Columbia Veterans Association. The reason for his being here is because I am requesting that we insert in the record these programs developed by the District of Columbia Veterans Association. The CHAIRMAN. It is with pleasure that we welcome Mr. Whitaker to our hearing. Mr. Dixon you may proceed. Mr. DIXON. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead with your statement. Mr. DIXON. I think what I will do is summarize this brief statement and leave it open to respond to questions. First of all, we are really concerned about the need for hearings of this type and to further define the problem. I purposely left out any long statement about the problems. What I did was to bring and I have submitted to your staff three proposals, they are not proposals, but one is a statement I made before the District of Columbia Council in November of last year about the problems of veterans in the District. Second, there is a proposal by the District of Columbia Association submitted in August 1970, on the Manpower Development Services Center for the District of Columbia for disadvantaged veterans, minority veterans. The other proposal was submitted to the Mayor's Veterans' Advisory Committee in September 1969, dealing with veterans employment program and in these proposals we talk about primarily how we look at the problem of unemployment in the District of Columbia. The CHAIRMAN. I have been guilty, Mr. Dixon, of not actually defining the problem. Without having you read those statements, we will make them a part of the record, in your own way describe for us how you view the magnitude of the problem and details of it insofar as how it varies, if it does, from other parts of the country. I think it is important we emphasize the nature of the problem as it does exist? (Documents referred to follow :) PROPOSAL FOR AN EMPLOYMENT-TRAINING Program for Veterans Submitted to The Mayors Advisory Committee on Veterans Affairs by 1. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND The District of Columbia Veterans Association Inc. concerning itself with the problems of veterans in the D.C. Metropolitan area, is hereby submitting an unsolicited proposal to deal with the most acute problem the returning veteran faces today; namely, meaningful Employment and Training. Certain facts have brought forth by many governmental and private agencies relative to the shortcomings of returning veterans to meaningful EmploymentTraining. It has also been shown veterans have special problems in this area. It is also evident that the many agencies now responsible for implementing programs designed to solve this problem fail to actually meet the needs of the returning veterans. Unemployment and underemployment is the most crucial problem the returning veterans face today. After reviewing much print on the need for investments in education and training to fully develop and utilize all of our human resources and create productive manpower when looking at the veteran problem it becomes obvious that this is a place to make a worthwhile investment. The proposal although primarily designed for the Vietnam-era veteran is not inclusive of Vietnam-era veterans. The proposal this organization submits is, a program similar to JOBS (MA−5) National Alliance of Businessmen and the Labor Department to be set up for disadvantaged Veterans with changes as outlined in attachment I. Using JOBS (NAB's) request for proposal MA-5 as a guide. It is proposed that the Veterans Administration, the Labor Department and the National Alliance of Businessmen join forces and set up a program specifically for disadvantaged veterans. It is also proposed that this program qualify veterans for educational benefits during the length of training. The purpose of this proposal is to get veterans hired and trained in meaningful job categories with potential areas of upward mobility. In addition there would be a part that is concerned only with upgrading the underemployed veteran. Using JOBS as a reference point the procedure would be as follows: I. An employer interested in this program would agree to hire the veteran as a regular employee for a specified training period consisting of: (1) On-the-job training. (2) Initial orientation and counseling. (3) Job related basic education. (4) Special counseling and job coaching. (5) Medical and dental services. (6) Supervisory and human relations training. (7) Transportation. (8) Child care assistance. (9) Other-administrative. and the employer would also agree to keep the veteran ás a regular employee at least 18 months after training. This is referred to as option A. An employer may also elect to upgrade veterans already employed under a second plan referred to as Option B. In this plan if a veteran has been employed for at least a year and is not experiencing any upward mobility due to the lack of needed training than this veteran and employer would qualify for Option B. The method for handling the training is recommended as follows: 1. All of the On-the-job training will be done on the employers site. 2. There should be established a centrally located "Intake Center" where all veterans can be processed. 3. There should be established a centrally located "Skill Center" that could respond to the needs of the veterans relative to Job related basic education, initial orientation and counseling, special counseling and job coaching. 4. Medical and dental services should be taken care of by the Veterans Adminis tration Hospital. 