White House Internships for Veterans

California's Operation Welcome Home

California’s Operation Welcome Home

Question
What is the mission of Operation Welcome Home?

Operation Welcome Home seeks to directly connect with the 30,000 annually returning California veterans to ascertain their needs and connect them with the services that can help them transition successfully from the combat zone to their community and to help them transfer their highly-trained military skills into the civilian workforce. This operation, one of the most comprehensive streamlining services in the state, will break down government silos that will allow veterans straightforward and easier access to benefits and services.

Question
What state department will oversee and orchestrate California’s Operation Welcome Home?

The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA) will oversee and orchestrate a proactive and comprehensive statewide collaborative outreach effort designed to connect California’s veterans with services already available to them and benefits they have earned as a result of their service.

Question
What Veterans will benefit from California’s Operation Welcome Home?

The outreach effort will target California’s most recently discharged veterans, including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans from active military and National Guard Reserves veterans who are most at risk while transitioning from military to civilian life; however all veterans will benefit from California’s Operation Welcome Home.

Question
Is anything else unique about California’s Operation Welcome?

The initiative is especially unique because it is the first in the nation statewide effort to connect recently returning veterans to services and benefits which they are already entitled to but are tied up in government silos, or in many cases, veterans simply don’t know where to look. This unprecedented collaboration of federal, state and local efforts to make housing, healthcare, employment, education and other services easier to access and proactively connecting with all veterans returning to California, the state will be better equipped to track returning veterans, report tangible results.

Components for Service Delivery

Question
What tools will be utilized to connect with veterans under California’s Operation Welcome Home?

The primary resource for initiating veteran contacts and identifying their needs is CDVA’s recently developed Veterans Reintegration Management System (VRMS), which will be the key tool for connecting with California’s most recently discharged veterans and for ensuring the success of California’s Operation Home initiative.

Question
How will the CVSO be connected with returning veterans?

EDD’s Transition Assistance Program instructors will have distributed the VRMS forms to all military personnel attending TAP classes at their 24 TAP sites throughout California, collect the completed forms and forward them to CDVA. This collection of referral information is the critical catalyst to initiating the contact process. CDVA loads the contact information into its data base and forwards that information to the appropriate EDD regional Directors, CVSO and OIF/OEF coordinators.

Question
How does the Veterans Reintegration Management System (VRMS) work?

The primary resource is the Veterans Reintegration Management System (VRMS) which will be used in connecting veterans and CVSO’s. It is an automated process that has already allowed the CDVA to reach out to nearly 5,000 veterans about their benefits. CDVA uses the VRMS data to pass veterans data to its partners at the EDD, USDVA and to the CVSO. This coordinated effort will provide outreach efforts to assist veterans with resources in: job placement, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, healthcare, education and VA benefits.


CalVet Corps/EDD Team
Question
What is the CalVet Corps and what is the purpose of the CalVet Corps?

The CalVet Corps is a coalition of people from government, nonprofit organizations and volunteer groups. Working in collaboration, the CalVet Corps will directly contact California’s combat veterans individually at least three times in the first year of military separation. Furthermore, they will focus on initial contact efforts and getting veterans services and unemployment benefits, and will recruit and coordinate at least 1,000 community volunteers. Each Regional Team will host CalVet Corps members to ensure adequate member training, veteran outreach coordination and individual veteran follow up and will be headed up by a CVSO in partnership with County Mental Health Directors.

Question
What is the CalVet Corps EDD Team?

The Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), through the Employment Development Department (EDD), will hire 325 limited term employees, who shall be veterans, beginning in January 2010. They will be trained by EDD and CDVA to be proficient in Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims assistance and veteran benefit referrals. EDD team members will assist unemployed veterans in filing initial claims to ensure continuity of income for veterans as they transition into the civilian labor force. Team members will serve as veterans first point of contact and ensure veterans is evaluated for unemployment insurance and re-employment services, as well as assess the veterans need for other services and aid in referring veterans to those service providers.

Question
What is the CalVet Corps Volunteer Team?

