Earlier this year, MDRC launched a pilot of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) for returning veterans with disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder, with initial funding from The Boeing Company. MDRC is pleased to announce that three new funders have recently provided grants to support the project: The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust, and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

Members of the armed forces who were injured during service or are suffering from mental health conditions or post-traumatic stress disorder often struggle with returning to civilian life and employment. Many have significant needs for quality vocational rehabilitation programs. The problem of low employment rates for injured service members has only become more urgent with the wave of veterans with disabilities returning from Iraq and Afghanistan — the largest in a generation.

PGAP is the first disability program that is specifically designed to target the psychosocial risk factors of disability. A 10-module program designed to incrementally increase participants’ activity levels and change daily routines to be consistent with holding employment (for example, waking up at a regular time), PGAP also tries to reduce participants’ perceptions of disability and to help them better manage pain and discomfort. Current research evidence, including from MDRC’s Accelerated Benefits Demonstration, suggests that PGAP could be an important service for veterans with disabilities.

This project will explore the feasibility of conducting PGAP within the veterans system to improve employment outcomes and community reintegration for veterans with disabilities. The research team has selected two sites: the Errera Community Care Center at the VA Connecticut Health Care System and the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas.

More about the funders of this project:

• The Boeing Company is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space, and security systems. A top U.S. exporter, the company supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in 150 countries. Boeing and its employees have a long history of support for military personnel, veterans, and their families, recognizing that service in defense of a nation is an enduring mission. Boeing was the first investor in the PGAP pilot.
   
• The mission of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is to help reduce health disparities by strengthening community-based health care worker capacity, integrating medical care and community-based supportive services, and mobilizing communities in the fight against disease.
   
• The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. To carry out this responsibility, the Trust supports a wide array of physical and psychological rehabilitation programs and continues to seek new and innovative ways to make a positive difference in the lives of disabled veterans and their families.
   
• The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is among the oldest and largest of more than 700 community foundations in the United States and remains the largest grantmaker in a region of twenty-towns located in the heart of central Connecticut. Its mission is to create positive and sustainable change in Connecticut's Greater New Haven region by increasing the amount of and enhancing the impact of community philanthropy. Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, millions of dollars each year are distributed from an endowment of approximately $330 million in more than 800 named funds at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.