From War to Workforce

After more than a decade of foreign wars, the United States has significantly scaled back its military presence overseas. The end of the war in Afghanistan was officially announced in December, and with this move, millions of service members have been transferred back to the mainland and discharged from active duty, allowed to return to their lives. But that return can be difficult for many, particularly when it comes to finding a job.

Currently, nearly 900,000 veterans live in New York state. According to a state Department of Labor report published in December, the unemployment rate for veterans was 7.6 percent, versus 6.5 percent for non-veterans.

Government and elected officials in both the state and in New York City are well aware of these statistics, and many have promoted policies or passed legislation to help returning soldiers and sailors find work. We took a look at what New York state and New York City are doing to help troops transition from war to the workforce.

STATE

In recent years, New York state lawmakers have started several programs to help veterans with their transition home.

“Our goal has been and continues to be to make sure that we reach all these veterans across the state to, again, make sure they know what they’ve earned as part of having served in the military,” said Eric Hesse, director of the state Division of Veterans’ Affairs and a retired U.S. Army colonel. “In most age groups of the veteran population (the unemployment rate) is less than what the rest of the national or state average is. For a while, that unemployment rate was much higher.”

To help veterans find work, the state Department of Labor runs 96 career centers across New York that offer veterans first access to employment and training services. In addition, the state Civilian Service Commission designates up to 500 positions normally filled through civil service exams to qualified veterans.

“We’re recognizing the importance of veterans and our desire that they stay in New York,” said Tom Croci, chairman of the state Senate Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. “(It’s important) that they continue to live here where they left to serve and that we bring them into state government, because I personally believe that kind of experience is good for our state.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an initiative in 2011 that works with state and local chambers to help veterans find employment opportunities. In 2014, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Service- Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Act. Similar to the MWBE program, it established a 6 percent goal for participation on state contracts by businesses owned by disabled veterans.

According to a spokesperson for the Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development, 129 businesses have been certified as SDVOBs as of July 20. “Certified service-disabled veteran-owned businesses are beginning to be awarded contracts and we expect that to continue to grow,” the spokesperson said. “Businesses have reported 23 contract opportunities with a total value of approximately $645,000 that have either been awarded or are pending award. There are an additional 21 contracts out to bid that contain SDVOB goals.”

Croci is concerned the state is not yet meeting its 6 percent goal.

“I would like to see ways to streamline the process and ensure that if there are a certain percentage of veteran-owned state contracts, that veterans or service-disabled veterans’ companies that are supposed to receive them, actually receive them,” he said. “The ability that it exists is not enough.”

Moving forward, Assembly Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Michael DenDekker would like to establish a portal on the Department of Labor website to list job opportunities for veterans. One ongoing problem the state faces is making sure veterans are aware of the services and opportunities available to them once they return.

“New York state is doing a lot of great programs and we just want to continue to work on better ways to get the word out,” Hesse said.

CITY

In addition to quarterly job expos, New York City has a handful of initiatives designed to steer those leaving the military toward employment, many of which involve specialists who guide veterans through existing work programs and application processes.

Mayor’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner Loree Sutton says the specialists help ensure that former service members and their spouses receive priority at Department of Small Business Services centers and for department-funded training. These specialists assist veterans in describing their military work in colloquial terms, building confidence ahead of interviews and meeting employers interested in hiring former service members.

The specialists’ salaries have been paid in part with three grants totaling $1.6 million from the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization dedicated to fighting poverty in New York. At a 2014 City Council committee hearing, Jacqueline Mallon, deputy commissioner of the workforce development division at SBS, said the grant was associated with an annual goal of ushering 1,150 veterans and their spouses into jobs that pay $12.50 an hour. When recently approached by City & State, SBS declined to provide statistics showing how its work stacked up against the grant’s benchmarks, but said this Workforce1 initiative has served about 12,670 veterans and their spouses and connected nearly 3,200 to jobs since 2012.

SBS also launched a FastTrac Veteran Entrepreneur program, a six- week intensive course that requires an application. Participants refine business plans, study business and marketing skills, learn how to leverage financing and gain access to a network of peers and coaches. To date, the program boasts 45 graduates, one of whom has launched an e-commerce business and another of whom plans to open a shop this summer, SBS said.

Beyond SBS’s work, Sutton says her team and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services is working with the NYPD, FDNY and Department of Correction to learn what has made them successful in recruiting veterans and develop a best-practices protocol. MOVA is also collaborating with the city Department of Youth and Community Development to place veterans in coaching positions in athletic programs. And a partnership is also in the works with JPMorgan Chase, which is interested in helping veterans pursue business and finance careers.

“We’re excited about New York City and its potential for recruiting more veterans and their families to come here, where they can really retool, go to school, imagine whatever they want the next leg of their journey to entail,” Sutton said. “We’ve got a number of collaborative partnerships.”

MOVA also plans to tap into state and federal resources. For instance, Sutton said the city’s campaign to end veteran homelessness involves funneling participants into VA training programs and career services offered by an array of organizations. The VA and state Department of Labor are both stationing a liaison in the city to help spur economic opportunities for former service members. And Sutton said MOVA has a pilot program with Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn that permits city officials to communicate with service members about their anticipated needs before they leave the base.

Feedback on the city’s work runs the gamut. Some advocates, such as Brett Morash, director of veterans services at the Services for the UnderServed, argue the city’s main responsibility should be guiding federal funding toward the most effective organizations. Others, including Kevin Driscoll, who works with veterans at the Jericho Project, suggest the city set aside a pool of training vouchers exclusively for veterans and subsidize part of their wages when employers first hire them. There was, however, near unanimous agreement that the de Blasio administration should clarify and better communicate its strategy.

“You’re hoping that this is going to be like the commercial where I tell two friends and you tell two friends and so on and so on. ... It doesn’t work that way,” said Joseph Bello, founder of NY MetroVets, a newsletter on veterans issues. “They can correct that if they can put some funding into it. Even if it’s a frickin’ 30-second spot on NYC TV.”