12 weeks of training that soldiers can partake in while they are actively serving in the military: it is a way for them to plan ahead for the future when they leave the military. However, many soldiers do not seize upon the opportunity because they are not taught to look ahead to the time when they will be veterans. The military teaches them to engage with the present and to focus on the tasks at hand—and thus by the time they become veterans, they have already missed an opportunity to be a step ahead.
The VBA has the potential to work more closely with the Department of Defense and other organizations and agencies to better prepare soldiers to be successful veterans. The VBA has the potential to collaborate with businesses as well to make sure that programs like TAP are being pursued and promoted and that veterans are getting the opportunities they need. Faurer, Rogers-Brodersen and Bailie (2014) note one particular way that the VBA could help to improve the lives of veterans: getting assisting “talented facilitators and local HR professionals to co-facilitate the scheduled TAP classes and workshops, encouraging employers to standardize their own job descriptions to better convey job requirements, and enhanced understanding of the skills translators on Military.com as a useful tool could evoke greater participation by soon to be veterans and enhance the program’s effectiveness” (p. 57). This would aid the transition process and make sure more veterans enter civilian life on a more secure footing.
One reason many do not is that employers see them as potential PTSD problems. This is a stigma that VBA has done little to address. Hazle, Wilcox and Hassan (2012) show, for instance that there is a common misconception in the public arena regarding veterans: many in the public sphere erroneously believe that all veterans suffer from PTSD. The reality of the matter is that most veterans are well-functioning, stable and skilled, and ready to enter the workplace. As Hazle et al. (2012) state, “Honorably discharged veterans often possess excellent leadership skills that translate well into the civilian work environment, in addition to experience working in diverse work environments” (p. 232). The VBA could do more to promote that reality.
Strategic Plan to Address Deficiencies and Introduce Effective Practices
Since the VBA suffers from a problem of bloat and inefficiency, it needs to be streamlined and the bureaucratic layers reduced. The VBA should start by centralizing the structure rather than have it spread out over 6 different areas: Eastern, Southern, Central, Western, Records Management and Appeals Management. Centralizing the system could help to reduce wait times for applications for assistance and provide transitioning veterans with more support as they try to obtain jobs or further their education.
The VBA should do more to actively encourage U.S. business to work with TAP and the National Association of American Veterans as well as the Wounded Warrior Program. This kind of alliance would provide the necessary foundation that veterans can rely upon and it would alleviate some of the pressure put upon the VBA to provide all the guidance. Other institutions and agencies at the federal, state and local levels are willing and eager to help, and the VBA should recognize them and promote them so that veterans can have more choices in terms of where to go for help. Many veterans do not even try to deal with the VBA because of the wait times, the delays, and the bureaucracy. The more that the VBA can promote local agencies and organizations at the community level for veterans to go to, the more they will actually end up helping veterans.
The VBA should also promote more programs like The Returning Heroes Tax Credit, which is one example of an incentive that the federal government has provided businesses to get them to hire more veterans. This kind of incentive is one that will make organizations more aware that veterans are part of the talent pool as well. Veterans need financial support, benefits, compensation, insurance, loans, counseling, and so on—but they also simply need help getting jobs. Having a job is one of the foundations of having a healthy life—it is fundamental and essential and it needs to be given more of a place of importance in the VBA’s mission. Programs like The Returning Heroes Tax Credit are helpful because they remind organizations that veterans are qualified leaders who can manage effectively. But the VBA also has to make veterans and soldiers who are about to be veterans more aware of the support, training and programs that are available to them. The VBA does not do enough in the way of messaging to soldiers and veterans so that these latter even know that support is available. As Hazle et al. (2012) put it, it is “important to ensure employees are aware of the benefits of hiring veterans and that veterans are aware of ways to translate their military skills into a civilian context” (p. 232). Both need to be educated on this matter and the VBA must step up and supply that education.
All of these are appropriate measures because they address the underlying foundational issues that are creating deficiencies in the VBA and preventing the agency from reaching its maximum potential. Getting rid of the bloat would facilitate better and more efficient interactions; raising awareness about and collaborating with more local organizations would help to get veterans involved at the community level with groups that exist to help them. And getting more training opportunities in front of soldiers and veterans and promoting incentive programs like The Returning Heroes Tax Credit can help to get more businesses involved in looking for veteran workers.
The probable outcomes for these measures would be that more veterans find transitioning to civilian life to go more smoothly; wait times and delays at the VBA as veterans apply for aid are eliminated; and more job opportunities open up for veterans. It would ensure that veterans have quicker access to counseling if needed and that payments are processed more efficiently, as channels are centralized.
Conclusion
The VBA has a good mission statement and facilitates the goals of the VA; however, it is part of an over-bloated, bureaucratic agency with a notoriously bad reputation for being slow, negligent and over-burdened with claims, applications, and petitions for service. The VBA needs to centralize operations more effectively so that it can reduce unnecessary overlap, cut down on silos and improve communication. It needs to collaborate more with state and local agencies so that veterans have increase options and opportunities to obtain support for their needs. It should better help veterans to transition to civilian life by promoting earlier in the soldier’s career the need to think about the future and life as a veteran—and to plan ahead accordingly by taking courses.
References
Cohen, S. (2019). Disband the Veterans Administration. Retrieved from https://www.city-journal.org/veterans-administration-benefits
Faurer, J., Rogers-Brodersen, A., & Bailie, P. (2014). Managing the re-employment of military veterans through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). Journal of Business & Economics Research (Online), 12(1), 55.
Hazle, M., Wilcox, S. L., & Hassan, A. M. (2012). Helping veterans and their families fight on!. Advances in Social Work, 13(1), 229-242.
Panangala, S. (2018). Department of Veterans Affairs FY2018 Appropriations. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45047.pdf
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/about.asp
VBA. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.benefits.va.gov/benefits/