[ADD] VBA services (batch 2) to Service Taxonomy

[davidmpickett]

Which Taxonomy is this term for?

VA services taxonomy

Proposed terms

Label	Machine Name	Health Service API ID
Careers and employment	careers-and-employment	EducationAndCareerCounseling
Compensation benefits for survivors	compensation-benefits-for-survivors	FamilyMemberClaimAssistance*
Creating an account for VA.gov Veteran profile information	creating-account-for-vagov	eBenefitsRegistrationAssistance
Direct deposit information	direct-deposit-information	UpdatingDirectDepositInformation
Fiduciary services Financial services	fiduciary-services	FiduciaryServices
Military sexual trauma-related claims	military-sexual-trauma-claims	MilitarySexualTraumaClaims
Pre-discharge claims	pre-discharge-claims	PreDischargeClaimAssistance
Pre-need burial planning Burial in a VA cemetery	pre-need-burial-planning	PreNeedBurialPlanning
Transition assistance	transition-assistance	TransitionAssistance
VetSuccess on Campus	vet-success-on-campus	VetSuccessOnCampus

*Suggesting this as best fit for mapping the legacy Facilities API ID, even though it isn't perfect

Rejected terms

Proposed name	Decision	Comments
Caregiver support	Do not add	This is not a service which should be advertised as a VBA service. If necessary, ROs refer to the VHA Caregivers program
Integrated Disability Evaluation System	Do not add	Feedback indicates that this is a DOD program supported by the VA, not a VA program. The military initiates the IDES process, not the service member. VBA role in this will be represented by the Pre-discharge claim service term

Does this overlap with any existing term in the taxonomy?

No

Rationale for adding this term

Follow up from batch 1

Which products will this term impact?

VBA Regional Office

Have stakeholders from impacted products been consulted?

Yes

Have you drafted content for all the relevant subfields?

• Original source of truth for all VBA services content VBA Services
• Will need to draft subfields for Direct deposit information

Acceptance Criteria

End of sprint 101 update - 2 points

• [ADD] VBA services (batch 2) to Service Taxonomy #16269 (comment) proposed labels, machine names, and API IDs for 10 terms
• Updated source of truth spreadsheet

Sprint 102 - 3 points

• Terms labels that need additional review and approval are sent to relevant taxonomy governance body
  • Message to CAIA is drafted.
• If approved, a Drupal admin from Product team may add the term to the taxonomy
• Content for subfields is drafted in Drupal by Product team
  • Careers and employment
  • Direct deposit information
  • Military sexual trauma-related claims
  • Pre-discharge claims
  • VetSuccess on Campus
• Links to Drupal Terms with drafted subfields is shared for further feedback/approvals
  • For VBA review
  • Careers and employment
  • Direct deposit information
  • Military sexual trauma-related claims
  • Pre-discharge claims
  • VetSuccess on Campus

[mmiddaugh]

Capturing VBA and Taxonomy Council input to date

Proposed name	Decision	Comments
Burial in a VA cemetery	See comment	Flagged as core VBA service but name may need wordsmithing or emphasis on "planning" to distinguish from Burials and Memorials
Compensation benefits for survivors	Add	Thank you for incorporating the proposed name change
Careers and employment	Add	Flagged as core VBA service
Caregiver support	Do not add	This is not a service which should be advertised as a VBA service. If necessary, ROs refer to the VHA Caregivers program
Direct deposit information	Add - see comment	Should this be named "Direct deposit assistance"? Flagged as a core VBA service
Financial services	Add - see comment	Proposed name change to "Fiduciary services"
Grief and bereavement counseling	Do not add - see comment	This does not need to be added. It is already a listed service
Integrated Disability Evaluation System	Do not add	Feedback indicates that this is a DOD program supported by the VA, not a VA program. The military initiates the IDES process, not the service member. VBA role in this will be represented by the Pre-discharge claim service term
Medical records	pending additional discussion
Pre-discharge claims	pending additional discussion
Returning service member care	pending additional discussion
Transition help	pending additional discussion
Veteran profile information	Add - see comment	This was flagged as a core VBA service but the name needs wordsmithing. Suggested: "Online account registration" or incorporation of "VA.gov" "VA.gov account assistance"?
VetSuccess on Campus	Add	Flagged as a core service

[davidmpickett]

Moved Medical records to #16463 because it is an update of existing term not an addition

[davidmpickett]

@mmiddaugh @aklausmeier @xiongjaneg Potential ticket for me to take on in sprint 100 /101 depending on priority. I separated out the list in the main description to focus on the 8 terms that seem to have consensus (though I will need to wordsmith some of them.)

Shifted a couple terms to other tickets based on feedback here and in Sharepoint doc.

