[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ADDRESSING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS: CURRENT POSITION; FUTURE COURSE
=======================================================================
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
JOINT WITH
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
__________
Serial No. 115-45
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee, Chairman
GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida, Vice- TIM WALZ, Minnesota, Ranking
Chairman Member
MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado MARK TAKANO, California
BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio JULIA BROWNLEY, California
AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire
Samoa BETO O'ROURKE, Texas
MIKE BOST, Illinois KATHLEEN RICE, New York
BRUCE POLIQUIN, Maine J. LUIS CORREA, California
NEAL DUNN, Florida KILILI SABLAN, Northern Mariana
JODEY ARRINGTON, Texas Islands
JOHN RUTHERFORD, Florida ELIZABETH ESTY, Connecticut
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana SCOTT PETERS, California
JACK BERGMAN, Michigan
JIM BANKS, Indiana
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, Puerto
Rico
Jon Towers, Staff Director
Ray Kelley, Democratic Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
BRAD WENSTRUP, Ohio, Chairman
GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida JULIA BROWNLEY, California,
AMATA RADEWAGEN, American Samoa Ranking Member
NEAL DUNN, Florida MARK TAKANO, California
JOHN RUTHERFORD, Florida ANN MCLANE KUSTER, New Hampshire
CLAY HIGGINS, Louisiana BETO O'ROURKE, Texas
JENNIFER GONZALEZ-COLON, Puerto LUIS CORREA, California
Rico
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
JODEY ARRINGTON, Texas, Chairman
GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida BETO O'ROURKE, Texas, Ranking
BRAD WENSTRUP, Ohio Member
JOHN RUTHERFORD, Florida MARK TAKANO, California
JIM BANKS, Indiana LUIS CORREA, California
KATHLEEN RICE, New York
Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public
hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also
published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the
official version. Because electronic submissions are used to prepare
both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process
of converting between various electronic formats may introduce
unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the
current publication process and should diminish as the process is
further refined.
C O N T E N T S
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Thursday, January 18, 2018
Page
Addressing Veteran Homelessness: Current Position; Future Course. 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Honorable Jodey Arrington, Chairman, Subcommittee on Economic
Opportunity.................................................... 1
Honorable Julia Brownley, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Health. 2
Honorable Beto O'Rourke, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Economic
Opportunity.................................................... 3
WITNESSES
John F. Clancy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tristate,
Veterans Community Alliance.................................... 4
Prepared Statement........................................... 57
Angela F. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer,
Easterseals, Inc............................................... 6
Prepared Statement........................................... 59
Stephen Peck, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. VETS... 8
Prepared Statement........................................... 66
John W. Martin, Development Director, The Opportunity Center..... 10
Prepared Statement........................................... 70
Kathryn Monet, Chief Executive Officer, National Coalition for
Homeless Veterans.............................................. 11
Prepared Statement........................................... 75
Matt Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Veterans' Employment and
Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor..................... 36
Prepared Statement........................................... 77
Dominique Blom, General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of
Public and Indian Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.................................................... 38
Prepared Statement........................................... 81
Thomas Lynch M.D., Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Clinical
Operations, Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs............................................... 39
Prepared Statement........................................... 84
Accompanied by:
Keith W. Harris Ph.D., Director of Clinical Operations,
Homeless Programs Office, Veterans Health Administration,
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD
Disabled American Veterans....................................... 88
Mile High Behavioral Healthcare.................................. 91
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA).............................. 94
The American Legion.............................................. 96
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW).............. 100
Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD)............................. 103
Vets Advocacy.................................................... 104
QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD
HVAC to HUD...................................................... 106
From VA to Miami VA Healthcare System, Paul M. Russo............. 107
HVAC to VA....................................................... 107
From Tim Walz to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 109
From Tim Walz to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs............. 110
From Mark Takano to NCH.......................................... 111
ADDRESSING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS: CURRENT POSITION; FUTURE COURSE
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Thursday, July 18, 2018
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in
Room 334, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jodey Arrington
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Arrington, Wenstrup, Bilirakis,
Radewagen, Higgins, Banks, Coffman, Roe, Brownley, O'Rourke,
Takano, Kuster, and Correa.
Also present: Representative Peters.
OPENING STATEMENT OF JODEY ARRINGTON, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Mr. Arrington. The Subcommittee will come to order. Good
morning, everyone. Thank you for being here. It is my pleasure
to welcome you to today's Subcommittee, joint Subcommittee on
Health and Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Oversight
hearing on veteran homelessness.
