Strategic Plan

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: FY 2018 - 2024 Strategic Plan

Strategic Business Unit

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

VA is comprised of a Central Office (VACO), which is located in Washington, DC, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA), and field facilities throughout the Nation, as well as the U.S. territories and the Philippines. Veteran programs are delivered by VA's three major Administrations: Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and National Cemetery Administration (NCA). VA is the second largest Federal department and has a workforce of approximately 351,540 full-time employees.
Plan Details

Plan period: from 28/02/2018  to 30/09/2022

This strategic plan describes the major changes the Department will undergo over the next five to seven years to deliver better choices for Veterans. Where we are not measuring up, we must fix VA. Opening up options for Veterans to get their benefits, care, and services will force VA to compete for our Veteran customers. Our path to competitiveness is shaped by the Department’s five priorities, which define the operational focus of VA and which will make VA a stronger organization that provides better outcomes for Veterans, taxpayers, and society.

Plan submitted by:

Owen Ambur

On March 3, 1865, President Lincoln signed legislation that established a network of National facilities to care for the Nation’s wounded Civil War Soldiers. This singular act codified a social contract between the Nation and our Veterans that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would always be there for them and their families, to help them heal and recover from the illnesses, injuries, or wounds sustained in service to America and to ease their successful reintegration into civilian life. This set of principles drives VA’s mission to this day.

Analysis

Competitive Environment


Competitors

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

VA is comprised of a Central Office (VACO), which is located in Washington, DC, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA), and field facilities throughout the Nation, as well as the U.S. territories and the Philippines. Veteran programs are delivered by VA's three major Administrations: Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and National Cemetery Administration (NCA). VA is the second largest Federal department and has a workforce of approximately 351,540 full-time employees.

Direction

Vision

Veterans receive excellent care and services

Mission

To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.

Values

Advocacy

VA pledges to Advocate and provide care for all Veterans who come to us, with particular emphasis on those who will need us the most but have the least ability to reach out to us for help. VA will ensure that our most vulnerable Veterans are cared for.

Respect

Excellence

Achieving Excellence is the only performance target acceptable in a VA that is hyper-focused on improving the lives and outcomes of our Nation’s Veterans. Pursuit of excellence drives innovation, agility, and better outcomes.

Integrity

Our Veterans deserve our very best -- always. The values of Integrity and Respect are the bedrock behaviors of a VA workforce dedicated to treating those Americans who so willingly volunteered their lives in defense of this great Nation.

Commitment

Commitment is a thread that runs through all the goals and will remain unchanged through the volatile and complex future VA business environment.

Goals

Information, Access & Choices

Goal Statement: VETERANS CHOOSE VA FOR EASY ACCESS, GREATER CHOICES, AND CLEAR INFORMATION TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

To provide Veterans with better choices and better access to the benefits, care, and services they need, we have to enhance our understanding of what they are experiencing in their lives. VA will combine understanding of the Veteran with continuous market analyses of availability and quality of provider options to provide a better range of choices for our Veterans. This is what we mean by greater choice. Further, VA must compete for our Veteran customers or risk losing them. We welcome the challenge; we believe competing with the private sector to serve our Veterans will make us stronger. In this goal, we also expand easy access beyond making an appointment. It also applies to Veterans being able to use any benefit, care, or service they need no matter where they are. VA, in its quest to better serve Veterans in the manner they wish to be served, has identified three major elements pertaining to enhanced access for Veterans.

Objectives:

  • Benefits, Care & Services
  • Needs
  • Communications
  • Navigation
  • Advocacy
  • Understanding
  • Outcomes
  • Journey Maps

Well-Being & Independence

Goal Statement: VETERANS RECEIVE TIMELY AND INTEGRATED CARE AND SUPPORT THAT EMPHASIZES THEIR WELL-BEING AND INDEPENDENCE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE JOURNEY

VA will deliver integrated and seamless benefits, care, and support resulting in increased quality of life for Veterans and their families, caregivers, and supporters. Improved quality of life means Veterans are independent, economically secure, socially engaged however they choose, and enjoy enhanced well-being.