[davidmpickett]

Name	Decision	Comments
Grief and bereavement counseling	Do not add - see comment	This does not need to be added. It is already a listed service

@mmiddaugh Want to clarify this comment. Is this saying that Grief and bereavement should not be listed as a VBA service, or simply pointing out that it would be an UPDATE to an existing term rather than a net ADDition?

[mmiddaugh]

@davidmpickett good question about Grief and bereavement - apologies for not being more clear.

• Grief and bereavement counseling was identified as a core service by some Regional offices.
• This issue adds Label, Machine Name, and Health Service API ID for VBA services.
• Since Grief and bereavement counseling is already present in the VA service taxonomy, I don't think anything is needed in this round.

[davidmpickett]

@mmiddaugh Awesome, thanks for clarification. I'm splitting that off into a separate issue: #16503

I also just created a new issue template to GitHub to handle this type of Taxonomy work. Also covers Medical Records

[davidmpickett]

Health Service API IDs - unmatched

• ApplyingForBenefits
• IntegratedDisabilityEvaluationSystemAssistance

Health Service API IDs - Matched to a term in Drupal

• BurialClaimAssistance = Burials and memorials
• DisabilityClaimAssistance = Disability compensation
• eBenefitsRegistrationAssistance = Veteran profile information
• EducationAndCareerCounseling = Careers and employment
• EducationClaimAssistance = Education benefits for Veterans
• FamilyMemberClaimAssistance = Compensation benefits for survivors
• HomelessAssistance = Homeless Veteran support
• InsuranceClaimAssistanceAndFinancialCounseling = Life Insurance
• Pensions = Veterans Pension
• PreDischargeClaimAssistance = Pre-discharge claims
• TransitionAssistance = Transition help
• UpdatingDirectDepositInformation = Direct deposit information
• VAHomeLoanAssistance = Home loans
• VocationalRehabilitationAndEmploymentAssistance = Veteran Readiness and Employment programs

[mmiddaugh]

@davidmpickett based on most recent RO conversations, here are the revised descriptions for the pending service taxons. I think they're ready to be added and reviewed by CAIA.

Disability Compensation, Pre-discharge claims, and Appeals

• The Regional office cannot help with filing pre-discharge claims (they are initiated before separation) or certain tasks for pre-discharge claims (IDES and BDD need to handled by a MSC or PEBLO)
• Although Regional offices can help check claim and higher level review status, they cannot assist once it is with the Board of Veteran Appeals.

Pre-discharge claims

• VBA Type of care: Service member benefits
• (Proposed) VBA National description: We can guide you through the disability compensation process. If you've already initiated a claim or higher-level review, we can help you check the status. If you already receive disability benefits, we can help address any payment issues. If you need help with the IDES process, we may refer you to your PEBLO or MSC.

Disability compensation

• VBA Type of care: Veteran benefits
• (Revised) proposed VBA National description: We can guide you through the disability compensation process. We can help you understand your eligibility, start a claim, or complete your paperwork. If you've already initiated a claim or higher-level review, we can help you check the status. If you already receive disability benefits, we can help address any payment issues.

---

Returning service member care and Transition assistance

Returning service member care was determined to be separate from Transition assistance because

• different audiences: Service member vs Veteran
• restarting health care after returning from service is particular to Reservists and Guard members who were receiving disability before deployment

Returning service member care

• Already available: Health Service API ID transitionCounseling, Add VBA Type of care: Service member benefits
• (Revised) proposed VBA National description: If you’re in the Reserves or National Guard and returning from military service, we can help you readjust to civilian life. We can help you apply for or restart VA health care and understand other benefits that you may be eligible for. We can help you file claims or connect you with programs that offer mental health services and education and career counseling.

Transition assistance

• suggest using assistance or information rather than help which can be perceived as insulting
• Add to VA service taxonomy, VBA Type of care: Veteran benefits
• (Revised) proposed VBA National description: We can help you prepare for the move from military to civilian life by learning about VA benefits that you may be eligible for. We can also help you find out which time-sensitive benefits to consider when separating or retiring.

[davidmpickett]

Name	Action	Comment
Integrated Disability Evaluation System	Do not add	Feedback indicates that this is a DOD program supported by the VA, not a VA program. The military initiates the IDES process, not the service member. VBA role in this will be represented by the Pre-discharge claim service term

@mmiddaugh Just making some additional notes on this now for sake of thoroughness.

• Our decision not to add IDES to the VA Service Taxonomy for the Regional Office Pilot MVP doesn't mean that it won't ever be added.
• During Public Contact research, I did hear about some IDES employees working out of Regional Offices
• IDES facilities are also part of the overall VBA product, even if they are out of scope for the RO modernization effort.

