Schumer: Critical Worker Retraining Program has Expired for Hundreds of Unemployed Rochester-Area Veterans and Many Will be Kicked off the Rolls Mid-Semester - Schumer Visits Monroe CC and Launches Effort to Restore and Extend Funding for "VRAP"
Press Release
Today at Monroe Community College, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer launched his plan to restore and extend funding for the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), which provides tuition assistance to unemployed veterans in worker training programs. There are hundreds of Rochester-area veterans that are part of this critical program aimed at helping veterans learn the skills necessary to fill local jobs. Funding for new VRAP enrollees has ended, so no new veterans are enrolling in the program, and funding for the current enrollees expires in March. Therefore, unemployed veterans will have to make the difficult choice of dropping out of the program mid-semester or paying for it out-of-pocket, which is a high cost for an unemployed individual.
Schumer is pushing to pass the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act, which is expected to come before the Senate this week, that would immediately reauthorize funding to the program and extend the program for two years. Unemployed veterans between 35 and 60 years old are eligible for VRAP, which provides roughly $1,600 a month in tuition assistance during a 12-month period to help them cover the costs of school expenses they may otherwise be unable to afford. Nationally, 73,000 veterans enrolled in VRAP before October 1, 2013, at which point the program was effectively terminated for any potential new enrollees and which set funding for current enrollees to expire on March 31, 2014.
"For a Rochester-area veteran to return home, after fighting on behalf of our country, and struggle to find employment is a disgrace. It's even more unacceptable for federal programs to expire that are aimed at helping to fix that sad reality. VRAP can help unemployed veterans afford the worker training programs they need to fill high-demand jobs right away, but that funding has lapsed and we must quickly restore it before veterans lose their benefits in March, right in the middle of their semester," said Schumer. "VRAP cuts right to the heart of the unemployment problem for vets--connecting them with the education they need to fill the jobs we need filled. Upstate New York has a "skills gap' which has limited our economic potential, and has left business in desperate need of qualified employees. Training veterans for these high demand jobs will not only help curb the moral crisis of veteran unemployment but benefit businesses in the Finger Lakes and throughout New York."
Eric Paul Wheeler, MCC Academy for Veterans' Success Coordinator & Adjunct Assistant Professor said, "We have seen a significant influx of veterans using the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program since the initiative was rolled out in the summer of 2012. This funding has allowed some veterans to attend college for the first time and others the opportunity to complete a degree they started some years ago. Many have learned new, in-demand skills that will assist them in gaining employment. The training benefits under VRAP are scheduled to be paid through March 31, 2014. For those currently enrolled, they will lose funding midway through the spring semester. Almost every veteran I have worked with who is using VRAP has asked if the program is being extended so we appreciate Senator Schumer's support."
Schumer, who was joined by several veterans who use the VRAP benefits at MCC, said that the Greater Rochester area has hundreds of unfilled jobs due to the "skills gap," but that VRAP can help match unemployed veterans with high-demand career paths--to help reduce veteran unemployment and benefit Rochester's businesses. Schumer was also joined by Dr. Anne Kress, President of MCC and Eric Paul Wheeler, MCC Academy for Veterans' Success Coordinator & Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Schumer said that the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act, introduced by Sen. Sanders (I-VT), will come before the Senate as early as this week. Schumer plans to cosponsor the bill and will support the effort to restore funding for VRAP and extend it for the near future. The bill will address the VRAP issue, immediately reauthorizing funding and extending the program for two additional years -- through 2016. The bill will also change the expiration date of the authorization from March to June (of 2016), so that the program is aligned with a semester schedule. Furthermore, the bill would make tuition assistance eligible at four-year institutions for comparable training programs if none can be found at a local community college. The VRAP extension and the other provisions of the bill are fully paid for. Schumer said he would work to protect the authorization of VRAP funding throughout the process to ensure it makes it into the final bill.
At MCC, over one-hundred students were part of the VRAP program last semester and they get training in hands-on fields, including health care, automotive technologies; HVAC; and precision tooling. Finger Lakes Community College had 99 VRAP students in the 3 semesters covering the Spring 2012 -- Fall 2013 and has 28 in the current semester and Genesee Community College had 37 VRAP students enrolled through May 2014. Schumer specifically pointed to the three veterans who joined him at MCC as an example of how VRAP is helping veterans pursue in-demand careers.
Joseph Perez served in the United States Army from 1977-1984 as a cargo handler and is pursuing a certificate in Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning at the Applied Technologies Center.
Todd Merzke served in the United States Navy from 1991-1993 and the United States Navy Reserve from 1994-2002 as a member of the Naval Construction Forces. He is studying Computer Aided Design and Drafting.
John Melnick served in the United States Air Force for 26 years, 6 on active duty and 20 in the reserves. He is a former member of a military civil engineering unit and participated in Operation Desert Storm. John is currently pursuing a certificate in Office Technology as a Medical Office Assistant and also completing an Associate in Science degree in Liberal Arts.
Schumer said that first and foremost, VRAP will help lower veteran unemployment rate. While overall veteran unemployment is slightly lower than the national average, the unemployment rate for post 9/11 Veterans is over 10%. Schumer said that as the war in Afghanistan is drawing down and more veterans are returning home, programs like VRAP are crucial now more than ever. According to a White House Report, each year the military separates between 240,000 and 360,000 service members, and over the next several years, the military is expected to separate nearly a million service members. Helping those soon-to-be veterans transition towards gainful employment is a top priority, said Schumer.
What's more, VRAP and other worker training programs boost the region's economy. Hundreds of jobs in the greater Rochester area are unfilled due to a lack of job skills. Last year, Monroe Community College's led a survey based on feedback from 338 local firms, a third of which were manufacturers. The report found that the "skills gap" is a real burden to businesses. The surveyed companies alone reported having 740 persistently unfilled positions for which they are seeking qualified workers and estimated that over 23,000 jobs are unfilled due to the skills gap throughout the Finger Lakes Region. The majority of these jobs are "middle skill" positions which do not require a 4-year college degree. Schumer argued that unemployed veterans are ideal candidates to fill the high demand open jobs that New York needs. Monroe Community College and 30 other Community College's across the state train students for exactly these "middle skill" positions which remain unfilled.
Since VRAP funding lapsed late last year, the Veterans Administration (VA) has already been prohibited from accepting new applications since last October. If funding for VRAP runs out in March, current veterans will lose their tuition assistance and will be forced to either pay for their schooling entirely on their own, or drop out. Monroe Community College representatives explained that some students have already stopped attending school because of VRAP's impending expiration.
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