At the direction of the General Assembly, the Commissioner of the Department of Veteran Services (DVS) convened a Workgroup charged with developing a statewide strategic plan for veterans and their families under HB 1759.The Veteran Strategic Plan Workgroup began meeting in June of 2023 with the purpose of making Virginia the best state for veterans. The full legislative text of HB 1759 can be found in Appendix A.

The Center for Public Policy (CPP) within Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and McChrystal Group facilitated monthly Workgroup meetings to develop a vision and goals for this purpose. The Workgroup first created a vision for their work:

Make Virginia the best state for service members, veterans, and their families to live, work, lead, and raise a family.

This vision emphasizes a key strategic choice on the part of the Workgroup to extend benefits to children and spouses of veterans and service members in order to strengthen Virginia’s efforts towards becoming a more welcoming and supportive state for veterans, service members, and their families. Then, members worked together to establish six major goals in service of this vision:

1. Increase labor force participation rate for transitioning service members, veterans, and their families to maximize economic outcomes

2. Make Virginia the easiest state for service members, veterans, and their families to transition, reskill, and upskill

3. Attract more transitioning service members, veterans, and their families to move to Virginia through tangible economic incentives.

4. Honor veterans’ service, sacrifice, and legacy by promoting and providing high quality programs and services

5. Reduce obstacles to reliable and affordable housing options for transitioning service members, veterans, and their families

6. Reduce the rate of homelessness for veterans and their families in Virginia

For each goal, Workgroup members created specific action items and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that the goals are achievable and measurable. For the complete strategic plan, see Appendix B.