National Academies Press: OpenBook

Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families (2014)

Chapter: Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 - Outreach: Getting the Right People to the Table ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22418.
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Page 4-1 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 provides guidance on identifying and reaching out to community organizations and individuals, and partnering with them to improve transportation for veterans, military service members, and families. These efforts should be the early focus of the leader and the core leadership group. The outreach efforts may not result in all the organizations literally “getting to the table,” but you want to connect with relevant organizations and individuals, and engage them to participate—in some way—in your efforts to improve community transportation for the target groups. Step 1: Idenfy Organizaons and Individuals to Involve First, you will need to identify the organizations and individuals in your community who should be involved in local efforts to improve transportation. This includes organizations that work directly with the target groups as well as existing community transportation providers. Individuals who you ultimately want to be able to use the transportation services—veterans and active military personnel and their families—can also be encouraged to participate. Who you reach out to will, of course, depend on the organizations in your community and how you de€ine “your community.” Remember, all communities have veterans, but only some communities have military installations. Finding local organizations and individuals to involve and participate in improving community transportation is critical for the endeavor, as they will help identify the transportation needs of those they work with and help formulate strategies to meet those needs. More on that in Chapter 5. Organizaons to Potenally Involve Look for the following organizations in your community: Outreach: “Geng the Right People to the Table” Chapter 4

Page 4-2 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” • The public transit agency. • Human service agencies working with seniors and people with disabilities. • VA medical facilities, particularly a VA Medical Center. If your community has a VA Medical Center, �ind out if it has a Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) program. As discussed in Chapter 2, one of the objectives of these programs is to work with other transportation services in the community. • Local veterans service organizations (VSOs), e.g., Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion, AMVETS. • The 2-1-1 provider (the phone number reserved for community social services). • Your state’s county/regional veterans service of�ice, which you can locate here: http://nacvso.org/�ind-a-service- of�icer/ • Local U.S. Department of Labor staff who assist veterans with employment and training; you can �ind staff members working with the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives Program (LVER) through this locator: http://dvoplverlocator.nvti.ucdenver.edu/default.aspx • A local elected of�icial. • The local Independent Living Center. A directory of Independent Living Centers is provided here: http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html • The local of�ice for your state’s Vocational Rehabilitation program. • The local Workforce Development organization, including the Disability Program Navigator if your state offers this initiative. • Veterans’ groups or clubs at local colleges and universities. These may be af�iliates of larger student organizations, such as Student Veterans of America (www.studentveterans.org), or may be school-speci�ic veteran groups. • The veterans’ student services at local colleges and universities. The department offering these services may also be responsible for transfer student resources. • If your community has a large population of non-native English speakers, community organizations who serve these groups can help you reach veterans and their families who are members of these populations. Useful Resources to Locate Potential Organizations There are various resources that are useful for identifying and locating relevant organizations: Good resource: Easter Seals Project ACTION has developed a detailed guide for engaging veteran and military organizations, titled, The Route to Community Engagement. This is an online toolkit designed initially for grantees of the Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI) but is available to any community that wants to reach out and involve veterans and military organizations to improve transportation options. See the toolkit components and a link in Tools, at the end of this chapter.

Page 4-3 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” • The FTA has created a listing of organizations for its VTCLI program—see http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/12305_13537.html and scroll down to see organizations listed under the heading “Potential Partners— Veteran and Military Communities.” • An additional resource, which was also developed to support the VTCLI program, lists organizations that might be potential partners; see “A Guide To Serving Your Military Community,” dated 3-7-12, under this link http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/12305_14198.html • • To locate speci�ic VA facilities in and nearby your community, you might start with information on the VA’s Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). The country is divided into 21 VISNs, which are regional systems of care that work together to meet healthcare needs of veterans. Online information for each VISN provides the names and locations of the VA Medical Centers, Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), and Vet Centers; see this link: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/division.asp?dnum=1 Locate the Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan developed for your community or county. This plan may be located on the website of your local transit agency, at the Council of Governments, or other regional planning agency. Agencies and organizations identi�ied in this plan may be a relevant as possible partners. At the back of this chapter under Tools, there is a checklist that may help you think of organizations and agencies to look for in your community and that should be invited “to the table” as you embark on your transportation improvement endeavor. But don’t be constrained by the listing! There may be organizations or groups in your community that work with homeless veterans, offer services for military families, or have some other tie to veterans and the military that are not listed or that are not in the suggested websites that would be particularly useful and important to involve in the planning process. Step 2: Determine Your Engagement Strategy Work with your core leadership group to determine your engagement strategy. Typically this will include an initial meeting that formally “kicks off” the process of improving transportation, and the various organizations and individuals are invited to “come to the table” and participate in early discussions of how to improve community transportation for the target groups. But there are other options to engage relevant organizations and obtain their input for further work.

