MR. ROMANO: First of all -- let me -- Secretary Chao, let me thank you for your comments. I have to tell you we're very complimentary of a lot of people who have done a lot of work, but just you being here today is just another sign of commitment. And I personally appreciated, and I know everybody else in the room does, so we do thank you for your commitment and support.
You know, there are several people in this audience that were in that video, and I'd just like to take a minute to introduce them to you. First of all, my partner in this, Assistant Secretary Ciccolella from the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training. Chick and a partner in America's Heroes at Work, our offices have worked together so well and it's been an exciting thing. I always tell people the very first minute I walked into the office, the very first person I met was Chick. The very first program he wanted to talk to me about was this one. So, it's been a thrill.
Colonel Jaffee, we thank you very much, from the director of Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, another key partner to us. Your information has helped make this site worthwhile, given us some substance and it's tremendous. Greg Arend from Deloitte, you'll be hearing from him shortly. A friend and someone who has worked very, very hard in this field. Lieutenant Bill Bussing. Bill is a firefighter and a paramedic from Prince George's County who helps remind us that this is not something that just is veterans, this is something that we as Americans face every day, but this helps us highlight it. We also have some individuals from Booz Allen Hamilton whose successful hiring experiences were featured in the video. Among those were Nicole Bazemore, Jennifer Rogers and Bill Martin. So, welcome to you, too.
Thank you.
At this time I'd like to introduce one of America's heroes that's actually at work, which helps -- Mike Bradley. Mike is a wounded warrior who has personal experience with both TBI and PTSD. But more importantly, he's also an employment success story, and we're honored that he's willing to share his experiences with us here today. Mike, thank you very much. (Applause.)
MICHAEL BRADLEY: Good morning. First off, I'd like to thank everybody for the opportunity for me to be here.
Unfortunately, I was rushing out of the house this morning and forgot my notes, so -- (soft laughter, groans) -- somebody with a brain injury and PTSD -- forgetting notes isn't going to help me out much. (Laughter.) But I'm going to make the best of it.
I really think that this program is important. As I was transitioning out of the military, they medically retired me in November of 2007 for TBI and PTSD, which I received in Iraq. With that, there was a lot of fear for myself about going back into the civilian world -- something that I had basically forgotten during my service. So it was scary in itself.
Luckily there was a program out there that was able to help me out and plug me into getting my resume out to the right people, which was the program through the Wounded Warrior Project called Warriors to Work.
Along with that, I was luckily in -- I was lucky enough to get an interview with a company whose employer understood the importance of knowing and -- of knowing and educating themselves on PTSD and TBI, which has really helped me succeed in my job and succeed in the workplace, because there's an understanding there where my employer understands me and understands the issues that I have to deal with on a daily basis.
So that has taken a lot of stress off of me, and I've noticed that my therapy has gotten better since I got my job. And I truly, truly believe that America's Heroes at Work is a great program that is going to educate employers on the issues that people like myself deal with on a daily basis, that is due to traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
So thank you very much for all being here. And that's all I have. Thank you. (Applause.)
MR. ROMANO: Mike, thanks very much for sharing your experiences and we wish you great luck in your future employment. You don't really need it, but we'll wish it to you anyway.
Well, you now know about the project. And you've heard about the employment challenges that some veterans may experience when they return from the global war on terror. But you also should know about the website, which you saw on the video. And this website really contains the information that an employer needs if they have questions or if they want to assist a servicemember in their adjustment back to the workplace or into the workplace in the first instance. And you also should know about the impressive collaboration of the federal agencies to bring together -- come together and bring this initiative into fruition.
Now, Secretary Chao mentioned our federal leadership roundtable. And that roundtable has led to some remarkable collaboration. And this initiative, America's Heroes at Work, is a truly winning example of interagency collaboration. The agencies that have supported our project from the beginning -- Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense -- have hooked us up with the Defense Center of Excellence for the Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, or the DCOE -- and you're going to hear from them in just a moment -- and the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.
