WASHINGTON — Big questions are being raised about a program that is designed to help hundreds of thousands of veterans get back on their feet after leaving the military.
Between 200,000 and 250,000 active-duty troops reach the end of their military careers every year and re-enter the civilian workforce. But it's not always easy.
The Department of Defense (DoD) rates some of those vets to be "at risk," for potential food insecurity or homelessness.
The Transition Assistance Program is supposed to link those outgoing troops with other government agencies — such as the departments of Labor and Veteran Affairs — to provide additional help.
The military calls the process a "warm handover."
But new data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that around 10 % of the at-risk personnel did not get the assistance the military was supposed to provide.
"And what we saw with Warm Handover is that 4,300, so more than 4,000 men and women who are at risk and not getting that service that extra layer of support," said GAO Strategic Issues Team Director Dawn Locke.
Locke continued: It's quite unfortunate. Service members willingly fought for our country. And now, we must ensure that they have a fighting chance to successfully adjust to civilian life."
In an interview with 13News Now, Locke said the military has not assessed if the program is effective or not.
"DoD doesn't really know if the warm handover process is working because they've never evaluated it," she said.