GAO: Service Members Transitioning to Civilian Life: Agencies Can Improve Warm Handovers for Additional Assistance

GAO-24-106248

Background

Transitioning from military to civilian life can be difficult for some service members as they may lose access to housing, pay, healthcare, and more. DOD provides certain at-risk service members with a person-to-person connection—known as a “warm handover”—to support agencies like VA.

But DOD doesn’t ensure that warm handovers take place. From April 2021-March 2023, more than 4,300 at-risk service members didn’t receive this assistance. Also, DOD hasn’t assessed whether warm handovers are helpful. As a result, the program may be missing opportunities to best meet service members’ transition needs.

We recommended addressing this, and more.

GAO Findings

The Secretary of Defense should develop a written plan to analyze its available Transition Assistance Program data to identify reasons why transitioning service members who should receive a warm handover are not receiving one, and take appropriate action to collect additional warm handover data. Actions could include requiring Transition Assistance Program officials to provide an explanation when not providing a warm handover.

To assist certain service members who may be at risk for a difficult transition from military to civilian life, the Department of Defense (DOD) provides them with a person-to-person connection, known as a “warm handover,” to other agencies. These other agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DOL), which can help the service members obtain additional transition services. Through its Transition Assistance Program, DOD ensures these service members receive agency contact information, but does not ensure that a connection with a person actually occurs (see figure). DOD provided at least one warm handover to about 41,000 service members, according to available data from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2023. However, during this same time period the agency did not provide a warm handover to over 4,300 other service members who were also considered at-risk of having a challenging transition. DOD officials said the agency has not analyzed the reasons why these service members did not receive a warm handover. Without developing a written plan to analyze its data, DOD cannot ensure that the …

Recommendations

GAO is making eight recommendations, including that DOD develop plans to analyze warm handover data and assess the helpfulness of warm handovers, and that DOD, VA, and DOL coordinate to identify criteria for scaling piloted approaches. The three agencies agreed with the recommendations.

Read the report here.

🔊 Listen to Story