Jenniffer González reintroduces measures that promote jobs and better services to veterans

Press Release

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón filed two bills that would help address job vacancies in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), increase the retention of medical professionals in health care facilities. VA, and would provide alternatives for veterans to have a productive life offering services to their peers.

The first measure, "Veterans Healing Veterans", opens opportunities for veterans interested in a career in the medical field by expanding the number of schools that participate in the scholarship program, known in English as the "Veterans Healing Veterans Medical Access and Scholarship Program "to include schools with the highest participation of Hispanic students.

Section 304 of the MISSION ACT, of which the commissioner is a co-author in her House version, established that scholarship program as a pilot program. It provides funding for eligible veterans to study medicine, seeks to encourage greater enrollment of veterans in medical schools, as well as increase retention of medical providers in Veterans Department medical facilities.

Participating veterans would receive funds to cover expenses associated with costs of tuition, books, equipment, and fees. It also provides for rotations VA Department medical facilities and a monthly stipend for the 4-year enrollment period in an amount determined by the VA secretary.

Participating schools will reserve two seats for veterans eligible under the program. After completing their studies, they must commit to work in a VA medical facility for a period of 4 years, increasing the retention of medical professionals within the department.

The commissioner's project seeks to expand the scholarship program by including the participation of the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, the Central Caribbean University School of Medicine, the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, and the University of Sciences. de la Salud de Ponce and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio.

The second measure, "Veterans in Veterans Service," seeks to offer employment alternatives within the VA Department for recently retired military personnel from the Armed Forces. This would help decrease the shortage of personnel VA faces nationwide and facilitate the search for military employment after separation from the Armed Forces.

This initiative directs the secretary of the Department of Veterans to amend the database of vacancies in VA to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed Forces and to satisfy the labor needs within the Department.

There are several positions within the Department of Veterans that share the same skill sets within the military occupational specialties of the Department of Defense (DOD).

VA, like veteran communities, could benefit from these specialties and from military training prior to retirement from the Armed Forces. On the other hand, helping with job searches after separation from the military is beneficial to veterans from a financial and psychological perspective.

Finally, the Veterans to Veterans Service project also requires the VA secretary to establish a program to train and certify covered veterans to work as Intermediate Care Technicians (ICT) in the Department.

The commissioner introduced this bill during the 115th Congress and it passed in the House of Representatives on July 24, 2018 by voice vote, showing strong bipartisan support. In this term, he presented it with Congressmen Amata Radewagen from American Samoa, Rodney Davis from Illinois, Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin, Andy Kim from New Jersey and Clay Higgins from Louisiana.

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