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Veterans with disabilities need greater awareness and access to employer-provided benefits and services

As veterans navigate the often difficult path to civilian employment after service, they also are often managing unique needs if they have a disability. Voya Cares and Easterseals commissioned original research to look beyond efforts to hire veterans to better understand what it means to support veterans with disabilities and their caregivers.

 

How can we provide additional support for disabled vets in the workplace? Read through Disabled veterans and employers: Moving from surviving to thriving to find out how employers can better support employees who identify as veterans with disabilities.

Download the Research Paper
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Voya and Easterseals CEOs discuss the needs of disabled veterans and caregivers

Voya Cares

2024 Voya Cares® caregivers of disabled veterans research

National Family Caregiver Month: Research conducted by Voya and Easterseals is raising awareness of the unique needs of military caregivers and how companies can better support them.

Transitioning from military service

Veterans’ benefits needs in the workplace

Five key research findings — insight from veterans in America

There is a significant gap between employers’ perception of how they support disabled veterans at work and how disabled veterans and their caregivers feel their needs are being met in the workplace.
  • Many employers see veteran outreach as an essential part of their recruitment, but they do not make any outreach efforts to veterans with disabilities. Furthermore, employers are less certain about how to support disabled veterans, once hired.
  • Most employers are interested in offering benefits — like stay at work programs, managed accounts and student debt management — that they think will help meet the needs of disabled veterans, but these benefits do not necessarily align with disabled veteran or caregiver priorities.
Disabled veterans report a more difficult transition from service to civilian live and work. In particular, they face unique barriers to finding appropriate employment and advancing in their careers.
  • Both veterans with disabilities and employers have experienced employment challenges. Many disabled veterans report themselves as being underemployed. Additionally, disabled veterans are more likely than nondisabled veterans to feel they lack employer support for education and professional development opportunities.
Many veterans with disabilities have low confidence about their long-term financial future and retirement.
  • Even though many disabled veterans access VA resources, they are not confident they are maximizing the benefits and resources available to them and integrating them effectively with their employee benefits. This is especially evident for retirement planning services, an area in which employers have not traditionally offered many benefits.
Caregivers of disabled veterans are struggling and frequently overlooked for support.
  • Caregivers often perform a balancing act between work, caregiving and their own needs, and would benefit from programs and resources that support that balance.
Concerns about mental health benefits and support are top-of-mind.
  • Disabled veterans recognize mental health as a top barrier to employment and indicate that mental health support and services are critical to their success at work. Yet even when employers make these supports available, disabled veterans often are hesitant to access them, partly because they may not want to disclose mental illness.

Toolkit for supporting veterans with disabilities

Want some quick resources to share with your team? Download the executive summary, infographic and checklist for employers. 

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External resources for veterans

Additional support for special needs planning and trusted planning resources for creating a lifetime of continuous care.

Access Voya Cares External Resources

This material has been provided for educational purposes only. This material was created to provide accurate and reliable information on the subjects covered. It is not intended to provide specific legal, tax or other professional advice.

Easterseals and the Voya® family of companies are not affiliated and are not responsible for each other’s policies and services.

Products and services offered through the Voya® family of companies.

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