(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania is suffering from a statewide workforce shortage across industries, with rural areas taking the hardest hits and a 400,000 person deficit predicted by the end of the decade.
Each year, about 200,000 people transition out of highly skilled military roles into civilian life, where finding work can be a struggle.
Finding ways for veterans to leverage their work experience into meaningful employment is often harder than it appears. Medics and corpsmen who spend years providing emergency medical services in the field don’t have clear routes to comparable jobs at home, even as staffing shortfalls threaten the stability of every level of the health care system.
Pennsylvania House Democrats held a Veterans Policy Forum to explore ways the legislature can help to clear the path. The conversation led by the Penn State Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness pinpointed the challenges veterans face and the mutually beneficial solutions they present.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has successfully made the connection between military and civilian medical roles through its Intermediate Care Technician program, which currently operates in 77 facilities. As an extension of the federal government, they’re able to circumvent the licensure issues presented in individual states.
Kentucky Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, joined the Clearinghouse to speak about workforce development in his home state. He described his own experience of returning after 11 years as an artillery officer. When he returned to civilian life, the skills he developed in his position weren’t self-evident. That he had developed as a leader, helping to manage and train others, keep data secure, and handle operations.
“Military people don’t know how to explain that to the civilian workforce, and on the flip side, the civilian workforce doesn’t understand the military lingo,” said Johnson. “So, we have what I think is thousands and thousands of highly trained, highly disciplined individuals looking to become members of the workforce, and they don’t know how to do it.”
In Kentucky, they’re working to meet the needs on both ends by recruiting servicemembers to come live and work in the state through a program called Kentucky Veterans Accelerated Licensure Occupational Recruitment, or KY VALOR. The program has 44 pathways to 55 different occupations requiring licensure or certification. The jobs include roles in health care, skilled trades, transportation and business. The program also partners with employers to move veterans directly into careers.
Laura Hanoski of Wisconsin Military Medics and Corpsmen worked to create an avenue to place veterans in the medical field in her state. The program seeks out veterans within twelve months of their departure from the military to ensure their skills remain sharp. The recruits are allowed to work at the level of an LPN, pursue education toward licensure or certification, and find placement in careers.
To make it happen, her team needed buy-in from the state legislature, which they ultimately received in a bill that found unanimous support.
“We needed our legislation to support multiple things we were doing,” said Hanoski. “We waived a license and allowed people to work. We created a job that really wasn’t part of the health care system at that time, and that actually really allowed credibility for the partnerships that we were trying to foster and grow with our health care partners.”
To that end, the forum ended with a wishlist—partnerships, policies, and pathways.