Both of those organizations have helped us create many of the co- branded materials that are now available on the website. And several staff from DCOE and the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center are here. And I hope that the press will get an opportunity to talk to some of them.
I also want to say that we've forged great relationships with the Department of Defense, and I'd like to recognize Assistant Secretary Tom Hall, the assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. Sir, thank you very much for coming here. (Applause.)
This project has huge implications for the National Guard and Reserve and we've worked very, very closely with both Tom Hall and Dr. Gordon Sumner, who heads up the employer support of the Guard and Reserve.
On the VA side, the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment division of the VA and other departments within the department of Veterans Affairs -- and I'd like to recognize Dr. Anthony (sic/Antonette) Zeiss. Thank you very much. If you would raise your hand, ma'am, please. Thank you very much. (Applause.) And another great unsung hero, and that's Ruth Fanning. And Ruth, would you raise your hand please? (Applause.)
We're very honored to have representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Center of Excellence with us today as speakers. So it's now my pleasure to introduce them -- and if they would come up, please: Dr. David Chu, Dr. Michael Kussman and Brigadier General Loree Sutton.
We'll start off with Dr. Chu. Dr. Chu is the undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He oversees all of the Department of Defense personnel policies, including pay, accession, retention, and all of that other stuff. He is a member of the Defense Department who has served in the Defense Department for over 20 years. He will go first.
Dr. Michael Kussman is the undersecretary of the Veterans -- Department of Veterans Affairs for Health, and Dr. Kussman leads the nation's largest integrated health care system, the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system.
I think you saw on the video -- I think you got a little clip of Brigadier General Loree Sutton, and so you'll hear just a little bit more from her in a couple of minutes. And there'll be no doubt in your mind why she is the head of the Defense Center of Excellence for Brain Damage and Post-Traumatic Stress.
So Dr. Chu, why don't we begin with you, sir?
MR. CHU: Chick (sp), thank you.
Madame Secretary, thank you for allowing us to be a member of this partnership and to participate in this morning's event. It's another example, I believe, of the terrific support that Americans have given to the men and women wearing the uniform of the country today. And let me say on their behalf how appreciative they are of that support. Labor has been a superb partner with the Defense Department in a number of programs; this is the most recent example.
As you already heard, most of the traumatic brain injury we see is concussion, and most, in fact, recover from that, although it does take a period of time. And likewise, as Dr. Sutton will emphasize, most of those with PTSD also can recover. But it has been underscored with these presentations and Mr. Bradley's own testimony, having a supportive workplace during that recovery period is another ingredient in success. That is one of the key reasons we welcome Labor's leadership in putting these materials in front of the nation's employers.
Perhaps most important, this initiative by Labor signals to our nation's employers that they ought to be interested in veterans as good employees for the future. As some of you know in this audience, we return to civil life from the active force of the United States between 150(,000) and 200,000 individuals a year; new veterans, so to speak, either because they finished their initial or subsequent period of service or because they're retiring from the military.
And since 9/11, as Secretary Hall can testify, we have mobilized over 650,000 members of the Reserve components. That includes the National Guard, Air and Army. We have about 100,000 on duty today. Those individuals go back to civil life. They may go back to their prior employment. They may also go back to their prior employment. They may also go and seek a new employment, and likewise they deserve our support.
And so I'm delighted, Madame Secretary, with your initiative. We are privileged to join you. We look forward to its success. (Applause.)
DR. KUSSMAN: Well, good morning, Madame Secretary, Dr. Chu, Dr. General Sutton. It's a pleasure for me to be here today.
Returning to work is vital for the -- to the rehabilitation and recovery of veterans with both PTSD and TBI. Being able to work also helps the veterans fully regain their status in their communities, helps them to be providers and equal partners in their relationships, and improves their self-confidence and hope for the future.
