Research Proposal on "Disabled Veteran Outreach Program"

Research Proposal 10 pages (3189 words) Sources: 15 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Disabled Veteran Outreach Program

Wars have always had an immediate effect upon the forces that take part in them. In particular the ones that are directly affected are the ones who fight them and the ones that come home injured or suffering from war disabilities. Their future in the work market is often placed in doubt. The present study will be conducted in response to concerns raised by unemployed disabled veterans returning from operations in the Middle East. It will consist in an evaluation of the "Disabled Veteran Outreach Program" undergone by the Government of the United States in order to address the problems of veterans who can no longer find suitable jobs as a result of disabilities suffered during combat.

Description of the Program

The Disabled Veteran Outreach Program is a federal initiative which aims "to provide intensive services to meet the employment needs of disabled and other eligible veterans; and, to provide maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of those who are economically or educationally disadvantaged, including homeless veterans and veterans with barriers to employment" (the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, n.d.). More precisely, it takes into account the difficulties encountered by veterans when coming back from the war. The Program in itself is developed as part of a wider initiative to assist veterans. In this sense, the Department of Labor is the coordinator for the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and the Local Veterans' Employment Representatives Program (U.S. Dept. Of Labor., 2008).

The DVOP represents the result of a common effort to help the veterans be reintegrated i
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n the workforce as a result of their return in the United States. As presented by the official sources, "Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists develop job and training opportunities for veterans, with special emphasis on veterans with service-connected disabilities. DVOP specialists provide direct services to veterans enabling them to be competitive in the labor market. They provide outreach and offer assistance to disabled and other veterans by promoting community and employer support for employment and training opportunities, including apprenticeship and on-the-job training" (U.S. Dept. Of Labor., 2008). This is an important aspect of the federal initiative because it allows soldiers who fought in the wars to reconsider their lives as they come back and at the same time it enables the government to help the families of the veterans through the opportunities offered to the veterans.

The Program is very relevant for a wider issue which is the assistance offered to veterans in general not only for finding a proper job. In this sense, there are several other problems which are addressed by the Government of the United States as a result of the wars in the Middle East. In this sense, the Dept. Of Veteran affairs "offers a wide range of benefits including two disability programs (compensation & pension) that pay monthly benefits to veterans with service-connected disabilities. Home loan guaranties, life insurance, education and training, vocational rehabilitation, and burial and survivor benefits are also available." (2008) Therefore, it can be said that there are several aspect the U.S. is trying to work on in order to improve the condition of the veterans; some include direct assistance such as life insurances and other benefits, while others take into account the job opportunities that can be offered to disabled veterans coming back from the wars in the Middle East.

Plan for analyzing the impact and process of the Program

Methods of data collection

The data used for the analysis of the impact and the processes conducted through this Program were collected from various official and unofficial sources. More precisely, the most important source was the Department of Labor and the governmental agencies that deal with the Program. Also, other research material such as working papers and news articles were used to complete the information on the situation of the program. Finally, precise data such as statistics were collected from the official information of the Government.

Questions for evaluation

Some of the most important aspects which must be taken into account when considering the precise process presented by the Program as well as the impact it has on the target are related to the veterans. More precisely, one question surrounding this research focuses on the exact process on which the Program is based on. Secondly, it is important to consider the triggering element for this Program and what is the current situation of the disabled veterans. Third, what are the results so far? Forth, what are the shortcomings of this Program and what are the factors that determine them? Fifth, what are the benefits of the program? Finally, what more can be done to improve both the Program in itself and the situation of the disabled veterans?

