Transitioning Veterans Initiative
Operation Welcome Home
DISCUSSION PAPER
Background
Texas has the second-largest workforce in the nation at 13 million. There are over 700,000 veterans in the Texas labor force. Every year, close to 20,000 military service members transition from military service at Texas military installations to civilian employment. Currently, there are close to 40,000 veterans seeking employment in Texas. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is interested in assisting recently separated service members who are experiencing challenges in translating their military skills into civilian terms, finding employment, completing two- to four-year college programs, or obtaining the appropriate licensure or certifications to compete in the job market.
Issue
Operation Welcome Home is a program designed to better meet the needs of transitioning service members at military installations in Texas, which, with the 11 corresponding Local Workforce Development Boards (Boards), are as follows:
· Joint Base San Antonio—Workforce Solutions Alamo
· U.S. Army, Fort Hood—Workforce Solutions of Central Texas
· U.S. Army, Fort Bliss—Workforce Solutions Borderplex
· Dyess Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas
· Goodfellow Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions Concho Valley
· Sheppard Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions North Texas
· Laughlin Air Force Base—Workforce Solutions Middle Rio Grande
· Texas Military Forces—Workforce Solutions Capital Area
· Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base—Workforce Solutions Gulf Coast
· Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth—Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County
· Kingsville and Corpus Christi Naval Air Stations—Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend
Recommendations
1. Operation Welcome Home Summit
On March 7, 2016, Governor Greg Abbott established the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative to assess local economic activities, examine workforce challenges and opportunities, and consider innovative approaches to meeting the state’s workforce goals. Included in the Tri-Agency’s charge was an evaluation of gaps in services to Texas veterans.
Staff recommends that in conjunction with the Tri-Agency’s work, TWC host a one-day summit focusing on building relationships between the military installations and the 11 Boards. The summit would provide the opportunity for Texas’ 11 Military Transition Centers, Boards, and their partners to discuss improving the transition of military service members, learn more about existing programs, and build working relationships that will lead to collaborative efforts in the near future. The summit is tentatively scheduled for mid-September 2016.
2. Welcome Home Texas Transition Alliance
Staff recommends that TWC establish a Welcome Home Texas Transition Alliance, that includes the 11 workforce Boards identified. The alliance will encourage the participation of the Boards’ military installation contacts, the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC), and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The alliance will meet up to four times a year to collaborate on addressing the needs of transitioning service members, and facilitate ongoing coordination to improve employment outcomes.
3. Operation Welcome Home Handoff
Staff recommends that the Commission support the “handoff” of transitioning service members to workforce partner staff. Improving the partnership between Military Transition Centers and Boards will aid in the process of referring transitioning service members who are within 180 days of separation. Veterans are a priority population for TWC and the Boards, and this initiative will improve the links between the entire Texas workforce system—including TVC—and Military Transition Centers. This will enhance the ability of Boards to provide Texas-specific employment services or services in one of the specified tracks—education, career technical training, or entrepreneurship.
4. Skills for Transition Program
Staff recommends that a new Skills for Transition program be developed to work with separating service members who plan to remain in Texas. Over the next two fiscal years, $4 million dollars of the Skills Development Fund would be used to train approximately 2,000 transitioning service members at a cost of no more than $2,000 per service member.
Skills for Transition–funded training would complement the efforts of the transition programs and provide training opportunities to service members focused on skills associated with employment in high-growth, high-demand occupations, as denoted by inclusion in a Board’s Target Occupations List. Boards will work together to ensure they are aware of opportunities throughout the state, and through the Workforce Solutions network can assist service members in transitioning to any community in Texas.
The Skills for Transition program would be a resource for the Workforce Solutions Office and workforce partner staff working with service members 180 days prior to their separation, and post-transition. Boards will market the Skills for Transition program, working with local community colleges and private industry to identify and train the transitioning service members for targeted occupations in the local workforce development area in which the transitioning service member will reside.
5. Employer Recognition Award
Staff recommends recognizing employers that address the needs of veterans, including transitioning veterans. Staff will examine opportunities to incorporate this recognition at the Annual Workforce Conference, beginning in 2017.
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