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Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs
Strategic Business Plan
2004 — 2009
Revised 2006
Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs
Strategic Business Plan
2004 — 2009
Revised 2006
A MESSAGE FROM GOVERNOR DOYLE
L ike all Wisconsinites, and indeed all Americans, I feel a great and
profound admiration for what veterans have done for our nation. And
here in Wisconsin, I am proud to say, we have a time-honored tradition of
providing the best state services and benefits in the nation for our veterans.
We are continuing to improve our veterans programs through the efforts of
our secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, John A.
Scocos.
As we plan for the first decade of the 21st century, however, we face new
and complex challenges in finding more efficient and cost-effective ways to
meet the changing needs of our veterans and their families. Let me assure
you, nevertheless, that our priorities will not change — we will always
support and look up to our veterans. I am determined that the state will
address its fiscal challenges comprehensively and fairly while protecting the
needs of veterans in the process.
Veterans have stood by us in this nation’s darkest hours, and likewise, as we
look into the future, we will always stand by them.
Jim Doyle
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THE SECRETARY’S VISION
Within this strategic plan and based on our
assessment of the needs of Wisconsin veterans
and their families, we have established the
direction of the Wisconsin Department of
Veterans Affairs (WDVA) for the remainder of
this first decade of the 21st century. It is our
permanent mission to implement and sustain
programs that meet those needs now and in the
future. As we have done in the past, so shall we
work together in the future as a team guided by
a vision and a set of values we hold in
common. Secretary John A. Scocos
We see ourselves leading the nation as a state agency in service to our
veterans and to their families. We are and will continue to be the best.
First and foremost, we must fully honor our commitment to Wisconsin
Veterans. That commitment will never waiver.
Second, WDVA must ensure stakeholder involvement, working hard to
extend and expand the department’s critically important relationships
with all the veterans’ service organizations, county veterans service
officers, key leaders, VA officials, and many others.
Third, WDVA must continue strong and positive legislative
partnerships, at the state and federal levels and on both sides of the
aisle, working in a non-partisan manner to ensure that the needs and
goals of Wisconsin’s veterans continue to be met. Finally, we must
ensure the solvency of the Veterans Trust Fund.
We owe our veterans and their families nothing less than the very best
of those things we value most:
Leadership on behalf of our veteran community.
Advocacy on issues that affect veterans.
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Expert and committed customer service.
Resources to support our programs.
Honor and respect for veterans and their families.
Looking Back
Wisconsin has earned a distinguished reputation nationally for instituting
programs and services that meet the needs of its residents who served in the
U.S. armed forces and their families.
The state’s proud tradition of providing assistance to veterans and their
families began soon after the Civil War. Most of this early assistance was
intended to alleviate the suffering of destitute veterans and their families.
In 1887, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a prominent organization
representing Civil War veterans, founded the Grand Army Home at King.
This facility near Waupaca was eventually turned over to the State of
Wisconsin and became the Wisconsin Veterans Home (WVH) at King. In
August 2001, the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Union Grove opened.
In 1901, the state honored Civil War veterans by establishing a GAR
headquarters and museum in the State Capitol. In 1989, the Legislature
authorized the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to build a new
museum, honoring veterans from all wars, across the street from the Capitol.
The award-winning Wisconsin Veterans Museum opened in 1993.
In 1919, the state issued its only wartime bonus to Wisconsin veterans of
World War I. In 1945, rather than issue a wartime bonus with little lasting
value, the Legislature created programs that offered long-term benefits for
state veterans and their families.
To administer state veterans programs, the Legislature created the Wisconsin
Department of Veterans Affairs in 1945. The department was given the
administrative responsibility for the Grand Army Home at King, the GAR
Memorial Hall in the Capitol, the state’s economic and education assistance
benefits for veterans, and other programs. It also assumed responsibility for
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segregated funds for veterans that were combined in 1961 to form the
Veterans Trust Fund.
Current Operation
Today, the WDVA provides an array of benefits and services to eligible state
veterans, and in some instances, veterans’ family members. For this purpose,
we manage three distinct business processes:
Long Term Care at the Wisconsin Veterans Homes at King and
Union Grove.
Benefits Programs and Services such as loans, grants, education
and training assistance, Federal claims assistance, the Veterans
Assistance Program for homeless veterans, Military Funeral
Honors, the Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemeteries at King,
Union Grove and Spooner.
Public Education through the Wisconsin Veterans Museum at
Madison, Volk Field and King.
To deliver these benefits and services, the WDVA works in joint enterprise
with a number of other agencies, most notably the county veterans service
officers (CVSOs), the Department of Workforce Development, commercial
lenders and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA).
