Department of Veterans Affairs
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After a years-long effort, the Veterans Affairs Department has managed to whittle down its backlog of disability claims by 90 percent. It now has fewer than 100,000 disability claims, meaning those more than 125 days since filing. That's down from the record 611,000 claims it still held in 2013. Allison Hickey is VA's undersecretary for benefits. Hickey tells the Federal Drive with Tom Temin more about how VA made this progress.
September 02, 2015 -
NARFE's John Hatton and Katie Maddocks from the Federal Managers Association, join host Mike Causey to talk about some of the issues that Congress will tackle when it returns from its summer recess. September 2, 2015
September 01, 2015 -
Federal unions and the employees they represent aren't always on the same page. For example, the American Federation of Government Employees recently targeted some leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs for discipline. And some members of Congress have called for an end to some collective bargaining rights like official time for feds. Jeff Neal is senior vice president of ICF International and former chief human capital officer at the Homeland Security Department. He's also the author of the Chief HRO blog and he tells In Depth with Francis Rose that federal unions come in all kinds of flavors.
August 31, 2015 -
Veterans Affairs wants to make it easier for veterans to find its services. One suggestion by Secretary Bob McDonald is to create a veterans.gov website. But there's a problem. The Labor Department owns that URL. Federal News Radio's executive editor Jason Miller writes about this situation in his weekly feature, "Inside the Reporter's Notebook." He joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss a potential solution to Labor and VA's problem.
August 31, 2015 -
The departments of Veterans Affairs and Labor could use a long-established approach to making services for veterans easier to find if they'd only remember it's there.
August 31, 2015 Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association, joins host Mike Causey to discuss how career federal executives are impacted by lame duck presidential administrations. She will also give her thoughts on a recent report based on an employee job survey conducted last year by the Office of Personnel Management. August 26, 2015
August 25, 2015-
The Senior Executives Association and Federal Managers Association have asked Congress to investigate what they call a "hit list" created by VA’s largest labor union. It's a report compiled by the American Federation of Government Employees, which names managers and executives the union recommends for discipline. SEA questions whether the list was compiled on official time. Jason Briefel is the legislative director at SEA. He joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more on this list and why the associations are so upset by it.
August 21, 2015 -
Managers at the Veterans Affairs Department may be targets of one of the largest federal employee unions. Representatives of the American Federation of Government Employees may have been using their work time to compile suggestions for discipline by top VA leaders. Federal News Radio Reporter Emily Kopp tells In Depth with Francis Rose why this controversy may boil down to a classic labor-versus-management clash.
August 19, 2015 -
Just when Congress is considering tougher penalties for Veterans Affairs employees engaged in misconduct, the Senior Executives Association and the Federal Managers Association have asked lawmakers to investigate a "hit list" created by the American Federation of Government Employees, VA's largest labor union.
August 19, 2015 -
The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are a long way from deploying new electronic health record systems that can communicate with each other. Both agencies didn't meet a deadline last year to make sure their data complies with national standards. Valerie Melvin is director of information management and technology resources issues at GAO. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose why defined goals would help both departments better measure their progress.
August 18, 2015 -
Two free training programs from the Department of Veterans Affairs won't only help veterans find new careers. They could be a road map to how agencies run pilot programs and prioritize decisions. Rosye Cloud is the acting director of the Office of Transition, Employment and Economics and a senior advisor for veteran development at the Veterans Affairs Department. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose how the programs work and what your agency can learn.
August 14, 2015 MSPB Chair Susan Tsui Grundmann took aim at a recent law and the legislation it's spawned. The year-old Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 curtails the due process rights of Senior Executive Service members in the Veterans Affairs Department. Just recently, the House passed legislation to extend the measure to the rest of the VA's workforce.
August 14, 2015-
The house has passed a bill that makes it easier and quicker to fire Veterans Affairs employees. Some see Congress’ latest drive to hold government accountable as noble. Others see it as an impending civil rights violation. Susan Tsui Grundmann is chairman of the Merit Systems Protection Board. As Federal News Radio’s Emily Kopp report, she falls into the latter category.
August 13, 2015 -
Stan Lowe, VA’s deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Information Security, becomes the second senior executive to leave this week.
August 07, 2015 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it’s trying to become a customer focused organization, with programs built more around input from veterans themselves and less by the whims of Washington policymakers. Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports VA is starting with the fundamentals – like figuring out who those customers are.
August 05, 2015