Veterans Affairs
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Tis the season to be jolly. But military service members and veterans often experience a spike in depression or post traumatic stress disorder -- even suicide -- this time of year. For some of the warning signs and how you can help, we turn to the Director of Admissions at Warriors Heart, Michael O'Dell.
December 12, 2023 -
In today's Federal Newscast: GAO looks to improve agency adoption of agile and iterative software development. The U.S. Space Force has officially activated its component for Europe and Africa. And GAO is projecting money for DoD's Armed Forces Retirement Homes is running out.
December 11, 2023 -
In today's Federal Newscast: The National Park Service offers the best customer experience in the government, according to research firm Forrester. The chief management officer is not coming back to the Defense Department. And blindsided by pay problems, certain VA medical employees might be allowed union help.
December 08, 2023 -
Federal watchdogs have found several gaps in how VA screens candidates for healthcare jobs — including identifying when it hires employees with a drug felony.
December 06, 2023 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs is outlining plans to conduct a full review of its website, after discovering technical problems that may have delayed disability claims for more than 100,000 veterans.
December 04, 2023 -
Starting with a journey map based on an HCD methodology is crucial. This approach can enable the data to be used for insights beyond individual medical treatment, including how a researcher may use this data to inform how it’s stored or what groups can access it.
December 04, 2023 -
The VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) – set up in the aftermath of the department’s secret wait-list scandal – got off to a very rocky start. It had scandals of its own. According to the government watchdog Project on Government Oversight (POGO), VA has reformed OAWP in ways that have made real progress toward building whistleblower confidence. But there is still a whole lot of work to do. Joe Spielberger is policy counsel at POGO. A few weeks ago, he testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee about what is needed at OAWP. He speaks here with Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu.
December 01, 2023 -
Over a decade ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched an ambitious project to build the world’s largest collection of health and genetic data – the idea being it would be an invaluable tool for disease research. It is called the Million Veterans Program (MVP). And as of this month, it has lived up to its name.
November 30, 2023 -
Every military branch relied on asbestos-based products for decades, but Navy veterans were at an exceptionally high risk of asbestos exposure. They worked and lived close to asbestos-containing materials over the years of duty, often unaware of the lurking danger.
November 30, 2023 -
In today's Federal Newscast: The Cyber Accreditation Body has a new leader. The Department of Veterans Affairs has surpassed its goal to permanently house homeless veterans. And SmartPay celebrates its 25th anniversary with a facelift of its website.
November 30, 2023 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to staff up on mental health professionals and launch new resources to address an uptick in veteran suicides.
November 16, 2023 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs says its new Electronic Health Record (EHR) hasn't seen a total outage in more than six months.
November 15, 2023 -
The General Services Administration is facing two new protests of its small business IT services contract known as Polaris, while VA’s awards under T4NG2 remain intact, so far.
November 14, 2023 -
In July 1973, a fire damaged or destroyed up to 18 million Army and Air Force official military personnel files at the National Archives and Records Administration’s National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. These records are important for veterans who are looking to make claims with the Veterans Affairs Department. So how did the government do in helping those whose records were lost or damaged in the fire? The VA's Office of Inspector General looked to answer that question with a recent audit. To learn what it found, Federal Drive Executive Producer Eric White talked with Brent Arronte, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audits and Evaluations with the VA OIG.
November 14, 2023 -
Among its actions, the task force will create a "one-stop shop" for veterans to prevent and report fraud. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will serve as a central recipient of reports of scams against veterans and service members.
November 10, 2023