I want to apologize first for being a little late. I had
another obligation in my responsibility on the Budget Committee
and my colleague, Brad Wenstrup, chair of the Health
Subcommittee, will not be able to make it and so I am going to
preside. We have the VHA Subcommittee chair Julia Brownley and
her capable leadership. Thanks for being here. And then my
friend from Texas and Ranking Member on the Subcommittee for
Economic Opportunity, Beto O'Rourke is joining me, as well.
We have our Chairman who is joining us, so thank you, Dr.
Roe for coming. I want begin also by asking for unanimous
consent for Congressman Mike Coffman, Congressman Scott Peters,
and I guess that is it, so sit in on the dais and participate
in today's hearing. I don't hear any objection and so ordered.
I am going to cut through my remarks here and break from my
customary reading of script and just say that this is a subject
that is heartbreaking and when you look at the statistics on
veteran homelessness and the underlying issues that our
veterans struggle with, many and maybe mostly on account of the
burden that they bore for us and for our country and for our
freedom, it just--it is just gut- wrenching and we--there is
not an issue, I don't believe that is, you know, more important
than to find ways to help and serve this segment of the veteran
population.
As I read and studied up and prepaid on background, I
noticed that there has been an exponential increase in funding
in this area and there is some 20-plus programs across the
various agencies. With respect to the VA, most of this is at
the VHA, but that is a lot of programs and that is a tremendous
increase in funding.
Here is my deal. Is it working? What is working? What is
not working? How do we measure the success of these programs?
Because it is only because of the generosity of the taxpayer
that we have this opportunity. And so I have a number of
questions. I think it is encouraging to see a significant
decline in homelessness over the course of the last several
years on account of, I think, the commitment from a secretary
and administration in the past and as somebody once told me, if
you throw enough money at something, you are going to see the
needle move. But are we spending it wisely, effectively? And
then how do we focus these resources where they can have the
greatest return, A, to help the veteran, B, to assure our
taxpayers that their money is going--is being productively
spent.
With that, I think we just--let's just get this hearing
started. And, again, I apologize because I was not going to
open this up, but let's go ahead and introduce our panelists.
Okay. I am going to defer to you, Madam, Ranking Member
Brownley, and ask that you provide any opening comments.
OPENING STATEMENT OF JULIA BROWNLEY, RANKING MEMBER,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I just would
like to say that I concur with everything that you have said in
your remarks and I would add that in 2009, former Secretary
Shinseki pledged a commitment to ending homelessness among
veterans. In 2014, former Secretary McDonald also committed to
this pledge to end homelessness among veterans. Between 2009
and 2016, veteran homelessness was reduced by 47 percent. In
2017, Secretary Shulkin shared his top five priorities for the
VA and as many may be aware, ending veterans homelessness was
not included in that list of priorities.
I fear, based on the actions of this administration thus
far, that in the coming years, we will continue to lose ground
in our fight against veteran homelessness. In 2017, HUD's
annual survey found that veteran homelessness increased by 1.5
percent; however, when you drill down into these numbers and
look at specific communities, the picture is much more
alarming. Los Angeles County, which I represent a part of, saw
a 57 percent increase in the number of homeless veterans just
in the past year.
I would like to enter into the record, a letter from the LA
County Board of Supervisors, the mayor, United Way, and the Los
Angeles Homeless Service Authority that outlines the challenges
ahead to end veteran homelessness.
Mr. Arrington. Yes.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you very much. These local partners are
committed to working together with the VA and other Federal
agencies to ensure all veterans have access to safe and
affordable housing. There is no doubt, combatting veteran
homelessness must be an inter-agency effort.
In 2014, when we last held a hearing on this issue and is
why I wanted to hold this hearing because it has been several
years since we have gotten an update, John Downing, CEO of
Soldier On, said based on his experience that 100 percent of
homeless female veterans encountered and have survived military
sexual trauma. Without the VA, HUD would not know how to treat
the underlying trauma and injuries that MST can lead to.
Without HUD, the VA would not have the housing assistance and
expertise necessary to ensuring that veterans receive permanent
housing as part of their treatment. And finally, without the
Department of Labor, that veteran would be hard-pressed to
overcome the barriers faced by many, if not all, transitioning
veterans seeking employment in the civilian market.
