Coming Home to Work
The VA Regional Office San Diego in collaborative partnership with San Diego Healthcare System (SDHCS), and Naval Hospital San Diego implemented the VA's Coming Home to Work Program (CHTW) in February 2006. The primary goal of this joint effort is to meet the needs of the newest Veterans by assisting in the service members' recovery and transition to civilian life by providing VA compensation benefits and VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment benefits at the earliest opportunity. It will also provide service members in a medical hold capacity the opportunity to gain meaningful civilian work experience while going through the Medical Evaluation Board/Physical Evaluation Board process. This initiative is part of VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. Service members in Medical Hold who participate in CHTW receive work assignments consistent with their interests, aptitudes, and abilities, and are applicable to the civilian job market. It helps service members establishes civilian employment history. The Regional Office is proud to have hired three disabled Iraqi Freedom Veterans who participated in the CHTW Initiative.
Balboa Career Transition Center
A partnership between Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Department of Labor, and California Employment Development Department resulted in the creation of a joint career transition center at Naval Medical Center in San Diego. It is called the Balboa Career Transition Center (BCTC). The mission of the BCTC is to provide quality VA benefits information and claims intake assistance, bedside visits, vocational rehabilitative services, career guidance, and employment assistance to wounded and injured service members. This one of a kind center will play a vital role as a result of the creation of the Comprehensive Combat and Complex Care Center (C5), at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego during the summer of 2007. The C5 joins Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio as stateside military hospitals able to take wounded troops almost directly from the fields of battle. It also includes the military's first and only center for amputee care in the Western United States.
Integrated Disability Evaluation System
A joint program between the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that allows the medical board processing, including the disability evaluation system of the Navy and Army to run concurrently with the VA’s while Service Members are still on active duty. With offices located at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego and Camp Pendleton, CA., this allows for faster processing and delivery of Chapter 31 benefits prior to the separation from active duty.
VetSuccess on Campus
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Regional Office, Mira Costa College and San Diego State University (SDSU) agree that a veteran’s successful readjustment into civilian workforce is a mutual responsibility and concern. In order to advance, improve, and expand the employment opportunities for disabled and non-disabled veterans, both commit to active cooperation.
VA provides the following services:
On-campus outreach to Veterans
Transition support services
Referrals for VA medical and mental health services
Adjustment and career counseling services specific to VA benefits and Veteran issues
Assistance in applying for other VA benefits
Job placement assistance and coordination with local Disabled Veterans' Outreach
Program (DVOP) Specialists and Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVERs)
Expertise to the University community on the Veteran experience
Referral to campus services as necessary
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