The Heroes at Work program is an outstanding complement to programs already available in the Veterans Health Administration to support returning veterans. Every VA medical facility in the nation provides treatment, preparation, job placement and job coaching for veterans with mental health issues, including PTSD and TBI, that could interfere with their ability to get a job. Our facilities also provide veterans who are capable of working with work experience supported by employers who want to help veterans and who value the work these transitional employees do.
Veterans make great employees. Together, we can work and support the veteran every step of the way.
While VA directly supports veterans with PTSD and TBI in their efforts to find and keep good jobs, Heroes at Work will teach employers to help us in our work and will greatly increase the likelihood that we will be successful.
VA's proud to partner with the Department of Labor, Department of Defense and others as they prepare employers to support veterans with PTSD or TBI, and to help these heroes to succeed in the workplace. We look forward to achieving our common goal to help more and more of these heroes find and keep productive, interesting and permanent jobs. Thank you. (Applause.)
GEN. SUTTON: Madame Secretary, Dr. Chu, Dr. Kussman, other distinguished guests, good morning, and thank you for being here. It is indeed an honor to stand before you in uniform representing our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
As an Army psychiatrist for the past 20-ish years -- (soft laughter) -- I thought it might be appropriate to invoke the wisdom of Freud, who once asserted that humans have two fundamental needs, to love and to work -- in other words, to enjoy lives that are filled with both passion and purpose.
To that end, I applaud the Department of Labor and all of our federal partners who are coming together, yes, and rolling up our sleeves to work for the greater good and to put our heroes to work.
At the Defense Centers of Excellence, DOD's open front door for all issues related to psychological health and traumatic brain injury, our team is working like fury to grow a network, a national and a global network, one that enables and prepares our warriors and their loved ones to not just survive but to in fact thrive in the new normal.
As you have heard, our warriors bring so much to the workplace -- the discipline, the values, the teamwork. As Mr. Bradley has shown, there is nobody like our warriors who knows how to improvise and adapt and overcome -- hoo-ah -- and we are so proud of them.
And I will tell you, with values such as those that Mr. Bradley has demonstrated this morning, it's not just the right thing to do in hiring our warriors; it's the smart thing to do. And as we work with those who have suffered the wounds, the injuries, the illnesses of war, we are absolutely committed to teaming up with America's employers and to set the conditions for success, caring for our warriors, supporting them. It is our moral obligation. It is our sacred duty.
There simply is no greater privilege. So, working together, let's keep after it.
Thank you. (Applause.)
MS. : Ma'am, I'll follow you anywhere. (Laughter.)
MR. : (Off mike.) (Laughter.)
MR. ROMANO: No kidding. No kidding. The animation of all of you, obviously, but we really appreciate it, Dr. Chu, Dr. Kussman, General Sutton. The spirit of partnership that we've had from all of you has been so amazing. It's not only important, it's essential to us, to this whole program. So we thank you.
But you know, essentially America's Heroes at Work is an employer-focused campaign, so now it's time we hear from business a little bit because they provide the jobs. We're honored to have with us Dr. Shirley Davis, the director of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the Society for Human Resource Management. I always call it SHRM, so I'm sorry. As you probably know, SHRM is the world's largest professional association devoted to human resources. And since HR professionals are the gateway to careers, SHRM's support of this program is absolutely essential and required for us.
Also joining us is Greg Arend, a partner with Deloitte, who co- founded an exciting program called Ability First. And it is a wonderful program. We've had the opportunity to work with you on that, and it is exceptional.
So please welcome Shirley Davis and Greg Arend. Thank you both.
(Applause.)
MS. DAVIS: Good morning. Thank you, Assistant Secretary Romano, and to all of our distinguished guests this morning.
Let me first begin by acknowledging an earlier speaker. And it requires a brief background.
Several years ago, a television documentary about world War II, it featured personal accounts from a group of veterans, including Senator Bob Dole. At the close of his comments, Senator Dole hesitated, and he told the interviewer, almost as an aside, that he'd been flattered to earn many titles throughout his career -- and then Senator Dole stopped briefly to gather his emotions -- and he told the interviewer, he said not one title, not one, in my career has meant more to me than the title of veteran.