This is the same for many veterans, whether they are
survivors of sexual assault, struggling with addiction, or
managing mental health conditions. These veterans are complex.
Their issues are complex. The solution is complex. But by
working together, we can build on the gains we made over the
last seven years which saw three states and 57 communities
eliminate veteran homelessness altogether. The progress made
during those seven years was quite frankly incredible and it
was in large part, due to the hard work of the case managers,
social workers, health care personnel, counselors, volunteers,
and veterans themselves.
I commend the hard work of our ``boots on the ground''
organizations and the commitment of agency officials during
this full time, some of whom are testifying today. And I
question why this administration would backtrack on that
solution and risk the lives of homeless veterans nationwide.
I hope the President's budget this year reflects a newfound
commitment to ending veteran homelessness through an allocation
of funding that supports both, the housing and wraparound
services necessary to heal and house these veterans.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you, and I thank you for your
commitment to this issue and I look forward to our discussion
ahead.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ranking Member Brownley, I now
yield five minutes for opening remarks for Ranking Member
O'Rourke from the great state of Texas.
OPENING STATEMENT OF BETO O'ROURKE, RANKING MEMBER,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
Mr. O'Rourke. That is right. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
Brownley, I want to thank you and the staffs that work with you
and the staffs that work on the Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee for the work that has gone into preparing for this
hearing. This is why I love serving on this Committee, the fact
that Chairman Roe is here, the fact that Members who are not
even on the Committees of jurisdiction have asked to have the
privilege of sitting here and being helpful as we try to
address this issue of veteran homelessness, which is not
provocative. It is not sensational. It doesn't grab headlines.
It is not one of those things that people are on late night TV
screaming at each other about, but it could not be more
important. And the fact that we are able to cross party lines,
working together, and do what is important, much the way that
we have addressed access to mental health and meeting the
crisis of veteran suicide head-on, making progress in that very
important, underserved area. I feel that we will be able to do
the same thing here.
And the only thing, Mr. Chairman, that I could add to your
comments, you say that it is because of the generosity of the
taxpayer that we have the opportunity to do this work, it is
also thanks to the service of those veterans whose service we
are honoring by our commitment to make sure that none of them
are homeless. That we get that down to zero in every single one
of our communities, whether that is functional zero or real
zero, and that may be part of the conversation today.
We need to make sure it is both, the resources, and to your
point, the oversight, the accountability, the follow-through,
to make sure that these programs are working. And I am just so
pleased that we have such an important panel before us; those
who understand and work on that issue directly, who are going
to be able to inform the policy that we make here and improve
our level of oversight and the accountability from the VA and
the Federal government.
And lastly, I just want to thank Mr. John Martin, from The
Opportunity Center in El Paso, as someone who makes this flight
every single week. I know how hard it is to get from El Paso to
Washington, D.C. and I know that you almost didn't make it due
to some problems with some of those connections. And so the
fact that you take some time out of what you are doing, the
important work in serving veterans in El Paso to be here and
help us, just know that we are grateful and I extend that
gratitude to everyone on this panel.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. O'Rourke.
And now we will get to our first panel. I would like to
welcome you guys again this morning. Thank you for making time
for this very important issue and we are honored to have you
here. Let's start with John F. Clancy, the President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Tristate Veterans Community Alliance,
which is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Clancy, thanks for
being here today and representing the Ohioans you serve.
Angela F. Williams is next. She is President and Chief
Executive Officer of Easterseals, Inc.
Stephen Peck, the President and Chief Executive Officer of
U.S. VETS.
John W. Martin, the Development Director for The
Opportunity Center.
And finally, Kathryn Monet, the Chief Executive Officer of
the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
Thank you, guys, again, for being here. Mr. Clancy, we will
start with you. We now recognize you for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOHN F. CLANCY
Mr. Clancy. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is
John Clancy. I am an Air Force veteran. I serve as the
president and CEO of the Tristate Veteran Community Alliance,
or TVCA, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Thank you for inviting me to testify today at this
important hearing regarding support for our veterans in need.
As an independent veteran-led, nonprofit organization focused
on improving the access to and the quality of services offered
to veterans and their families, we appreciate the opportunity
to share our perspective and provide recommendations to address
the needs of veterans in distress.
The TVCA was created four years ago to serve as a backbone
organization responsible for aligning veteran support in our
region. We partner with over 150 local organizations and
operate a veteran in-processing center that has meaningfully
serviced and met the needs of more than 11,050 veterans since
opening 28 months ago.