5. There should be established a centrally located Administrative-Assistance Office to deal with transportation, child care assistance and other administrative problems. It may seem at first that this plan is duplicating a number of presently existing functions, where in fact most of these existing functions do not work. We are recommending that these functions be consolidated under one roof under a single director and coordinated with other agencies that require information and/or services. The District of Columbia Veterans Association after a thorough check has found much duplication of veteran functions throughout the many governmental agencies. It was also found that because of this duplication and a lack of coordination between the many agencies; the veterans suffer because they're usually lost either in the paper work shuffle or the veteran shuffle. And its for this reason we recommend the formation of a centralized Intake and Skill Center. ATTACHMENT I 1. Delete all references to disadvantaged persons, hard-core and hard-core unemployed and replace with disadvantaged veterans. II. Changes in General Information Option A. (1) Wages and General Working Conditions. As written, but include veterans eligible for educational benefits will be able to use them during training. (2) Program Elements. Delete first paragraph. Replace with supportive services will be rendered by the Veteran Training Center. Change length of program to read not less than eight weeks or more than one hundred and four weeks. (8) Use of Skill Centers-Delete. (10) Recruitment of Employees-Delete. It is proposed to establish a veteran intake center and a skill center to handle disadvantaged veterans not only for this program but many other programs effecting disadvantaged veterans. All contractors will use the Veteran Intake Center and the Veteran Skill Center. III. Changes in General Information Option B. Change persons to read veterans. PREPARED STATEMENT OF EDWARD DIXON, PRESIDENT, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VETERANS ASSOCIATION, INC., TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CITY COUNCIL'S MANPOWER AND ECONOMIC COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION The District of Columbia Veterans Association, Incorporated (hereinafter referred to as DCVA) is a veterans organization concerned particularly with the immediate problems of District of Columbia Vietnam-era veterans and in general with the welfare of the total community. Disadvantaged Vietnam-era veteran: young, undereducated, lacks family support I would like to start by making clear DCVA's position on the plight of the disadvantaged Vietnam-era veteran in the District of Columbia. First let's define this disadvantaged Vietnam-era veteran. He falls in the age group 21-25 years, has something less than a high school education, has little or no work experience, except that received in the military, and has little or no family support. Majority of D.C. Viet veteran disadvantaged Therefore the majority of the Vietnam-era veterans returning to the District of Columbia can properly be classified as disadvantaged. Disadvantaged primary target of draft This is true because the economic and political conditions existing in the District of Columbia insure that the disadvantaged are the primary targets of the draft, and because of his disadvantaged condition upon entering the military he is not able to obtain a military skill which is usually transferable to civilian life. I would like to make it very clear at this point that all of our testimony, and I hope all the testimony presented here today will speak to the problems of this veteran. This is not to say that we (DCVA) are insensitive to the problems of the whole veteran population, but we feel this hearing could not begin to deal with so broad a question; moreover, we (as does the President and other top government officials) feel that this disadvantaged Vietnam-era veteran should be our first priority. Vietnam returnee faces more difficult transition to civilian life than past veterans This disadvantaged Vietnam-era veteran, (hereinafter referred to as "veteran") is faced with many problems in making the transition from military to civilian life. We see them in two different categories. 1. The veteran's overt problems namely, (a) Employment and training. (b) Housing. (c) Education. (d) Health and Welfare. 2. The veteran's covert problems, namely, those problems of mental readjustment. (a) Mental reorientation. (b) Redefinition of priorities. (c) Those problems that are peculiar to the individual veteran. New approaches, new solutions required We will restrict our discussion to the veteran's overt problems because these are problems that have been documented throughout this system as being fact and these are the problems which are basic to both the veteran and the agencies set up to deal with his problems. The Vietnam "veteran" faces problems that are quite different from those faced by his counterpart of the Korean conflict and both World Wars, requiring different approaches and different solutions. The overall governmental responsibility to the "veteran" has to be adjusted to meet the current needs. Disadvantaged Vietnam veteran returns in hopeful mood Even in the face of what seems to be insurmountable odds, the "veteran" does not return home in anger or aflame for a crusade. He comes home with a dominant mood of hope. That hope, however, can be quickly turned into bitterness. A door slams in his face, and the "veteran" sees he has reverted to his old status as society's drop out at home. Quickly embittered by minimal help currently available The help being offered is minimal: a parsimonious G.I. Bill, a small bonus on civil-service examinations leading some to a secure, if unexciting future in the Postal Service or other governmental agencies. The harsh realities of this present situation pose a very real challenge to those who have the responsibilities of helping "veterans" make the transition into civilian life. Opportunity is disadvantaged veteran's primary request It is incumbent upon those who have the power to facilitate change to respond positively to these "patriots" who unselfishly served their country. These valiant men who elevate loyalty to country above the battle for human dignity, request very little in terms of reward. They only ask for an opportunity to gain meaningful employment, decent housing and substantive education. Unless steps are taken to reverse present trends, the feeding of millions of society's disadvantaged young men into the military machine in the name of "self determination", may only insure that when racial conflict reaches the violent climax, it will be fought on both sides with a greater military sophistication and more lethal weapons and by young men grown accustomed to killing. No central coordination of existing services There are seven major organizations in the District of Columbia to assist veterans upon returning to civilian life. Unfortunately however, there is no central coordination or referral agency for these services so that many costly over-laps and gaps are evident. Seven agencies responsible for veterans assistance The agencies are: (1) The D.C. Chapter of American Red Cross. (2) U.S. Veterans Administration. (3) U.S. Inter-agency