VETERANS SERVICES TO BRIDGE JOB GAP
New Ohio director wants state to help veterans assimilate.
Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst, the new director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, has made it her goal to bridge the gap in job readiness so that every veteran is ready to assimilate into civilian life “the moment they step out of uniform.”
Gov. Mike D eWi ne named Ashenhurst in January as the leader of Ohio’s veterans services, a role that serves the states’s nearly 800,000 veterans. In her first interview with the Dayton Daily News, Ashenhurst said she is determined to help veterans assimilate to civilian culture after military service — working to improve and sustain programs that address veteran mental health and employment issues.
“We’re going to continue our great strides connecting our returning veterans with jobs and workforce placement and development,” Ashenhurst said. “I really think it’s a critical time when our military members are transitioning to civilian life. If we can catch them and have them coming home to a job — instead of trying to come home and look for a job — I think we get ahead of homelessness; we get ahead of other [issues] like drug abuse, mental health issues, suicide even.”
Unemployment shows increase
In 2018, unemployment rates for the latest generation of veterans fell to the lowest it has ever been — a 3.8-percent annual unemployment rate. In 2011, post-9/11 veterans unemployment rose to 12.1 percent – more than triple the amount of last year’s rate.
However, the unemployment rate for veterans jumped in the first month of 2019, with post-9/11 veterans unemployment rates ticking up from 3.6 percent in December to 4.2 in January. Vet- erans employment is important for the state economy, because more than 9 percent of Ohio’s population is made up of veterans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As h enh u rst said part of the problem for veterans is translating military experience into a civilian resume. The state’s website, OhioMeansVeteransJobs.com, provides active and retired military service members with access to resources, training, employment opportunities and benefits. The site also has a “military skills transla- tor,” which helps individuals translate military skills into a polished resume fit for their new career pursuit.
Ashenhurst wants to take a proactive approach to veterans employment — mak- ing sure the department has communicated with deployed service members from Ohio while they’re serv- ing the nation.
“For me, it’s all about pas- sion,” she said. “My husband is a veteran, my father is a veteran, my brother is a veteran. I have nephews that are veterans. It’s in my heart. It’s what drives me. For this governor and this job, it was perfect scenario to bring me out of retirement to be able to help and serve the individuals in Ohio that we call veterans.”
Making Ohio military friendly
As of December 2017, Ohio- MeansVeteransJobs had more than 20,000 resumes that had been sent to employers, according to a state report. The website has also registered more than 3,800 “mil- itary-friendly employers,” a spokesman said.
Registering as a “mili- tary-friendly employer” gives businesses access to thou- sands of veterans resumes in the state. These employers actively recruit hire and retain veterans service mem- bers, establish a veterans or military employee resource group, or sponsor and host company military and veterans recognition events and programs.
Ashenhurst said adequate veterans hiring practices can help the skilled work- force issues impacting local communities in the region.
“The majority of our veterans are tremendously productive, self-driven, motivated, good employees who don’t have drug issues. What a great thing for employers,” Ashenhurst said. “Some of our largest employers have embraced this because they’re having problems hir- ing people who don’t have drug issues.”
Companies with a local presence from all types of industries — Abercrombie & Fitch, Fuyao Glass Amer- ica, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton, Hospice of Ohio, Mahle Behr Dayton, Manpower of Dayton, Delta Airlines — have registered as military friendly.
Tom Mayer, owner of the local Manpower staff- ing franchise, said the company targets veterans on local job boards and works with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s Family Services Center to recruit military spouses as well.
“They definitely bring a sense of duty and understanding of discipline,” Mayer told t he Dayton Daily News. “They’re ready to work hard and do what they’re supposed to do, and not everyone in the civilian world has that mentality.”
Experience on the job
Ashenhurst brings expe- rience from her 37 years of service in the Ohio National Guard — having held assign- ments at all levels including company, battalion, brigade and Joint Force Headquar- ters. She served as adjutant general of Ohio, commanding the 17,000 personnel of the Ohio Army and Air National Guard, Ohio Military Reserve and Ohio Naval Militia.
The Ohio Department of Veterans Services had a Senate-approved budget of $90.7 million in fiscal year 2018 – much of that going to the operations efforts of two veterans nursing care facilities in the state. The state agency has just over 1,000 employ- ees, including 935 that are held by permanent full-time and part-time workers.