With Unemployment For Young Veterans At 27 Percent, Sen. Brown Visits YSU To Call For Passage Of Bipartisan Hiring Heroes Act
Bipartisan Job Training and Placement Bill is First of its Kind to Ensure Broad Job Skills Training for All Service Members, Helps Ensure More Jobs Are Available for Veterans As They Transition to Civilian Life
Bill Has Cleared Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and Awaits Approval From Full Senate
YOUNGSTOWN, OH —With the unemployment rate for veterans aged 20 to 24 at a staggering 27 percent, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) visited Youngstown State University today to call for passage of a new bill, the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011. This first-of-its-kind bill would ensure broad job skills training for all service members returning home and helps ensure that more jobs are available for veterans as they transition to civilian life. The bill recently cleared the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, on which Brown serves, and is currently awaiting approval from the full Senate.
“Our commitment to our service members shouldn’t end when they return home as skilled, experienced civilians. Today, the unemployment rate for young veterans is 27 percent—which is simply unacceptable. That means more than one in four of these young veterans can’t find a job to support their family or to ease the transition to civilian life,” Brown said. “Our veterans’ service to our country does not stop when they leave the military. From leadership experience to technical and scientific skills, veterans are key to our nation’s economic competitiveness.
“We must honor our commitment to them and empower them to lead our nation in civilian life—as they did while in uniform. Veterans deserve job skills training and to be connected with stable, good-paying jobs,” Brown continued. “These men and women put their lives on the line for their country. The least we can do is ensure that their transition to a productive civilian life is a smooth and successful one.”
Brown was joined by YSU President Cynthia Anderson, as well as Sergeant Paul Hageman, a YSU student-veteran, both of whom discussed the need to improve and strengthen career pathways for returning service members. Mary Ann Pacelli of the Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET)—which recently announced a pilot project designed to help returning veterans obtain meaningful jobs in manufacturing companies in Northeast Ohio—also participated.
“As a veteran-friendly campus, Youngstown State University fully understands the importance of ensuring that our returning veterans receive the support needed as they transition into civilian life. We believe that the Hiring Heroes Act will further enhance the work we are doing in our Office of Veterans Affairs and will help veterans pursue their personal and professional goals,” YSU President Anderson said.
“The Hiring Heroes Act is important for both our returning Veterans and our local employers, specifically our manufacturers. MAGNET’s experience with manufactures has identified a need for skilled and ready to work individuals that we believe exist in the returning Veteran population. Our pilot project is one small effort to demonstrate how some specific military sills are related and very transferrable to the manufacturing operations in the region,” said Mary Ann Pacelli with MAGNET.
The bill—supported by Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Officers Association of America, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America—aims to reduce unemployment among veterans transitioning to civilian life by ensuring that each separating service member attends a transition assistance program. The bill will also create new direct federal hiring authority so that more service members have jobs waiting for them the day they leave the military, and will improve veteran mentorship programs in the working world.
Brown, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, is the author of several legislative initiatives that would strengthen our nation's commitment to veterans by improving education reimbursements, enhance access to VA health care, and expand employment protection for former service members. Brown has also worked to reduce VA benefits disparities for Ohio veterans and cut down on the VA claims backlog.
In January 2009, YSU established an Office of Veteran Affairs (OVA), aimed at assisting YSU students who have served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces in attaining their educational goals. The office also actively engages in the recruitment of prospective students with military history, and has formed a nine-member representative advisory council tasked with supporting, advising and assisting the university through the OVA in addressing the needs and issues of current students with active duty military experience.
Recognizing the critical role that institutions of higher education play in helping veterans transition to civilian life, Brown wrote and passed the Supporting Education for Returning Veterans (SERV) Act. The SERV Act provides grants to colleges and universities to establish veteran support programs on-campus.
###