The strategic objectives associated with these desired outcomes focus on: * Ensuring Veterans receive highly integrated and coordinated benefits, care, and support services that include care management and that are tailored to meet their economic and health needs, thereby mitigating negative outcomes such as poverty, homelessness, and unaddressed mental and health challenges. * Working with DoD and Local community programs to ensure a seamless and less burdensome transition, and ensuring Veterans have a clear path to economic security and well-being. * Incorporating the use of technology into our delivery systems as well as driving the rapid expansion of other mobile capabilities to enhance delivery of benefits, care, and services anywhere the Veteran is located.

Objectives:

  • Interment & Memorialization
  • Delivery Networks
  • Separation
  • Mental Health & Suicide
  • At-Risk & Underserved Veterans
  • Foundational Services
  • Health & Wellness
  • Care
  • Caregivers & Aging Veterans
  • Housing
  • Families
  • Performance & Integration
  • Rural Veterans

Accountability, Transparency & Trust

Goal Statement: VETERANS TRUST VA TO BE CONSISTENTLY ACCOUNTABLE AND TRANSPARENT

VA's pledge to build lifelong, trusted relationships with its Veterans is the basis for delivering relevant and excellent benefits, care, and services to our Veterans that enhance their lives. VA understands that earning our Veterans' trust is the gold standard we aspire to achieve and is critical to our long-term success. How VA delivers on its promises is just as important as what it delivers. VA will earn trust and be the natural choice for Veterans by holding itself accountable, being transparent about how we are performing, and showing how we adhere to our core values with every single interaction. Specifically, VA will focus on accountability, transparency, and value. * Accountability: The Secretary set the standard for excellence in his State of VA address, stating simply that Veterans deserve the best, no matter where they are or who serves them. Accountability occurs at all levels and is translated as follows: * Organizational accountability: VA has clearly stated outcomes and consistently measures and shares the value of its efforts on behalf of Veterans, measures the change for Veterans, acts on data, and works within communities to build integrated networks of access and delivery. * Personnel accountability: Veterans deserve the best and brightest the Nation has to offer. VA only hires and retains individuals who embody our values. Leaders and staff incorporate VA values into everything they do and are measured by their adherence to those values for achieving positive outcomes for Veterans; those who do not adhere to VA’s values will no longer work for VA. * Transparency: VA publicly and consistently shares critical information, outcomes, and metrics showing how it improved the Veteran’s experience, and their well-being, independence, and quality of life. * Value: Value to the Veteran is achieved by VA delivering excellent outcomes that enhance their lives and provide what they need in the most competitive manner possible. This is how VA will meet the highest standard of performance.

Objectives:

  • Customer Service
  • External Providers
  • Performance Data
  • Rewards
  • Feedback
  • Accountability
  • Accountability
  • Waste, Fraud & Abuse
  • Transparency

Systems & Resources

Goal Statement: VA WILL MODERNIZE SYSTEMS AND FOCUS RESOURCES MORE EFFICIENTLY TO BE COMPETITIVE AND TO PROVIDE WORLD CLASS CAPABILITIES TO VETERANS AND ITS EMPLOYEES

Two major forces are driving VA's continuing transformation: * The emphasis on using the Veteran’s perspective to shape its program delivery and business operations. * The need to modernize our systems and focus resources in order to ensure VA is here for generations to come. The cross-cutting objectives and strategies in this goal adapt the organization’s behavior in four critical categories that will enable it to perform in an ever-changing business environment. It also addresses two critical functions (Human Resources (HR) and Information Technology (IT)) that must be optimized for the Department to realize its modernization aim. The strategies will help the Department make future choices about its strategic footprint (capital assets and construction); rapidly deploy the right human capital capabilities as mission requirements evolve; put in place an IT infrastructure that supports its Veteran engagement and delivery goals; and emphasize value analytics so VA makes smart, implementable, and relevant business decisions every day. VA will either develop or avail itself of shared services to dramatically improve hiring, procurement, and IT to drive better service and delivery.

Objectives:

  • Data Standardization
  • Sourcing
  • Staffing Levels
  • Staff Skills
  • Medical Research & Graduate Education
  • Leadership & Competency
  • Digital Platform
  • Decision Making
  • Analytics & Value
  • Veteran Needs & Market Forces
  • Governance
  • Cybersecurity
  • Innovation
  • Digital Services
  • Workforce & Human Capital
  • Force Protection & Mission Assurance
  • Business Environment
  • COTS
  • Infrastructure, Protocols & Services
  • Human Capital Policies
  • Agility & Value
  • IT Modernization
  • Restructuring & Reorganization
  • Business Lines
  • Systems & Processes

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