Redesigned Employment Transition Program for Veterans Announced

President Obama this week unveiled details of the military’s newly redesigned Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to help veterans leaving military service gain employment in the private sector.  The new program, now called “Transition GPS” will be implemented by the end of 2013 and will offer more comprehensive and personalized attention for veterans than the existing program long criticized for its ineffectiveness.  The new mandatory program will extend the transition program from three days to five days and will include:

• A pre-separation assessment and individual counseling to help each service member develop an Individual Transition Plan that documents his or her personal transition, as well as the deliverables he or she must achieve to meet the new transition program’s Career Readiness Standards;
  
  
• A five-day core curriculum, including a financial planning seminar, a workshop on available veterans’ benefits and services, and a re-designed employment workshop that helps veterans translate their military skills, training, and experience into language more meaningful to hiring employers;
  
  
• An optional two-day career-specific curriculum consisting of an educational track, technical skills and entrepreneurship training for those wanting to start a business;
  
  
• Verification that transitioning service members completed the Transition GPS curriculum and achieved Career Readiness Standards, while service members who require additional assistance will be referred to supplemental training opportunities; and
  
  
• Transition preparation assistance early in a service member’s career to ensure that the counseling, assessments, and access to resources to build skills are available to veterans throughout their careers.

Veterans who have served since September 2001 had an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent in June, compared with the overall national rate of 8.2 percent. Veterans aged 18 to 24 have an unemployment rate of 23 percent.