Page 4-4 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Possible ways to engage community organizations and individuals for an initial meeting are provided below. Some of these may be appropriate for ongoing An initial community meeting Stakeholder interviews Focus groups An advisory group A workshop A “round-robin” information-sharing gathering A special one-time event, such as a summit that could be held in conjunction with a particular holiday (e.g., Veterans Day or Independence Day ) Whichever option you choose to start your engagement process, you will want to ensure you also have an ongoing mechanism to sustain the dialogue with participants, as outlined in Step 5. Your �irst meeting or gathering or event is just that—the �irst of many. In addition to Easter Seals Project ACTION’s The Route to Community Engagement, which focuses on involving the military community, resources on community involvement for transit planning are available through Transit Planning 4 All, a partnership between the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), Easter Seals Project ACTION, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4A). See Tools at the end of the chapter for more information. Step 3: Contact Organizations and Individuals Next, you need to contact the various organizations and individuals identi�ied in the �irst step and encourage their involvement. This may require time and, particularly when you reach out to VA organizations or a military installation, perseverance. VA and military organizations are very focused on their missions and objectives, and in some cases have historically functioned relatively independently from their communities. As you contact organizations and individuals, you can also share with them the initial engagement strategy that you and your core leadership group have chosen. As noted above, typically this is an initial planning meeting, but you

Page 4-5 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Local VSOs may have an understanding of the community transportation issues of their members. For example, at your local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post, start with the post commander who would likely direct you to the post service of�icer, whose role is to help other veterans gain access to government services and other services they require. may have other ideas for engagement. Whichever strategy you and the leadership choose, it should �it your community and it should be designed to get the information you need to move forward. Your �irst contact with organizations and individuals is an opportunity to collect baseline information. The types of questions to ask will differ for those organizations that work with veterans and the military community versus organizations that are primarily transportation service providers. And, with each new relationship you establish, ask for suggestions of other organizations or stakeholders to invite “to the table,” and encourage new participants to assist you in outreach to additional groups or individuals who can bene�it from your community’s endeavor to improve transportation for veterans, service members, and families. For organizations that work with veterans or the military community: o Develop an understanding of the speci�ic mission of the organization, its clientele within the veteran or military community, and if there are formal statutory or administrative requirements that they might be responding to. o Find out what they presently do relative to transportation. This might be actual provision of some type of transportation service; or they may facilitate transportation by providing vouchers or reimbursement for trips such as by taxi or personal vehicle; transportation assistance may be as basic as providing information on where to go to �ind transportation; or transportation for their clients or organizational members may not be something they address. o Ask if they have any issues or problems with their transportation arrangement. If so, this may be an opportunity to begin thinking about a possible strategy or solution to help meet that need. More on strategies to meet needs in Chapter 5. For organizations whose primary mission is transportation, you will want to focus on those that provide general public transportation as well as those providing specialized transportation for seniors and people with disabilities. o Identify the speci�ic mission of the organization, if you do not already know what that is. Organizations that provide some type of community transportation may potentially become part of the solution for improved community transportation, so it is good to contact these organizations and involve them at the beginning.

