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Office of Budget

Fiscal Year 2004 Performance and Accountability Report
Published November 15, 2004

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Objective 2.1

FY 2004 Obligation ($ in Millions) % of Total VA Resources
Strategic Goal 2: Ensure a smooth transition for veterans from active military service to civilian life. $3,281 4.7%
Objective Performance Results
2.1 Ease the reentry of new veterans into civilian life by increasing awareness of, access to, and use of VA health care, benefits, and services.
  • 20 percent of compensation claimants were participants in the Benefits Delivery at Discharge program (goal was 25 percent)
  • 100 percent of VA medical centers provided electronic access to health information provided by DoD on separated service persons (goal was 100 percent)
$641 0.9%

Performance

VA employs numerous approaches to ease the transition of active duty servicemembers to civilian life. One of the most important measures as to how well the Department is progressing toward achieving Objective 2.1 is the extent to which eligible servicemembers that file compensation claims take advantage of the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program. Conducted in close collaboration with the Department of Defense, the BDD program assists active duty military personnel in filing claims for benefits at or near their time of discharge in order to expedite the processing of these claims. VA now conducts this program at 139 sites to help servicemembers transition more smoothly to civilian life. Under the BDD program, VBA and VHA, in conjunction with DoD, developed the Single Separation Examination Protocol. This one examination meets the requirements for VA's disability examination and DoD's separation physical. Eventually all BDD sites will be conducting examinations under this protocol. As of August 2004, 28 out of 139 BDD sites have used the Single Separation Examination Protocol. During FY 2004, VA representatives conducted nearly 1,000 pre- and post-deployment briefings attended by more than 70,000 Reserve/National Guard members. Returning servicemembers can also attend Transition Assistance Program workshops offered by the Department. With regard to health care, all VA medical centers provide electronic access to health information furnished by DoD on separated service members, which helps ensure continuity of care. Last fiscal year the Department provided information and assistance to about 3,000 hospitalized returning service persons who received health care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC; the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; and other DoD medical treatment facilities.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Evaluation

There are no PART evaluations that have been completed, nor are there any planned, that specifically address Objective 2.1.

Major Management Challenges

The Government Accountability Office has identified the following issue as a major management challenge related to Objective 2.1:

  • VA/DoD sharing - a long-term approach to improving the VA/DoD sharing database is required (more information)

Program Evaluations

There have not been any independent program evaluations conducted recently that specifically address Objective 2.1.

New Policies and Procedures

Several procedures have recently been implemented in support of Objective 2.1. For example, VA has:

  • Worked closely with DoD, through the Seamless Transition Task Force, to ensure that earned services are provided expeditiously to veterans returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
  • Accelerated initiatives to streamline interagency activities to facilitate the seamless transition of servicemembers to veteran status and ensure continuity of care is maintained for those individuals whose medical care is transferred from the military health care system to VA's health care system.
  • Improved coordination and education of staff in all VA benefit facilities regarding returning servicemembers by ensuring that the staff identifies and maintains knowledgeable points of contact and case managers and prominently displays materials to identify such individuals.