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carseat, Car Seat Safety, car seat, child safety, safety, unbuckle, solo cup, mumblr, parenting, parents,
Gonna be useful this summer. Meghan has apparently reached the unbuckling phase
Fox once jimmied his car seat open when he was about two or so, and literally was out of it and OPENING THE BACK DOOR...
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subset: commoncrawl


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Just finished this book within 2 days and yes, I am in love. It's usually a struggle for me to find a good book that I can complete envelop myself in. I usually find my mind wandering to the laptop, wondering if I'm missing out on something that I can access quickly and easily; or I'm just lazy and don't want to completely focus on one thing at a time. Damn my proclivity to multitask. But, lately, the internet has been a bit of a lull, and my Kindle needs to get some use out if it.
The beginning of the book was a bit of a drag, mainly because there are so many characters to keep track of. Who the heck is Sophie, Sidney (is that a girl or a boy), Susan, and why do they all start with S's? The Dawsey letter was what got me hooked, and I immediately wanted to know more about this stranger who sounded so earnest in describing his love for Charles Lamb, and what did the roast pig have anything to do with the title of the book??
Juliet Ashton is witty, endearing, genuine, and I love her no nonsense attitude. Her description of Guernsey makes me want to visit the Channel Islands, and be friends with all the characters of the Society. I want to take care of Kit, and befriend Isobel and her quirkiness, and fall quietly in love with Dawsey. I wonder if Mary Ann Shaffer purposely made his name sound so close to Darcy, and Elizabeth's name because of Bennett. Elizabeth McKenna is definitely my heroine, and I wish Shaffer (who sounds like an amazing woman from what I read in the afterward) was still alive to make another novel about her!!
Now, I'm on a roll, and need more recommendations for good reads!
On a side note: Why are there so many spelling errors in my Kindle version of this book???? I swear, every single page had a missing period, or a misspelled word. It was such a distraction to my reading.


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Help me find a cookbook for an unadventurous cooking novice...
- The Dairy Queen Dec 27, 2009 07:05 AM
Okay, apologies, I know this question has been asked and answered a hundred different ways, but I'm looking for a basic, non-overwhelming, cookbook for a a recent retiree, a meat-and-potatoes kind of man who is now picking up kitchen duty a couple of nights a week.
His wife has always done the cooking, and subscribes to all the cooking magazines (Gourmet RIP, Bon Appetit, Cooks Illustrated, CIA) and is an adventurous cook and eater. They have a robust garden, a freezer full of beef, lamb, and pork and a fully-stocked kitchen, (both equipment-wise and grocery-wise)--she'll continue to do all the shopping. But, he has simple "American" tastes and aspirations--no pork in peach chutney, or curried butternut squash for this guy.
I'd like to get him his own basic cookbook, bonus points if it's on the healthy side, instead of the cream-of-mushroom soup side. I'm looking for a book with a basic meatloaf. A basic spaghetti. etc. He doesn't need a grilling book (a. wrong season for that here in the upper Midwest and b. he knows how to grill).
The outcome doesn't need to be gourmet, just edible, especially for his poor wife!
Ideas? Also, I was thinking of given him a manly kitchen apron to go with his cookbook, but if you've got other ideas, I would love to hear them.
Thank you!
re: wattacetti
HA! No, I'm not the poor wife. :)
re: wattacetti
re: wattacetti
I too was going to suggest "How to Cook Everything," but it might be a bit overwhelming, just by its size. What about one of Bittman's slimmer volumes, such as "The Minimalist Cooks Dinner"? I'm quite fond of a good half of the recipes in that one.
I would suggest any of the Junior League cookbooks --- I would think you could easily find them on eBay or Amazon. I would pick Junior League of Savannah or Atlanta or Charleston which has put out countless volumes over the years.
I suggest this because they are consistently tasty and not complicated recipes that almost anyone could follow. I started learning how to cook on those cookbooks many moons ago....
And a similar vein is the annual Southern Living cookbooks. Sure - there may be a few traditional Southern dishes in there, but across the board they are, like the Junior League editions, tasty and consistent. I can't imagine you would have difficulty finding any year online at eBay or Amazon. And, I would suspect that the more recent years have more widespread entree choices than say a 1978 volume which might be more Southern focused)
re: Tehama
But almost all of those are pretty dependent on cream of whatever.
This one popped into my head first-- "Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse Cookbook". It's got plenty of basics, but certainly would please his wife too.
Also, "Diner -- The Best of American Casual Cooking" by Diane Worthington. This has "blue plate special" kinds of dishes, as well as sides, breakfasts, desserts--if I am picturing this guy accurately I think he'd like this one too.
re: greygarious
Along the same lines as greygarious's suggestion I recommend the Fanny Farmer Cookbook, published in 1979. I have the 1981 edition. The recipes are very simply written, directions are v. easy to follow, and there are many helpful tips. This is the one cookbook I packed when we went to our rental house in Vermont because it was so useful.
Here's a link to one for sale on eBay:
re: greygarious
That's what I was going to say
The Barefoot Contessa Books popped into my head. Fairly simple stuff dressed up to seem a little more fancy than it is, and usually I've had success with the recipes.
Also agree with the Bittman book.
I think a cookbook might be too much for him at this point. Do you have the time to write down complete, simple instructions for making two or three of his favorite foods? It would be a most personal gift that is surely to be appreciated. Out of curiosity, I'm wonder if the poor wife going to be chaning the oil and doing basic repairs on their car?
I agree with those posters who recommended JOC or BHG. Another suggestion would be the Betty Crocker cookbook. I don't know what the newer editions are like, but the older BCs explain what basic cooking terms mean and show how to do the procedure. I think that's the type of book he'd benefit from--something that has glossaries, basic information on ingredients, etc. You want (IMHO) the type book that was given, when I was growing up, to the new bride who was just learning how to cook but who was going to be responsible for the family meals. Those types of books give the background a neophyte needs. Hence, JOC, BHG, BC or a wonderful book--I think out of print--if you can find a copy of it is The Doubleday Cookbook. And, all of these books include recipes that don't overwhelm with a too-long list of esoteric ingredients and they are simple enough for the cook who is starting out. And plenty of meat-and-potato type recipes in these books, too.
One more option--Fanny Farmer is still in print and updated and sounds like it would have the type recipes he'd enjoy.
re: Normandie
Betty Crocker is a great recommendation. It is a good resource for basics like spaghetti, meatloaf, tuna casserole, and even has a meat chapter describing different cuts of meat and the recipes to go along with them. Our copy was a gift to my mom from my American grandmother (copyright 1969...yikes!). My mom (Japanese) used this book to learn how to make meat and potato style food.
re: BigSal
I have my mother's copy, Sal. It's a 1950 edition and it's funny how accurate the information remains, even though so much about cooking and food has changed since then. As I said, though, I haven't looked at a newer edition, so I don't know how more recent issues compare.
When when I want a recipe, something basic or one of the mid-Century classics, I can *always* count on the BC Cookbook. Never fails and the recipes are broken down into easy steps, easy to follow.
re: Normandie
Wow, 1950. Mines a little beaten up, but still in one piece. How about yours? The fact that the recipes are still accurate serves as a great reminder that some of the basics are timeless.
re: BigSal
I haven't seen a new edition of the BC, and the one I had was an edition from the mid-to-late sixties that my mom owned; when I moved out and went to college, that was one of the three cookbooks Mom gave me from her modest collection. So I really did do my first cooking from that book. (Beef stroganoff was one of my "specialties," made me very popular w/the other college kids!)
I lost my duct-taped copy when my house flooded; what a sentimental loss that was although I hadn't cooked from it in at least 20 years. I don't know how BC would fare for a novice cook today, but I assume the recipes have been updated along w/the icon!
Dairy Queen,
Let me answer your questions in reverse order. As a guy who has been cooking since he was about 10, I've avoided two types of aprons: first, the "oh, isn't that macho?" apron with the double entendre or the phrase celebrating men as brutish or dumb; second, the frilly, unsubstantial, girl's apron, more suited to fashion than practicality. Instead, get him a denim shop apron, available, I would guess, at Ace Hardware or Home Depot. It is thick, substantial, and covers him from neck to knees. As an added bonus, it has no dippy saying imprinted on it!
