TOPICS
TOPICS
VA responds to low certification test grades with more training
Low pass rates on a certification test have prompted the Veterans Affairs Department to increase training for employees who oversee veterans' benefits, agency officials told lawmakers Wednesday.
Veterans service representatives are the first point of contact for returning soldiers looking for housing loans guarantees, compensation for medical disabilities and education benefits. In August 2003, the department offered the first certification test for the position but only a quarter of test-takers passed the 100-question multiple-choice open-book exam.
Starting Oct. 1, veterans service representatives will have 80 hours of required annual training, said Michael Wolcoff, associate deputy undersecretary for field operations at VA. Vice Adm. Daniel Cooper, the department's undersecretary for benefits, mandated the changes earlier this year.
"I think it was little bit of a shock to our organization frankly that someone did something more than just say 'Yeah, training is important,' " Wolcoff told members of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
After dismal scores on the first certification test, the department also created a 20-hour prep course, which resulted in a 42 percent pass rate on the latest exam, in May. If employees pass the test, they become eligible for promotion from a GS-10 to a GS-11 position.
But labor union officials said the low pass rates are an indicator of a poor test which, even though it was an open book exam, was extremely detailed. Employees were given varying amounts of training and time to prepare, they said.
"I see VSRs feeling anxious about passing the skills certification test because they were not adequately informed about what to study in order to prepare for the test, or what proficiency level is needed to pass," said J. David Cox, national secretary-treasurer for the American Federation of Government Employees.
The position is an especially training-intensive one, because representatives can only learn the complex rules surrounding veterans benefits in-house -- they are not taught in schools or at other jobs. Every newly hired VSR completes a national training program followed by a 23-week curriculum at their regional office. VA officials estimate that representatives need two years of formal training.
From the veterans' perspective, increased training is welcome, but even more welcome would be a change in productivity quotas, said Steve Smithson, a deputy director at the American Legion.
"The culture of VA's claims adjudication has been, and continues to be, production driven," Smithson testified. That means veterans can be denied benefits without enough examination because employees need to complete cases swiftly.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the subcommittee, said he plans continued oversight of the VSR position.
COMMENTS
- It's no surprise that people would mock the assumed "incompetent VA government employees who can't even pass an open book test." Finding and deciphering the applicable regulations, laws, federal codes, fast letters, publications and manuals pertaining to VA benefits, though open book, just isn’t the no-brainer it appears to be. Someone asked how these employees were hired in the first place. I myself was hired under the outstanding scholar program, as were many of my co-workers. But it is true there is a limit to how many applicants can be hired through the OSP. As someone who took the most recent test in August, as someone who did extremely well in college, I can assure you this is no easy test. As far as training goes: Many people -- me in particular -- have not worked in all the areas that Veterans Service Representatives may work during their careers. Training to compensate for this fact would be great. The test covers all areas a Veterans Service Representative can go, whether you’ve been there or not. Lastly, I do not understand the claims of those who say their co-workers are incompetent and management daft, not that either is ever perfect. At least at my office, we are for the most part an educated workforce that does its best to dish up what Central Office has dished out, from ever escalating production quotas to ever more demanding and unobtainable overall performance based assessments. Don’t you think that if it were that easy to make an extra four or five grand a year just by passing an open book test, government employees, of all people, would be working to ace it? Money is motivating, and right now it has to be given a job and environment where satisfaction is beaten out by the constant fury of production. GovExec.com reader Posted October 4, 2006 5:08 PM
- It's true that this job of being a VBC takes years to understand, but each case is a prolonged process to put it together from the veteran and to also get all the information from the government as needed. I know of no VBC who could fail a test, as simply put forward, as an open book exam or not, unless it was written in a different language. These people work hard to help people in need and certainly do not need insults in any form. Thank you. GovExec.com reader Posted September 16, 2006 5:29 PM
- Credentialing is the wave of the future. The Defense Department is going to require its INFOSEC people to get the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification within the next three years. They will provide training for the students and pay for them to take the exam -- but they won't take it for them! It's a hard exam and it requires some effort just to get the minimum passing score of 70 percent. I see this happening in other government jobs, as well. CISSP Posted September 15, 2006 3:24 PM
