AMVETS Applauds VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

AMVETS Applauds President Obama for Signing VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011

First Jobs Bill of the Year Provides Tax Credits for Hiring Veterans and Strengthens Vets’ Benefits

Washington, D.C., Nov. 21, 2011 -- AMVETS National Commander Gary L. Fry applauded President Obama for signing into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 in a ceremony today at the White House. In a rare act of bipartisan cooperation, Congress came together last week by an overwhelming majority to pass the first major employment legislation of the year aimed at getting veterans back to work.

This legislation could not come at a better time, with veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom facing a staggering 12.1 percent unemployment rate, significantly higher than the national 9 percent rate of unemployment reported in October by the Department of Labor. Younger veterans fare even worse, as DoL's current population survey of veterans ages 18-24 showed an October unemployment rate of 30.4 percent.

“AMVETS is encouraged by this remarkable show of bipartisanship by Congress and the Obama Administration,” said Fry. “This demonstrates the resolve of our elected officials to join the overwhelming majority of grateful Americans who proudly stand behind our 1 percent who have shouldered 100 percent of the burden in the Global War on Terrorism. AMVETS will continue to press Congress and the Obama Administration to ensure we provide for the needs of our heroes.”

Highlights of the AMVETS-supported bill include expanding education and training programs, improving reemployment rights for Guard and Reservists, strengthening Transition Assistance Programs, and providing disabled veterans up to 1-year of additional vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits. The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 also provides tax credits ranging from $2,400 for employers who hire veterans who have been unemployed at least 4 weeks, up to $9,600 for hiring veterans who have service-connected disabilities and have been unemployed for longer than 6 months.

“Employers who hire our veterans are getting the best America has to offer,” said Fry. Employers benefit, our veterans benefit, the economy benefits, and the nation as a whole benefits. Now, we have an additional incentive for industry to do the right thing and provide opportunities for our vetterans as they make the transition to their new civilian lives.”

For more information about the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, visit veterans.house.gov/vow.

About AMVETS:

A leader since 1944 in preserving the freedoms secured by America’s armed forces, AMVETS provides support for veterans and the active military in procuring their earned entitlements, as well as community service and legislative reform that enhances the quality of life for this nation’s citizens and veterans alike. AMVETS is one of the largest congressionally-chartered veterans’ service organizations in the United States, and includes members from each branch of the military, including the National Guard and Reserves. For more information, visit www.amvets.org.

National Youth Transitions Center Opens Doors: First Center Devoted Exclusively to Serving Youth with Disabilities and Wounded Veterans

Washington, D.C. (October 26, 2011) -- Surrounded by healthcare, labor, community and military leaders, The National Youth Transitions Center (NYTC) was launched and officially opened its doors today, making needed services available to hundreds of young adults across the country. Developed by the HSC Foundation, the NYTC will, for the first time, bring multiple organizations together in one space to provide much-needed transition services, research, public policy, and wounded veterans’ services to youth. The center will provide assistance for youth with physical, sensory, intellectual, and emotional disabilities like autism, and to veterans making that difficult transition from life on the battlefield to life as a civilian.

“The National Youth Transitions Center will enhance the ability of young people and veterans to re-enter the workforce, participate in and contribute to community life, and to become productive members of society. This vitally-needed center will bring together experts from across the country to ensure that our youth and young veterans with disabilities are included in all aspects of our communities,” said Thomas Chapman, President and CEO of the HSC Foundation. “We’re making sure a neglected youth population doesn’t fall through the cracks as they enter adulthood.”

More than 40 organizations (see attached list) are collaborating with the center and will see youth and young veterans with disabilities (ages 14-26) to help get them ready for higher education and the workforce. Twelve of these organizations are housed in the new, state of the art, seven-story facility that is located in northwest Washington D.C. near Georgetown University’s campus. It will be equipped with the latest technology to provide services not only to youth at the center, but across the nation.

Some of the services they will provide include:

• Personal development and leadership training

• School¬-to-¬work readiness training

• Family education and support

• Work based learning (mentoring and internships)

• Career counseling and exploration

Ari Ne’eman is the president and co-founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), one of the organizations collaborating with the National Youth Transition Center. Ne’eman also sits on the National Council on Disability—a position he has held since being confirmed by the Senate last year. He says a center like this is long overdue.

"The National Youth Transitions Center is an extraordinary project that ASAN is proud to be a part of. By bringing together disability organizations from across the spectrum of our broad community, we can make progress we never could manage on our own. We're stronger together - and the NYTC is making that happen,” Ne’eman says.

For young people with disabilities that do not have assistance, the outcome is grim, as statistics have shown:

 Youth with disabilities are more than twice as likely as their peers to drop out of school, and they will face much higher unemployment rates.

