Week 11 Assignment 6
Running head: DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 1
DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 5
Rationale for Agency Selected
Lauren Riley
Dr. Angela Smith
Public Administration Capstone
January 25, 2020
Introduction
The department of Veterans Affairs is a government agency that provides various services to veterans. Some VA services include benefits programs and health care services (Way at el., 2019). Furthermore, they provide former military personnel and dependents access to national cemeteries. The departments are composed of three main divisions: Veteran Health Administration, Veteran Benefits Administration, and National Cemetery Administration. VA's mission is to provide care to veterans who have borne the battle and their dependents by serving and honoring them. In addition, the VA aims to provide all veterans excellent benefits.
VA focuses on various goals and objectives aimed to drive progress to the Americans. The goal and objectives outline a clear statement of what the Department of Veterans Affairs wants to achieve. VA aims at diminishing Veteran homelessness and providing rehabilitation services to the homeless in the US (Wilson, Basile & Dusenbury, 2018). Besides, VA goals are aligned at reducing Veteran unemployment by collaborating with federal partners.
Functions of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Departments of Veterans Affairs collaborates with the healthcare teams and provide medical care to the Veterans. They provide as well as guide patients on adaptable drug therapy treatment plans. VA also works very closely with various medical schools in the US to provide valuable resources intending to deliver education to the healthcare workers and physicians. The education system has been of significant importance, especially to veterans.
Departments of Veterans Affairs assist veterans with disabilities to achieve functional dependence in their daily activities. In addition, VA assists veterans in securing employable employment opportunities. The major aim of vocational programs is to support disabled veterans to achieve independence in their day-to-day activities. To achieve this, VA ensures veterans access to these rehabilitation service programs.
VA provides pension programs. They have established pensions programs following the law. Hence, they offer monthly payments to permanently disabled veterans whose disabilities are not due to military service. Besides, VA provides monthly payments to the dependents of such veterans (Caron & Floyd, 2018).
Current Events
Improving access for veterans (Tsai at el., 2019), VA is focusing on creating a close relationship between veterans and VA personnel. Some veterans lack a means to connect with the personnel since some of them are in remote regions. VA is focusing on establishing a flexible access path to reduce dissatisfaction among the veterans.
Additionally, they are also focusing on improving IT support for this program (Tsai at el., 2019). Most management activities are completed manually. In addition, VA lacks appropriate technology to perform most of the managerial activities. This contributes to errors. Hence, VA is implementing IT programs to automate the managerial functions and provide better services to veterans.
Rationale
There are many agencies all over the globe. However, in this research, I have put my focus on the department of Veterans Affairs. This is a government organization in the US that takes care of American Veterans. I have chosen VA for my research because the justification of the Department of Veterans Affairs is apparent. The public and policymakers support the idea of helping veterans who have served the country before. Caring for the wounded and soldiers with stress disorders is significant. Hence, it is the role of government to address the needs of these soldiers. Therefore, this study justifies the significance of VA to American Veterans.
References
Caron, J. E., & Floyd, M. R. (2018). Compensation and pension examinations with older veterans.
Tsai, J., Mehta, K., Hunt-Johnson, N., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2019). Experiences and knowledge of US Department of Veterans Affairs clinical services, research, and education: Results from a national survey of veterans. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.
Way, D., Ersek, M., Montagnini, M., Nathan, S., Perry, S. A., Dale, H., ... & Jones, C. A. (2019). Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Providers Should Know About Caring for Veterans. Journal of palliative medicine, 22(6), 708-713.
Wilson, N. D., Basile, E., & Dusenbury, M. (2018). Funding Changes from the Department of Veterans Affairs: Measuring the Impact on Undergraduate Flight Student Career and Academic Goals. The Collegiate Aviation Review International, 34(2).