Federal Reports

The expansion of benefits under the PACT Act of 2022 necessitated VBA increasing capacity to process the influx of claims. By September 2023, VBA had sought to hire 2,520 claims processors—veterans service representatives and rating veterans service representatives—and reported exceeding its goal by hiring 3,279 claims processors. The OIG conducted this audit to determine whether VBA followed required steps to hire qualified claims processors using PACT Act funds. In addition, the OIG calculated the attrition rates for claims processors and evaluated measures VBA implemented to retain these staff.

The OIG found VBA’s human resources staff generally followed the required steps to hire qualified claims processors using PACT Act funds from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. In just 2 percent of hires, applicants received an official job offer before their screening results were available; nevertheless, rushing official job offers puts VBA at risk of hiring someone who may not be suitable for federal service. Also, although overall time frames were met, the time to onboard—from acceptance of a tentative offer to starting work—exceeded the guidelines.

As for attrition, the OIG determined the median tenure of claims processors who resigned from VBA during the period in question was about 10 to 12 months, just when they have gained proficiency. Consequently, VBA may not recoup the considerable resources invested in recruiting, hiring, and training staff for this critical position. VBA’s Office of Human Capital Services developed a retention program in July 2022, but participation was voluntary and the program also lacked measurable performance indicators, preventing the OIG team from assessing its success.

The OIG made no recommendations as VBA’s existing controls appeared to ensure human resources staff follow the procedures, but the OIG reported ways to improve those procedures and ongoing retention efforts.