The Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023 creates a new system to help the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hire military members who are about to leave active duty. The bill establishes a searchable database that lists open jobs at the VA alongside information about military members who are nearing the end of their service and have skills that match those positions. This allows the VA to recruit qualified service members before they're discharged, making it easier to fill staffing needs with people who already have relevant military training.

The bill also makes it faster to hire these transitioning service members by allowing the VA to bypass certain standard federal hiring procedures, getting them into jobs more quickly. Additionally, the VA can offer relocation bonuses to help these veterans move if needed for their new positions. The bill includes a separate program requiring the VA to train and certify veterans who previously worked as basic health care technicians in the military to become intermediate care technicians at VA medical facilities. This creates a pathway for veterans to continue healthcare work in a civilian capacity while helping the VA address staffing shortages in these critical roles.

Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023

González-Colón, Jenniffer

Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023 This bill updates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) current recruiting database by requiring the VA to maintain a single searchable database to be known as the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs Recruitment Database. With respect to vacant positions for critical jobs or mental health professionals, the database must list (1) the military occupational specialty or skill that corresponds to the position, and (2) each qualified member of the Armed Forces who may be recruited to fill the position before such qualified member has been discharged and released from active duty. Qualified members of the Armed Forces are those service members who (1) are being separated or recently separated from active duty, (2) elect to be listed in the database, and (3) have been determined by the VA to have a military occupational specialty. The database must list the following for each qualified member of the Armed Forces: name, contact information, expected discharge date, and military occupational specialty. The VA must implement direct hiring and appointment procedures for vacant database positions and may authorize relocation bonuses. The bill also requires the VA to train and certify veterans who served as basic health care technicians in the Armed Forces to work as VA intermediate care technicians.