Employee Spotlight
April 8, 2024
Katy Dhein
HUD-VASH Senior Social Worker
Klamath Falls VA Clinic, White City VA Medical Center
This year, we’re spotlighting VA’s Housing First approach through a series of interviews with VA employees and taking a look at how they’re working to end Veteran homelessness through this approach. Learn more about Housing First.
Q: When you think of Housing First, what does it mean to you personally, and why is the approach so important in your work?
A: To me, it’s about person-first care—putting a person’s needs at the forefront and allowing them to come in for services as they are. It’s about serving people with what they need at that time so they can figure out their goals and desires without having to skew it to the program’s goals and desires.
I think it’s specifically important with respect to housing. With all social work, our big question is, “How do we provide people with services?” Our goal in the end is obviously housing, but initially, it’s how we get someone into services at all.
One of my big approaches is, “How do I say ‘yes’? How do I find a way to make this work?” And Housing First is such a great way to be able to say yes, to serve the most Veterans in our community. It’s really important in the work that we do.
Q: One of the main principles of Housing First is low barriers to entry. How do you execute that in your day-to-day work?
A: Right off the bat, I tell them we’re a Housing First program and explain what that means. Many of them don’t know that. For people who have engaged in other housing programs before, it’s important for them to know because other programs might have had more expectations of them coming in.
The intake process is very in-depth and intimate. We ask a lot of personal questions about their mental health, their physical health, and their history of domestic violence or substance use. I make sure to tell Veterans that their answers to those questions aren’t going to bar them from our program, so they can speak freely. But I also tell them they don’t have to discuss those right away if they’re not comfortable.
We want to gather as much information as possible, but we don’t want them to feel like they have to answer questions a certain way or put on a performance. Answering honestly won’t prevent them from getting services.
Whoever you are, whatever you need, that’s what we’re working to help you with in this program.
Later, I have open discussions with them about community and VA support programs that we can add to their services. For example, maybe I’ll be working with a Veteran who has a substance use disorder. They may not be ready to go into treatment, but they’re having a hard time paying their bills. They will tell me it’s really hard for them to budget because they use their money to buy substances.
If that’s the case, we’ll try to solve the problem together. Maybe there’s an automatic payment system we can set up with a property manager, or the Veteran can get a payee to help them manage their money. We also talk about the different options that are available when they’re ready to address their substance use.
That’s a way that I use Housing First in my day-to-day work: being clear about the low barriers up front, then weaving in support later as they need it and are ready for it.
Q: A consequence of having low barriers to entry is that we often work with Veterans with extremely complex issues. How do you and your team handle that?
A: Our team really works together. If there is a potential safety issue, we might visit a Veteran together, or I’ll tap someone on the team who is skilled in working with a particular issue. Our peer specialist is quite helpful, so sometimes we’ll go out together to meet a new Veteran in the community if we’re doing outreach.
We also work closely with our Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) team. Some of our Veterans who are more complex and more likely to have been homeless for a long time are living with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Some of them are already enrolled with our SSVF partners, so they can introduce us, which helps us build that relationship.
Q: Thanks for mentioning the importance of our SSVF partners. Can you talk more about how they assist with the Housing First approach?
A: It has been a big plus, especially since the SSVF housing navigator started. We have a really good relationship with her, and she sometimes recommends Veterans she meets in the community for HUD-VASH. We’ll meet with the Veteran together so they can see that we’re a team as opposed to a lot of different pieces in the community. It’s less confusing and overwhelming that way. We’ve seen a huge difference in the reactions of the Veterans—they really like the team approach. It doesn’t feel disconnected to the Veteran, which was feedback we got in the past.
We also partner with our Home-Based Primary Care team, our property managers who will take chances to help our Veterans, and lots of others. And that’s important because we can’t do it alone.
Q: What do you find that people get wrong about Housing First, and what would you like them to know instead?
A: Sometimes there is a stigma around Housing First when there shouldn’t be, even with like-minded people. Some think that people who use drugs or alcohol, have SPMI, or have other things going on don’t deserve to have housing until they get clean and sober, take their medicine, or have met some other expectation.
What I want people to think is that housing is a human right. No one should have to meet certain criteria to feel safe, warm, dry, and fed. Once those basic needs are met, people have the space and capacity to deal with higher level areas in their lives. That’s the knowledge I’m always trying to spread about Housing First. We need more believers in Housing First, so I hope we can help turn the corner.
Q: What’s your “why” for the work you do?
A: In social work, you want to help people meet their goals, whatever they are. Housing is such a basic need, so there’s a lot of help you can offer. You can help people get that need met, then build on other goals they are wanting and needing help with. You get to see someone feel safe and secure and be able to be themselves again and figure out what they want for their future.