Cookbookwise, I'd go for "The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook," "The Betty Crocker Cookbook," or "The Joy of Cooking." The first two cookbooks have pictures, which may make them a bit less intimidating. Bittman's book garners lots of praise on these boards and I wouldn't argue with that, but its size could be a bit intimidating to a newbie. I hope that this helps.
re: gfr1111
My brother loved cooking in an apron that had a tuxedo print on the front. Somehow it was the perfect blend of macho and "notice me" for the male ego.
The situation you describe is a bit odd in that the wife is an accomplished cook. Presumably they already own some of the cookbooks recommended here - and in any case, couldn't she show him the ropes? You write that he is cooking a couple of nights a week which sounds like she is in charge of the kitchen the other days.
-How to Cook Everything is a good one.
-America's Test Kitchen (the binder one or the Best recipe one)
-Cook with Jamie and Jamie at Home are pretty solid books and they'll be a little more exciting than the Better Home and Gardens books.
-The River Cottage Meat Book is great for any meat and potatoes kind of guy. I've made probably 10 recipes out of it and they are great. Beware, though, it has quite a few recipes using meats that aren't available here.
Believe it or not, I would recommend a Rachael Ray cookbook - one of the "Thirty Minute Meal" ones. I think there are several of them, so you can peruse them and see which one has recipes your friend and his wife may enjoy.
"Rach" works my nerves like a screaming toddler, but I liked her show in the early days and I think her approach that cooking need not be intimidating, complicated or time-consuming and her use of fresh ingredients combine for good starter lessons.
Tough Guys Don't Dice is a great cookbook for men: http://www.amazon.com/Tough-Guys-Dont...
But the other suggestions of Bittman's and Joy of Cooking are also great!
Considering you have said the husband is unadventurous and a novice, I would say Bittman's book and Joy of Cooking would be overwhelming, no matter how good they are. I think War and Peace is shorter than either one of those. If you are looking for a basic book with recipes he's actually going to make, then go hyper-commercial, such as one of those Campbell Soup recipe books or one of those bargain-bin four-ingredient cookbooks - with simple, store-bought ingredients and simple recipes. I know the stigmas those carry, but based on how you describe him, he's not going to read an in-depth cookbook anyway.
Yes, Bittman's book is big, but if he can get past that, it's a great beginner's book. It's also a book for today and today's cooking methods and eating styles without being faddish. It's practical, accessible, current but not trendy.
One of the Good Housekeeping books - the Illustrated Cookbook is especially suited because of the photos - would be good for this as well. Step-by-step instructions, photos, pretty basic American home cooking recipes. I gave a copy to a French friend who was returning to France but wanted to be able to cook American there and she loves it.
Hey everyone. Thanks for such terrific ideas. Now, I just have to pick one!
I think I'm leaning towards the Good Housekeeping Illustrated, but I'm going to go to the library and/or bookstore to check them out.
And gfr1111, your suggestion of a denim apron from Home Depot or Ace Hardware is perfect. The point of this is not to demean or humiliate him but make him feel a little more self-sufficient in the kitchen.
re: The Dairy Queen
I don't know how much you wanted to spend on this little gift of a culinary future, but you might also consider getting him his own chef's knife, just so he has a bit of his own territory staked out in the kitchen. Altogether might build a nice memory of his first cookbook, apron, and knife... Just him and his goodies tackling the abyss of gastronomic experimentation.
My cousin is just starting to cook on his own, and he told me that he gets overwhelmed when there more than 4 ingredients listed.... dinner becomes a frozen burrito or pizza. He'd checked out Bittman's 'How To Cook Everything' from the library but decided against buying a copy of his own because he thought it was too huge.
He likes The American Diner Cookbook, which had a lot of simple recipes for stuff like clam chowder, sloppy joes, omlets, etc. Not the healthiest stuff, but it may be a good place to start.
re: suby
You know, I love cookbooks and even I find Bittman's book almost overwhelming. :)
Funnily enough, I thought Rachel Ray's book would be perfect because her original concept --when she was on local television before her food network days--was basically taking 6 "basic" recipes and riffing off of them, so, everything is basically a variation on a pasta, a burger, a pizza, a chili, (I can't really remember what the other two master recipes were) etc. But, there are no pictures, and (don't laugh) a lot of the recipes have foreign-sounding names... So, I think I'm going to pass on that even though, otherwise, that book would be terrific.
Anyway, I'll check out the diner book, thank you!


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3 notes &
The Big V
I know what you've been thinking. "Gee, it's great that Jen is moving on, but I really wonder what's going on with her lady bits these days." Well, you're in luck! This is a vagina update!
This month my V got to meet two new friends. First, we met the Diva Cup, a menstrual cup that had been recommended to me by an IRL friend, and enthusiastically endorsed by many a Tweep. After a couple of fumble-y moments, I got the hang of inserting and removing the cup, and I was smitten. It's super comfortably, and since there's no string hanging out, it feels like I don't even have AF. I didn't have any leakage, thankfully. I'm also psyched that it's reusable, and I've eliminated another regular budget item. Score! I wish that more women knew about this option, so check it out if you've never learned about the Diva Cup! (My Gyn, in classic western doc fashion, was surprised that I liked it, and warned me not to forget about it. Got it!)
And, yesterday, we met Nuva Ring. My BCP hasn't really been working out - perhaps partially due to my inability to take the damn pill at the same time each day. Anyways, I want to be on birth control to reduce (eliminate!) my crazy PMS symptoms, and protect my ovaries from endo and cysts. But, I've been having pretty much the same symptoms even on the pill. My Gyn recommended trying the Ring, and I said "Why not!" Yesterday I stopped by her office to pick up some samples (free!) and when I peaked in the bag, I didn't see any instructions. Um, yeah. This thing is going in my vagina. A diagram might be nice? So, I ask the receptionist if there are instructions for the Ring. She asks a nurse and comes back and was like "I guess there's no instructions, but, you know, it's like a tampon (UH NO IT'S NOT), you just fold it in half and wiggle it up there." Me, "Yeah, I'll look on the website." Both of us: laugh uncomfortably. So, in an office full of medical professionals, the receptionist is demonstrating how to "wiggle it up there" while we're standing in the waiting room, in full view of all the preggos. Delightful! But, I got home, checked their website, found some diagrams, and, essentially, wiggled it up there. I had to remove and re-place it once, I think it was bumping my cervix a little too much. But, since then, it's felt like… well, I can't feel it at all. So far so good! DH and I have yet to give it a "test drive," but I'll keep you posted.
So, many adventures in vagina-land these days. I'm really hoping these two new-to-V items will help me feel a bit more "back to normal" with my body. Fingers, and labia, crossed! (Not really, ouch.)
NOTE: I am NOT endorsing either of these products. Just sharing my experiences with them. Ask your Gyn if you think these might be good options for you!


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Uncovering Europe's best budget hotels since 2001.
Home > Travel Blog > Other >
…the EuroCheapo blog will take a summer holiday of sorts. We'll be cutting back blog volume dramatically for the next few months. In the fall, we'll kick back into high gear with an expanded roster of correspondents. But don't fret. Even while we're "on holiday," we'll continue to serve up in-house commentary, tips, and analysis.
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text:
Randy Travis was downright DUMBFOUNDED when Texas police told the singer he was being arrested for public intoxication earlier this month ... telling cops, "Really? Are you kidding me?"
Dashcam footage, obtained by KCENTV.com, shows the country star talking slowly and slurring to police as he's questioned about why he was sitting in a parked car near a Baptist church in the middle of the night on Feb. 6.
In the footage, Travis is asked if he had been boozing ... to which he replies, "Yes, sir, I have. But I am not driving, as you can see." As TMZ previously reported, cops say Travis reeked of booze.
The officer asked Travis for ID, but the singer didn't have his driver's license on him at the time.
