GUIDE TO LEADING POLIcIEs, PRAcTIcEs & REsOURcEs ...

There are a variety of policy initiativesthat are intended to address obligation toveterans for service by addressing employmentissues directly. These include protectingemployment rights, prohibitingdiscrimination, implementing affirmativeemployment action, providing incentivesand credits, and providing support for veteranemployment through peer supports,encouragement, recognition and other activities.Some address veterans’ unemployartINational Obligation to VeteransExamples of the public sector’s expression of obligation toveterans include public/private partnerships such as theWhite House’s Joining Forces initiative, focused messaging, andexplicit employment partnerships. 13 Expression of the obligationto veterans also includes intergovernmental collaboration.Highly visible public White House engagementthrough First Lady Michelle Obamaand Dr. Jill Biden leading the Joining Forcesinitiative raises awareness of veteran andfamily issues. This effort emphasizes andrelies on volunteerism, such as Give anHour and other volunteer-based not-forprofitorganizations.Examples of intergovernmental collaborationinclude the recently released reportfrom the DOD and Department of theTreasury calling on state governmentsto streamline licensure and certificationrequirements for military spouses movingfrom one state to another. Licensure andevaluation activities are similarly calledfor to enable veterans and their familymembers to obtain licensure when movinginto a state in their post-service lives.There are current and proposed activitiesin many states related to this activitydetailed later in this report, and there maybe opportunities for transfer of learning,and for businesses with activity in multiplestates to encourage new models. This willrequire evaluation of military experienceand training, collaboration between statesand DOD, as well as the various servicebranches, and between the states in orderto evaluate and appropriately credit experience,education, training, licensure, andcertifications across oversight boundaries.Such evaluation might also benefit fromexperience garnered by the AmericanCouncil on Education (ACE), through itsarticulated evaluations of experience,training and education in the military, andits relevance to certification and licensureeducation and experience requirements.The nation’s obligation to those who haveserved is also reflected in widespreadwelcome home celebrations for deployedservice members, yellow ribbon campaigns,clarity of the VA’s exemption fromsequestration in budget cuts, engagementof the DOL with the private sector throughthe Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committeeon Veterans’ Employment, Trainingand Employer Outreach (ACVETEO),Governor Cuomo’s New York State Councilon Returning Veterans, JPMorgan Chase’(JPMC) 100,000 Jobs Mission consortiumof employers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’sHiring Our Heroes campaign, public/privatepartnerships such as EmployerSupport of the Guard and Reserves (ESGR),and many others. Such efforts highlightthat novel times call for innovative partnershipsto fully engage the actors with thenecessary experience to address comprehensiveissues.14 INSTITUtE FOR veterans and military families