Pay For Success Veterans Employment Program Launched By VA

By Debbie Gregory.

The VA Center for Innovation (VACI) and VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment teams are partnering with the Corporation for National Community Service to launch the Veterans Employment Pay for Success (VEPFS) Program.

Transitioning from military service to civilian life can be an uncertain time for Veterans. For Veterans returning home with complex PTSD symptoms, jobs for military veterans can be hard to maintain, and the lack of employment can have compounding consequences for their PTSD symptoms.

The idea behind Pay for Success is simple; instead of paying upfront for a social service that may or may not achieve the desired results, the government only pays once an intervention produces specific, measurable, and positive outcomes.

In Pay for Success programs, the payout occurs only after a rigorous evaluation determines that the pre-agreed-upon outcomes have been achieved due to the intervention. In other words, the VA is only paying for what works, what is successful.

While transitioning from military to civilian life is unique to each veteran and their circumstances, regular and supportive employment can provide the stability to tackle mental, physical and social challenges.

The Pay for Success program is the first of its kind to be attempted by the VA. This goal is consistent with the mission of VA, which is to fulfill President Lincoln’s promise, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans.

The VA’s Office of Economic Opportunity within the Veterans Benefits Administration has a further defined mission to “Help Veterans attain personal and economic success” through a variety of benefits, services, and activities including promoting employment opportunities for Veterans. The targeted veterans for this Pay for Success pilot will need to have Service-connected Disability of PTSD.

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