The officer continued, "Here's what's going to happen tonight ... You're going to go to jail for public intoxication."
Travis: "Really? Are you kidding me?"
Cop: "Maybe once we get to the jail, we can figure out who ... get some more information on you, who you are."
Travis: "Are you kidding me?"
The cop wasn't kidding ...
As TMZ previously reported, Travis was hauled to jail at around 1:30 AM ... and was booked, cited and released a short time later.
I told you so
Literally the blues, in black and white. Nailed it.
Awwwww, Randy!! Just when I was thinking you were an alright, up-standing Christain man, you screw up. Good thing God has a back-up plan, but that's between Him and you.
Guess Randy Travis shouldn't have stole Peggy Hill's song.
F--- the police!!!
He didn't do anything.
Arrested for being white.
See how that sounds black people. Cops are ****s no matter what you look like.
Now you can see the stupided cops around, some don't need to be cops, they should of just took him home, or had him call for a pickup, It just shows how stupid cops can be
Public intoxication when he was on private property? I will bet anyone any amount of money that the charges will be dropped.
TEXAS COPS STINK ! BOTHERING INNOCENT PEOPLE ! Sorry Randy...
Cops don't want you to sleep in your car after drinking, they want you to drive and make a DUI arrest.This happens all the time, people get in their cars with their keys and are still arrested for DUI,having no intention of going anywhere.Get in your car, put keys in glove box,this will show no attempt to drive.Use camera on your cell phone to take photo, this will give a time stamp. When you get to jail call a lawyer,show him the photo and go home.
Some people are real intelligent! He was not just sitting in a park car. He was a parked in a church in the middle of the night. Somewhere he should not have been and he was wasted. It dosent matter who you are if you do not have proof of identity then verification is needed. Either way he was in violation of the law and being a celebrity does not excuse that fact. Had he decided to start his home and continue home, once he figured out where that was, and killed some one you would be sitting here asking where the police were.
I think the officer should have asked the dispatcher to connect him to 1982 because CLEARLY Randy Travis is NOT slurring his words. For the love of PETE!!
ATTENTION ALL - this is sad, bothering this poor guy who is NOT driving and just sitting in his car....so sad that Texas Cops has NOTHING else better to do but bother innocent people sitting in there car meanwhile you have drug dealers, gangsters, killers, etc etc out there rasing havoc. TEXAS COPS STINK ! Sorry Randy.
Randy's sick a small amount of drink will make him act drunk ..... the cop thing simple ...I don't trust them at all ...and I have my own reasons ...I have never met but a few Honest cops
He hasn't bribed any officers look at his arrest record. The officer gave him a break yes. He could have easily been arrested for DUI but he was not driving nor does anyone know of he was going to drive. I think it would have been bull**** to arrest him or anyone else for sitting in his car drunk.


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Join us for a visit with two-time winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, Yuyi Morales! Yuyi's books include the Belpre winner Niño Wrestles the World (2013) and Just in Case (2008). Her illustrations are featured in many wonderful picture books including Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez (2003) and Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keefe Painted What She Pleased (2012)
Books will be available for purchase at event.


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Today's Citizen
Tories back down
The federal government will reverse plans to end party funding, Transport Minister...
Revisiting the horror of Halabja
Susan Mohammad, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Monday, October 22, 2007
On March 16, 1988, Iraqi planes dropped bombs on the Kurdish city of Halabja.
An estimated 5,000 people were killed on Bloody Friday. Some say they were the lucky ones. Nineteen years later, SUSAN MOHAMMAD revisits the horror with shell-shocked survivors of the forgotten city
HALABJA, Iraq -
Sarkhel Hama-Khan lost his father and his 13-year-old brother in the attack on Halabja. He doesn't know where they were buried.
Susan Mohammad
The Kurdish city of Halabja in northern Iraq may be one of the most haunted places on Earth.
If the mountains south of the city could speak, they would tell the story of March 16, 1988, the day Iraqi military planes dropped rounds of chemical bombs on the unsuspecting city. And if the earth covering the mass graves in the city's cluttered cemetery could, it would whisper the names of the 5,000 people killed that day.
Aras Abadakram lost 22 members of his family 19 years ago including seven sisters, three brothers and his parents. He is the sole survivor of his immediate family.
Now 40 and the father of three, he finds it hard to care about his own life. He wanted to attend Saddam Hussein's trial in Baghdad, but when the former Iraqi president was executed last Dec. 30, he had yet to face justice for his crimes against the Kurds.
Before the attack, the city of 80,000 was the cultural and artistic hub for the Kurds. But that's not why it was punished. The city was also the home of fierce protests against the Baathist regime in Baghdad and played a significant role in the Kurdish struggle for autonomy.
In the two decades since the attack, the people in Halabja have struggled to get help for conditions linked to the attack: blindness, respiratory problems, skin allergies, birth defects, cancer. The local hospital can't afford to treat the victims. To add to this grief, much of the housing in Halabja is dilapidated. Water and electricity are unreliable.
Abadakram is angry and he is not alone.
In March 2006, on the 18th anniversary of "Bloody Friday," about 7,000 protesters destroyed a memorial museum dedicated to the attack. Civilians had gathered for a remembrance ceremony, but lashed out when a government official tried to attend. When police tried to subdue the crowd, the museum was ravaged.
The people of Halabja are convinced they've been forgotten by the West, by Iraq, and even by their own regional government. For this reason - so that people will remember - Abadakram agrees to retell the horror of March 16, 1988.
Abadakram was at home that morning with his family when he learned that Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) had been taken to a hospital near his home with injuries from a battle against the Iraqi military. He and 70 others gathered at the hospital to show their support.
At about 10:45 a.m., history took a deranged turn.
Bombs hit the city in stages orchestrated to maximize fatalities. Before dropping chemicals, military bombers released small pieces of paper to measure wind direction and speed.
Cluster bombs dropped in heavily concentrated areas. It was "one after the other," Abadakram says. Shrapnel shot in all directions. Women, men and children started to drop on each other, dying.
"You couldn't move to another place. When they started shelling, it was just a massacre," he said in Kurdish through an English translator. "I thought that's it, I'm dead."
He froze.
Abadakram was one of two people left standing on the narrow street after the first attack. Shrapnel tore into his head, back and hips and soon he passed out. He was dragged to an underground shelter by a man he knows only by first name.
The next wave of attacks released napalm bombs used to shatter windows and frighten everyone to hide underground in their basement bunkers built during the Iran-Iraq War. The booming intensified. When Abadakram regained consciousness, he found himself crammed with 100 others into a three-by-six metre shelter. They were so scared, he said, they would have made room for 100 more.
Bleeding and bobbing in and out of awareness, Abadakram was surprised when his mother and one of his sisters stumbled into the shelter. Certain he was dead, they were searching for his body in the street. His mother cried and held him in a tight embrace that hurt his wound. He was sure he would die.
"We were all crying. They wanted to take me out of the city, but I said I was too weak." At his urging, his mother and sister left him behind. "I knew I would never see them again. We spoke with our eyes. There was a lump of sorrow in my throat."
Soon after the crowd in the bunker noticed a stench. One man headed up to investigate only to roll back down the staircase. He was vomiting and muttering. He told them all to pray because they were about to die.
"I knew it was chemical," says Abadakram. "It was very bad news for us."
Half of those in the bunker fled in a screaming panic. If they were going to die, they would do so in their own homes.
The next and most deadly phase of the attack released mustard gas and nerve agents. Sarin, tabun and possibly cyanide seeped into bunkers all over the city. The smell of rotten apples, garlic and gas filled the bunker and people choked in the steambath-like heat.
Abadakram's eyes started to tear. His chest tightened and he struggled to breathe. He wanted desperately to go outside. But to flee would almost certainly mean death.
For the next seven hours he sat with the others, bobbing in and out of consciousness. The bombing was constant. Just when they thought it was over, a plane would roar and their nerves would explode. At times Abadakram covered his ears.