Board of Civil Service Examiners. (4) The D.C. Manpower Administration. (5) The U.S. Veterans Assistance Center (USVAC). (6) The District of Columbia Veterans Affairs Administration. (7) The Washington Urban League. There are other agencies and organizations which give some assistance to veterans but the before mentioned seven (7) agencies account for the majority of the assistance and the responsibilities. Number one problem is employment Now understanding that we have a large "veteran" population in the District of Columbia (more than 120,000) with real problems, we will discuss in detail some of these problems. The pride that comes from the ability to support oneself and family is paramount to man. As has been stated by most who are mindful of the plight of the "veteran" the number one problem the "veteran" faces is employment. Their problem is worsened still further by the present state of our economy. The job market is as tight now as it has been since the end of World War II, and employment opportunities are sharply limited for men who have been out of touch for two years or longer. Coming from impoverished backgrounds, lacking significant job experiences and minimum marketable skills, these men represent poor prospects for traditional job placements. All agencies in the veteran area are responsible for our inability to adapt our traditional methods to the Vietnam-era veteran. Two and a half times more black Vietnam returnees than white lack high school diploma The following statistics extracted from the Report of the President's Committee on the Vietnam Veteran, illustrates the tragedy of the Vietnam-era veteran. (1) White veteran, high school graduate__ (2) White veteran, less than high school education....... (3) White non-veteran, comparable age. (4) Black veteran, high school graduate_ (5) Black veteran, less than high school education.. (6) Black non-veteran comparable age-- Percent 5.8 8.8 4. 6 9.0 18.5 5.9 As stated in the report these stark percentages represent many human problems. These figures of course tell only part of the story. They say nothing about the kind of employment afforded these veterans, whether they're happy with their work and whether they're performing efficiently. Cut-backs, freezes in Government employment major problem for black Vietnam veterans These figures and other statistics are only small indicators of the real problem in the District of Columbia. Here, where the government is the largest employer and it is the process of cut backs and freezes, the employment problem is even more acute. In job market D.C. veteran must compete with suburban veterans and veterans new to District The problem is compounded by the influx of veterans and non-veterans from other areas such as Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and others. In addition, because a D.C. veteran competes with those from the surrounding suburbs for jobs in the District, and at the same time watches many jobs move out of the District to the Suburbs, employment in the District of Columbia is acute for the advantaged veteran, and could be considered impossible for the disadvantaged veteran. Employment services refer majority of veterans to menial jobs Moreover, the "veteran" population in the District of Columbia is used to fill the physical or manual labor jobs which are usually low paying jobs. This is true because of the types of employment services these veterans get from the agencies assigned the task of employment services. Current job programs outdated We say programs that were created ten years ago, even two years ago, are already outdated. We need fresh, new creative approaches to tackle this most difficult problem. We could go on and on discussing this problem, but what I think is important here is we understand that this is an acute problem for the District of Columbia that is having its effect on the people of the District of Columbia. In addition, we hope that it is understood that with the present machinery the problem will not be resolved. The President has announced a "Job for Veterans Campaign." All this means to us is that he agrees with us that there is a crisis and something should be done. Agencies play numbers games We've seen the effects of Presidential Executive Orders by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Nixon on the veteran in the District of Columbia. What we have learned is that whatever it is called, it is always executed by the same bureaucrats who end up with some numbers, most of which are meaningless. Although military trains easily, veteran treated as untrainable in civilian life A very important ingredient we haven't talked about at this point and that hasn't been dealt with by the agencies charged with that responsibility, is training, and when we refer to training, it is not to be confused with education. It is ironical that a veteran is usually a civilian who was "trained" to do a specific job for the service to which he is assigned. He is trained to kill, guard, destroy, build, attend, etc., and usually is quick order. He is trained to do anything for the convenience of the military and, seemingly, when he is no longer necessary to the convenience of the military, he is discarded and becomes untrainable and unskilled. Because most of the young men from the District of Columbia suffer from: (1) Educational deficiencies. (2) Economic Deprivation. These factors are important determinants in placing men in military occupations. Those who had not completed their high school education and those who perform poorly on the qualifications tests, have less opportunity while in the service to acquire skills applicable to civilian jobs. Acquiring education, in D.C. like running obstacle course This takes us to another problem the "veteran" faces in the District of Columbia, namely, Education. It is commonplace when a veteran speaks of meaningful employment, the bureaucrats say you need more education. We don't disagree with the concept, but seemingly, trying to acquire that needed education in the District of Columbia for the Vietnam veteran, is like conquering an obstacle course. Present GI bill inadequate The G.I. Bill has been far and away the most effective federal educational assistance program ever enacted. However, programs that may have worked well 25 or even 10 years ago, are not necessarily designed to meet all of today's needs. |