Dedication in May 2006 of a new 120-bed Skilled
Nursing Facility in honor of former department
Secretary Raymond G. Boland, who served as
secretary from 1992 - 2003. (Left to right are):
Sec. John A. Scocos; Ray Boland; U.S. Dept. of
Veterans Affairs (VA) Deputy Asst. Secretary for
Intergovernmental and International Affairs,
William W. McLemore; and Wisconsin Veterans
Home-Union Grove Commandant Glen Brower
unveiled the plaque. Boland Hall opened on
September 6, 2006.
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Looking Forward: Our Future Environment
HowWDVA’s Environment Will Change Effects of These Changes
The size of our military forces will remain Need to reevaluate benefit eligibility for
roughly the same but the role of Reserve Guard members and other Reservists.
Components will continue to expand with
an increase in activations and deployments.
During the plan period, Wisconsin’s Need for sophisticated management of
veteran population will decrease relatively fiscal assets to provide undiminished
gradually from 479,000 to 411,000. benefits and services.
Need for continued public education so that
respect for veterans does not diminish over
time.
During the plan period, Wisconsin’s Need to provide long term care, retirement
veteran population will age from roughly and interment service for Wisconsin’s
60 to 62 on average. veterans.
Structural fiscal pressures on Wisconsin’s Need to develop new relationships with
state government will not abate for the enterprise partners so as to reduce
foreseeable future. duplication of services and achieve greater
efficiency.
Need to ensure solvency of the Veterans
Trust Fund.
New information technology will become Need to provide easier and more efficient
available for the delivery of services. access to services with a technically skilled
workforce.
Wisconsin will increasingly build a "new Increased need for education and job
economy" based on technology. training for veterans.
On Memorial Day, 2006,
Wisconsin Governor Jim
Doyle signs into law the
Wisconsin GI Bill, expanding
tuition benefits to qualifying
veterans, as well as surviving
spouses and children of those
killed in the line of duty,
offering them the benefit to
get an education, tuition-free,
at Wisconsin universities or
technical colleges.
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Looking Forward: Our Goals and Strategies
Leadership
To lead the way with respect to veterans’ issues, we must persuasively
communicate the veterans’ message through public education and
advocacy of veterans’ issues. By law, we must undertake departmental
initiatives consistent with the clear direction set by the Board of
Veterans Affairs on issues vital to veterans.
Communicate the WDVA mission and vision through a consistent, cohesive,
compelling veteran’s message.
Advocate for programs and services that meet veterans’ needs.
Assure that Wisconsin veterans receive a full measure of the Federal benefits
to which they are entitled.
Capitalize on opportunities to expand programs and service for veterans.
Testify before state and Federal legislative committees about issues affecting
Wisconsin veterans.
Build on our educational mission and sustain public support through
innovative museum programs that explain the history of veteran
contributions and the significance of their legacy to our state and nation.
Sustain funding for Wisconsin Veterans Museum operations, exhibit
upgrades, and infrastructure improvements as well as implement a distance
learning program.
Partnership
To maximize our service delivery, we must act in partnership with other
veterans service providers. We must reinforce our partnership with the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by assuring that all Wisconsin
veterans have undiminished access to USDVA programs. At the same
time, we must continue to strengthen our relationship with County
Veterans Service Officers, who are our partners in delivering services to
veterans, and in fulfilling our statutory responsibility to assist
Wisconsin veterans to obtain their Federal entitlements.
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Continue to implement a marketing plan that increases Federal
compensation and pension benefits for Wisconsin veterans.
Continue to obtain Federal grants for partnership programs.
Capitalize on opportunities to develop new and improved state veterans
programs. Complement and supplement USDVA programs.
Develop new and stronger partnerships with other state agencies including
the Departments of Administration (DOA), Workforce Development
(DWD), Health and Family Services (DHFS), Military Affairs (DMA), and
Corrections (DOC) to serve veterans more effectively.
Continue to partner with County Veterans Service Officers and Veterans
Service Officers to improve service delivery to veterans.
Service
To serve the veteran community, we must provide benefits and services
that meet the needs of Wisconsin veterans now and in the future. We
must make our current programs more accessible as we also provide
new and/or enhanced programs as the need and the opportunity arise.
We must also endeavor to expand the number of Wisconsin veterans
eligible for WDVA benefits and services.
Continue aggressive outreach and marketing efforts to permit Wisconsin
veterans full access to their federal VA entitlements and to other federal and
state benefits, programs and services..
