Gold Star Survivors are surviving spouses of members of the Armed Forces who died while serving in the military or of a service-connected disability. There are more than 450,000 service-connected surviving spouses throughout the United States.

These surviving spouses are being deprived of existing job counseling that is available to other disabled veterans who are experiencing significant barriers to employment.

To correct this situation, four (4) United States Senators have introduced bipartisan legislation (Senate Bill 3746 the Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act) on February 7, 2024. This Act would expand an existing program so that surviving spouses could also uses these services.

Congress established the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) at the United States Department of Labor (DOL) with an employment program entitled the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP).

The DVOP effort focuses on employment for: Special Disabled Veterans; Other Disabled Veterans and Other Eligible Veterans, as determined by the VA Secretary.

The Department of Labor, through the DVOP, provides funding for each state to hire specialists to provide individualized career services to eligible veterans. However, under current law, surviving spouses are not eligible for the career services provided by the DVOP.

Senate Bill 3746 would add surviving spouses (in the 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) 38 Section 4103A) to the list of eligible recipients for DVOP Services.

No new funding is required to implement this legislative change, as the DOL VETS has assessed that the increase in eligible recipients can be handled by the existing DVOP specialist positions.

“After the terrible loss of a service member, we must do everything that we can do to support their families,” said Senator Maggie Hassan, the primary sponsor of S. 3746. “This bipartisan bill is a commonsense way to help address the challenges that surviving spouses can face in their careers, and we must continue working to support our service members and their families.”

Senate Bill 3746 has received the endorsement of the American Legion; the American Policy Ventures; the National Partnership for Women and Families and TAPS.

“We often thank the wife or husband of those serving overseas for their sacrifice,” explained Senator Bill Cassidy. “If we really mean this, then a Gold Star spouse should be able to continue to access the services that they accessed when their husband or wife was alive.”

“We have an obligation to stand behind the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country,” stated Senator Mark Kelly. “Making sure surviving spouses have the services they need to get a good-paying job to support their families after their loss is the least our government can do.”

My Opinion: I agreed with the American Legion in their endorsement that Gold Star Survivors should be incorporated into U.S.C. 38 Section 4103A as eligible recipients of the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP).

The DOL VETS Program has indicated that there are sufficient resources to assist Gold Star Survivors, so for Congress this should be a reasonable and simple endeavor for the legislation to be enacted.

However, in Congress everything that appears to be both reasonable and simple (and for the best interest of veterans) is not always feasible!

BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran, who has served from 1967 to 1999. He is a member of American Legion Victor Stier Post 450 in Milford and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio Hospital Chairman. He can be contacted at plahovinsak@msn.com.