In that same spirit I want to say to Mike Bradley, I've been on many podiums throughout my career, and it's an absolute honor and a pleasure to share this space with you today. I'm also equally privileged to have recently appeared on the same platform with your employer, Dawn Halfaker, a remarkable young woman who shared her story of losing her arm during combat in Iraq and has done some amazing things since she's returned.
And so on behalf of SHRM, I want to thank you and all of our veterans for their service to our country.
And what the Department of Labor launches today is certainly an expression of that service, in facilitating the success in the workplace for our returning service members with TBI as well as PTSD.
But just as important is the valuable resource that this program will provide to employers.
Make no mistake about it. America's employers need the Mike Bradleys who are at their doors. They need employees who have already demonstrated that need or, I should say, that talent and that great wisdom, as well as the employees who have proven their dedication, their perseverance, their loyalty and their ability to lead; what greater pool of such talent than our returning veterans. These are America's heroes.
Those are the challenges that we hear about every day from our members, nearly 250,000 human resource professionals from across the world, in every sector of the economy. But we also know the challenges that returning servicemembers with TBI and PTSD will have to encounter in employment.
To help our returning servicemembers succeed in the workplace, this program, America's Heroes at work, is going to be a dynamic educational program, designed to help raise that awareness of TBI and PTSD, those issues, among the workforce. And most importantly it's going to provide tools and information to employers, on these workforce accommodations that they can make for these employees.
So meeting this need for employers and our returning servicemembers is why we are eager to support this campaign. The Society for Human Resource Management is proud to partner with the Department of Labor, with the Office of Disability Employment Policy and the Veterans' Employment & Training Service, on this wonderful program, America's Heroes at Work.
America's HR professionals stand ready to welcome our returning servicemembers. And we look forward to working, with our members as well as our partners, on this very important initiative. Thank you and congratulations. (Applause.)
MR. AREND: Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity to be here.
Madame Secretary, thank you so much; Assistant Secretaries.
On behalf of Deloitte, it really is an honor to be here. I share your enthusiasm. It's great to share the stage with you and Dawn Halfaker, who was also in Deloitte's "Alive Day" event that took place, where I actually got to meet Neil for the first time and work with the Department of Labor, just an awesome group.
I think that's kind of where I'd like to go with this. I was asked to give a few comments, as it relates from an employer perspective.
My firm, Deloitte, is a world-class professional services firm. We're global. And we excel by having just outstanding professionals. As a professional services firm, where we compete, we compete with the best of the best. And to steal that cliche from an old movie, I would say I'm looking for the best of the best as an employer.
I happen to believe the best of the best and a number of them reside within the veteran community, and specifically those with disabilities. Neil knows this. I actually have a daughter who has a disability and so it touches me personally to watch. So, I think of it from a perspective of what are employers looking for. We're looking absolutely for the best candidate. We're looking for the individual who can go out and make the difference. And when we started the launch of the Deloitte Ability First program, which is all around focusing on a person's abilities instead of focusing on their disabilities. Take away the word "dis," it's all about abilities, right? So, the main focus here is let's try to find the right candidates for the right positions.
The one thing that we learned when we started off on this process was very much around -- it's a phrase that we have within our group and I think it is probably a phrase, now that I have learned about it, it probably belongs to the Army, I think, which is we don't know what we don't know. That's the honest to God truth. We don't know what we don't know. And that's the way it was when we started off. So, from an employer perspective, America's Heroes at Work, this initiative is an awesome initiative because one of the things that it does is it cuts down -- removes barriers. From an employment perspective, we again want individuals and one of the things that happens is you need to remove the barriers for us to be able to understand, to better grasp what's going on, both within our own HR community within our own firms.
I can tell you that one of the things that launched from our Ability First program has been the launch of a separate employment network that involves other employers, frankly, competitors. And we're fine with that, we are completely fine with that because this is bigger than Deloitte, this is bigger than any one firm can solve. But it's absolutely a matter of the employment community teaming with the Department of Labor, teaming with other organizations within the government to really make a difference in this area. So, General Sutton, I'm going to look you up because -- (inaudible) -- anywhere.