Around 8 p.m., the shelling started to die off. The group in the bunker sat stonefaced and confused, wondering what to do. After about an hour of eerie silence, two men helped Abadakram out of the shelter. They weren't sure the shelling was over, but decided to take their chances. Eyes burning, they hobbled toward to the border of Iran, about 25 kilometres away.
It was a surreal journey. One moment people stood calling out for family, the next they'd collapsed. Children tugged at bodies. Hallucinating from the chemicals, men and women trampled each other, stomping on children as they fled.
Abadakram remembers little of the 30 hours it took for him to reach a hospital in Tehran. He wondered if his parents and siblings had escaped. As soon as his strength returned, he left hospital to search. Though wounded, he had survived. But his worst suffering was yet to come.
"I went back, but to what city? It was a disaster. People were dead all over. Their eyes were popped out and they were bloated. Their skin was black. The city smelled."
Making his way through the ghost town, he passed blistered and charred bodies slumped in vehicles and piled up in the street. In some cases, the dead had fallen with babies still shielded in their arms.
At his family's home, the sight of their untouched dinner threw him into hysterics. "I started calling. Yelling, 'Father! Mother!'"
Abadakram's brown eyes water, his brow wrinkles. To collect himself, he starts to doodle on his blue Unicef folder.
He went to his uncle's home nearby. Afraid to go in, he stopped at the gate, then retreated. On his third visit, he found the strength to enter and found his family lying on the floor. In shock, he returned home, rejecting what he'd seen.
The next day he returned to his uncle's house. It was now several days after the attack and Peshmerga forces were loading decomposing bodies onto trucks. Abadakram explained that his family was among the dead. He persuaded the soldiers to lower the truck's massive shovel.
"I saw my brother and my mother's clothes, but it didn't look like their faces. My mother was pregnant. She was due any day."
Abadakram collapsed.
It wasn't until April 16 - a month to the day after the attack - that he returned to his senses in a Tehran hospital. He has no memory of his hospital stay. Out of his mind with pain, he was given morphine. Eventually, one of his uncles appeared to take him home.
Adadakram lost 22 relatives that day, as the rough tattoo on his left arm indicates - parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and aunts.
It's been 19 years since the attack that has become an unmanageable scar for the Kurdish people. Time - and the cool indifference of western governments who largely ignored the attack by favouring Saddam over the government in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War - only hardened the wounds.
Sarkhel Hama-Khan lost his father and his 13-year-old brother in the attack. He doesn't know where they were buried. Now the 27-year-old is the director of what's left of the museum destroyed in the 2006 protest. When the monument was burned, he says, it was as if protesters set fire to the graves of his kin.
"It was nice before," said Hama-Khan while walking past a pile of the napalm shells that Saddam's forces left behind. He points to his father's name among the smashed name-panels. After the attack, Hama-Khan spent three years living with 3,000 other refugees in the Juanrose refuge camp - one of eight camps set up in the Kurdish area of Iran after the attack.
"We had no time to think about what happened. Some people were in shock and crying, but we had to collect the necessities to live."
Dr. Sardan Ameen is the director of the Halabja Hospital where close to 100,000 patients are treated each year. He says the hospital can't afford to help the thousands still suffering from the effects of the attack. "If you see some of these people you would really cry. None of them want money, they just want treatment."
He says the city needs a centre that specializes in the after-effects of chemical weapons. The regional government recently donated $1 million to help, but nothing has come from foreign governments, or even from the central government in Iraq, he said.
Although the regional government is rebuilding some of the bombed-out homes in Halabja, and roads are being paved, survivors say they've been neglected and have given up hope of receiving the help they need.
To measure the true scope of the unholy mess in Halabja, one need only visit the city cemetery and see the headstones dedicated to every family affected. The headstones are symbolic, of course. Most people don't know where their loved ones lie. In the scramble to round up decomposed bodies, hundreds of people were buried here and elsewhere in mass graves.
There is no question Halabja is haunted. But it's to the surviving souls that you should direct your pity, not the dead who rest in peace.


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|Program Code
|Program Title
|Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program
|Department Name
|Department of Veterans Affairs
|Agency/Bureau Name
|Department of Veterans Affairs
|Program Type(s)
Direct Federal Program
|Assessment Year
|Assessment Rating
|Assessment Section Scores
|Program Funding Level
(in millions)
|Year Began
|Improvement Plan
Collect data on both established and newly developed measures to evaluate performance and using these results to improve program performance.
|Action taken, but not completed
|VR&E is continuing to collect data on established measures and is working with the Department of Labor to develop a method of collecting/verifying income from one national source rather than from each state. This is an ongoing effort. VR&E anticipates receiving data beginning in December 2008.
Work with the Department of Labor and Department of Defense to assess results of collaboration and using these results to enhance future efforts to coordinate services for veterans with disabilities
|Action taken, but not completed
|The VR&E-Department of Labor/Veterans Employment and Training Service (DOL/VETS) Joint Work Group (JWG) drafted a long-range implementation plan, with both short and long-term goals and initiated a pilot plan to improve program performance. The pilot was implemented at eight locations in February 2008. Upon review of results, a determination will be made on whether to roll-out the program nationwide by December 2008.
Cooperate with General Accounting Office (GAO) on an evaluation of the program to assess the effectiveness of recent program changes, including the implementation of the Five Tracks to Employment model.
|Action taken, but not completed
|VR&E Service cooperated with GAO on an evaluation of the effectiveness of the recent changes to the VR&E program to include implementation of the Five Tracks to Employment Model. GAO released a final report on this study (GAO-07-1020). In January 2008, VR&E SERVICE implemented a procedure to capture data on usage of resource labs and employment coordinator monthly activities. The first consolidated review will be completed in July, 2008.
|Year Began
|Improvement Plan
Measure: Rehabilitation Rate
Explanation:Percent of disabled veterans exiting the program with a successful outcome ("rehabilitated" versus "discontinued").(Strategic Goal = 80%).
Measure: Serious Employment Handicap Rehabilitation Rate
Explanation:Percent of disabled veterans with a Serious Employment Handicap exiting the program with a successful outcome ("rehabilitated" versus "discontinued"). (Strategic goal = 81%).
Measure: Percent of participants employed first quarter after program exit.
Explanation:Percent of program participants entering "Job Ready Status" who were suitably employed within 90 days of assignment to that status. (Job Ready Status is reached when no further program services are needed to become employable).(Strategic Goal = 80%).
Measure: Percent of participants still employed three quarters after program exit.
Explanation:Percent of those program participants who were suitably employed within 90 days of entering Job Ready Status who are still suitably employed 270 days after entering Job Ready Status. (Strategic Goal = 85%).
Measure: Speed of Entitlement Decisions.
Explanation:Average number of days elapsed from receipt of application for services until the decision on entitlement to services is made. (Strategic Goal = 40 days).
Measure: Accuracy of Entitlement Decisions.
Explanation:Percent of cases undergoing quality review in which the decision to find disabled veterans entitled to services or to deny them services was correct based on legal and regulatory definition. (Strategic Goal = 99%).
Measure: Accuracy of Evaluation/Planning and Rehabilitation Services.
Explanation:Percent of those cases undergoing quality review in which services were provided to program participants in an accurate and timely manner. (Strategic Goal = 96%).
Measure: Accuracy of Vocational Rehabilitation Program Completion Decisions.
Explanation:Percent of cases undergoing quality review in which the program outcome decision (i.e., assignment to rehabilitated or discontinued status) was correct. (Strategic Goal = 99%).
Measure: Average cost of placing participant in employment.
Explanation:Total number of program participants in a fiscal year divided by the total program appropriation for that fiscal year. (Strategic Goal = $6,500).
Measure: Customer Satisfaction (Survey)
Explanation:Percent of respondents to Customer Satisfaction Survey who indicated satisfaction with VR&E services. (Strategic Goal = 92%).
Measure: Percent change in earnings from pre-application to post-program.
Explanation:Percent change in average earnings from pre-application to post-program of participants who obtain suitable employment following program completion. (Strategic Goal = TBD).
|Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design
Is the program purpose clear?
