Patrnerships Roundtable FAQs
How do partnerships help Veterans stay in housing once they've secured it?
When communities do reach functional zero, is their level of funding reduced?
Are there any programs targeted specifically toward female homeless Veterans at VA or elsewhere?
Do communities need more funding from Congress in order to reach functional zero, or is it more of a shift of existing resources and change in culture that make that goal a reality?
In 2010, when President Obama initially called for an end to Veteran homelessness, funding to communities began to steadily increase. This funding supports programs such as Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams (HPACT) and Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH).
From FY11 to FY15, the budget for VA’s Homeless Veterans Program Office went from $622M to $1.4B, and these funding levels should be maintained in order to remain successful in communities and across the country.
Right-sizing and shifting existing resources is an important first step—and states and communities can also forge partnerships with organizations that provide needed services.
Does VA keep track of how many Veterans become homeless again after receiving housing/supportive services?
Nationally, approximately 80 percent of Veterans housed through HUD-VASH maintain housing for at least a year, though each community is different.
Team AMVETS in Southern California provides furniture and move-in essentials to Veterans who receive housing vouchers through HUD-VASH, and at least 90 percent of the 2,500 Veterans served since Nov. 2012 have maintained their housing.
In New Orleans, 85 percent of housed Veterans have maintained stable housing since the city reached functional zero in January 2015.
- The city’s master list of homeless Veterans and nightly checks of streets and shelters enable VA and partners to immediately identify and help Veterans that left their home.
- When a Veteran is discovered to have left his or her housing, the city works to understand the reason and adjust services or find a different home.
In the state of Virginia, there is some recidivism, and it often happens because it is hard for someone who has been homeless for years and even decades to get used to having a permanent home.
- Virginia recently received state funds to use in specific localities for additional services and outreach geared toward Veterans that aren’t successfully housed on the first try.
How do partnerships help Veterans stay in housing once they’ve secured it?
Team AMVETS Welcome Home deliveries provide Veterans with the furniture and move-in essentials that they need to get started on the right foot. The organization requires that Veterans receiving Welcome Home deliveries are working with a VA case manager to ensure that they are getting the services they need to successfully maintain housing.
In Virginia, the Department of Veterans Services:
- Created a foundation specifically geared toward HUD-VASH voucher recipients to ensure that they do not lose their housing for financial reasons
- Partners with major power companies to provide utility bill assistance to previously homeless Veterans
- Partners with community services boards to provide additional housing stabilization resources as needed
In New Orleans, apartment complexes have been developed through partnership between New Orleans, the state of Louisiana and VA. They offer 24/7 security, full-time onsite case management, open spaces and layouts that appeal to Veterans who are not used to being confined to an apartment.
When communities do reach functional zero, is their level of funding reduced?
It's important that Congress understands that when a community or state—or the whole nation—reaches functional zero, it doesn’t mean that we need fewer resources for homeless Veterans. There are Veterans that return to homelessness for various reasons, and there are also going to be Veterans of the recent wars that will fall on hard times and need the support of programs that we know work well. Resources need to be kept at or above current levels to maintain functional zero once achieved.
Are there any programs targeted specifically toward female homeless Veterans at VA or elsewhere?
Female Veterans sometimes have experienced domestic violence or other trauma, and they are more likely to have children with them than their male counterparts—so Housing First, Rapid Rehousing, and other interventions need to be applied appropriately for each situation.
SSVF is a tool that VA put into place knowing that women Veterans are more likely to have children with them than male Veterans.
HUD-VASH also prioritizes certain populations, including female Veterans and female Veterans with children.
There are nonprofits throughout the country serving homeless Veterans that have specialized services for women; examples include Soldier On, based in Massachusetts and U.S. Vets, based in California.
In recent years, Virginia’s toolbox has grown significantly to include a variety of flexible services that can be combined in different ways. For example, Virginia offers a program called Virginia Veteran and Family Support, which focuses on trauma-informed care and is sensitive to the unique needs of women Veterans.
Can any of the strategies used to end Veteran homelessness in communities be extrapolated to other homeless populations?
Once New Orleans reached functional zero and maintained it for several months, the city realized that it could apply the same tactics to end homelessness among children.
- New Orleans is now aiming to end family homelessness by Thanksgiving 2016, four years ahead of the national goal.
Virginia saw the campaign to end Veteran homelessness as an opportunity to test best practices and is now applying lessons learned to tackle homelessness among youth and other populations.
- The success of partnerships was particularly eye-opening; this prompted an upcoming statewide summit with the Department of Corrections to look at reducing homelessness among people exiting correctional facilities.
- Virginia worked with the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue photo identification and establish residency for the homeless as part of its effort to end Veteran homelessness, but this program removes barriers for any individual experiencing homelessness.
If a person or organization is interested in partnering with VA to help end Veteran homelessness, what should they do?
New partnerships with organizations that can help VA connect Veterans with jobs, housing, move-in essentials and other resources are critical to continued success, and we encourage anyone interested in collaborating with us to check out the VA Voluntary Service website at www.volunteer.va.gov.
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