In addition, we have piloted programs that fill gaps in our
community not currently filled by our partner organizations,
such as an accelerated career training and placement program
for mid-level non-commissioned officers and an educational
storytelling event for veterans to share their journey with
local citizens.
With ensure success within our workgroup and piloted
programs, we leverage our United Way 2-1-1 Call Center and
facilitate data-sharing efforts both, inside and outside our
region.
Our efforts are characterized by the following aspects: We
are proactive, seeking to engage veterans and their families
before a crisis happens; we seek collaboration whenever
possible; we work across sectors; we have many businesses
involved in our efforts, but also include social services,
veteran organizations, and all major educational institutions;
and, finally, we look for systemic solutions, in addition to
program improvement. That said, it is important for the
community to assess how the resources provided by the VA, HUD,
and DOL impact the lives of all veterans, but more urgently,
our distressed and/or homeless veteran population.
Based on our community needs assessments, the TVCA
recommends that resources be considered for downstream
programming related to behavioral health, wellness, and social
support, addressing what are often the root causes of homeless
and upstream support for collaborative transitional systems
like the TVCA that can intercept veterans and resolve issues
before they become a crisis.
Over the last decade, the efforts of all three Federal
agencies have been commendable and successful. The VA designed
a research-informed strategy called ``Housing First'' to
address the problem, especially for those veterans who had
experienced chronic homeless. This strategy involved a
cosponsored initiative with HUD to invest resources in stable,
permanent housing for chronically homeless veterans and case
management services to prevent them from experiencing further
homeless episodes.
Other programs, including the DOL's Homeless Veteran
Reintegration Program, have also served to facilitate the
successful transition of veterans from homeless.
With the current strategy at its 10-year mark, the VA and
HUD Housing First programs have successfully reduced veteran
homelessness by nearly 50 percent; however, based on client
trends seen in our region, we believe the client needs, and
demographic profile are beginning to show signs of moving from
traditionally homeless individuals to those who are
transitioning or at risk.
To serve the new customer base, we should begin to adapt
the current system to not only focus on homeless veterans, but
also successful life transitions for at-risk veterans. To
accomplish this shift in mindset, a broader set of outcomes
need to be developed. That involves not just housing
attainment, but boosting veteran self-efficacy, development of
clear, personal goals, and developing or enhancing the
motivation to succeed in a civilian world.
For veterans in distress, there are several strategies that
correspond to how soon or at what level we engage. At the
individual level, for those in acute distress, we need to
ensure the right clinical levels of care are accessible and
available. At a systemic level, we need to ensure existing
organizations are communicating and strategizing across
sectors, including the continuums of care, mental--medical
centers and other veteran-wellness and support groups.
Finally, and ultimately, we need to ensure that the
transition system from military to civilian life is
coordinated, veteran-centered, and resourced. This includes a
greater level of information-sharing, new and improved
programming focused on proactive, strength-building
approaching.
We believe that upstream regional collaborators like the
TVCA in Cincinnati, and Combined Arms in Houston, for example,
are a key part of the solution. This collaborative approach
allows a community to mainstream best practices, decrease
competition, and allow for the scaling-up of efforts to support
transitioning veterans. A coordinated, community-based approach
that brings together diverse sets of resources and identifies
new opportunities across public and private sectors is needed.
We applaud your review of the mix of programs available for
programs, assessing the correct mix for current needs and
opportunities. In closing, we would like to stress again, the
importance of a relevant, trusted community organization that
can initiate and sustain the conversation for aligning strategy
on transition support, employment, and wellness. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of John F. Clancy appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Clancy.
We now yield five minutes to Ms. Williams.
STATEMENT OF ANGELA F. WILLIAMS
Ms. Williams. Chairman Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley
and O'Rourke, and Members of the Subcommittees, good morning. I
am Angela Williams, president and CEO of Easterseals, a
national network of nonprofit organizations committed to
helping veterans and others reach their full potential through
local servicing and supports. I am also a proud veteran. Thank
you for inviting me to testify this morning on this hearing to
assess the various programs designed to reduce veteran
homelessness.
Easterseals has been actively servicing veterans for more
than seven decades. My testimony will highlight Easterseals'
experience in responding to the needs of homeless and at-risk
veterans through employment and other supports needed for their
successful community reintegration.
