Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act
Key claim: S1204 would expand the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program to include spouses of certain deceased, disabled, or missing service members, making them eligible for DOL-administered career and employment services.
Abstract
(S1204 · 119th Congress) Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act This bill expands eligibility for the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program to the spouses of certain veterans and members of the Armed Forces. Such program is administered by the Department of Labor and generally provides career and employment services to disabled veterans. The bill expands eligibility for the program to spouses of persons who died while members of the Armed Forces; persons who died of a service-connected disability; members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty who, for more than 90 days, are listed as missing in action, captured by a hostile force, or forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government power; persons who have a total permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability; and persons who died while an evaluated total disability was in existence. Latest action (2025-12-19): Held at the desk.
Why this matters
DVOP is the primary DOL-funded specialist role embedded in state workforce agencies for veterans with employment barriers, and expanding eligibility to Gold Star and surviving spouses meaningfully widens who state workforce systems must serve under priority-of-service rules. For employers relying on DVOP-referred candidates and for state grantees allocating specialist caseloads, the change reshapes intake without adding a new program mechanism. It also connects the DOL and VA veterans-employment tracks currently moving on separate legislative paths.