H.R. 356

Wounded Warrior Employment Improvement Act

Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop and publish an action plan for improving the training and rehabilitation services and assistance provided by the VA for veterans with service-connected disabilities.

Requires such plan to include:

• a comprehensive analysis of, and recommendations and a proposed implementation plan for remedying, workload management challenges at VA regional offices, including steps to reduce counselor case loads of veterans participating in a rehabilitation program;
• a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the disproportionately low percentage of veterans with service-connected disabilities who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, who opt to participate in a VA rehabilitation program relative to the percentage of such veterans who use their entitlement to VA educational assistance;
• recommendations and a proposed implementation plan for encouraging more veterans with service-connected disabilities who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001, to participate in VA rehabilitation programs; and
• a national staff training program for vocational rehabilitation counselors, that includes the provision of training to assist counselors in understanding the very profound disorientation experienced by warriors because of their injury, training to assist counselors in working in partnership with veterans on individual rehabilitation plans, and training on post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions and on moderate to severe traumatic brain injury that is designed to improve the ability of such counselors to assist veterans with such conditions.