Explanation: The mission of the Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Program (VR&E), as defined in law, is to provide the services and assistance necessary to enable veterans with service-connected disabilities to achieve maximum independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, become employable and obtain and maintain suitable employment.
Evidence: The VR&E purpose is defined in 38 U.S.C. 3100, 3104, 3109 and 3120; and also articulated in the VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary dated March 2004. 2006-2011 VA Strategic Plan.
Does the program address a specific and existing problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: The VR&E program addresses the unique and specific needs of veterans with service-connected disabilities in order to help them transition to civilian life, overcome the effects of disabilities, become employable, obtain and maintain suitable employment, and maximize their independence in daily living. Existing need for VR&E services is reflected in the increasing number of applications received annually, as well as the number of rehabilitation plans developed by VR&E, and the number of participants enrolled in the program; these numbers have increased by 22%, 16%, and 12%, respectively. Additionally, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) underscore the ongoing need for VR&E services. Data from the Department of Defense indicates that on an annual basis about 25,000 active duty service members are determined "not fit for duty" due to medical conditions that may qualify them for a VA disability rating and VR&E services. The Army Reserve and Army National Guard have also indicated that about 29,000 of their members have been placed in a medical hold or medical extension status since 2003. These servicemembers, as well as Reserve and National Guard components of other military branches, may also qualify for VR&E services.
Evidence: 38 U.S.C. 3100; VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary dated March 2004; VBA Letter s20-03-36; and 20-05-14; DOD PEB database; MODS database; VA 2006 Congressional Justification; FY 2003 Annual Benefits Report; COIN TAR 1991 - 2005
Is the program designed so that it is not redundant or duplicative of any other Federal, state, local or private effort?
Explanation: Multiple alternative programs exist to address vocational rehabilitation and employment issues for veterans. The Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) provides grants to state vocational rehabilitation agencies across the country. In Fiscal Year 2004, RSA provided services to 29,135 veterans. Additionally, the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) provides services that target the same beneficiaries as VR&E, and the Small Business Administration and Office of Personnel Management administer programs designed to promote employment opportunities for veterans. Taken as a whole, there exists significant overlap between VR&E and other federal and state programs.
Evidence: 38 U.S.C. 3100; VA's 2006 Budget, p. 5A-5; VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary dated March 2004, p. 28; 2003-2008 Strategic Plan, p. 26-27; FY 2004 Annual Performance and Accountability Report, p. 65-66; RSA Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program: Implications for Practice; RSA website (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/rsa/index.html?src=mr); Code of Federal Regulations 21.40 through 21.59.
Is the program design free of major flaws that would limit the program's effectiveness or efficiency?
Explanation: In FY 2003 an independent task force, known as the VR&E Task Force, was chartered to review VR&E services and make recommendations for improvement of the program. The only major design flaw that the task force identified was a need to change the established service delivery model which had directed program resources more toward re-training and education than to the major program purpose of rehabilitation through suitable employment.. To address this issue, the Task Force recommended a new "Five Tracks to Employment" process (the 5-Track process) which would increase the program's focus on employment. VR&E piloted the 5-Track process at four regional offices in FY 2005 and reported very positive impact on important performance measures, including: a reduction in the client's Days in Evaluation and Planning from 98 to 89 days; a reduction in Days to Entitlement Notification from 51 to 47 days; and an increase in the Rehabilitation Planning Rate from 71% to 76%. The Task Force report has prompted VR&E to make the changes necessary to improve program design and operation, including the implementation of the 5-Track process in FY 2006. Additionally, there is no evidence that a different approach or mechanism would be more effective or efficient than VR&E's current processes.
Evidence: VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary dated March 2004; Task Force Recommendations Matrix; IL Circular; Guidelines on Evaluation and Planning, Self-Employment, Re-Employment, Rapid Access to Employment; Job Lab Operators Guide; Veterans and VR&E Working Together Standardized Orientation Video; VR&E Five-Tracks to Employment Pilot Project Results; VR&E Service: 5 Tracks to Employment Model; Concept Paper on National Acquisition Strategy; MOU with DOL/VETS; Congressional Testimony of Director, VR&E 3/9/06
Is the program design effectively targeted so that resources will address the program's purpose directly and will reach intended beneficiaries?
Explanation: The legal design of the program focuses resource allocation according to basic eligibility and entitlement standards and provides assurance that intended beneficiaries are reached. Specifically, applications are automatically provided to only those veterans who receive a service-connected disability rating from the VA Disability Compensation program. VR&E conducts outreach to the most seriously disabled veterans to further focus resources on this specific population. Additionally, program procedures require that once an application is received, each veteran meets with a counselor to complete an initial evaluation and entitlement determination. This one-on-one evaluation with a trained professional further ensures that program resources are tailored to the beneficiary. In addition, VR&E employs multiple performance measures to guide and promote accountability in accurate decision-making and program management (e.g., Entitlement Determination Accuracy - rated as 97% accurate in 2005). Once the need for program services and the level of severity are established, a veteran is assigned to one of the five tracks in the 5-Track process. Each track represents a specific focus of services appropriate to the identified vocational rehabilitation needs of the veteran and delivers sufficient resources to achieve the vocational rehabilitation goals outlined in the veteran's individualized plan. Only the most seriously disabled veterans, those with a Serious Employment Handicap designation, are entitled to special rehabilitation services and an extended period of service delivery.
Evidence: VR&E manual M28, Part I, Chapter 3 (Motivation and Outreach); VR&E Monthly Operating Report (MOR); Booz Allen Hamilton study dated March 2002 (Review of Quality Instrument System Design and Quality Assurance Program Enhancements and Process); 38 U.S.C. 3102; 38 U.S.C. 3103; FY 2004 and FY 2005 Annual Performance and Accountability Report, p. 65-66; VBA Purchase Card Handbook 4080; Management Quality Assurance Service (MQAS) Report on Field Station Purchase Card Transactions.
|Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design
|Section 2 - Strategic Planning
Does the program have a limited number of specific long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?
Explanation: The program has four long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program. The first two??Rehabilitation Rate (RR) and Serious Employment Handicap Rehabilitation Rate (SEH RR)??have been in use for several years and have sufficient baseline data. Two new measures will begin reporting in 2007??Percent of Participants Employed First Quarter After Program Exit (PPE1Q) and Percent of Participants Still Employed Three Quarters After Program Exit (PPE3Q). These measures track the percentage of participants who are suitably employed within one quarter and who are still employed three quarters, respectively, after being declared "Job Ready" by a VR&E case manager. Job Ready status is reached when the veteran has been provided all of the services necessary to become employable or needs no further services to be employable. The program's focus on suitable employment ensures that job duties match the veteran's interests, aptitudes and abilities, and does not aggravate their disability/disabilities. This standard is much higher than mere employment and reflects VR&E's greater emphasis on well-paying career solutions.
Evidence: VA's 2006 Budget, p. 5A-13; VA's 2006-2011 Strategic Plan in development, Objective 1.3; Title 38, U.S.C. 3100; `VR&E Intranet Reports; Monthly Operating Report (MOR).
Does the program have ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term measures?
Explanation: VR&E sets ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term outcome measures of Rehabilitation Rate (RR) and Serious Employment Handicap Rehabilitation Rate (SEH RR) and has several years of clear baseline data to measure changes in performance. These measures directly relate to the program's purpose of enabling service-connected disabled veterans, especially those with serious employment handicaps, to maximize independence in daily living, to become employable, and to obtain and maintain suitable employment. During the five-year period FY 2000 to FY 2005, VR&E's Rehabilitation Rate averaged 62.5% and its SEH Rehabilitation Rate averaged 62%. VR&E proposes to improve the RR and SEH RR measures in FY 2006 to 69% and 65%, respectively, and 73% and 74% in FY 2007. Strategic targets are aggressive but achievable at 80% and 81% for RR and SEH RR, respectively. To place these improvements in perspective, state vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs administered by the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration consistently averaged a lower rehabilitation rate of 61.5% for the 13-year period 1991 to 2004. VR&E's ability to match or to exceed the performance of state VR agencies is especially notable given the more stringent criteria used by VR&E for defining rehabilitation as obtaining and maintaining "suitable employment," in contrast to state VR agencies, which set their goals as "achieving an employment outcome" or "obtaining competitive employment." In 2007, baselines will be established for VR&E's two new measures??Percent of Participants Employed First Quarter After Program Exit (PPE1Q) and Percent of Participants Still Employed Three Quarters After Program Exit (PPE3Q).
