Disabled Veteran’s Affirmative Action Program Plan

In accordance with Title 5, of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 720, subpart C – Disabled Veterans Affirmative Action Program (DVAAP), Bonneville Power Administration is required to develop an annual DVAAP Action Plan. The FY05 Bonneville Power Administration DVAAP action plan is effective for the time period of 10/01/04 through 09/31/05, and will be accessible to all employees on the BPA Employment Website located at www.jobs.bpa.gov .

By regulation, agency DVAAP plans must include the following: A statement of agency policy with regard to the employment and advancement of disabled veterans, especially those who are 30% or more disabled; the name and title of the official assigned overall responsibility for the development and implementation of the plan; an assessment of the current status of disabled veteran employment within the agency (with emphasis on those veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled; a description of recruitment methods which will be used to seek out disabled veteran applicants, including special steps to be taken to recruit veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled; a description of how the agency will provide or improve internal advancement opportunities for disabled veterans; and a description of how the agency will monitor, review, and evaluate its planned efforts. We have detailed our compliance with these requirements below.

Statement of agency policy regarding the employment and advancement of disabled veterans:

BPA strongly supports the recruitment and hiring of disabled veterans, and is committed to providing advancement opportunities as well as career guidance and counseling to all employees (including disabled veterans) after hire.

The name and title of the official assigned overall responsibility for the development and implementation of the plan :

A major accomplishment for FY04 was the designation of a DVAAP Coordinator to serve as the point of contact (POC) for veteran's employment issues. Debbie Deines was appointed as the DVAAP Coordinator, and is responsible for oversight of the program, as well as the development and implementation of the action plan. Debbie will also be responsible for veteran outreach, veteran recruitment, and the development of partnerships with internal clients and external community contacts to provide an effective program for disabled veterans. She can be reached at (360) 418-2778 (CHP-CSB2 ).

An assessment of the current status of disabled veteran employment within the agency (with emphasis on those veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled). (Note: see attachment 1 “FY04 Veteran's Employment Status Report” for details).

BPA currently has a total of 3176 employees. Of that total, 125 or 4% are disabled veterans, 38 or 1% are 30% or more disabled veterans, and 824 or 26% are disabled and/orViet Nam era veterans. BPA hired a total of 96 new employees in FY 04. Of that total, , 11 disabled and Viet Nam Era veterans were hired representing 12% of FY04's total new hires. Of the 11 veterans hired, 57% were disabled.

A description of recruitment methods which will be used to seek out disabled veteran applicants, including special steps to be taken to recruit veterans who are 30 percent or more disabled:

FY05 will be a year of continued emphasis on military outreach promoting BPA as an employer of choice. We will provide continued contact with Veteran's organizations, including providing briefings to organizations that promote BPA and Federal employment opportunities, methods to apply, and benefits to veterans employed by the Federal Government.

In FY 04, we conducted onsite employment presentations at the following local military installations:

Bremerton Naval Station – Bremerton , WA
Everett Naval Station – Everett , WA
Bangor Sub Base – Keyport , WA
Fairchild AFB – Spokane , WA
Ft. Lewis Army Base – Tacoma , WA

Other contacts were made with the following military installations:

Ft. Hood Army Base – Ft. Hood , TX
Ft. Leavenworth Army Base – Leavenworth , KS
Ft. Shafter Army Base - Honolulu , HI
Ft. Wainwright Army Base – Fairbanks , AK
Schofield Army Base – Oahu , HI
Bolling AFB – Washington DC
Hickam AFB – Honolulu , HI
McCord AFB - Tacoma , WA
Beale AFB – Sacramento , CA
Hill AFB - Salt Lake City , UT
Mountain Home AFB – Mountain Home , ID
Sheppard AFB – Wichita Falls , TX
Vandenberg AFB - Santa Barbara , CA
Naval District Washington DC – Washington DC
Ventura County Naval Base - Ventura/LA, CA
San Diego Naval Base – San Diego , CA
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station – Whidbey, Island , WA
Lemoore Naval Air Station - Lemoore/Fresno, CA
North Island Naval Air Station - San Diego , CA
Camp Pendleton - San Diego / LA, CA
Marine Corps Recruit Depot – San Diego , CA
Miramar Marine Air Station – San Diego , CA
Twenty Nine Palms - SE Cal/San Diego, CA

Also, in August 04 a BPA recruiter was a guest speaker at Bremerton Naval Station, speaking about career opportunities within BPA. This visit was sponsored by the Department of Labor and the Veteran's Administration.

Continue to build partnerships. We will continue to pursue partnerships within BPA, with other organizations, and in the local community to support Disabled Veterans programs and the hiring of veterans in the Federal Service. We will seek new ways to communicate employment information, and to provide resources to support Veterans in BPA's workforce.

Continue to maintain the “Applicant Supply File” for 30% or more disabled Veterans and refer applications for consideration on open vacancies as appropriate.

We will also be distributing appropriate vacancies to the following military Transitional Assistance Program (TAP) contacts.

A description of how the agency will provide or improve internal advancement opportunities for disabled veterans:

• Career Services Workshops and training for: “Understanding the Application Process”, “Resume Writing”, “and Development of KSA's”, and “How to prepare for an interview”.
• BPA encourages all employees, including disabled veterans, to complete an individual development plan with their manager, which is used to identify training needs necessary to be successful in their current position, and in possible future advancement opportunities.
• Individual Career counseling and application coaching.
• Outplacement Services are provided during VERA/VSI for employees. Recipients are granted the opportunity to attend workshops focusing on: Career Transition, Active Retirement, or Entrepreneurship in addition to receiving one-on-one career counseling which may include: discussion around working strategies either on the job or towards a new professional goal, development of a life/action plan to incorporate work, leisure and relationships in retirement, reviewing and examining resumes, practicing interview techniques, learning to articulate information in a concrete form, and examining ways to verbalize accomplishments both on the job and in the community.
• Online Career Services allows employees to research leading-edge job opportunities and have access to invaluable career development resources. Topics include: Application Process, Application Packet, Federal Resumes, KSAs, Interviewing Strategies, Competency Based Interviews, Where to find jobs, and Choosing the Right Career.

Reasonable Accommodation Program:

• BPA's Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Policy in Personnel Letter 900-2 covers all employees of BPA, regardless of type and duration of appointment, and all applicants for BPA positions, including disabled veterans, who meet the definition of “qualified individual with a disability”. It also provides limited coverage for certain temporary services employees.
• BPA provides a variety of reasonable accommodations to veterans with disabilities. Where appropriate, these include: job restructuring, modified work schedules, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices.

We will also continue to improve and add to the information on BPA's Employment website which pertains to veterans (including disabled veterans).

A description of how the agency will monitor, review, and evaluate its planned efforts: