Workforce Topic resources
Return to Work Strategies That target Returning War Veterans with Disabilities
Veterans make up 13.6 percent of Maine's population, and 10.1 percent of the U.S. population.1 In fact, proportionally, Maine has more veterans than nearly every other state.1 As a member of Maine's business community, the large number of veterans in the state is good news for you, as veterans leave the military with a wealth of work-ready skills and intangibles that make them extremely valuable employees in the civilian workforce (see 10 Reasons to Hire Vets).
Yet, unemployment among veterans is high, particularly among young veterans returning from recent combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.2 Some estimates put the unemployment rate for veterans ages 18 to 24 between 15 and 20 percent, while the national unemployment rate is 10.1 percent.2,3 And with an additional 30,000 troops being called up over the next two years, more veterans will seek civilian jobs in the future.
Maine Business Spotlight: Click here to read about Maine Oxy, |
The following provides an list of some of the organizations and government resources dedicated to helping returning war veterans with disabilities regain their lives by getting them back into the workforce.:
- Wounded Warriors’ Project Warriors to Work is a free service to any man or woman who was injured in the line of duty. Using their website at http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/, applicants can download a résumé blank, post it on their website and apply directly with program sponsors. They also list internships and other career opportunities within the organization itself.
- Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers a “personal approach matching the career interests, qualifications and transferable skills of veterans with the needs of hiring companies.” Once an applicant completes a profile and submits a résumé, a representative from HHUSA will contact him or her for a personalized phone interview to determine how best to place the applicant with one of their Corporate Partners. Additional information can be obtained online at http://www.hireheroesusa.org/.
- The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs’ (VA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service focuses on getting returning veterans back to their highest potential through a variety of rehabilitation services, both in their medical facilities and on an ongoing outpatient basis, as well as offering support for their families. They offer a full range of career counseling, education and vocational training for active duty servicepeople due to discharged within six months or who have been discharged within the last year, including guidance for veterans interested in self-employment.
- The US Department of Labor (DOL) focuses more on veterans who have been out of the service for a longer while. Their Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) features the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program that performs outreach to disabled vets via over 1400 specialists who develop local jobs programs, including apprenticeships and on-the-job training opportunities. Additionally, they fund around 1,300 Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives (LVERs) to offer directed assistance to veterans at each state’s local employment office, monitoring opportunities as they arise for local veterans in both the private and public sector.
- The US Department of Labor (DOL) is involved with a number of other, more specialized organizations in private/public partnerships dedicated to finding employment for veterans in a number of areas, including Troops2Truckers – which provides transitioning service members with professional commercial trucking industry training and/or CDL (Commerical Drivers License) certification, HelmetsToHardhats for placement in construction trades, Troops-To-Teachers – which provides Referral Assistance and Placement services to military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher, and America’s Heroes at Work, which focuses on issues surrounding Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is allied with the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).
References
1U.S. Census Bureau. 2006-2008 American Community Survey. Available at www.census.gov/acs.
2U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Unemployment and Veterans Who Served Since September 2001." March 23, 2009. Available online here.
3Ahrens, Frank. "Unemployment Among Young Veterans Much Higher than the National Average." The Washington Post. November 11, 2009. Available online here.