Evidence: RSA 911 Data Tapes at www.statedata.info/download/download_1.php ; RSA's Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program: Implications for Practice; VA's 2005 Budget Submission, p. 5-15, VA's 2006 Budget, p. 5A-13; VA's 2007 Budget Submission, p. 5E-6, Regional Office Director's National Performance Standards; VR&E Officer's National Performance Standards; Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor's / Counseling Psychologist's National Performance Standards.
Does the program have a limited number of specific annual performance measures that can demonstrate progress toward achieving the program's long-term goals?
Explanation: The program has annual performance measures that track progress toward desired long-term program outcomes. Measures are designed to be sub-components of the long-term measures and to support their attainment. For example, Speed of Entitlement Decisions measures how quickly disabled veterans are evaluated and informed of their entitlement to VR&E services. The more quickly they receive entitlement decisions, the more quickly those disabled veterans who are entitled may receive rehabilitation services, and ultimately enter the work force. As a result, this measure supports the long-term Rehabilitation Rate and Serious Employment Handicap Rehabilitation Rate. Similarly, the Accuracy of Entitlement Determinations ensures that the appropriate population of veterans is identified and that resources are focused only on the eligible group of beneficiaries. The measure allows VR&E to track and assess how accurately and efficiently the program manages the entitlement determination process and improves the long-term RR and SEH RR through data feedback and adjustment. On a monthly basis a number of other annual measures are updated, including: Accuracy of Evaluation/Planning Rehab Services; Rehabilitation Planning Rate; and Accuracy of Vocational Rehabilitation Program Completion Decisions. These measures are collected and reviewed by VR&E centrally, as well as by VR&E Officers at each Regional Office, enabling program staff to track progress and make adjustments to improve the long-term Rehabilitation Rate and SEH Rehabilitation Rate.
Evidence: VA 2006 Congressional Justification; Monthly Operating Report (MOR); VR&E Intranet Reports; Case Management Index.
Does the program have baselines and ambitious targets for its annual measures?
Explanation: VR&E has baselines and ambitious annual and strategic targets for its annual measures. For all measures, data has been collected for multiple years, baselines have been established, and the ambitiousness of annual/strategic targets can be judged. For Speed of Entitlement Decisions, FY 2004 actual was 57 days, the FY 2007 target is 53 days, and the strategic target is 40 days. For Rehab Planning Rate, FY 2003 actual was 74%, FY 2007 target is 81%, and the strategic target is 85%. Historically, about 75% of applicants found entitled to VR&E services sign rehabilitation plans with the program, while the remainder decline services and rely on other VA benefits. Increasing the target for this measure by 5% in 2007, and 10% in the long-term, is ambitious given the alternatives available to veterans. For Customer Satisfaction, FY 2002 actual was 77%, FY 2007 target is 82%, and the strategic target is 92%. Surveys have indicated that individuals dislike being denied services and that some individuals have chosen program services for either "further education" or "career counseling" rather than for the express purpose of the program??to achieve suitable employment. Therefore, given the legislative mandates governing entitlement decisions and the increased focus on employment versus education, the increases in annual targets for customer satisfaction are ambitious. The Average Cost of Placing a Participant in Employment will establish official baselines in 2006. For Accuracy of Entitlement Decisions, Accuracy of Vocational Rehabilitation Program Completion Decisions, and Accuracy of Evaluation/Planning Rehab Services, the actual measures reported have steadily increased and are presently at/over 90%. In each of these areas, VR&E is striving for a strategic target approaching 100%.
Evidence: VA's 2006 Budget, p. 5A-13; Monthly Operating Report (MOR); Regional Office Director's National Performance Standards; VR&E Officer's National Performance Standards; Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor's / Counseling Psychologist's National Performance Standards; Case Management Index.
Do all partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?
Explanation: VR&E primary partners are the Department of Labor's VETS program and the various contractors employed at VA's regional offices. Regardless of public or private status, all partners commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program. VR&E and DOL VETS have established a Memorandum of Understanding which outlines data sharing between the two departments, as well as specific responsibilities supporting VR&E's annual and long-term performance goals. VR&E contractors sign performance-based contracts (developed under the program's National Acquisition Strategy) and these documents are designed to reinforce the performance goals of the program. Performance measures are tracked through data provided by contractors to VR&E and include: Rehabilitation Rate, SEH Rehabilitation Rate, Accuracy of Program Completion Decisions, Days to Entitlement Notification, Average Days in Evaluation & Planning Status, and Percentage of Cases in Interrupted Status.
Evidence: Quality Assurance Review Intranet Reports; VACOR Charter; Concept Paper on National Acquisition Strategy; MOU with DOL/VETS; VA Regional Office Directors National Performance Standards
Are independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality conducted on a regular basis or as needed to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness and relevance to the problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: Independent evaluations have been conducted on the VR&E program by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), VA's Inspector General (IG), and public accounting/consulting firms. Evaluations have included numerous studies on program management and quality assurance, most expansively, the VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Task Force Report which was issued in 2004. This comprehensive report looked at all aspects of the VR&E program, including eligibility determination, evaluation and planning services, program outcomes, staffing and organization, and account maintenance. VR&E Service has re-organized management and staffing as recommended by the Task Force to reflect a greater emphasis on program outcomes such as employment and independent living rather than on the process of providing education or training. VR&E policy circulars and guidance letters have been developed to address standards of performance and areas of needed improvement, and are available to all staff electronically at the VR&E Intranet site. Training of at least two VR&E staff per station to receive contracting officer warrants has been completed. The M28 manual which provides operational guidance under the laws and regulations governing VR&E and reflects updated policy and procedure is being re-written and published electronically. A longitudinal Program Outcome Study completed by an independent contractor recently demonstrated that veterans who had exited VR&E services and had obtained employment had increased earnings compared with earnings prior to completing VR&E. A Veterans Research and Employability Survey is also underway and projected to be completed this fiscal year. GAO and IG evaluate aspects of the VR&E program periodically, and VBA schedules an evaluation of each business line approximately every 5 or 6 years. The independent accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche also performs an annual audit of each VBA business line's accounting practices.
Evidence: VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary; Booz Allen Hamilton Study; SRA International - Proof of Concept Knowledge Discovery; Program Outcome Study; IG Report: "Evaluation of Veterans Benefits Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Contracts"; GAO Report: "VA Disability Benefits and Health Care Providing Certain Services to the Seriously Injured Poses Challenges"; GAO Report: "Veterans Affairs - Status of Achieving Key Outcomes and Addressing Major Management Challenges"; GAO Report: "VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program - GAO Comments on Key Task Force Findings and Recommendations".
Are Budget requests explicitly tied to accomplishment of the annual and long-term performance goals, and are the resource needs presented in a complete and transparent manner in the program's budget?
Explanation: VR&E Service reports direct and indirect costs in its annual budget submissions. The program's budget is not directly tied to accomplishments or annual and long-term performance goals/measures.
Evidence: VA's 2006 budget pages 5A13 to 5A20; FY 2004 and FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Report. Pages 65-66 and 158 in the '04 report; 88-90 and 194 in the '05 report
Has the program taken meaningful steps to correct its strategic planning deficiencies?