 The adjudication rate of youth with disabilities is four times higher than for youth without disabilities.

 Youth with disabilities are three times more likely to live in poverty as adults than their peers without disabilities.

In addition to serving youth with disabilities, the center will also serve young veterans who are making that difficult transition from life on the battlefield to life in an office or college environment (especially when that transition brings with it new mental and physical disabilities).

Veterans like 27-year old Ryan Lamke understand the need for a center like this all too well. Lamke joined the Marine Corps after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He served for four years doing two deployments in Iraq. After being blown up by several roadside bombs and a grenade, Lamke suffered multiple brain and orthopedic injuries forcing him to resign from active duty. He found going back to civilian life was more difficult than he ever imagined.

“When you get out of the military it’s as if you have to go through a whole new boot camp. When you enroll in basic training, you’re taught how to be a solider, when you get out you need to be taught the same things, but most people don’t understand that,” Lamke says. “When I came back I had to learn not only how to deal with the people I had left behind I had to learn simple things like budgeting, paying bills, and most importantly understanding how to trust people in the civilian world again. That coupled with my injuries made life incredibly complicated,” Lamke says.

Until now, there has not been a comprehensive facility that really offered a safe haven for young veterans to talk about their problems and experiences. The NYTC is partnering with The Student Veterans of America not only to give them that place, but also to be surrounded by the support of young counselors and employment advisors who have faced and overcome the same issues as the men and women they’re helping.

“The National Youth Transition Center is about employment, education, freedom, and independence and you can’t have independence without an education or a job. We’re giving them the tools to help them build a path to independence and reach their highest potential,” Chapman said.

The partners at the center envision a multitude of benefits that include:

• For youth and veterans with disabilities: Readiness for jobs or college, eased reentry into their communities as well as confidence and skill

• For employers: Outstanding, capable employees ready to help reach goals and fulfill missions

• For the disabilities and transitions fields: New thinking and learning from research, evaluation, advocacy, and models of service

• For the nation: A valuable human resource for the future

The official opening ceremony was attended by several members of Congress including Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) and Rep. Gregg Harper (MI), as well as Sue Swenson, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education, Ortiz, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Employment and Training Services for the Department of Labor, and Gen. Gale Pollock.

About The HSC Foundation
The HSC Foundation (HSCF) is dedicated to improving access to services for individuals who face social and health care barriers due to disability and chronic illness. It puts a particular emphasis on youth, especially those who are transitioning to adulthood. Health Services for Children with Special Needs, Inc., The HSC Pediatric Center, HSC Home Care, LLC and Special Needs Consulting Services are subsidiary organizations of the Foundation. To learn more about The HSC Foundation, visit http://www.hscfoundation.org.

President Obama Has Ended the War in Iraq

In 2008, in the height of the presidential campaign, then-Senator Obama made a promise to give our military a new mission: ending the war in Iraq.

As the election unfolded, he reiterated this pledge again and again -- but cautioned that we would be "as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in."

Last year, the President made progress toward achieving that goal. He brought an end to the combat mission in Iraq, and through the course of the past 14 months, more than 100,000 troops have returned to their families.

Now, that promise will be wholly fulfilled. Today, President Obama announced that the rest of our troops will be home by the holidays:

Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq—tens of thousands of them—will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home. The last American soldiers will cross the border out of Iraq—with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops. That is how America’s military efforts in Iraq will end.

But this moment represents more than an accomplishment for the President. It marks a monumental change of focus for our military and a fundamental shift in the way that the our nation will engage in the world:

The United States is moving forward, from a position of strength. The long war in Iraq will come to an end by the end of this year. The transition in Afghanistan is moving forward, and our troops are finally coming home. As they do, fewer deployments and more time training will help keep our military the very best in the world. And as we welcome home our newest veterans, we’ll never stop working to give them and their families the care, the benefits, and the opportunities that they have earned.

Activision's Call of Duty Endowment to Support AMVETS Career Centers

Today, the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization which is focused on helping veterans transition to civilian careers, awarded $500,000 in grants to five organizations working to train and place returning service members and wounded warriors into the workforce. The organizations that will receive funding include: the USO, AMVETS, Military to Medicine, Student Veterans of America and Veterans Green Jobs.

The announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) yearly Veterans’ Employment Summary, which was released today. According to the new report from BLS, there are currently more than one million veterans who are out of work in the country. The problem is worst for the youngest veterans between the ages of 18-24. Male veterans in that age range experience an unemployment rate of 21.9 percent, and women veterans in the same age range experience an unemployment rate of 15.3 percent.

“It is a great honor to support these organizations that are training and placing our military men and women in 21st century careers,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) “For those who give selflessly to defend our freedom, we must continue to increase the public’s awareness of this problem, and we must work together with businesses around the country to find our heroes fulfilling and sustainable jobs.”