But I will tell you that Deloitte is extremely excited about being in this. And I'm going to close this with one thing and that's a challenge. I'm going to challenge the employers community at large to get to know -- get to know vets, get to know disabled vets, get to know the America's at work -- America's Heroes at Work program because I will tell you, the one thing whenever we launch this initiative that I think that's within in the Deloitte that we've now figured out is you have to make it personal. At the end of the day, there is an employee or a potential employee sitting on the left-hand side and there is an employer sitting on the right-hand side. You've got to connect the two. And it never got more personal for me than sitting on the back of my deck one night, meeting the disabled vets and talking with them and realizing, you know what, we just got to cut down the barriers, make things happen, connect the dots from the left- hand side to the right-hand side.
So, again, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today and much appreciated. Thank you.
(Applause.)
MR. ROMANO: Madame Secretary, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule.
I know you said you'd follow Loree Sutton anywhere -- (laughter) -- but the truth of the matter is we'd all like to follow you. We just don't want your schedule. (Laughter.)
SEC. CHAO: I'm heading up the delegation, the presidential delegation to the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, so my plane is going to leave in about an hour. (Laughter.) Thank you all so much for being here. (Applause.)
MR. MANNING: Thank you, Madame Secretary.
Thank you, Shirley and Greg. And Greg, I think your challenge to other employers is the perfect way to end this press conference. It really is important.
My name's Rick Manning, and I'm the chief of staff for the Department of Labor's Office of Public Affairs. And at this time, I'd like to open the floor to questions.
Yes, sir? Hold on.
Q Hi, I'm Kathy -- Kathy Gurchiek from SHRM, HR News's daily online (news byte ?). My question is, could you give us an example or two of the kind of accommodations that employers can make for candidates with these types of disabilities? If you have lost a limb, for example, it's obvious you make accommodations for wheelchair ramps and that kind of thing. But for these kind of disorders, what are some things employers can do?
MR. MANNING: Okay. What are commonplace accommodations? Neil, you want to take it?
MR. ROMANO: Sure.
MR. MANNING: Okay.
MR. ROMANO: Some of the -- you know, sometimes there -- some of the more common accommodations are, if people get headaches or if they need quiet, those are some of the things that happen. Accommodation can be something as simple as putting a person in a quiet room so they can focus and concentrate better. Sometimes it has to do with flickering lights.
So for me, as a person that has -- I have dyslexia, and I have to leave flickering lights. And my great accommodation, the same as this, is that I need regular straight lighting that isn't fluorescent lighting. So those are some very minor accommodations.
And that also helps focus on and point out the fact that some of these accommodations are not great. I mean, most of them are not great, most accommodations aren't, but in this particular field, they're even less than in some others. So those are two basic accommodations.
Q Hi. I'm Mark Schoeff from Workforce Management Magazine. And I have a question about the -- sort of the impetus for this program. Are you noticing now discrimination against injured veterans?
And is that part of the thrust there, that there's a problem like that that needs to be addressed, or is this wholly preventive?
MR. : (Inaudible) -- you want to take that?
MR. : The answer to the question is no, we're not noticing outright discrimination against veterans coming back. And I talk to employers and veterans themselves all the time. What you're seeing is -- and a recognition that each war is different, and this war has some certain signature injuries. And in this case, the brain injuries that are caused by successive blasts, or the stress of multiple deployments in the theater of operations, in a war -- these are very, very common reactions -- post-traumatic stress disorder.
What this initiative is about is to help employers, you know, if they need assistance or if their service members need assistance, in understanding this just a little bit better.
So it's not necessarily employer-driven, but by the same token, we do talk to employers all the time, and we know that this can be a very, very helpful initiative for them.
MR. : (Off mike) -- John -- (off mike).