In 2010, about the time Easterseals started a new phase in
its effort to help homeless veterans, our country's veteran
homelessness population grew to over 74,000. Today that number
has dropped nearly 46 percent, due to strong collaboration
between Federal, state, and local partners and the
complimentary alignment of programs across various Federal
agencies.
In my written testimony, I share the story of Paula, a
veteran who moved to New York City to find work and turn her
life around. Her job search was complicated by employment
barriers that proved too difficult to overcome. Defeated and
homeless, she turned to a women's shelter, where, thankfully,
she was referred to Easterseals for employment assistance. We
leveraged our community partners to help Paula with housing,
resume development, interview preparation, obtaining the
appropriate wardrobe, and subway cards to get to job
interviews.
Today Paula is living independently, working full time, and
contributing to her community, thanks to the NVHS National
Veteran Homeless Strategy, developed by Congress and
implemented by Federal agencies. Paula's story highlights the
effective collaboration and alignment of the Department of
Veterans Affairs' Supportive Services for Veterans Families
Program, or SSVF; the Department of Housing and Urban
Development and VA's SHP Supportive Housing Program, HUD-VASH;
and the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans' Reintegration
Program, or HVRP.
It takes the strengths, resources, and collaboration of
many to help veterans succeed. Easterseals' distinction in this
national effort is to help homeless veterans find jobs. Our
expertise, serving most in-need job-seekers made us a natural
partner with the Department of Labor on its HVRP program, which
is employment-focused and a perfect complement to the housing
focus of HUD-VASH and the VA's Supportive Services for Veterans
Families program.
The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program taps into the
existing community network by providing grants to local
organizations. Easterseals operates 11 HVRP grants nationwide.
We provided HVRP employment services to nearly 1,200 homeless
veterans last program year and are proud to share that 61
percent found jobs during that year with wages averaging from
$10 to nearly $21 per hour. Once unemployed and homeless, these
veterans are now working, paying taxes, and contributing to
their communities. Their success represents a strong return on
the HVRP Federal investment, which averages about $2,500 per
veteran.
Easterseals is honored to be part of the solution in
reducing veteran homelessness, but our work is not finished. I
include recommendations in my written testimony to build on a
strong foundation Congress has set for addressing veteran
homelessness. Let me boil them down to two main points. One,
Congress should support full-funding and a long-term extension
for the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program. Easterseals
supports the bipartisan effort to extend and expand HVRP.
Additional funding is necessary to meet the growing needs of
the chronically homeless and hardest to serve veterans who will
require more supports and time to find employment and housing
success.
Two, Congress should expand early access to community-
based support services. The first step is to approve Chairman
Wenstrup and Ranking Member Brownley's bill, H.R. 4451, that
expands veteran eligibility to HVRP services. Congress should
also consider ways to expand federally funded community case
management to proactively meet the challenges of veterans well
before they meet the homeless and unemployed eligibility
criteria of programs like HVRP and SSVF.
Thank you for your time today. I am pleased to answer any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Angela F. Williams appears in
the Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Williams.
Mr. Peck, five minutes.
STATMENT OF STEPHEN PECK
Mr. Peck. Good morning. My name is Stephen Peck. I am the
president and CEO of U.S. VETS. I am also a Vietnam veteran. I
served with the 1st Marine Division near Denang in 1969 and
1970, and I have been working for homeless veterans since 1991.
U.S. VETS is the largest veteran-specific nonprofit housing
and service provider in the country, providing housing and
services to 3,300 veterans every night and providing
homelessness prevention, employment, and mental health services
to an additional 5,000 veterans in the communities that we
serve.
I am also the president of the California Association of
Veteran Service Agencies, comprised of seven veteran nonprofits
that collectively provide housing and care to more than 25,000
veterans each year.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent, numerous
government policies and the best efforts of hundreds of
communities, there are still more than 40,000 veterans living
on our streets and that number is rising across the Nation. In
California, the number of homeless veterans rose nearly 20
percent in 2017 and in Los Angeles, that number rose 57
percent. This is no time to be taking our eye off the ball.
Despite this upward trend, it seems to us that there is no
longer an emphasis and determination to get every veteran off
the streets. This shift and focus is evidenced in two ways.
First, the proposal by the VA to take permanent housing
supportive service dollars out of the special projects category
where it is protected and placing these dollars into the
general fund where medical directors can redirect it at-will.