Page 4-6 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” The importance of perseverance. Getting someone from the military community to respond to your outreach may require perseverance. According to indings from a national summit, while the military has made progress in partnering with “outside the gate” organizations that provide support services, barriers remain that prevent the full potential collaboration between the military and those outside that are providing and offering support. National Leadership Summit on Military Families Summit, Final Report, prepared for the Under Secretary of Defense Military Community and Family Policy, November 2009. o Determine if the organization is presently providing transportation services to veterans, military service members or their families, and the nature and volume of such services. This will constitute baseline data on local transportation use and indicate possible areas of unmet need. A short form with suggested questions for collecting baseline information is provided in Tools at the end of this chapter. Suggesons for Outreach Suggestions for outreach follow, gleaned from the research project’s efforts. Outreach to Community Organizaons: Successful outreach requires perseverance. In-person, on-site outreach to partner and potential partner organizations may be most effective. Establishing personal relationships with leaders and key staff at organizations that you are targeting as partners is helpful. It may be useful to have a veteran on your staff to assist with and/or have responsibility for outreach. Outreach and engagement with the VA must recognize that it may be dificult to identify a single point of contact for VA transportation matters. A proven strategy to encourage participation and interaction at meetings is to provide food. Serving food provides an incentive to attend, and both the gathering together over the refreshment table and eating at shared tables encourage social interaction that can stimulate partnership formation. As simple as this may sound, an organization in Washington State cited providing good food at lunch as one of the factors in its success in reaching out to organizations that work with veterans. Outreach to a Military Installaon: Build a relationship with the leaders of the local or nearby military installation. If the installation has a Community Liaison Oficer, this may be a good person to get to know. You may ind this oficer in the installation’s phonebook or by contacting the ofice of the base commander. Find out the particular interests of the commanding oficer relative to community

Page 4-7 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” transportation. You will be more successful pursuing transportation improvements that meet the commander’s interests and that show how these improvements will beneit the installation. Realize that community transportation may not initially be high on the list of important issues for military leaders, at least outside of major urban areas. Understand what your community can offer to a military installation in terms of transportation, recognizing that the military will likely not have funding to support the service. Encourage participation of a military representative in local and regional planning efforts, such as the coordinated public transit-human service transportation plan or a local citizens’ advisory council to the local planning body or metropolitan planning organization (MPO). Outreach to Tribal Jurisdicons: According to the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, many Native American tribes have a strong military tradition within their cultures, and veterans are considered to be among their most honored members. Understand the sovereign nature of Native American tribes. This means that tribes can form their own governments, make and enforce laws, tax, establish and determine membership, license and regulate activities within their jurisdiction; set land-use zoning; and exclude persons (Indian and non-Indian) from tribal lands. Learn the governing structure of the tribe you would like to work with. Tribal governments have unique characteristics and there is signiicant variation. Tribal governments may be modeled after the Federal system of three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial. The chief executive may be a chairman, chairwoman or chairperson, or principal chief, governor, president, mayor, spokesperson, or representative. A tribe’s legislative body is usually called a tribal council, a village council, or a tribal business committee. Communicate with tribal administration as well as tribal businesses and health representatives. Outreach to Student Veterans: • Understand that developing partnerships with student veterans and student veteran organizations will take perseverance: the overwhelming priorities of these individuals are their studies in an environment where they do not always relate to their non-veteran peers and where they are adjusting to civilian life. Transportation may not be high on the list of concerns. • Communicate with the veteran services staff members at colleges and universities, as well as the leadership of student-run groups and

Page 4-8 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” organizations. The student-run groups often elect their leaders, and these individuals may be the most engaged and have the best understanding of their members’ needs and concerns. The leaders may also suggest others that you should contact for possible involvement. • Look through listings of student clubs and organizations on college and university websites to �ind student veterans groups. Contact information may also be provided. • Create a personal relationship with key members of the student groups; this will prove bene�icial and may bring new energy and useful information to your community’s transportation improvement endeavor. An overwhelming number of veterans want to support other veterans. TIP Start building a contact list in a simple database of organization names, contact individuals and their titles as well as contact information. Plan to add to this regularly as you identify potential new participants. Once your engagement strategy is underway, consider recording meeting attendance by the organizations within the database to help identify your strong participants as well as others you want to keep engaged or at least informed of your endeavor. Step 4: Implement the Engagement Strategy What you do at this step will depend on your engagement strategy. If your strategy involves an initial meeting, you will need to plan this event. The Easter Seals Project ACTION toolkit, The Route to Community Engagement, is a useful resource at this point. The engagement strategies used with success elsewhere can help you and your core leadership to design an engagement approach that �its your community and its resources and interests. Regardless of your initial engagement strategy, you should aim to achieve the following as participants come “to the table” at the beginning: Create an agenda, even if this is just a few bullets in an email announcement. Articulate the goal of what you are trying to do and why it is important. Introduce the various participants to each other. Invite discussion from participants about the transportation issues and needs of their clients or members.

