Posted on Aug 20, 2015
Survey: Most Americans think government is failing vets
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Do you think this is startling news?
Survey: Most Americans think government is failing vets
A majority of Americans don’t think the U.S. government or American businesses are doing enough to help veterans, and few believe that charities are doing enough to help cover those unmet needs, according to a survey released Wednesday.
Officials behind the research say the findings show both a lack of awareness of support services available to veterans and a lack of confidence that service members are being set up for success when they leave the ranks.
“One of the challenges we face is that a lot of corporations and groups are doing great things to help veterans, but we typically are only talking to veterans about it,” said Fred Wellman, CEO and founder of the communications and advocacy firm ScoutComms, which partnered on the poll.
“We’re not doing an effective job informing the American public.”
The survey, conducted earlier this month by the research firm Ipsos, found that fewer than one in four had a favorable view of government efforts to support veterans. Conversely, 26 percent of respondents had a “highly unfavorable” view of the federal outreach.
The biggest area for improvement respondents identified was providing health care services for veterans. The Veterans Affairs Department has battled numerous care delay scandals for the past 18 months, including records manipulation accusations that forced the resignation of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Almost half of those questioned said they believe troops are not prepared to succeed in the civilian workforce when they leave the military, and only 13 percent said they think corporations are doing enough to support veterans.
That perception comes despite data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that have shown veterans unemployment staying consistently below the national jobless rate, and despite a rush of corporate and federal programs in recent years to ease that transition.
Wellman said many firms he works with are reluctant to advertise their outreach for fear of looking crass or exploitative, even though more awareness of those efforts often would lead to better understanding of veterans’ needs and challenges.
“There’s a disconnect between those of us working with veterans and what the American public sees,” Wellman said.
Among charities and nonprofits, support for veterans is even less well known. The survey shows that 23 percent of respondents think those groups are providing critical help to veterans, 34 percent think they are not — and 43 percent say they don’t know enough about those efforts to make a judgement.
The survey includes responses from roughly 1,000 adults online, with a margin of error of about 3.5 percent. Full results are available at the ScoutComms website.
Officials from ScoutComms and Ipsos said they hope to conduct similar polls in coming months, to gauge public awareness on issues like mental health, women in combat, LGBT rights and veteran education benefits.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/08/19/veterans-support-survey-scoutcomms/31981333/
Survey: Most Americans think government is failing vets
A majority of Americans don’t think the U.S. government or American businesses are doing enough to help veterans, and few believe that charities are doing enough to help cover those unmet needs, according to a survey released Wednesday.
Officials behind the research say the findings show both a lack of awareness of support services available to veterans and a lack of confidence that service members are being set up for success when they leave the ranks.
“One of the challenges we face is that a lot of corporations and groups are doing great things to help veterans, but we typically are only talking to veterans about it,” said Fred Wellman, CEO and founder of the communications and advocacy firm ScoutComms, which partnered on the poll.
“We’re not doing an effective job informing the American public.”
The survey, conducted earlier this month by the research firm Ipsos, found that fewer than one in four had a favorable view of government efforts to support veterans. Conversely, 26 percent of respondents had a “highly unfavorable” view of the federal outreach.
The biggest area for improvement respondents identified was providing health care services for veterans. The Veterans Affairs Department has battled numerous care delay scandals for the past 18 months, including records manipulation accusations that forced the resignation of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Almost half of those questioned said they believe troops are not prepared to succeed in the civilian workforce when they leave the military, and only 13 percent said they think corporations are doing enough to support veterans.
That perception comes despite data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that have shown veterans unemployment staying consistently below the national jobless rate, and despite a rush of corporate and federal programs in recent years to ease that transition.
Wellman said many firms he works with are reluctant to advertise their outreach for fear of looking crass or exploitative, even though more awareness of those efforts often would lead to better understanding of veterans’ needs and challenges.
“There’s a disconnect between those of us working with veterans and what the American public sees,” Wellman said.
Among charities and nonprofits, support for veterans is even less well known. The survey shows that 23 percent of respondents think those groups are providing critical help to veterans, 34 percent think they are not — and 43 percent say they don’t know enough about those efforts to make a judgement.
The survey includes responses from roughly 1,000 adults online, with a margin of error of about 3.5 percent. Full results are available at the ScoutComms website.
Officials from ScoutComms and Ipsos said they hope to conduct similar polls in coming months, to gauge public awareness on issues like mental health, women in combat, LGBT rights and veteran education benefits.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/08/19/veterans-support-survey-scoutcomms/31981333/
Posted in these groups: 
Virginia Department of Veterans Services
Government
Virginia Department of Veterans Services Government
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 10
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Yes i agree. There needs to be more to disseminate information not only to veterans but to the public. A lot of Veterans have civilian friends along with their battle buddies from the service who, if they were informed, could then bring light to these programs to them. I work for Congressman Chris Gibson as a military and Veteran affairs constituent service representative and deal with these issues on a daily basis. Just yesterday, actually, I had a new case regarding this subject. I do have a two page compilation of veteran organizations that can aid veterans financially, education, housing, etc.
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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S.
"I do have a two page compilation of veteran organizations that can aid veterans financially, education, housing, etc."
Brilliant!
Brilliant!
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PFC Joseph Levi
Do you know of a way to upload files in here? I just recently got active on this site the last day or so and haven't had time to explore yet. If there is a way, I'll post this list for all to have at your disposal.
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PFC Joseph Levi
I'm going to take a picture of my list and post it. Seems you can only post pictures on here.
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SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. I have not been living in a bubble, or in a long term coma, so no, it doesn't surprise me at all. It disappoints me that people seem to be accepting of the situation, but that may just be a symptom of the government failing the American People as a whole. People are numb to it so they just don't react to the failing of the government anymore.
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