Strategic Goal: Provide One VA world-class service to veterans and their families through the effective management of people, technology, processes and financial resources. VA will operate as a veteran-focused organization that provides high quality, accessible, and timely information and service through the development and maintenance of a high-performing workforce, the application of state-of-the-art technologies, the continuous improvement of processes, and the effective allocation of dollars.

Objective: Improve VA’s overall governance and operational management, and access to benefits and services to meet or exceed the expectations of veterans and their families, while ensuring full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and financial commitments.

Performance Goal: Increase the percentage of survey respondents who rate the quality of service provided by the national cemeteries as excellent to 90 percent.

NCA strives to ensure the Nation’s veterans and their families are satisfied with the quality of service provided by national cemeteries by providing high-quality, responsive service in all of its contacts with veterans and their families.

Means and Strategies

NCA will continue to provide high-quality, responsive service in all NCA contacts with veterans and their families and friends. These contacts include scheduling the interments, greeting the corteges and bereaved families for the committal services, and providing information about the cemetery and the location of specific graves. VA will continue to provide weekend scheduling of the interment in a national cemetery for a specific time in the ensuing week. By FY 2001, we will increase to 32 the number of national cemeteries providing automated gravesite locator information through user-operated kiosks. NCA conducts surveys of the families of individuals who are interred in national cemeteries, and of other visitors, to ascertain how they perceive the quality of service provided. Through its annual customer comment card survey, NCA measures its success in delivering service with courtesy, compassion, and respect.

NCA works closely with components of DoD and veterans service organizations to provide military honors at national cemeteries. While NCA does not provide military honors, national cemeteries facilitate the provision of military honors and provide logistical support to military honors teams. Veterans and their families have indicated that the provision of military honors for the deceased veteran is important to them.

NCA continues to work with funeral homes and veterans service organizations to find new ways to increase awareness of benefits and services. Funeral directors and members of veterans service organizations participate in regularly conducted focus groups to identify not only what information they need but also the best way to ensure they receive it.

There are no major management challenges that will affect achievement of this performance goal.

The source of data used to measure the quality of service provided by national cemeteries is the NCA Visitor Comment Card Survey, an annual survey conducted for a period of 90 days. The measure for quality of service is the percentage of respondents returning the comment card who rate the quality of interaction with cemetery staff as excellent. VA headquarters staff oversee the survey process and provide an annual report at the national level. NCA Area Office and cemetery level reports are provided for NCA management use.

(For additional information on this performance goal, refer to General Operating Expenses, Volume 4, Chapter 4.)