Explanation: The VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Task Force Report, which was issued in 2004, made 100 specific recommendations for improving areas of deficiency in program management. VR&E has implemented 72 of the recommendations from the Task Force report and continues to focus on completing the remaining issues. Regarding major areas of improvement, the following steps have been taken to correct deficiencies in strategic planning by VR&E: the 5-Tracks to Employment process has been designed to improve the program's focus on outcomes and is now in effect following a successful pilot program; VR&E has also re-organized management and staffing as recommended by the Task Force to reflect a greater emphasis on program outcomes; additionally, the use of performance data by leadership has been reinforced at central, regional, and local offices to determine strategic direction and to take corrective action on an on-going basis. In addition, VR&E has also reassessed its relationships with contractors and has negotiated significant cost reductions, as well as mandating training for key personnel involved with contractor selection and management. The cumulative impact of these changes has had significant impact on correcting strategic planning deficiencies at VR&E. In addition, while the program does not currently link budget requests with performance goals, the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a methodology for estimating the marginal costs of changing performance targets. This methodology will be applied to a subset of measures and included in the Department's FY 2008 submission to OMB.
Evidence: VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary; Task Force Recommendations Planning Matrix; VA 2003-2008 Strategic Plan; VBA's Workforce and Succession Plan, March 2003; Systematic Analysis of Operations(M28-3, Part I, Chapter 2, Change 6) ; Reassignment of ES to EC guidance and position description; Performance Standards for RO Directors; VR&E Officer's National Performance Standards; Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor's / Counseling Psychologist's National Performance Standards: Monthly Operating Report (MOR); VR&E Intranet Reports; VR&E Letter 28-05-01; Circular 28-05-01, VR&E Guidelines for the Administration of the Independent Living Program; VR&E Letter 28-05-03, VR&E Guidelines for Evaluation and Planning, Self-Employment, Re-Employment, Rapid Access to Employment; Revised Checklist to Include Utilization of MRG Codes; VR&E Letter 28-04-06, Case Management Index and Scoring; Case Management Index; 5 Tracks to Employment Model; Job Lab Operators Guide; Concept Paper on National Acquisition Strategy.
|Section 2 - Strategic Planning
|Section 3 - Program Management
Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?
Explanation: VR&E employs various management reporting systems and vehicles to collect performance information which is used to manage the program and to improve its performance. For instance, Corporate WINRS (CWINRS) and the Benefits Delivery Network (BDN) track program data using long-term outcome and annual performance targets as the critical element, including veterans' movement through the case status system and their exit from the program. Importantly, the reliability (consistency within the database) and performance (availability of the system to users in the field and at Central Office) of the CWINRS database is 93 and 99 percent, respectively. In addition, VBA's Office of Performance Analysis and Integrity also publishes the raw data (all data elements on all records) in the Monthly Operations Report (MOR), which is available each month to all VR&E regional office employees. In turn, the Central Office and field staff closely monitor this data to adjust priorities and to achieve optimum performance with available resources. Field offices also sort raw data by case manager and adjust workloads or provide training and direction to staff as is needed. Currently, the program uses a Case Management Index (CMI) to measure twelve performance indicators which provides the collection of baseline performance data. CMI captures the raw data that reflect progress toward meeting the program's annual and long-term performance measures. VR&E has collected baseline performance data on these measures; examples include Rehabilitation Rate, SEH Rehabilitation Rate, and Accuracy of Vocational Rehabilitation Completion Decisions, which have been tracked since 1996, 2001, and 2002, respectively. Moreover, each VR&E office conducts a Systematic Analysis of Operations (SAO) annually or more often as required; from the information derived during the SAO, corrective action plans are developed as necessary to improve performance deficiencies. VR&E also collects high-quality performance data from its key program partners and considers their performance when evaluating the program's progress. For instance, through a Memorandum of Understanding, the Department of Labor currently shares data with VR&E on four measures regarding the program's participants. This data is subsequently used to identify areas of needed improvement in the referral and case management processes between agencies.
Evidence: PA&I Monthly Reports (Monthly Operating Report, Case Management Index); VR&E Intranet Reports. Performance Standards for RO Directors, VR&E Officers, and VRC/CPs; Monthly Performance Reviews; MOU VR&E and DOL/VETS; DOD PEB database; MODS database; Systematic Analysis of Operations.
Are Federal managers and program partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?
Explanation: VR&E identifies Regional Office Directors as being responsible for achieving key program results. They are held accountable for meeting the goals of the program as evidenced by the six program performance measures incorporated into the national standards used in their performance appraisals. Additionally, VR&E officers are held accountable for program performance on ten of the performance measures as published in the VR&E Officer's National Performance Standards. The program's contractors are also held responsible and measured for the quality of their work performed by standards set in the National Acquisition Strategy (NAS) which was used to award performance-based contracts to achieve the statement of work within the specified costs. Furthermore, the VR&E Case Manager monitors the quality and timeliness of contractors' work through direct review of each case assigned. Work performed by contractors must be reviewed by a VA case manager and be approved prior to certification for payment of invoices by a VA manager. Regarding contract management, VR&E has addressed four of the six recommendations from the 2005 OIG Report regarding contract administration. One recommendation has been partially addressed??price reductions have been negotiated with contracts??however; VR&E felt that service to veterans would be disrupted if the next option year of the NAS contract were not exercised. The final recommendation regarding internal controls of payment procedures is being addressed by VBA's Finance/Support Services Divisions and VA Office of Resource Management.
Evidence: VR&E Officers National Performance Standards; Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor / Counseling Psychologist's National Performance Standards; Regional Office Directors National Performance Standards; Concept Paper on National Acquisition Strategy (NAS) Performance Based Contracts.
Are funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner, spent for the intended purpose and accurately reported?
Explanation: Funds for the program are spent on their intended purposes. VR&E does not have excessive unobligated balances, has no Anti-Deficiency Act violations, and a minimal percentage of erroneous payments. VR&E staff is responsible for following established policy and procedure including data entry, as required to support purchases, providing justification and documentation, and tracking data to ensure levels of authorization and funding are not exceeded. No monetary obligations exist between VA's VR&E program and DOL's VETS program, therefore there is no schedule for obligation of funds. For contracted services, VR&E Officers obligate funds as the need for particular services are identified and contracts are executed. The Office of Resource Management (ORM) independently validates VR&E activity. ORM conducts monthly reviews of obligations and expenditures then compares them to VR&E's annual operating plan. Variances against planned obligations are analyzed and corrective actions are taken where and when necessary.
Evidence: Monthly Performance Review (March 2006); SF 133 (Statement of Budget Execution).
Does the program have procedures (e.g. competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements, appropriate incentives) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?
Explanation: VR&E defines a program matrix for every project proposed or undertaken including a cost/benefit analysis of expected gains, and subsequently measures actual results against the matrix. For proposed IT improvements, the process is: a) Submit request with costs/schedule and cost/benefit analysis b) Approval by VBA IT Investment Board c) Approval by VBA Senior Management d) Approval by VA Enterprise Investment Board e) Funding Approval (OMB Exhibit 300 process). For proposed non-IT improvements: the process is: a) Submit request with costs/schedule and cost/benefit analysis b) Approval by VBA Senior Management c) Funding Approval. The program has efficiency measures in place to help identify areas of needed improvement or to target re-allocation of resources. Overall program efficiency is measured by the Average Cost of Placing Participant in Employment. In addition, through its Speed of Entitlement Decisions and Accuracy of Entitlement Determinations measures, VR&E assesses the efficiency of its claims processing activities and pinpoints areas where improvement opportunities exist. Moreover, to ensure that participants receive services that help them move through the program and reach their desired outcome, VR&E also measures Percent of Cases in Interrupted Status and Accuracy of Vocational Rehabilitation Program Completion Decisions.
Evidence: IT Initiatives (CWINRS) in VA's Budget; Exhibit 300's in VA's Budget; Monthly Performance Review (MPR), February 2005.
Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs?
Explanation: VR&E has updated Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Labor (DOL), Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, and Rehabilitation Services Administration. These MOUs are designed to improve coordination and collaboration with these agencies in providing services to disabled veterans and servicemembers. For example, VR&E and DOL's Veterans' Employment & Training Service (VETS) program are sharing data which will help to track job placement services that are provided to veterans and to document employment outcomes. In addition, Joint Workgroups between VR&E and DOL have met and established timelines to develop performance measures to further assess partnership program results, to develop procedures for joint data collection, analysis and reporting, and to design curriculum for staff training. This initiative will result in increased effectiveness of services provided by both agencies to the disabled veteran population whom they serve. Also, VR&E and Department of Defense (DOD) have collaborated to develop and to employ a standardized presentation during Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) outbriefings. Each DTAP site has a point of contact assigned from each agency to coordinate services to transitioning servicemembers.