While they have said they will not shift these dollars, the
vast funds remain in the general fund line item.
And, second, VA's overall management of the HUD-VASH
program. It is plagued by lack of accountability, insufficient
data collection, and inadequate outcome measures.
Together, these factors can inhibit our abilities to get
veterans off the streets and into permanent housing and provide
the case management and supportive services that will keep them
there. The Housing First model that the VA professes to follow
requires a client-case manager ratio of 25:1. Additionally, it
requires access to assistance with a simple phone call 24 hours
a day. That is not what is happening.
We have project-based VASH-voucher beds at five of our
sites and VA social workers are consistently to provide the
required coverage. For 75 VASH vouchers, the VA is required to
provide three full-time case managers. We never have three. We
rarely have two. And our clinical staff picks up the slack. If
a nonprofit, such as U.S. VETS provided that level of coverage
while contracted with the VA, we would lose the contract.
I have attached three letters to my written testimony from
three different communities that have been awarded the HUD
vouchers, two in California and one in Florida. In each case,
the VA has indicated that it does not have the resources to
provide adequate case management coverage for the number of HUD
vouchers awarded. The result is that the vouchers go unused
while veterans languish on the streets.
If I understand correctly, the funding that Congress has
appropriated to the VA specifically for VASH case management
positions is for some reason, not available. Veterans still
living on our streets need every dollar of this funding. If the
VASH program were turned into a grant program, experienced
veteran nonprofits would assume full responsibility, would
spend every dollar appropriately and could be held to outcome
measures that we are already meeting and exceeding.
Because our programs are residential, we have staff 24/7
and are used to responding to client issues day and night. U.S.
VETS provides case management for 423 beds of permanent
supportive housing with a 92 percent retention rate.
By contrast, a recent Inspector General study reports a 70
percent success rate in the HUD-VASH program. The study also
states that the reason the vast majority of those veterans
exited the program was unknown ``as HUD's systems do not have
the capacity to track this information.''
This is just careless. Homeless veterans' rate of attempted
suicide is 20 times higher than the rate of suicide attempts
among all veterans. They are plainly at risk and desperate for
our help and we need better data on how Federal funding is
serving or failing them.
We have all been at this for a long time and you have put a
lot of money into this, so you might ask: What is your return
on investment? My 25 years of experience tells me if you pull
back now, the number of homeless veterans on the street will
continue to grow and they will use the only services available
to them; expensive mental health and medical services. They
will spend time in jail and homeless shelters and they will
continue to die, having been abandoned by the country they
fought for.
Combatting homelessness is not a one-time fix. It is an
ongoing effort to mitigate the inequality that exists in our
system for veterans who, through lack of opportunity, lack of
education, mental illness, combat trauma, or other deficits,
end up on the margins of society. We are paying for this
strategy one way or another; we simply have to make the
decision that these veterans' lives are worth saving. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Stephen Peck appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Peck.
Mr. Martin, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF JOHN W. MARTIN
Mr. Martin. Good morning. My name is John Martin. I am the
development director for The Opportunity Center for the
homeless in El Paso, Texas. And I think that statement, in and
of itself, is important because my comments are going to be
reflective of a community that is struggling as it relates to
ending homelessness; whether it be veterans, chronically
homeless, or the families and youth.
The other aspect of this, as I mentioned to a couple of
folks as we have started this is I felt a little bit like a
fish out of water from the standpoint that I tend to live more
in the HUD world than I do the VA, but it is also very
important that we need to understand how the two need to
overlap with one another as we work through this.
The Opportunity Center for the homeless has existed now for
over 24 years in El Paso. I have had the pleasure of working
with them for four. As a development director, I do a lot of
strategy and a lot of thinking. Many might consider my position
to be that of a professional beggar, as a general description.
The truth of the matter is, we care for a majority of the
homeless in El Paso and that includes the chronic homeless. Of
our population that we serve, roughly 15 percent are veterans
and these are individuals that do not qualify, based on
eligibility requirements associated with the VA. So we are
looking at the other end of the spectrum.
As a direct result, we have to rely on HUD funding for that
purpose and there has already been a reference during this
testimony to the Housing First initiative, an initiative that
has severely hampered our efforts in El Paso. Housing First is
an incredible program, so I don't want anybody to take those
comments the wrong way, but in respect, all of our funding in
the community is now directing toward increasing our housing
inventory and not that of support services, and the two must go
hand-in-hand.
