Fiscal Year 2005 Performance and Accountability Report Published November 15, 2005
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Strategic Objective 3.4: Meeting Burial Needs
Ensure that the burial needs of veterans and eligible family members are met.
Performance Trends and Impact of FY 2005 Results
Performance Trend |
FY 2005 Impact |
Key Measure: Percent of Veterans Served by a Burial Option within a Reasonable Distance (75 miles) of their Residence
| |
2001 |
72.6% |
2002 |
73.9% |
2003 |
75.2% |
2004 |
75.3% |
2005 Result |
77.1% |
2005 Plan |
78.3% |
2006 Plan |
82.2% |
Strategic Target |
90.0% |
|
By the end of 2005, more than 18 million veterans and their families had reasonable access to a burial option. One of the primary objectives of VA is to ensure that the burial needs of veterans and eligible family members are met. Having reasonable access is integral to realizing this objective. |
Key Measure: Percent of Respondents Who Rate the Quality of Service Provided by National Cemeteries as Excellent
| |
2001 |
92% |
2002 |
91% |
2003 |
94% |
2004 |
94% |
2005 Result |
94% |
2005 Plan |
95% |
2006 Plan |
96% |
Strategic Target |
100% |
|
Cemetery service goals are set high consistent with the expectations of the families of individuals who are interred as well as other visitors. High-quality, courteous, and responsive service to veterans and their families is reflected in VA's 2005 satisfaction rating. |
Related Information
Major Management Challenges
Neither VA's Office of the Inspector General nor the Government Accountability Office identified any major management challenges related to this objective.
Program Evaluations
The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act, Public Law 106-117, directed VA to contract for an independent demographic study to identify those areas of the country where veterans will not have reasonable access to a burial option in a national or state veterans cemetery, and the number of additional cemeteries required through 2020. Volume 1: Future Burial Needs, published in May 2002, identified those areas having the greatest need for burial space for veterans. VA continues to use this report as a valuable tool for planning new national cemeteries.
In 2005 NCA initiated a joint effort with VBA and VA's Office of Policy, Planning, and Preparedness to begin a comprehensive program evaluation of the full array of burial benefits and services that VA provides to veterans and their families. The program evaluation will assess, develop, and update program outcomes, goals, and objectives and compare actual program results with established goals.
Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Evaluation
In relation to this strategic objective, the Administration conducted a PART evaluation of VA's Burial program during 2002, which resulted in a rating of "Moderately Effective." Please see Summary Table 3 for more information.
New Policies and Procedures
From 2005 through 2009, NCA will establish 11 new national cemeteries. The development of these cemeteries is consistent with current policy to locate national cemeteries in areas with the largest concentration of veterans. Each location will provide a burial option to at least 170,000 veterans not currently served.
In 2005 the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies began interment operations, providing service to veterans in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2006 new national cemeteries will begin providing service to veterans in the areas of Detroit, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; and South Florida. A new national cemetery to provide service to veterans in the area of Sacramento, California, will begin interment operations in 2007. These five new cemeteries will provide reasonable access to a burial option to 2 million veterans.
As directed by the National Cemetery Expansion Act of 2003, Public Law 108-109, action is underway to establish six new national cemeteries to serve veterans in the areas of Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Columbia/Greenville, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Sarasota, Florida; and Southeastern Pennsylvania. These cemeteries are expected to begin operations in 2009 and will provide service to about 1 million veterans.
Other Important Results
In 2005 VA continued to take actions necessary to establish new national cemeteries to provide service to veterans in the areas of greatest need. VA also completed construction projects to extend burial operations at four national cemeteries. Appropriate land acquisition is a key component to providing continued accessibility to burial options. For example, Fort Sam Houston Army Post transferred to VA approximately 170 acres of land contiguous to VA's Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. This additional acreage will allow the cemetery to continue to provide reasonable access to a burial option to about 273,000 veterans and their families in the San Antonio, Texas, area.
In addition to building, operating, and maintaining national cemeteries, VA also administers the State Cemetery Grants program, which provides grants to states for up to 100 percent of the cost of establishing, expanding, or improving state veterans cemeteries. Increasing the availability of state veterans cemeteries is a means to provide a burial option to those veterans who may not have reasonable access to a national cemetery. In 2005, 61 operating state veterans cemeteries performed more than 20,000 interments of veterans and eligible family members, and grants were obligated to establish, expand, or improve state veterans cemeteries in 12 states.
In a report released in 2005, VA's national cemeteries received the highest rating ever achieved by a public or private organization in a nationwide customer satisfaction survey. The survey was the 2004 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). VA scored a rating of 95 out of a possible 100 points. This is two points higher than the last survey in 2001, when VA's national cemeteries also ranked number one in customer satisfaction. In addition on ACSI's index for "user trust," VA achieved a rating of 97 out of a possible 100 points. This indicates that respondents are exceptionally willing to say positive things about VA's national cemeteries.
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