Complete construction of new primary health care facilities at the Wisconsin
Veterans Home in Union Grove to provide skilled nursing, resident activities
and community-based residential living facilities for veterans in southeast
Wisconsin.
Reorganize the Veterans Assistance Program to improve services provided
for homeless and near-homeless veterans. Restructure the program to ensure
that program outcome objectives incorporate proven best practices for
homeless transitional services.
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Provide enhanced customer service to Wisconsin veterans through expanded
partnership, web-based technology, and direct service.
Expand employment and training services for veterans, including placement
of veterans into the labor force. Coordinate approvals for school and
educational courses to train veterans. Transfer the OJT/Apprenticeship
program to WDVA. Increase the reimbursement rate for education grant
programs.
Combine provisions of the Tuition and Fee Reimbursement (TFRG) and Part
Time Study Grant (PTSG) programs into a single on-line veterans education
grant program.
Research inclusion of National Guard members and other reservists in state
veterans’ benefits and service eligibility. Expand eligibility for mortgage and
home improvement loans to include Active Duty Reservists and Active
Guard Reservists.
Combine the funding for Health Care Aid Grants and Subsistence Aid
Grants into a single program.
Management
To operate with the efficiency, innovation, and adaptability of a well-
managed business, we must dedicate ourselves to the continuous
improvement of our business processes and functions. We must
dramatically improve our internal processing, cycle-time and quality of
service delivery to veterans. We must accelerate the implementation of
information technology for service delivery and for efficient operations.
Finally, we must agilely reallocate resources to handle changing
workloads.
As planning for new initiatives materializes, reorganize work units to
accommodate emerging program needs.
Provide IT funding and staff to meet DOA infrastructure standards and to
support growth in users and workstations and new program initiatives.
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Implement new or ongoing IT projects in the following areas: Enterprise
Database, Internet and Intranet Development, Agency Scheduling, Claims
Tracking, Document Imaging, Veterans Home Resident Information,
Electronic Charting, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Electronic and
Wireless Charting Software, Member Care Monitoring, Accounts
Receivable software upgrade, Cemetery Pre-Registration, Military Funeral
Honors Administration, Departmental Forms Automation, Home
Improvement Loan (HILP) Application Automation, Personal Loan Program
(PLP) Application Automation, Primary Mortgage Loan Application
Automation, Grants Application Automation, Loan Accounting Automation
and On-Line Benefit Eligibility Determination.
Provide funding for hardware and software to ensure access to remote
databases and facilitate the flow of electronic information between partners
using Web-based technology.
Invest in the training and development of our employees. Strive for a highly
motivated and empowered staff trained in strategic planning and automation
methodologies.
Enhance Veterans Homes training programs for newly hired CNAs. Provide
education grants to nursing students committed to working at the WVHs.
Finance
To act as stewards of the veterans’ community, we must preserve a solid
base of financial resources. We must ensure that the Primary Mortgage
Home Loan Program and the Veterans Trust Fund are fiscally sound
and able to meet the current and future needs of veterans. We must seek
new and enhanced flows of revenue for the Veterans Trust Fund.
Furthermore, we must balance operating revenues and expenses at the
Wisconsin Veterans Homes.
Aggressively seek out federal funding and federal/state grants to broaden
funding streams.
Continue to implement a business plan to increase Veterans Trust Fund
revenues and generate long-term fund solvency.
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Continue to implement a business plan to increase Primary Mortgage Loan
fund revenues and generate long-term fund solvency to include evaluation of
the impact of the sale of taxable and state non-taxable bonds on the Primary
Mortgage Loan and on revenue generation. Dependent upon the results of
this evaluation, pursue state legislation to authorize state tax exempt bonding
for veteran mortgage loans.
Develop a plan to manage primary mortgage loan servicing either within
WDVA or by contract with an appropriate financial organization.
Continue to pursue federal legislation to extend the Qualified Veteran
Mortgage Bond program.
Pursue state legislation to have revenue from the purchase and renewal of
veteran license plates and commemorative special license plates deposited in
the Veterans Trust Fund.
Revise the Personal Loan Program to enhance its revenues and usage.
Analyze revenues and expenditures at the Wisconsin Veterans Homes at
King and Union Grove to develop a plan to make the homes self-supporting
with full consideration for new federal payment guidelines and
administrative costs.
Conclusion
The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs will continue its outstanding
record of service to Wisconsin’s veterans throughout the plan period and
beyond that in the future. We will ever care for those men and women
who “have borne the battle.”
The Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove.
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State of Wisconsin
Department of Veterans Affairs
30 West Mifflin Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53707-7843