Evidence: Interim Issue 28-89-1; M28-1, Part I, Appendix 2G, Change 13 (Memorandum of Agreement with VFW). MOU VR&E and DOL/VETS.
Does the program use strong financial management practices?
Explanation: The program is free of any material internal control weaknesses in this area. VR&E has procedures in place to ensure that expenditures and payments are made properly and for the intended purpose. VR&E coordinates with the VA Education Program to terminate benefits payments under one program when a veteran elects payments under another program.
Evidence: FY 2004 and FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Reports.
Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?
Explanation: The VR&E Task Force made 100 recommendations for improving areas of deficiency; the program has implemented 72 of these. VR&E continues its focus on completing the remaining 28 recommendations of the Task Force; however, these remaining items either require additional resources which are not currently available, or are issues that must be addressed through a longer-term approach. Regarding the major areas needing improvement, the program has taken various steps to correct these management deficiencies. For example, the "Five Tracks to Employment Process" (a primary recommendation from the Task Force), which was designed to improve the program's focus on outcomes, is now in effect following a successful pilot program. In addition, VR&E Service has re-organized management and staffing as recommended by the Task Force to reflect a greater emphasis on program outcomes such as employment and independent living rather than on the process of providing education or training. VR&E Service sets policy, interprets regulations, and provides training and guidance to field staff on issues identified through monthly review of performance measures, through review of cases, and through legislative, executive, or administrative initiatives. This arm of the program also develops national training to address areas of needed improvement and issued guidance on Systematic Analyses of Operations in 2003 to be used on a routine basis in analyzing the most critical and vulnerable elements of VR&E to assist in local and strategic planning. Moreover, performance data is used by leadership to determine strategic direction and to take corrective actions. For instance, the program has adopted a number of long-term as well as annual measures which reflect progress towards achieving its purpose, and it is working to implement additional long-term measures as well. In January 2006, the Case Management Index (CMI) was updated to include seven additional indices, and this system provides an overall score which can be used by VR&E Service and by each field office to focus resources and to take corrective actions. With respect to contract management, the program's contracts were reviewed, market research was conducted, and voluntary price reductions were subsequently obtained resulting in a projected savings of $450,000 annually.
Evidence: VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary; Task Force Recommendations Planning Matrix; VA 2003-2008 Strategic Plan; VBA's Workforce and Succession Plan, March 2003; Systematic Analysis of Operations(M28-3, Part I, Chapter 2, Change 6) ; Reassignment of ES to EC guidance and position description; Performance Standards for RO Directors; VR&E Officer's National Performance Standards; Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor's / Counseling Psychologist's National Performance Standards: Monthly Operating Report (MOR); VR&E Intranet Reports; VR&E Letter 28-05-01; Circular 28-05-01, VR&E Guidelines for the Administration of the Independent Living Program; VR&E Letter 28-05-03, VR&E Guidelines for Evaluation and Planning, Self-Employment, Re-Employment, Rapid Access to Employment; Revised Checklist to Include Utilization of MRG Codes; VR&E Letter 28-04-06, Case Management Index and Scoring; Case Management Index; 5 Tracks to Employment Model; Job Lab Operators Guide; Concept Paper on National Acquisition Strategy.
|Section 3 - Program Management
|Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability
Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term performance goals?
Explanation: VR&E is making notable progress toward achieving the long-term performance goals of the program's Rehabilitation Rate and Serious Employment Handicap Rehabilitation Rate. However, the program's ability to meet the latest and most ambitious targets have not been established, and two new measures are presently developing baselines by which VR&E can judge performance??Percent of Participants Employed First Quarter After Program Exit and Percent of Participants Still Employed Three Quarters After Program Exit.
Evidence: VA's 2006 Budget; VA's 2003 Budget; FY 2004 and FY 2005 Annual Performance and Accountability Reports.
Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?
Explanation: VR&E is making notable progress toward achieving its annual performance goals and has established a track record of achieving many of these targets, but not all. The program also has three new annual measures which are developing baseline data in 2006 but have not yet established a record of performance. Additionally, VR&E is conducting a data-sharing project with DOL's VETS program??one of the program's significant partners??but joint workgroups which will identify further opportunities to share and analyze data have not yet reported results or made recommendations.
Evidence: VA's 2006 Budget; FY 2004 and FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Reports; Monthly Operating Report.
Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?
Explanation: VR&E has used strategic sourcing and improved contracting practices to negotiate price reductions ranging from 9% to 82% for contractor services (e.g., testing, job placement, initial assessments, case management, and career counseling). These cost reductions constitute approximately 5% of the total contract costs, or a reduction of $450,000 per year within the $9,000,000 annual expenditure. VR&E also has a pilot project to consolidate administrative functions and achieve cost effectiveness, as well as joint initiatives with VA's Education Service and the Department of Labor to identify other areas for savings and efficiency. In 2007, VR&E will add Average Cost of Placing a Participant in Employment to further advance their efficiency measurement and management.
Evidence: VR&E Circular 28-05-03 VR&E Guidelines for Evaluation and Planning; OIG Report 04-01271-74 Status Update; MOUs in Tab 1; VA's 2006 and 2007 Budget; VA's 2003 Budget; Memorandum of Understandings Tab 1.
Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs, including government, private, etc., with similar purpose and goals?
Explanation: When compared to state vocational rehabilitation agencies administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), the VR&E rehabilitation rate is higher and VR&E is able to place disabled veterans in positions that provide a higher income. The average hourly rate of income for an employed disabled veteran who received services through the VA's VR&E Program is $13.67 versus the average hourly rate of $7.30 for individuals who received services through state vocational rehabilitation agencies. In addition, an RSA study indicated that 45% of the population served by state vocational rehabilitation agencies achieved an "employment outcome", versus VR&E's rate of 62%. This last measure is especially notable, given VR&E's focus on finding "suitable employment". The phrase suitable employment, as used by VR&E, ensures that job duties match the veteran's interests, aptitudes and abilities, and does not aggravate their disability/disabilities. This is a greater standard than employment outcome and reflects VR&E's emphasis on well-paying career solutions.
Evidence: RSA Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program: Implications for Practice; VA's 2006 Budget.
Do independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?
Explanation: The comprehensive VR&E Task Force report issued in March 2004 commended VR&E's advances in recent years; however, they also cited 100 areas where the program needed to improve performance. While VR&E has implemented 72 of the Task Force's recommendations, an independent evaluation of sufficient scope and quality has not yet assessed the program changes and reported them effective and achieving results.
Evidence: VR&E Task Force Report to the Secretary dated March 2004, pgs. 2, 41, A-30; Task Force Recommendation Matrix; Program Outcome Study conducted by Dr. David Dean from September 2002 to September 2004.
|Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability


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Learning Business From the Big Screen
Baby Boom (1987)
Work-life balance is possible. J.C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton) is a successful New York City businesswoman—albeit a workaholic. But she soon learns that she has inherited an infant from a distant relative who has passed away. Unable to keep up her demanding career with a child at home, she moves from the city to the country, and starts a booming business selling baby applesauce. She learns that success can be balanced with a happy and meaningful home life.


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Andy Serkis and director Matt Reeves on the set of the movie "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." ( 20th Century Fox)
'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'
April 23, 2014 | 6:57 p.m.
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|Rob Bell (via chryssyen)
Words that don't exist in the english language:
L'esprit d'escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means "the spirit of the staircase."
Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.
Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.
Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
Gigil: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.
Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.
Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else's humiliation.
Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.
Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.
I remember Meg's story very clearly. She was in love with a man before Hercules. When he died, she sold her soul to Hades just to bring the man back to life. Once he was alive again, he left Meg for another woman, even though she gave up her soul for him. Of course this would scar Meg, which was why she couldn't trust men, especially with her heart. Disney used to be so deep and meaningful, what happened?
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