Literature review

The Program in itself started at the moment in which it was considered that disabled veterans have difficulty in finding a proper job at the moment when they come home from the battlefield. At a recent event related to the work and activity of the DVOP officers it was stated that "president Jimmy Carter, following his 1977 swearing-in ceremony, made one of the highest priorities of his administration the plight of hundreds of thousands of unemployed Disabled and Vietnam veterans then living in this country (...) as a result, the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program, which began as a temporary offering, was started and 2,000 disabled Vietnam-era veterans were hired as DVOPs. Placed in 100 major cities across the country, they helped thousands of disabled veterans to return to work and lead normal lives." (Dept of Labor, 2007)

The beneficiaries of the Program are veterans who are defined according to the law. In this sense, eligible for this Program are "veterans and eligible persons with emphasis on Special Disabled veterans, disabled veterans, economically or educationally disadvantaged veterans, and veterans with other barriers to employment" (the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, n.d.) Therefore the category is not clearly defined precisely because there is always the possibility of a new situation to appear which is not immediately covered by the law but which must benefit from the Program.

The process of the Program takes into account a reintroduction in the labor force for disabled veterans. This is achieved through training and meeting several of the immediate needs of veterans. In this sense, the Program works with disabled veterans to "acquire proficient skill sets, obtain the needed assistance to successfully connect to an employer and apply those skills to the workforce (which) are fundamental to their ability to succeed in today's workforce environment" (House Committee on Veteran's Affairs, 2008). To this aim, the specialists working in the Program offer counseling, education, and training in order to be eligible for the current employment requirements.

Basis for the Program

The basis for the Program was established as stated before as a result of a presidential initiative. Nonetheless, there are several other documents and laws which enable the program to assist veterans, their families and any other factors that have been influenced by the loss of the full working capacity of the veterans. One of the most important acts however was the Jobs for Veterans Act of 2002 which not only gives consistency to the DVOP but also raises awareness of the eventual shortcomings of the initiative. More precisely, it "made a number of amendments to encourage Veterans access to services within an integrated one-stop service delivery system. A new section of the law established a priority of service requirement applicable to all Department of Labor programs offering employment and training related services" (Washington State Policies, 2003)

Current results

The results from the implementation of the Program aimed at helping those in need are rather mixed. Despite the fact that efforts have been made and that some results are visible, it is considered that much more needs to be done in order to address the issue of the veterans in a corresponding manner. Statistics have pointed out that in 2005 "an estimated 55,000 of the 2.5 million veterans with service-connected disabilities were actively seeking employment, and current military operations in the Middle East have or will increase these statistics in the coming years" (United States Government Accountability Office, 2007) According to other statistics however, the affirmative action which has been established by the U.S. government was effective for the 2005 fiscal year, as "the Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP) report highlights federal employment statistics in fiscal year 2005, and offers a look at year-over-year representation gains through comparisons with fiscal 2004 data. In 2005, veterans held 25% of all federal jobs; and 92,642 disabled veterans' occupied federal positions. In addition, federal agencies hired 31,024 veterans into full-time permanent jobs, an increase of 21.4% over fiscal 2004" (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2006).

A clear distinction however must be made in terms of the field of work the veterans find or do not find employment. In this sense, the first statistics mention more the private sector, whereas the second set of statistics mention the federal area of… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for "Disabled Veteran Outreach Program" Assignment:

The intent of this proposal is to give the student experience in making decisions related to research. Your assignment is not to actually conduct the research but rather to design an evaluation. Incorporated in your proposal will be a logic model of the program and how it relates to a policy issue/problem, a proposed work plan for an impact analysis and a process analysis. Within each of these work plans you need to include data collection methods and other issues related to analysis of the project. The criteria used to judge the proposal will be the amount of detail included in the proposal, the degree of integration evident in the proposal and the defense of the choices that the student has made.

Course project: Each student will design an evaluation proposal of a public, nonprofit, or health program. You will define the program you intend to evaluate, develop a logic model for the program, and establish the evaluation questions for your study. Next, you will design the evaluation which will address the question(s) of your study. The paper should include a data collection instruments and a plan which anticipates and addresses the problems and obstacles that are likely to be encountered. The next section should provide the detail of an analysis plan that will ensure that the questions that are posed are answered with appropriate data in the best possible fashion.

