By: Chris Cheng
KILLEEN – The Texas Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations held a hearing in Killeen, Tuesday, to discuss employment and education opportunities for vets.
Members from the Texas Military Forces, the Texas Veterans Commission, and the Texas Workforce Commission all testified before the five person panel.
With the unemployment rate at 13.5% for veterans, legislators wanted to know what the organizations were doing and what they needed to lower that number.
Major General Joyce Stevens briefed the senate committee on the current numbers and informed them about the Jobs Connection Education Program (JCEP).
JCEP helps veterans get into the workforce by matching their training, experience, and interests with open positions.
"We work with them, one on one with their resumes. We hold mock interviews and then personally communicate with H.R. personnel who are hiring," Stevens said.
General Stevens went on to highlight that the National Guard is one of the heaviest hit branches of the military with 22% of its ranks reporting unemployment.
"Some of the businesses, maybe the smaller businesses are a little hesitant to hire a guardsman or reservist because of the chances of being deployed for a year or more," Stevens said.
General Stevens offered a solution to the problem by creating a centralized database that all veterans could use to help them find a job.
"Currently if you go on Google and do a search, you get more than 15 pages. It can be over burdening to these veterans," Stevens said.
Shawn Deabay, from the Texas Workforce Commission, did offer a ray of light at Tuesday's hearing.
"Texas leads the nation in hiring vets. We have currently gotten 39,000 veterans back to work which is 19,000 more than the next state," Deabay said.
The Texas Workforce Commission has about 170 veterans on staff who help others, including fellow veterans find work.
Deabay noted while small business may not be hiring, corporations like AT&T were working with them to fill 600 open positions.
But some who testified felt it wasn't just the veterans fault for being unemployed.
"The employers love to hire the veterans but often times they think they are going to get a bargain and pay for a lower wage and our veterans have been deployed four times they want to come back they want a high paying job, not a $10 and hour job," Susan Kama, Executive Director of Central Texas Workforce Solutions, said.
Also discussed at the hearing was the continuing and expansion of benefits to military spouses.
