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NARA Signs Agreement with Department of Veterans Affairs
Press Release · Thursday, January 15, 2009

Washington, DC

On Thursday, January 15, 2009, the National Archives signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Veterans Affairs Compensated Work Therapy program. This agreement makes it easier for the Compensated Work Therapy program to place veterans with disabilities to work in the National Archives’ Federal Records Centers

The Compensated Work Therapy program is a vocational rehabilitation program of the Veterans Health Administration coordinated through the Department of Veterans Affairs’s Office of Mental Health Services that works with approximately 40,000 veterans a year, providing them with rehabilitation services, case management, and job training and placement. It is estimated that the new contract could place up to 200 veterans per year at the Federal Records Centers.

“This Memorandum of Understanding with the National Archives is another example of the importance of Federal partnerships in assisting America’s veterans in their return to full community participation,” said Dr. Anthony Campinell, Director of Therapeutic and Supported Services at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Mental Health Services.

For the last few years, the Compensated Work Therapy program has placed veterans in several Federal Records Centers using local agreements with these centers. However, in many cases, the length of employment for individual workers was capped at four months, after which the veteran was often sent to another assignment. The new agreement will remove this cap, streamline processing, and make the program available to all 17 records centers.

Acting Archivist of the United States Adrienne Thomas noted, “We have been extremely pleased with the caliber of employees in the Compensated Work Therapy program. These veterans are exceptionally dedicated and hard-working. This Memorandum of Understanding is a ‘win-win’ for both the veterans in the program and the National Archives, and we are delighted to be able to expand the program nationwide.”

See more information on the Department of Veterans Affairs Compensated Work Therapy program (www.cwt.va.gov). See more information on the National Archives’ Federal Records Centers (www.archives.gov/frc/).

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For press information, please contact David Weinberg, 301-837-3115 or david.weinberg@nara.gov.

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