Q Yeah. Hi. My name is John Fales. I write the Sgt. Shaft column in The Washington Times. I want to congratulate you on this new initiative.
My concern is, how do you deal with the privacy issue, both with the young warrior coming in, approaching an employer and that employer, you know, with the -- you know, with the young -- dealing with the young warrior and the privacy issue?
MR. : The question's about the privacy issue and what that's related to. Did you want --
MR. ROMANO (?): I'm not certain that, John -- and welcome. Thank you very much for attending. We appreciate that. I'm not certain that that's a major concern of service members as they come back. The major concern, dominant concern of service members when they come out, back, is employment. They obviously want to make sure that their wounds or injuries or their experiences are taken care of, and are pursuing obviously their benefits and whatnot. But their principal concern is to get back in the workplace.
We live in a time, as you very well know, where Americans today revere their service members. And Americans understand that these service members -- a very small part of our population -- have given great sacrifices. So we're not dealing with issues today, as we go out, talk to employers, to enforce the USERRA law or to encourage them to hire veterans, with concerns on the part of either the service member or the employer with regard to privacy concerns.
MR. : Does anybody have any questions for any of our other speakers? I'd like to get them an opportunity to speak.
Gail (sp)?
Q Hi. I'm Gail (sp) -- (surname and affiliation off mike) -- Report. Hi. If we could just clarify from my Bradley what kind of work he does and if he has any accommodations in particular.
MR. : Go ahead. Mike, go ahead.
MR. BRADLEY: Yes. I can't go into details about what work I do.
I do classified -- I work in a classified operations center, and I monitor information that comes in and turn that into briefs. So that's pretty much as far into detail as I can go. But I have been successful where I'm at.
And the accommodations, just to kind of clarify -- kind of some of the questions I've heard -- I don't necessarily need an employer to say, "Make your own schedule; do your own thing. Come to work and get a paycheck." But there are times where I get frustrated, not necessarily with other people, but with myself, because it's like -- I should know this. And so for me to be able to step outside, take a break, think about it, relax, come back in, that's an accommodation for me.
Another accommodation is one of my -- one of the things I struggle with from my TBI is resultant migraines. So with migraines, working in an operations center with lights on in front of a computer screen does not help a migraine. So my employer understands that. So if I need coverage, they're there to help out. It's things like that.
As far as the privacy question, just to kind of go a little more into detail on that, my employer should not come to me and say, "What is your injury?" But they can say, "Mike, I like you. I like your resume. I think we have a lot to offer each other. Is there anything that I can do to make you coming into work any easier?" And that pretty much handles that issue.
So -- but yeah, the accommodations are very simple. It's not, oh, well, we've got to give -- we've got to give this servicemember a week off. We have to give this servicemember this and that. It's simple little things to help us relax, help us just take that break and regroup with ourselves. So I hope that answers the question.
MR. MANNING: In the back.
Q Hello, my name is Alexander Panov. I am from RTVi. It's a Russian satellite network for Russians all around the world. And I have some basic question interesting for a foreigner. Could you tell me, does state stimulate employers who give jobs to such kind of veterans with illness, with disorders? Do they have any benefits for giving this job?
MR. MANNING: Okay. The question deals with whether or not there are incentives for employment of people with disabilities or veterans. Do either of you want to take that?
MR. : Yeah. You're talking about whether the United States government incentivizes employers with regard to that. There are a lot of thoughts about that now in the Congress and in the executive branch. So there could be some moves in that direction in the future. I don't know. I won't even speculate on it.
The number one incentive for employers to hire veterans is not necessarily that it's just the right thing to do and that Americans really revere their servicemembers. It's good for business, and employers understand that. Employers understand that our veterans returning bring to the workplace not only the hard and technical skills to meet the job needs, but they also bring the things that employers want the most. And you've already seen that this morning. They bring the ability to come to work every day, that determination, that managerial expertise, that leadership, that initiative, that drive, and that -- a success orientation. Employers understand that because employers want to grow their businesses, and that's why it's so good for business with them.