Page 4-9 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” An early action may be to engage your partners by asking them to distribute a short e-survey to their clients or the individuals they serve. The survey would ask about transportation issues and common trips made. Chapter 5 suggests additional ideas about gathering information and also provides sample surveys. Look for common issues and problems; e.g., a lack of accessible vehicles? Inadequate transportation on weekends? Choose one or two topics to explore in depth, even at an initial meeting, with the purpose of identifying speci�ic activities to pursue. Encourage all participants to add to the discussion; the leader may need to call on those who seem reluctant to speak. Having everyone participate may prevent one or two participants from monopolizing the discussion. Discuss the process that will unfold (hopefully!). Outline what the next steps will be and consider how participants can move efforts forward. Plan for a follow-up meeting. In planning any follow-up meetings, take into account any feedback you have received on initial outreach activities. You may want to ask meeting participants to complete an evaluation form that solicits suggestions for additional activities and potential partners to invite next time. TIP Outreach efforts are not a one-time activity; they require ongoing attention not only to ensure continued engagement and participation of partner organizations but also to ensure identi�ication of transportation needs that may arise over time. Step 5: Continue and Maintain Engagement Whatever your engagement strategy is, you need to continue communication and dialogue. You will need the participation of the relevant organizations and individuals to continue the process of improving community transportation for veterans, service members, and their families. At ongoing meetings with partners, it is important to focus on the “concrete” rather than the conceptual to keep partners interested and engaged. Look for particular actions that can be taken, even at the early stages of your engagement process. This will also help you move more quickly from planning to action. Continuing engagement might involve one or more of the following: Additional meetings on a periodic basis. o For the core leadership group, meeting somewhat frequently will probably be necessary to carry on with the endeavor of improving community transportation for the target groups.

Page 4-10 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Participation in your community’s efforts to address veterans’ homelessness is a good way to promote and report on your leadership group’s efforts to improve transportation for veterans and also to recruit new partners. With the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development policy initiatives focused on reducing and ending veterans’ homelessness, many communities have a Homeless Coalition. These groups often have great interest in transportation topics because their constituents are transit dependent. According to the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, close to 63,000 veterans were homeless, based on “point-in- time” estimates, about 13% of all homeless adults. o For the larger group of invited and involved participants, meetings should be held periodically when there is a reason to meet. Meetings for the sake of meetings are not useful and will likely diminish interest in the endeavor. o For either group, there must be a balance to how often meetings are held—on one hand, you need concrete items to share or to do at meetings; on the other hand, if too infrequent, you will lose momentum. o And, when meetings are held, treat participants’ time with respect—prepare an agenda so the meeting is organized, follow the agenda and stick to topics, and make sure to start and end on time. A website, where news and achievements can be posted. The website can be designed to allow participants to provide comments and input, so the communication tool is a two-way method of communicating. There are online resources for creating a free website, for example, through weebly.com, wix.com, and sites.google.com. The National RTAP is another resource for a free website; see nationalrtap.org and the organization’s “Website Builder.” There are ready-to-use templates for designing a website, and easy-to-use tools for creating pages as well as adding and editing content. The National RTAP will even host the website for free. Workshops, designed around a particular aspect of your endeavor, for example, a collective identi‘ication of the transportation needs of veterans or military families associated with a speci‘ic installation. A short bulletin that keeps participants informed of ongoing actions and achievements. Participation by leaders of the core leadership group in visible, related collaborative or coalitions whose interests overlap with yours and that include some of the participants whom you are trying to engage. Regular, but not too frequent, email sharing of the accomplishments of your efforts with the partner stakeholder listing. TIP At each meeting, re-state the “mission” of the transportation improvement endeavor. This helps to remind returning individuals why they are meeting (“coming to the table”). And this is a particularly important introduction for individuals who may be new to the group (e.g., when the representative of a partner organization changes, a common occurrence with such efforts).

Page 4-11 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Beyond this initial outreach phase, ongoing outreach and communication are important to educate the community about the services that are available to veterans, military personnel, and their families. In order for those who work directly with veterans to effectively share this information with their veteran program participants, they need to have easy access to up-to-date information about available services. This type of outreach will be covered in Chapter 9, Communication. The partnerships you establish during this outreach phase can be important connections for getting the word out about transportation services at later stages. Step 6: Learn from Successful Coordination Experiences of Others The transportation industry has pursued transportation improvement through coordination for more than 30 years. Lessons learned over the years include: Ongoing communication is important. Collecting data and sharing that information among participants supports coordination. Every participant may have something to add, so listening to everyone involved is bene�icial. It takes time for trust to develop among participants. Incremental or phased progress often is more successful in the end. Time spent developing support, resources,and a framework for coordination will pay off in long run, in terms of future growth and stability of the effort. There may be no apparent bene�its in the short run.

Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Page 4-12 Chapter 4: Community Tools 4.1 Easter Seals Project ACTION Toolkit on Outreach: VTCLI Community Engagement Toolkit 4.2 Checklist of Organizaons and Agencies to Potenally Include for Outreach 4.3 Transit Planning 4 All: Resources for Community Engagement for Transit Planning 4.4 Suggested Quesons to Ask with Inial Contact to Collect Baseline Informaon

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 4-13 4.1 Easter Seals Project ACTION Toolkit on Outreach The Easter Seals Project ACTION VTCLI Community Engagement Toolkit provides an extensive set of tools for outreach, with templates for invitation letters, questionnaires, meeting agendas, RVSP forms, press releases, checklists, meeting participant, evaluation forms, etc. The Toolkit includes eight steps, with customizable resources provided for review, adaptation, and use. The Toolkit also provides links to additional resources, including guidance for conducting surveys and focus groups. The components in the Easter Seals Project ACTION Toolkit include: • Step One: Introducing yourself to local military leaders • Step Two: Selecting a community engagement activity • Step Three: Scheduling a meeting date and location • Step Four: De�ining the purpose, agenda and participants • Step Five: Planning the community engagement meeting • Step Six: Implementing the community engagement meeting • Step Seven: Following up with participants and assigned tasks after the community engagement meeting • Step Eight: Expanding military community involvement in the transportation planning process The Toolkit can be found through this link: http://www.projectaction.org/Initiatives/Veterans/VTCLICommunityEngagementToolkit.aspx For more information, Easter Seals Project ACTION can be contacted at: 800-659-6428 www.projectaction.org

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Page 4-14 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 4.2 Checklist of Organizations and Agencies to Potentially Include for Outreach This checklist is a guide to assist your community in looking for organizations and individuals to consider as candidates to come “to the table” and participate in local efforts to improve community transportation. Note that the names of local organizations and programs in your community may be different from those shown in the checklist below. Who you ultimately reach out to will depend on the organizations in your community and how you de�ine “your community.” Organizations and programs that provide services to veterans: DAV VFW American Legion AMVETS VA Medical Center Other VA medical facilities VA VTS program Your state’s county/regional veterans service of�ice (locate here: http://nacvso.org/�ind-a-service-of�icer/) Local U.S. DOL Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives Program (LVER) staff who assist veterans with employment and training; �ind through this locator: http://dvoplverlocator.nvti.ucdenver.edu/default.aspx The veterans’ student services at local your local community college The veterans’ student services at other area colleges and universities Veterans’ groups or clubs at local colleges and universities. These may be af�iliates of larger student organizations, such as Student Veterans of America (www.studentveterans.org), or may be school-speci�ic veteran groups. Other Veterans Service Organizations (there may be additional local organizations in your community that work with veterans) ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Organizations that provide services to active military and their families: Military installations http://www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil/MOS/f?p=MI:ENTRY:0 The Community Liaison Of�ice or equivalent on your local military installation Blue Star Families www.bluestarfam.org/ Operation Homefront www.operationhomefront.net/map.aspx

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 4-15 4.2 Checklist of Organizations and Agencies to Potentially Include for Outreach (continued) Yellow Ribbon Program (National Guard and Reserve) www.jointservicessupport.org/OSD/ USMC Wounded Warrior Regiment www.woundedwarriorregiment.org/ Army Wounded Warrior wtc.army.mil/aw2/index.html Air Force Wounded Warrior www.woundedwarrior.af.mil/ US Special Operations Command www.socom.mil/default.aspx Fisher House www.�isherhouse.org/ Organizations that provide services to or advocacy for people with disabilities: Independent Living Center (�ind your local ILC here: http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html) Mobility managers The local of�ice for your state’s Vocational Rehabilitation program The local of�ice for your state’s Mental Health program Local Easter Seals af�iliate (�ind your local af�iliate here: http://www.easterseals.com/) Easter Seals military and veterans services: http://www.easterseals.com/our-programs/military-veterans/) Local Goodwill Industries: http://www.goodwill.org/goodwill-for-you/specialized-services/veterans/) Organizations that provide services to and education for job-seekers: The local of�ice of your state’s employment program The local Workforce Development organization, including the Disability Program Navigator if your state offers this initiative Organizations that provide transportation services: Public transit agencies Specialized transportation service providers Volunteer transportation programs Mobility management organizations Rideshare organizations (carpool/vanpool matching) Organizations that provide general information and referral services: The area 2-1-1 provider (organization that staffs the phone number reserved for community social services referral) Your local United Way Community organizations who serve non-native English speakers