Literature Review: Review past social science empirical and theoretical literature which is related to your evaluation question(s). What are the central concepts in the literature? What methods and designs have been used? What findings or conclusions can be drawn from this literature? What are the explanations given for these findings? Develop a set of working evaluation questions for further analysis. The evaluation questions can be simple statements about the expected relationships deduced from current literature; or they can observations of gaps in the literature and your reasoned expectations of how gap(s) can be filled. Included in your literature review should be a theoretical/conceptual model that explains the interrelationships among factors. You are to hand in a typed, well reasoned and written document presenting the results of your literature review, conclusions, and evaluation question(s). The assignment should be between 5-10 typed double spaced pages.

Rough Draft of Executive Summary:

Executive Summary for the U.S. Department of Labor*****s Disabled Veteran Outreach Program

Background: This study will be conducted in response to concerns raised by unemployed disabled veterans returning from operations in the Middle East. *****In 2005, an estimated 55,000 of the 2.5 million veterans with service-connected disabilities were actively seeking employment, and current military operations in the Middle East have or will increase these statistics in the coming years*****(GAO-07-594, May 2007). And in 2007, *****the unemployment rate among veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces since September 2001 was 6.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. About 17 percent of these veterans, also called Gulf War-era II veterans had a service-connected disability in August 2007. The jobless rate for veterans of all eras combined was 3.8 percent in 2007. About 12 percent of all veterans had a service-connected disability in August 2007***** (DOL, 2008). Since, 2002, the Department of Labor has helped disabled veterans find employment through the Veterans***** Employment and Training Service programs (VETS), which is administered through the Disabled Veterans***** Outreach Program (DVOP). This program is funded by a grant from the Labor department to the state workforce agencies. Since America*****s disabled veterans continue to pay the cost of freedom, it is important to analyze this workforce phenomenon in more detail. It is the purpose of this proposal to examine the effectiveness of the DVOP program*****s goals and of the disabled veterans***** experience upon completion of the Disabled Veteran Outreach program.

In this study we will use a well-known dataset, the 2003 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics, which was conducted every two years since 1985, to examine the labor market outcomes of disabled veterans, non-disabled veterans, at ages 18 years and over. We will begin by describing the data-set, and then document what proportion of veterans are employed, unemployed, who served during the selected period of service of post September 11, 2001. This examination includes an analysis of how much veterans***** experiences vary by their characteristics, such as whether they are service-connected or non-service connected veterans. We conclude by describing the labor market trajectories of unemployed disabled veterans. Specifically, we analyze a random sample 25,000 reported disabled veterans from the 2003 (DOL) data set mentioned above. We also will send out a survey questionnaire, where questions will be asked of persons 18 years of age and older regarding their prior service in the U.S. Armed Forces and whether they had a service-connected disability in this sample. We conducted a literature review of studies on disabled veterans***** employment.

Work Cited:

Veterans***** Employment and Training Service: Labor Could Improve Information on Reemployment Services, Outcomes, and Program Impact. GAO-07-594. Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2007.

Employment Situation of Veterans: 2007. USDL 08-0456. Washington, D.C.: April 10, 2008.

*****

How to Reference "Disabled Veteran Outreach Program" Research Proposal in a Bibliography

Disabled Veteran Outreach Program.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861. Accessed 28 Sep 2024.

Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (2008). Retrieved from https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861
A1-TermPaper.com. (2008). Disabled Veteran Outreach Program. [online] Available at: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861 [Accessed 28 Sep, 2024].
”Disabled Veteran Outreach Program” 2008. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861.
”Disabled Veteran Outreach Program” A1-TermPaper.com, Last modified 2024. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861.
[1] ”Disabled Veteran Outreach Program”, A1-TermPaper.com, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861. [Accessed: 28-Sep-2024].
1. Disabled Veteran Outreach Program [Internet]. A1-TermPaper.com. 2008 [cited 28 September 2024]. Available from: https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861
1. Disabled Veteran Outreach Program. A1-TermPaper.com. https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/disabled-veteran-outreach-program-wars/831861. Published 2008. Accessed September 28, 2024.

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