The VA cited competing program priorities, including education claims processing and other VA program initiatives as headwinds. Image: The Bold Bureau/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffSeparate GAO reports have cited understaffing and other personnel issues as hampering VA oversight of a technology jobs training program for veterans and coordination of care between VA facilities and community providers.
In the former report, the GAO said that a pilot of the Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses program only partially aligned with three leading practices for pilot programs and did not align with the other two, having an evaluation plan and formally assessing the scalability of the pilot for broader implementation.
“VA officials said the agency did not have sufficient staff to fully address these practices,” the report said. While the department designated a specialized team to design and initially implement the program, that team later was disbanded and the VA then relied on existing staff who “faced competing program priorities, including education claims processing and other VA program initiatives.”
“According to officials, the number of VA staff assigned to administer the pilot was not sufficient to implement several major pilot components, including finalizing and implementing a provider scorecard for measuring and tracking outcomes,” it said.
“Given that a new VET TEC is authorized through 2027, assessing its human capital needs would help VA assure the program has appropriate resources,” it added.
The second report focused on the Office of Integrated Veteran Care, established in 2022 to better coordinate care between VA’s own providers and community providers but that “has made several changes to its organizational structure and priorities since it was established” and those changes “have affected officials’ ability to carry out the initiatives at some facilities.”
Issues included lack of clear communications of changes to the organizational structure and a perception that communication was often “one-way” without considering input from those affected. Officials told GAO that “further changes are on hold as the Department of Veterans Affairs undergoes reorganization and workforce reduction that may affect IVC.”
Officials also told GAO that “they never had an opportunity to build IVC to its intended staffing level as a new office, and that hiring freezes for national level staff starting in early 2024 prevented them from addressing what they believe is inadequate staffing. In addition, IVC has had significant vacancies—IVC officials stated the overall vacancy rate was 35 percent. As of March 2025, IVC was approved for 1,571 full-time equivalent positions, but 552 of these positions were vacant.”
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