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Page 4-16 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 4.3 Transit Planning 4 All: Resources for Community Engagement for Transit Planning The objective of Transit Planning 4 All is to encourage “inclusive transportation partnerships to promote community living.” Created through collaboration between the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), Easter Seals Project ACTION, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4A), the initiative encourages communities to include older adults and people with disabilities in transit planning efforts to improve coordination and inclusive transportation services. Information is available at: www.transitplanning4all.org Among the resources provided on the website are bibliographies that list reports and publications on community outreach and engagement, as well as a listing of individual publications, including a number of Transit Cooperative Research Project (TCRP) reports. See the website for a full listing; a sampling of the listed reports is shown below. TCRP Synthesis 89: Public Participation Strategies for Transit TCRP Synthesis 85: Effective Use of Citizen Advisory Committees for Transit Planning Operations Engaging the Public Through On-line Media, University of North Carolina School of Government

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 4-17 4.4 Suggested Quesons to Ask with Inial Contact to Collect Baseline Informaon l. Organizaon Informaon Organizaon Phone Number Contact Email Address ll. Type of Organizaon Public Volunteer organizaon Private, non-profit Faith-based organizaon Private, for-profit Individual lll. Organizaon’s Primary Focus? Working with veterans or acve military Providing transportaon service Other: lV. Organizaons with Primary Focus on Veterans or Acve Military 1. Mission of organizaon: 2. Involvement with transportaon No transportaon provided, operated, contracted, or arranged Operate transportaon service Contract for transportaon service Subsidize transportaon through purchase of bus passes, payment or reimbursement for bus or taxi fares, and/or mileage reimbursement Provide referrals to available transportaon resources Other: 3. Are there any problems or issues with transporta on? If so, what are these? V. Organiza ons with Primary Focus on Transporta on 1. Who is eligible for the transporta on service? General public Seniors and people with disabili es Other: 2. Do you provide transporta on for veterans? Yes Not Sure Probably, but ridership informa on does not specify if riders are veterans No 3. Do you provide transporta on for ac ve military service members? Yes Not Sure Probably, but ridership informa on does not specify if riders are ac ve military No

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table?” Page 4-18 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 4.4 Suggested Quesons to Ask with Inial Contact to Collect Baseline Informaon (connued) 4. If you serve veterans and/or acve military with your transportaon service, are there any issues with serving these rider groups? If so, what are these? Vl. To ask all organizaons contacted: We hope to include all organizaons in our community that serve veterans and the military community in our efforts to improve community transportaon for their benefit. Can we count on your organizaon to be a partner with us as we work towards improving transportaon? Yes Probably Not Sure Probably Not Vll. Any addional comments:

Chapter 4 Outreach: “Getting the Right People to the Table” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 4-19 Chapter 4: Additional Resources Armed Forces Services Corporation, for the Federal Transit Administration and the National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation Coordination, March 7, 2012, A Guide to Serving Your Military Community, a Technical Assistance Document in Support of the Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/VTCLI__A_Guide_to_Serving_Your_Military_Community_2012-03-07.pdf Federal Transit Administration, Coordination Public Transit—Human Service Transportation Plan guidance, in proposed circular for Section 5310, dated 7-11-13, https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/07/11/2013-16624/enhanced-mobility-for-seniors-and-individuals-with-disabilities-proposed-circular#h-9 Federal Transit Administration, “VTCLI—Community Resources: Potential Partners;” see http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/12305_13537.html U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Frequently Asked Questions; http://www.bia.gov/FAQs/index.htm

Next: Chapter 5 - Planning: What Do We Do Now? »
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TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 164: Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families explores ways to enhance transportation options for veterans, military service members, and their families by building on the concepts of transportation coordination and mobility management.

The report provides guidance and tools to assess transportation needs of veterans, service members, and their families and ways to potentially improve public transit, specialized transportation, volunteer services, and other local transportation options needed to meet those needs.

The report includes foundational information on community transportation services and initiatives currently available for veterans, service members, and their families. The report is designed to guide users through an organized process to help improve transportation options, building on the framework of coordination.

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