Introduction
The problem of ensuring the well-being of veterans is urgent for the United States, so the state directs forces to reintegrate these people into society. The primary purpose of this article is to focus on the relevance of the veterans’ counseling program and adaptation in the United States. The study includes criteria for verifying the legitimacy of veterans’ initiatives, research into the problems and benefits of the advisory program, and features of the transition of former military personnel into everyday life.
Reason for Program Implementation
The program’s primary objective for reintegration veterans into society is to provide psychological assistance after the war. Due to the dangers of the profession, members of the United States Army may have suffered psychological injuries that prevent them from returning to everyday life. Former military personnel state that they experience traumatic events that affect their psyche and life in general (Vet Center, 2022). Problems include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and even military sexual trauma (MST), no matter how terrible it may look. To provide counseling to former military personnel, their families, National Guard components, and reserves, a program of assistance will be launched in 50 states. These actions will help improve the health of military personnel and allow them to deal more quickly with injuries and disorders that worsen their quality of life.
The Main Problems of Veterans
Veterans in the United States can experience problems in family relationships and social and financial life, which require appropriate assistance and advice. A survey of 90 veterans shows an elevated level of anxiety and anger that these people experience in their everyday interactions and try to improve their condition by using psychoactive substances (Derefinko et al., 2019). It is not uncommon for veterans’ families to have misunderstandings that lead to a divorce from their partners. One is unemployment, which is linked to a deteriorating economic situation. The likelihood of suicides among former military personnel is high because of the various problems they face in their daily lives (Sokol et al., 2021). The social component includes social discrimination and violation of veterans’ rights, which prevents them from revealing their problems. This mainly affects women, who cannot seek moral support because of these factors. Ethical issues include the failure to respect human values, which can often be violated by psychologists who do not respect veterans’ rights. Finally, the main economic problem is the lack of adequate financial support for military personnel, which prevents them from receiving both education and quality health care.
Background of Proposed Program
Counseling programs run by the Government and non-governmental organizations have contributed to the reintegration of veterans for almost 30 years. To ensure the quality of the procedures, Congress legalized the program through 38 USC 1712A, which assesses the eligibility of service members of the Iraq Campaign, Navy Expeditionary, Kosovo Service, Ko-rea Service, and Airforce Combat Action for assistance. This program has problems related to the remoteness of counseling centers and staff burnout, as the number of service members who visit these centers exceeds the number of human resources (Kube & Gardella, 2019). However, it is necessary to highlight the benefits of the program related to the provision of advice, assistance in employment and demobilization, initiatives Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA) service, which allows the person to return faster to everyday life.
Major Interventions in the Program
Various interventions help veterans in different areas of life. One of them is the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), whose main task is to offer employment and training opportunities for military personnel. TAP is developed in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD) and Veteran Administration (VA) and creates plans for changes so that each veteran can apply their military skills (Whitworth et al., 2020). There is also the Military OneSource’s Transitioning Veterans Consultation, which monitors the availability of mental health services for uniformed personnel entering civilian service. Another introduction is the Boots to Business (B2B) program, which offers veterans free knowledge about entrepreneurship and business ownership.
Application of Research
The interventions are based on research that helps implement new ideas. The Transition Assistance Program uses the Success in Transition (SIT) model, which includes the main components of military transition (MTT) and the reintegration of military personnel (Morgan et al., 2020). Veterans are provided with assistance in family matters and psychological transformations and are offered an individual program for success based on human desires and abilities. Turning to the intervention of Military OneSource’s Transitioning Veterans Consultation, it is essential to mention that employees use the theory of matching veterans’ skills and knowledge with those companies in which they can potentially work, as there are members of various professions such as law, medicine, and logistics (Pudjiarti & Hutomo, 2020). The B2B program uses the theory that entrepreneurship provides excellent opportunities for veterans who return to civilian life.
Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Perspectives
System theory covers a wide range of practices, and it can be studied on the micro, mezzo, and macro level, each of which is worth considering in more detail. The micro level aims to work with families and health service providers to help veterans’ mental health find solutions to problems. At the mezzo level, specialists focus on social issues and issues of community involvement in problem-solving (D’Aoust & Rossiter, 2021). This means focusing on cultural modifications to ensure that the needs of veterans during their transition are being learned in conjunction with the global social situation. Finally, the macro-level focus focuses on large-scale transformations in social policy regarding veterans, along with institutions for veterans and federal and state agencies (Forgey & Green-Hurdle, 2022). It discusses how social workers can interact in a more extensive system.
Funding and Program Plan
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) will fund all these interventions through therapy, social work, and professional counseling. The Administration contends that a two-year funding cap to level veterans’ remuneration could ensure parity among disciplines in the program. Using the appropriate agencies, the federal government can help fund the program through VHA, which will take about two years to implement. The program’s implementation can be divided into two stages, the first of which includes TAP to provide veterans with appropriate education for training. Also, service members will receive advice that will help them identify their strengths leading to suitable employment in organizations (Federal Register, 2022). In the second stage, veterans will be offered a program of entrepreneurship training to let everyone know about starting their own business.
Features of the Program Evaluation
The purpose of program evaluation is to assess the results of proposed interventions. The evaluation strategy includes assessing requirements, processes, results, and effectiveness and will consider the evaluation design and methods of data collection and analysis. The first stage of the strategy is critical, as the work assesses the needs of the target audience and Vet Services, and the evaluation of the process allows for monitoring of the program’s progress. The effectiveness evaluation considers the impact of the existing approach on veterans’ health and overall living standards and the relevance of using financial and human resources in implementation. The design of the evaluation is to compare the results of previous and subsequent tests conducted among veterans who participated in the intervention. Both tests will have the same questions, but in the final phase, more attention will be focused on what the soldiers have learned and how they are helping them to change their lives.
Importance of Data Analysis
For efficient data analysis, the collection strategy will include old and new data of veterans who decided to use the program. Old data will be examined through military records and records, and new data will be added through interviews and interviews. Within the framework of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and other initiatives, various interviews will be conducted, which will be used to collect updated information. Each veteran will have the opportunity to be interviewed electronically, and interviews can be performed either in person or by telephone. In addition to these assessment methods, the program results and veterans’ personal experiences will also be considered, allowing staff to know the level of satisfaction of the target audience with the proposed actions. The results will be measured by recording reviews and analyzing documentation collected during the program.
Conclusion
There are threats to the internal and external validity of the program, which affect its reliability. For the inner component, limited selection and reactivity are negative factors because the targeted selection of participants can lead to an inaccurate perception of the program’s effectiveness. Generalizability threatens external validity, as sometimes results cannot be transferred to another environment, and transferability happens. However, all documents will be collected from reliable sources, and the assurance of the publication of reliable data will be provided. The evaluation methods will ensure the reliability of the data received, and the reporting processes will be standardized.
References
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Federal Register. (2022). Readjustment counseling service scholarship program. Web.
Forgey, M. A., & Green-Hurdle, K. (2022). Military social work around the globe. Springer Nature.
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Vet Center. (2022). Vet centers (Readjustment counseling). U.S Department of Veteran Affairs. Web.
Whitworth, J., Smet, B., & Anderson, B. (2020). Reconceptualizing the U.S. military’s transition assistance program: The success in transition model. Journal of Veterans Studies, 6(1), 25. Web.