CDVA is applying to California Volunteers (CV) 2010 to receive funding for 52 AmeriCorps members who will improve, expand and enhance veteran services outreach statewide. Through their service at the community level, they will make a difference for veterans service members, veteran families and community-based veterans service providers, by closing the gap between what is needed and what is available and by attempting to enlist 1,000 community volunteers to assist in accomplishing California’s Operation Welcome Home mission.

Question
What kinds of volunteers are you looking for?

We are looking for all kinds of volunteers. Those who can professional or provider care services to those who are can help provide transportation assistance to veterans. Our goal is to get the entire community involved and geared toward helping veterans at all levels of need and services.

Regional Outreach Teams

Question
What is a Regional Outreach Team and who do they consist of?

Operation Welcome Home consolidates the efforts of governmental agencies and departments, non-governmental entities and volunteer organizations into nine Regional Outreach Teams allowing the CDVA to build a network of outreach coordinators that will directly touch veterans throughout the state. Each team will meet the individual needs of area veterans adjusting themselves around the community by partnering with: The labor and Workforce Development Agency; California Volunteers; Mental Health Professionals; County Veterans Service Officers; The US Department of Veteran Affairs; and the network of community organizations.

Implementation Period, Timelines and Duration

Question
When is the official kickoff of California’s Operation Welcome Home?

The kickoff will occur immediately after the Governor’s State of the State address on January 6, 2010.

Question
Is the VRMS system already up and running?

Yes, the VRMS system is in fully functional operation.

Question
When will information regarding California’s Operation Welcome Home be available on the internet?

The CalVet Corps stand alone web page and CDVA’s web portal will be up and running by January 6, 2010.

Question
When will the job descriptions currently being developed by LWDA/EDD/CDVA be available?

The various job descriptions will be available by January 6, 2010.

Question
When will LWDA/EDD begin the hiring process and when will training begin?

The hiring process will take place in January 2010 and training will begin in February 2010.

Distribution of Staff

Question
How will the distribution of staff be determined and how does that impact the Regional Outreach Teams?

CalVet Corps EDD Team staff will be disbursed into regions/areas of California under EDD supervision, based on density of the veteran population. CalVet Corps volunteers and AmeriCorps and VISTA members will be placed at some CVSO local offices, and other locations where they could work side by side with other community-based veteran service partners.

Benefits and Anticipated Outcomes

Question
How will the new technology showed in California’s Operation Welcome Home change the way veterans receive services and benefits?

These new web-based information retrieval and distribution programs are on the cutting-edge of veterans service outreach providing real-time information with multiple follow-up methods, and detailed reporting. By combining the new information systems and the CalVet workforce it will begin to help create a “high-tech & high-touch” veteran outreach model that will be a “best-practices” model that can be replicated in other states across the country.

Question
What are some pragmatic benefits that make California’s Operation Welcome Home a vital resource from recently discharged veterans?

• Real-time distribution and tracking of veteran contact information.
• CalVet Corps EDD Team will improve veteran access to unemployment insurance benefits, and re-employment services.
• Feedback on CalVet Corps EDD Team performance, through the submission of monthly performance reports detailing the number of veteran contacts provided by the TAP class instructors, updated information, and program referrals. Data will be gathered to the extent possible using existing reports and data systems.
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will expand and enhance service delivery, of all veterans services through an “expanded delivery model” and through improved working relationships with local regional collaborative partners.
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will also serve as a local partner for veteran services coordinated through a new USDVA national “24 hour - Veterans Services Hotline. “
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will deploy 52 voluntary corps member workforce statewide, assigning them to serve in nine separate Regional Collaborative Partnerships.
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will use 29 county placements sites as a base of operations, designed to serve and assist each county within their respective Regional Collaborative Partnership.
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will directly interface with the local USDVA, HUD, LWDA, State, County, and other faith-based and non-profit care providers and agency representatives to create a common link for all veterans outreach services at the local level.
• CalVet Corps Volunteer Team will use several web-based utilities with veteran-specific information (PARIS, VRMS and Student Veteran Databases), which will help to expand, enhance, and improve the level of services currently provided. These new web-based systems will change how veteran outreach information is communicated, tracked and reported.