During a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in July, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) asked Margarita Devlin, Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits, why her boss Nick Pamperin, Executive Director of the Veteran Readiness and Employment Service, sent her to testify in front of congress in his stead during a hearing on the Veteran Readiness and Employment Service.
00:00We're going to proceed to questioning now. Everyone's going to stick to the five-minute rollout. I'll recognize ranking member Pappas for five minutes for questions.
00:07Well, thank you, Ms. Devlin, for joining us. I appreciate you being here, and I appreciate you also relating your experience as a voc rehab counselor.
00:14And that's all valuable perspective, but I also noticed that the executive director of the program, the one program that we're discussing today, is not at this hearing.
00:23Mr. Pamperin led the program during record-setting enrollment during the PACT Act, the development of the res scheduling system.
00:30In fact, the reason I think we're holding this hearing is because the chairman and Mr. Pamperin had a back-and-forth line of questioning at a hearing a few weeks ago.
00:38And so I'm wondering if you can answer the question why Mr. Pamperin is not at this hearing today.
00:44Yes, sir. Thank you for that question.
00:46So Mr. Pamperin is in charge of the VR&E service program, but as I'm currently performing the delegable duties of the Undersecretary for Benefits,
00:54I'm also responsible, not only for the VR&E program, but for the Office of Field Operations.
01:00VR&E service controls the policymaking, the quality assurance, and many other functions in VR&E,
01:05but it's field operations that we're typically talking about that we have concerns with.
01:10It's the staffing in the field.
01:12It's the counselors doing the work on the ground.
01:15And the VR&E program leaders are just one group of leaders that are responsible for implementing the program.
01:22We're also talking about VA regional office directors and district directors.
01:27Those people don't report to Mr. Pamperin.
01:29They report to me.
01:30Well, I don't doubt your oversight and your involvement in the program, but he is the named executive director of the program.
01:37There are four additional seats at that table, and one of them should have been filled by him.
01:42I'm wondering if we can get into the detail of some of your testimony and talk about the extended enrollment times that we have seen.
01:50The chairman has brought to this committee's attention a few cases in which veterans have been in VR&E for far longer than the policy ever intended.
01:59Can you help us understand why there are times that veterans might need to stay in the program longer than just the average time?
02:05Yes, there are many reasons that a veteran might be in a program for a long time.
02:09Sometimes it's because they're in and out of the program.
02:12So maybe they began their program and life circumstances took over.
02:16It could be a worsening of their disability conditions.
02:19It could be some other life circumstances.
02:21It could be a geographic relocation.
02:23It could be an accident.
02:24It could be a family emergency.
02:25It could be a whole host of reasons that could interrupt that veteran's program, and then they can return when those issues are resolved.
02:32You know, I've seen a case, just a veteran who was rehabilitated just July 8th, and that veteran was in the program for a few years, had to take time off because of disability conditions, and then came back years later and was able to finish, graduate the program in May, sorry, get a job in May as a human resources manager and is successfully rehabilitated.
02:52You might look at that on the surface and say, well, why was that veteran in the program so long?
02:57But they needed to take the time off for those medical conditions to restore their health.
03:02Well, thanks.
03:03And are veterans paid by VA for the entire time period that they're in the program?
03:07Veterans receive subsistence allowance only for the time that they're actively pursuing training.
03:12Okay.
03:12And is there an average number of months that benefits are paid out?
03:16Veterans are typically entitled to up to 48 months of entitlement for payment of subsistence unless an extension is granted.
03:22Okay.
03:23And are there just the most common reason why a veteran might exceed that 48-month time frame?
03:31Typically, it's because they have what we call a serious employment handicap, which means they have significant barriers to employability above an employment handicap that requires them to have additional months of training that they might need to become employable and compete with other people for that same occupation.
03:47So when a veteran enrolls in VR&E, what's the process and how are counselors assigned to that veteran?
03:54Counselors are typically assigned based on geography where the veteran applies.
03:59As I indicated earlier, however, because of our capacity issues, we've assigned veteran applicants to counselors that have availability so that they don't have to wait.
04:08Those counselors would meet with that veteran either virtually or in person, depending on the circumstances, to determine their entitlement and review what type of rehabilitation program they might need.
04:20So we do hear complaints from veterans sometimes about the difficulty in getting in contact with their counselor.
04:25So if a veteran moves to a college in a different location, do they keep the same counselor or are they assigned a new one?
04:33It depends on the changes and the capacity of the VR&E office.
04:38But if a veteran is having a hard time reaching their counselor and they've left a voicemail message and not gotten a return call, I would encourage them to call our main number because we can warm transfer them to the VR&E office and see if somebody else in that office can make sure that they get taken care of.
04:53Okay. And my time's limited, so maybe we'll come back in a second round. But thank you. I yield back.