The five grant recipients will each receive $100,000 to assist them in their efforts with career training and job placement throughout the country. The programs chosen each have a different avenue and audience as to how they are combating the unemployment issue.

The USO will provide career support to wounded warriors and their families through the creation of two new facilities at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and a new medical campus at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Student Veterans of America works mostly with younger veterans on college campuses, while AMVETS will expand their Career Centers pilot program, which has been helping veterans living in Ohio. Veterans Green Jobs, based out of Colorado, looks to train veterans in the emerging field of sustainable green jobs, and Military to Medicine provides veterans with online healthcare training and employment assistance in the medical field.

Sloan Gibson, president of the USO expressed his gratitude to Activision and Bobby Kotick for the Call of Duty Endowment’s grant, “Considering their character, drive and discipline – our men and women who serve in the Armed Forces - should be seen as ideal candidates to hire for any employer. I hope that more companies will help promote that theme, just as Activision and Bobby Kotick have done through the Call of Duty Endowment.”
Since Activision Blizzard, Inc., the worldwide online and console video game publisher and producer of the Call of Duty® video game, established the Call of Duty Endowment it has delivered more than $500,000 in grants and scholarships to assist veterans gain new careers in the civilian workforce. This past November, Activision committed another $1 million to the Endowment and pledged to find 1,000 jobs for veterans.

To learn more about fighting veterans’ unemployment and the grants announced today, visit www.callofdutyendowment.org

To see the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 veterans’ unemployment report, visit http://www.bls.gov/news.release/vet.nr0.htm

About The Call of Duty Endowment:
The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit, public benefit corporation created by Activision Blizzard. The organization seeks to help soldiers transitioning to civilian life find work and establish careers and to assist organizations that provide job placement and training. For more information about The Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.:
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

Call of Duty and Activision are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

(Image: Call of Duty Endowment official logo courtesy of Activision.)

Live from Capitol Hill: House VA Subcommittee to Hear Testimony on Pending Legislation

This afternoon the House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will host a hearing on pending veterans' legislation. To view live video from the hearing at 1 p.m., Click Here.

AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley submitted comments for the record and AMVETS Deputy National Legislative Director Christina Roof will be on hand for the hearing.

To read Kelley's submitted remarks, Click Here.

This afternoon's hearing will focus on seven specific bills being considered by the subcommittee ranging from expansion of Chapter 30 benefits to improving veterans' employment resources and protecting homes for veterans and surviving spouses.

In Kelley's prepared testimony, AMVETS voiced its opposition to the proposed Chapter 30 G.I. Bill changes, H.R. 114, that would allow veterans to use the money toward the start-up costs of a small business. AMVETS believes that the change would set a bad precedent for all veterans' education benefits and redefine the role VA plays in distributing education funding.

AMVETS voiced its support for the other bills under discussion in the hearing, including H.R. 3685, which would establish a specific "Employment" menu for veterans on VA.gov simplifying access to VA's employment resources; H.R. 4635, which mandates mediation for veterans facing home foreclosure; H.R. 4664, which protects surviving spouses' military housing for one year after the combat death of their loved one, and H.R. 5360, which changes VA's strict definition of blindness to fall in line with the federal definition of legal blindness.

American Veteran will continue to follow developments out of the subcommittee, should these bills proceed in the House. Check back regularly for updates.

Live from Capitol Hill: House VA Committee Discusses Vets' Unemployment

This morning, the House Veterans Affairs Committee will host a roundtable discussion on veterans' unemployment. AMVETS leaders will follow the morning's discussion closely.

To view a list of participants in the roundtable, Click Here.

AMVETS has made veterans' reintegration and employment a top legislative priority for 2010, and recent trends point to daunting unemployment statistics among young Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans.

Today, AMVETS Deputy National Legislative Director Christina Roof sits on the advisory board for the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment Initiative, seeking to place veterans in more federal government jobs.

American Veteran has been following the veterans' unemployment situation very closely. Check back regularly for updates.

Live from Capitol Hill: House Hearing on Vets' Unemployment; AMVETS to Meet With Legislators on Assistance Dogs

This afternoon, AMVETS will be on Capitol Hill for a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee hearing on veterans' unemployment and for follow-up meetings with legislators on assistance dogs for wounded veterans.

Though AMVETS will not testify during this afternoon's hearing, AMVETS Deputy National Legislative Director Christina Roof submitted a statement for the record on behalf of AMVETS.

The House VA Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity called the hearing in the wake of recent veterans' unemployment numbers, which point to an ever-growing crisis, particularly among young male Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

The hearing convenes at 1 p.m. in the VA committee chambers in Cannon 334. To view live video from the hearing, Click Here.