Q (Off mike.)
MR. : Well, that's not quite correct because there is a work opportunity tax credit that applies to veterans, particularly disabled veterans, and many companies are taking advantage of that.
Q Hi -- (inaudible) -- Gregory from ABC News. And could someone talk about this hotline that you guys are opening? The phone number, is it 24 hours? Who is answering the calls? Is it veterans? Just talk a little bit about the hotline.
MR. : Mr. Romano?
MR. ROMANO: Within the Department of Labor and the Office of Disability Employment Policy, there's a line -- there's a program called JAN, the Job Accommodation Network. And JAN is designed to take questions from both employers and employees about potential accommodations, things that can be used. It is a 24-hour line. It is both in English and in Spanish. It's been in operation for quite some time and right now we are in the process of -- the people of JAN have also been -- have been trained this, they've gotten all the material that we have on the same website that you have so that they're going to be prepared to handle these.
One of the things about accommodations that we have to remember and one of the things that we have to remember about what the government does is that this is one of the things we do -- one of the first and most important things to do with this program: to make people aware that it exists and to make people aware that this problem exists, that posttraumatic stress disorder exists. And that in and of itself helps mitigate the problem because part of the -- the major part is to understand it's there.
So, what you heard from Michael was really what I need is I need to know that something exists as an employer because it's the -- it's as you said, it's the what-I-know-I-don't-know situation. When you know about it, it helps you understand it better. Instead of having an employee who comes and suddenly might be getting headaches or might get up and get agitated, well, you don't know what that is. And if you don't know what that is, you're not going to know how to handle it. And that's what we're going to be having in the hotline and that's what the website's all about. It's going to help employers understand what those things are because quite frankly, in most of these cases -- 80 percent -- these symptoms go away, this problem disappears. So, what you need to do is you really need to help an employer bridge that gap until that disappears because you don't want to lose a good employee and you don't want to see a good employee leave. So, you want to make sure you give them the supports they need.
And when you talk about accommodations, quite frankly, some of this accommodation is understanding. Most accommodations, as I said before, are inexpensive, but -- (inaudible) -- particular thing is understanding the problem at the outset you don't have to move to potentially other problems where a person has to leave their place of business. So, that's what's important in trying to understand the accommodation of it. And I appreciate you talking about that because that is particularly important, because there are a lot of employers who think there is going to be something big that they have to do.
And quite often it's just looking at a website like this and understanding that you can do something very simple.
MR. MANNING: Yes, ma'am.
Q Hi. Kasie Hunt with CongressDaily.
How much money have you spent on this so far? How much money is available for sustaining it? And where is the money coming from?
(Cross talk.)
MR. ROMANO: Well, I mean, there's a series of different numbers involved. I know, for this direct program, it's between 3 and $500,000 to get it done. But that's for the website and this program, as it is.
But behind that is all of the work that both VETS is doing, all of our friends here that have spoken today and quite frankly the thing you just talked about, JAN, which is to a large extent part of the action end of where you're going, how you talk about it.
So there's other programs that this builds with. That's one of the great things about this program. This is not a stand-alone. We're depending on a lot of other groups, to be helping us answer a lot of other questions and really add expertise.
I mean, you have people in brain injury. You have areas that are going to be covered. And it's not expensive. It's not always expensive to put good information out there. And I think that's part of what we have here.
That's part of the beauty of the collaboration. There's probably a lot more dollars than even I know about behind it. But it's -- 3 to 500,000, I think, is the number for, you know, your websites and pieces, to put it together.
Q (Off mike.)
MR. ROMANO: Department of Labor money, correct.
MR. MANNING: Okay, I don't see anybody else raising their hand. We will have one-on-one opportunities, if anybody would like to take advantage of that. I appreciate all the speakers and everybody who has put so much into this.
Mr. Bradley, thank you very much.
And so if anybody wants to do a one-on-one, please let us know. And we will provide accommodation. Thank you very much for coming. And we appreciate you being here. (Applause.)