Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships

Transcription

1 Nomination Title: Nomination Category: State: The Texas Veterans Portal Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships Texas

2 A. Executive Summary There are 1.8 million veterans in the state of Texas with a forecast for rapid population growth of that group, their survivors and care-takers. In May, 2010 the Texas House of Representatives' Defense & Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Office of the Governor asked the Department of Information Resources (DIR) and the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) to improve and clarify online access to veterans services and information. Numerous federal, state, and local government agencies and non-profit organizations have programs and services specifically for the veteran community. These resources are changing rapidly to meet the needs of their growing population. The existing state veterans portal was due for a content and usability refresh, but this is topic veterans resources that requires specialized collaboration and focus to keep the content accurate and alive. In June, 2010, DIR and TVC partnered with Texas.gov, the official portal of the state to 1. Redesign the Texas Veterans Portal to improve navigation and usability, 2. Edit, vet and organize the content of the Texas Veterans Portal, and 3. Develop an oversight body committed to making sure the portal met the needs of veterans in the best ways possible. The recently launched Texas.gov website hosted the portal on a new architectural platform that provides streamlined navigation and search capabilities. Agencies and organizations with content on the old portal reviewed and revised their information, invited new sources to add information, and, with the help of web analytics and usability expertise, organized a clean, well-lighted place full of veteran resources. And finally, the Veterans Portal Advisory Council (VPAC) was formed to provide oversight and governance on the portal design, and ensure that the portal content stays fresh and relevant. The new Texas Veterans Portal was launched in October, Thus far, this new portal and its advisory council have improved access to services, reduced the need for customer support personnel, and allowed agencies and organization to connect Texas Veterans, their families, survivors, and care-givers with the resources they need and deserve.

3 B. Description of the Business Problem and Solution In the State of Texas the governor s office, the legislature, and veteran-supporting agencies are committed to providing a single portal for Texas veterans. The legacy TexasOnline hosted Texas Veterans Portal was outdated, visually overwhelming, and did not promote an understanding of which agency provided what veteran services. Communication and collaboration between agencies providing content was lacking. A collaborative effort between the Department of Information Resources, the Texas Veterans Commission and other resource providers, and Texas.gov provided significant improvements to the Texas Veterans Portal. This collaborative group identified entities that offer veterans services, selected high-value introductory information and eligibility forms, and organized all the best information into one official source. Keeping information simple and direct, services were intuitively organized into the major categories: Additional important categories of information include Community Resources and FAQs collected from participating service and resource providers. To formalize the vital stakeholder collaboration, the Veterans Portal Advisory Council (VPAC) was formed. The purpose of the VPAC is to provide a forum for discussion and collaboration concerning the purpose and content of the Texas Veterans Portal. The objectives of the VPAC are to: Ensure that Texas Veterans Portal provides easy accesss to relevant resources and information for Texas Veterans. Identify and define content of Texas Veteranss Portal. Provide input and feedback to the content andd change management processes for requirements. The Council brings the veterans point of view to the project providing guidance on content and usability. The wide range of the collaborative membership ensures resources are brought to the governance e table from many valuable perspectives. Membership includes: Texas Veterans Commission Texas Workforce Commission Texas Veterans Land Board (Texas General Land Office)

4 2-1-1 (Texas Health and Human Services Commission) TexVET (Texas A&M Health Science Center) Office of the Governor Office of Texas State and U.S. Representatives The Texas Army National Guard (Camp Mabry) Department of Information Resources C. Significance of the Project The project aligns with the State leaders commitment to provide a single portal for Texas Veterans. The redesigned Texas Veterans Portal provides a single point of entry for veterans to all benefits and services that are available from local and state providers. The design of the portal carries over the look and feel of Texas.gov for a seamless user experience. Modern, best practice design elements were used, such as larger font sizes, gradients, simple icons, use of white space, and typographic design. Additionally, the Texas flag color theme denotes state pride. Instead of distracting users with visuals and loaded content, the friendly, plain language content directs users exactly where they need to go. The new architectural platform supports numerous analytical tools that provide metrics that are being used to monitor overall visits to the portal and where users are going. The Veterans Portal Advisory Council played a significant role in the portal redesign and will continue to drive the success of the Veterans Portal. The commitment of the Council ensures that information on the portal will be consistently clear and up to date. D. Benefits of the project Benefits Realized by Service Recipients Veterans, their families, survivors and caregivers come to the Texas Veterans Portal to download eligibility and application forms, locate community resources, and get answers to questions frequently asked about veteran services and opportunities. These resources are available around the clock every day in English and Spanish and are accessible for people with disabilities. Benefits Realized by Agencies In the first three months after the portal launched, the Texas Veterans Commission saw substantial increase in traffic to their website coming from the Veterans Portal. They

5 also received fewer support calls asking for directions to services. This, in turn, freed TVC personnel resources to focus more on complex calls and research. The Texas Veterans Portal serves as free advertising for smaller but critical state and local service providers, increasing their profile and making their services and opportunities known to the people they were designed to serve. The collaboration itself produced the benefits of shared resources. The Veterans Commission was able to launch an online application to accept donations for their Fund for Veterans Assistance, a program that awards grants to charitable organizations, local government agencies, and others that provide services such as transportation, counseling, and emergency financial assistance. Being able to take donations online increased donations and again freed personnel resources to focus on veterans needs. In addition, the Texas Workforce Commission provided veterans a job search plug-in for the Texas Veterans Commission employment page. This linking of state agencies helps veterans find jobs, assists who are interested in hiring veterans, and supports both agencies in meeting their commitment to veterans. Benefits Realized by Taxpayers If a service can be provided before a need turns into an emergency, the service saves time, money, frustration and pain. The Texas Veterans Portal, by assisting the veteran community in finding and providing resources, gets people to available services as quickly as possible. Privatizing veterans assistance with the Fund for Veterans Assistance donation site saves taxpayers from bearing those assistance expenses. Making job searches convenient and efficient expands the taxpayer base, lessoning the tax burden on existing taxpayers. The Texas Veterans Portal was built without any taxpayer funds, yet because of the way it supports veterans, their families, survivors and care takers, and because of the efficiencies it provides state agencies, taxpayer dollars go farther and more effectively in repaying those who have already given so much.