Before the Subcommittee on Benefits, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives

United States General Accounting Office

Veterans' Employment and Training Service - Further Changes Needed to Strengthen Its Performance Measurement System

Statement of Sigurd R. Nilsen, Director 
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues

VETS, as part of the Department of Labor, administers programs and activities designed to help veterans obtain employment and training assistance. Recently, policymakers have focused increasing attention on VETS and its programs, advocating changes to the structure and administration of the program and in the way it assesses program performance. This Subcommittee introduced legislation during the 106th Congress that would restructure the program and require a new, comprehensive performance accountability system. In addition, in 1999, the Congressional Commission on Service members and Veterans' Transition Assistance recommended that the Congress establish effective outcome measures for VETS. This focus on reform comes at a time when other federally funded employment and training programs are changing the way they provide services and measure performance. For example, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which provides employment and training assistance for youth, adults, and dislocated workers through one-stop centers, recently established outcome measures that are similar to those that VETS now proposes.

In our recently released report, requested by this Subcommittee, we reviewed VETS' efforts to improve its performance measurement system. In that report, we examined VETS' proposed performance measures, the data source VETS proposes to use in the new system and other measurement issues that may affect the comparability of states' performance data. Our work was based on interviews and discussions we had with over 45 officials in 15 states, interviews with VETS officials, and a review of government documents and other relevant reports.

In summary, VETS' proposed performance measures are an improvement over the current performance accountability system because they focus more on what its programs achieve and less on the number of services provided by staff serving veterans. They also no longer require states to compare the level and associated service outcomes provided to veterans with those provided to nonveterans and are more closely aligned with WIA program measures, making it easier for service providers to report on outcomes. However, our work revealed a few areas of concern with the proposed measures. A comparison of the performance measures with the strategic plan indicates that VETS is sending a mixed message to states about what services to provide and to whom. VETS' strategic plan suggests that states focus their efforts on providing staff-assisted services to veterans, including case management, yet none of the proposed measures specifically gauge the success of these services. In addition, VETS' proposal includes one measure the number of federal contractor jobs listed with local employment offices that is not only process-oriented but also focuses on outcomes that are beyond the control of staff serving veterans. VETS also proposes that all states use a single data source "Unemployment Insurance (UI) wage records" to identify veterans who get jobs. Using wage record data will greatly improve the comparability and reliability of the new measures, however, these data also present some challenges that states will need to overcome. States generally do not have access to wage records from other states and, therefore, may not be able to track individuals who receive services in one state but get a job in another. In addition, certain employment categories are not included in wage record data.

Finally, there are other issues related to how states count veterans for performance-reporting purposes that VETS needs to consider as they finalize their performance-reporting requirements. In our report, we made several recommendations to VETS regarding their proposed performance measurement system that could strengthen VETS' efforts to effectively measure the performance of its programs.