Hempstead and the Military

From Journalism80

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Veterans Looking for Work

The country has already started to see the effects of the War on Terror on our military personnel and the war is not yet over. Last month reports broke about the poor medical care that Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans were receiving and recently veterans have reported returning to their employers only to be told they no longer have jobs.

Although the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act was established in 1994 to protect the jobs of reservists, the act is not always enforced. So, outside organizations are working with Veterans Affairs to help veterans reassemble lives that they left to serve in the War on Terror. Locally, HempsteadWorks, a department of Workforce New York and the New York State Department of Labor, offers services to veterans looking for work.


Background

  • According to Veterans Today, the Department of Defense has mobilized over 500,000 reservists since September 11.
  • According to an article by Maximillian Potter in 5280 Magazine, the military’s employer-support office is a disaster caught up in bureaucracy.
  • A Government Accountability Office report released in 2002 said that the Department of Defense needed to improve relations between reservists and their employers and yet another recent report by the GAO shows that the U.S. government does not understand the troubles reservists face upon returning from war.
  • The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reports that although there is no scientific data available to accurately calculate how troop mobilization from the War on Terror will affect Veterans' Affairs, there are enough studies and historical data to conclude that the nation and the VA are unprepared to accomodate those soldiers that served our country returning from war.

What New York is Doing to Help

  • The New York State Department of Labor offers veterans services for those returning from war that need to find a job. The department provides educated and trained specialists to help with the process. The program also offers skills assessments, résumé writing, cover letters, and tools to research the job market. Another service provided is helping soldiers translate their military positions into civilian world job descriptions.
  • In 1987 Late Assemblyman Richard Connors and late Senator Michael Tully sponsored legislation that would authorize the Civil Service Commission to designate 300 positions, that are normally filled through competitive examination, as positions for disabled wartime veterans. This is known as Section 55-c of the New York State Civil Service Law.

Where to Go in Hempstead

  • HempsteadWorksprovides many services to local veterans looking for work. A listing of the services provided can be found here. For more information, call (516) 485-5000 and ask to speak for veterans services.
  • Hempstead Town Hall posts that Counselor Nathan King of the New York State Division of Veterans' Affairs is available for one-on-one interviews to discuss veterans' benefits and other issues (including employment services), 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.

Sources

  • Walker, Kayla. (2007, March 30). [Phone Interview with Pete Paftino, HempsteadWorks LVER].
  • Walker, Kayla. (2007, March 5). [Phone Interview with Tom Rielly, Veterans' Program Coordinator for New York State Department of Labor].
  • Statistics courtesy of John M. Brooks, New York State Department of Labor Research & Statistics representative.
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