P12 - "There is only one person in our office that does that [IDES].... [Service Members might visit the RO] if they wanted to meet with that person [but would likely schedule that meeting directly]."

P9 - "I supervise the Military Specialist Coordinators that do the IDES but that is separate from Public Contact... IDES is completely different, and not something that I, personally, think should be on the website."

[davidmpickett]

@xiongjaneg @jilladams - This ticket will likely roll over the sprint boundary but should be closed next week. I just remembered that Monday is a holiday. That plus my sick days and other tickets taking priority means it won't quite hit the sprint report.

[davidmpickett]

EASY PEASY

These labels were copy-edited and approved by CAIA in the summer round of feedback. VBA stakeholders have confirmed these as core services and agree on the names.

Label	Machine Name	Health Service API ID
Careers and employment	careers-and-employment	EducationAndCareerCounseling
Direct deposit information	direct-deposit-information	UpdatingDirectDepositInformation
Military sexual trauma-related claims	military-sexual-trauma-claims	MilitarySexualTraumaClaims
Pre-discharge claims	pre-discharge-claims	PreDischargeClaimAssistance
VetSuccess on Campus	vet-success-on-campus	VetSuccessOnCampus

THINKY SLINKY

These names have changed since the last CAIA review. We may want to get their review before adding to Drupal. Some of these were changed based on VBA stakeholder feedback. Others were changed based on usability testing findings.

New Label	Previous label	Machine Name	Health Service API ID	Notes
Compensation benefits for survivors	Compensation benefits for family members	compensation-benefits-for-survivors	FamilyMemberClaimAssistance	Suggesting this as best fit for mapping the legacy Facilities API ID
Creating an account for VA.gov	Veteran profile information	creating-account-for-vagov	eBenefitsRegistrationAssistance	While "an account for VA.gov" is wordy, we can't say "VA.gov account" per style guide. Trying to contort this to remove the active verb from the start would leave us with something like "Account creation for VA.gov".
Fiduciary services	Financial services	fiduciary-services	FiduciaryServices
Pre-need burial planning	Burial in a VA cemetery	pre-need-burial-planning	PreNeedBurialPlanning	Note that this mirrors the established pattern of "Couples and family counseling" and "Toxic exposure screening"
Transition assistance	Transition help	transition-assistance	TransitionAssistance

[davidmpickett]

@jilladams @xiongjaneg

End of sprint 101 update

• Drafted proposed labels, machine names, and API IDs for 10 terms
• Updated source of truth spreadsheet
• Various other housekeeping updates on this and related tickets

For sprint 102

• Discussion and approvals (UX sync)
• Adding approved terms to Drupal
• Adding subfields in Drupal
• Sharing for further feedback/approvals

[davidmpickett]

Terms to add to the Service Taxonomy and save as Draft

Name	Health Service API ID
Careers and employment	EducationAndCareerCounseling
Direct deposit information	UpdatingDirectDepositInformation
Military sexual trauma-related claims	MilitarySexualTraumaClaims
Pre-discharge claims	PreDischargeClaimAssistance
VetSuccess on Campus	VetSuccessOnCampus

[davidmpickett]

Made good progress on sub fields today. Also messaged CAIA on slack to ask how they want to get notified when stuff is ready for more input.

[davidmpickett]

DRAFT request to CAIA department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team#74390

[davidmpickett]

My work on this is complete, pending final feedback and direction on what to send to CAIA from @mmiddaugh. This is on the agenda for UX sync tomorrow.

FYI @jilladams @xiongjaneg I made the ACs more specific

[jilladams]

Follow on ticket: #17046

Slack thread: https://dsva.slack.com/archives/C0FQSS30V/p1706220664151049?thread_ts=1706219966.668729&cid=C0FQSS30V
From Michelle:

All 14 services in your comment are now available for VBA review and approval (behind the scenes FYI: I'm using a Sharepoint doc where they can comment - this will make adding to it easier, I hope)
The only thing missing is the the online self-service description for the latest group (because I pulled them straight from the taxonomy) but I don't think that is critical.

@xiongjaneg @mmiddaugh we ok to close this, knowing the follow up on approvals will happen in the other ticket?

[davidmpickett]

There was one batch of terms that were partially drafted in this ticket (I gave them new labels), but aren't quite ready to send to VBA (they haven't been added to Drupal and had additional fields drafted).

During this week's UX Sync, we clarified that these "Thinky Slinky" terms did not need sign off from CAIA on the updated labels before being adding to Drupal. I cut a new ticket to do the follow up work that would get them to VBA readiness:

#17060

[davidmpickett]

Now we should be good to close this ticket with follow up work & approvals both tracked