This afternoon, AMVETS members Luis Montalvan and his assistance dog Tuesday will join Roof on Capitol Hill for follow-up meetings on last month's visits with legislators to discuss assistance dogs for wounded veterans.

Montalvan and Roof will meet with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the leading voice on veterans' assistance dogs on Capitol Hill, and Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss VA's pilot program funded through last year's military construction budget as well as the provisions in Title 38 allowing for veterans to receive compensation for assistance dog costs through VA's prosthetics and sensory aides office.

American Veteran will follow today's hearing and this afternoon's meetings closely. Check back later for updates.

One in Five Young Vets Unemployed

This morning, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest figures on unemployment, showing that 21.1 percent of young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans cannot find work. To read the bureau's release, Click Here.

AMVETS leaders were saddened by the announcement, but cited reintegration and transitional shortcomings, along with legislative loopholes as key contributors to the disturbing figures.

"Young veterans are less attractive to employers compared to their civilian counterparts who simply have more experience in the civilian work force," said AMVETS Legislative Director Ray Kelley. "This is why AMVETS continues to advocate for improved transition programs from the military, such as TAPS, providing young vets skills like resume-building, allowing them to compete."

The latest bureau statistics do not include student-veterans, since student-veterans are not considered part of the work force. To Kelley, this only reinforces why Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits must be expanded to include non-degree job training costs, such as certificate and apprenticeship programs.

"College is not for everyone, so it's not enough to tell young veterans to go back to school if they can't find work," he said. "It's a tremendous disservice to withhold comparable opportunities to non-college bound veterans who just want to be competitive in the work force."

Reintegration and education are two of AMVETS' top legislative priorities for 2010 and AMVETS will continue to testify before Congress, proposing legislative changes to provide young veterans with the skills necessary to compete in the civilian work force.

Check back regularly with American Veteran Online for updates.

Microsoft Launches Initiative to Assist Veterans in the Workforce

Yesterday, Microsoft officially announced its new Elevating America's Veterans Initiative to assist veterans with developing the necessary technology skills to compete in today's job market.

Building upon the successful Elevate America program, Microsoft will bring together a coalition of public, private and non-profit organizations to provide veterans and their family members with the requisite skills and resources to succeed in the civilian work force.

“Our servicemen and women are amazing leaders, but to be able to compete in the tough job market when they return from duty, many of them need access to technology training,” said Pamela Passman, corporate vice president of Microsoft Global Corporate Affairs, who announced the initiative at yesterday’s National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) forum in Washington. “We are bringing together organizations and companies that can combine their competencies and resources with ours to make the greatest possible impact to help veterans and their spouses.”

Passman went on to say that every sector of the economy should be open to veterans and that Microsoft hopes to leverage existing infrastructures within the veterans' community, such as veterans' service organizations, to ensure that Microsoft resources reach those looking to compete in today's job market.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft will contribute $2 million in cash and up to $6 million in software over the next two years to assist members of the military and military spouses looking to reintegrate into the civilian work force.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, was the first veterans' group to officially partner with Microsoft on the day of the launch. Microsoft is also looking for other eligible veterans' service organizations, work force agencies, community colleges, and other non-profits to ensure access to these resources for veterans from coast to coast.

"Microsoft wants to use all of the tools at our disposal to bring forth the skilled individuals from today's veterans' community," said Bill Kamela, Microsoft's senior director for education and workforce law and corporate affairs.

Microsoft has acknowledged that veterans bring to bear skills that many employers seek, yet the unemployment situation remains dire for those transitioning from today's military.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, more than 180,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are currently unemployed and total veterans' unemployment far eclipses the nations' already-daunting civilian unemployment figures.

AMVETS leaders have spoken out on the veterans' unemployment crisis, calling on Congress to develop better reintegration programs for today's transitioning service members and pushing Congress to pass the landmark Post-9/11 G.I. Bill in 2008, offering unprecedented educational opportunities to today's veterans.

In 2010, two of AMVETS' top legislative priorities include reintegration and education, with AMVETS Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof currently sitting on the advisory board for the Federal Government Veterans' Employment Initiative with the Department of Labor.

AMVETS has also launched new programs on the local and national levels to address job training and education ranging from AMVETS partnership with Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran, to the AMVETS Department of Ohio pilots Ohio Vets CAN and AMVETS Career Centers.

AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley applauded yesterday's Microsoft announcement.

"This is a critical step by Microsoft that will help veterans and their spouses launch viable 21st century careers--not just find jobs," said Kelley. "The Elevate America's Veterans Initiative is about making real connections and providing real resources to help our veterans excel, which is why we hope Microsoft will explore any and all resources to reach today's transitioning vets."

(Image: Microsoft's Pamela Passman announces the Elevate America's Veterans Initiative at yesterday's NAWB forum in Washington. Photo courtesy of Merritt Group and Microsoft.)