As an example, over the last five years, we have lost $1.2
million per year, as a community--not as an organization--as it
relates to support services. Now, that includes employment,
legal, transportation, medical care, mental health, street
outreach. And in turn, as a community, we have lost a little
over a half a million dollars with regard to overall funding.
And so what we are facing is a struggle at this point is to
provide the appropriate level of services that are needed, not
only for placement within housing, under the Housing First
initiative, which is an incredible tool, but also with regard
to sustainability and how to prevent recidivism.
In my written testimony, I gave you some numbers, numbers
that are reflective of us as an organization, an organization
that has 14 different programs in 10 different houses. Those 10
houses, 7 of which are permanent housing, 1 of which is
transitional, which is our Veterans Transitional Living Center,
which is the GPD program that we operate within the community.
The remaining are what you would refer to as ``emergency
shelters'' and that is where that 15 percent lie.
And these are individuals that are defined as chronically
homeless both, based on disability, as well as length of
homelessness. And so, in turn, when you look at goals such as
25:1 on a case management that was stated earlier, which is the
ideal situation, we are working in situations where it is 200,
to 250:1 and that is because of the absence of what we need for
the support service dollars.
Because, we as a community, in general statement, we are a
very poor community. A little over 50 percent of our population
falls under 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. So, you
would say that we have a low tax base. And so we have no local
investment, with regard to the city or to the county. And so,
for us, the burden is placed on the service provider and we are
being asked to do more with less.
And I think my conclusion here, if I so make that
statement, is that in some respects, as it relates to funding,
you have to take a look at the unique characteristics of each
of the communities because in many cases, those parameters,
that metrics that are imposed on us as an agency that receives
funds are restricted in a manner that works in other
communities, but not necessarily El Paso.
We need to have that flexibility to be able to design a
system utilizing those same metrics that meets the need within
the community and the unique characteristics of those that we
serve. With that stated, I welcome any question when that time
comes and I look forward to having further discussion. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of John W. Martin appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Martin.
Ms. Monet, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF KATHRYN MONET
Ms. Monet. Chairmen Roe, Wenstrup, and Arrington, Ranking
Members Brownley and O'Rourke, and distinguished Members of the
House Committee on Veterans Affairs, I am Kathryn Monet, the
CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. On behalf
of our board of directors and members across the country, we
thank you for the opportunity to share our views with you this
morning.
NCHV is a research and technical assistance center for a
national network of community-based service providers and
local, state, and Federal agencies that provide a range of
housing and supportive services to hundreds of thousands of
homelessness, at-risk, and formerly homeless veterans across
the country. We are committed to working with our partners to
end veteran homelessness.
The good news is that 60 communities, including three
states, have achieved the Federal benchmarks and criteria for
ending veteran homelessness and this demonstrates for the first
time ever that ending veteran homelessness is actually an
achievable goal. This progress is largely a testament to the
dedication and hard work of local service providers, community
partners, and VA Medical Center staff. In the abstract, this is
progress towards this major goal, right? But in real terms, it
is life-changing for the veterans who have been able to access
housing and assistance as a result.
Now, the bad news here, as you have heard over and over
again this morning, is that our hold on this progress is
tenuous, at best, as evidenced by the slight increase by the
number of veterans between 2016 and 2017. While 36 states and
DC all saw decreases in veteran homelessness, other communities
with particularly high cost-rental markets saw dramatic
increases. From NCHV's perspective, an increase of even one
veteran is one too many.
So, this is a stark reminder to all of us that now is not
the time to take our foot off the gas pedal or shift resources
from homeless programs to other priorities within VA. We really
need to focus on doubling-down on these efforts to ensure that
homelessness is rare, brief, and non- recurring for veterans
and for all Americans.
For communities and providers, doubling-down really means
looking at your community-level data and knowing your homeless
neighbors and their needs, right? So that you can really
implement evidenced-based strategies like Housing First
community-wide and homeless veterans can then access permanent
housing quickly and all of the resources like employment and
supportive services that they might need for housing stability.
We also need to recognize, though, that Housing First never
means housing only. So, successful implementation of Housing
First really includes access to health and mental health care
and those wraparound services like benefits assistance,
employment and training services, and all the other things that
a veteran needs to make sure that their housing placement is
sustainable.
Now, here in DC, doubling-down also means that Congress
needs to ensure that key programs that serve veterans
experiencing homelessness are sufficiently funded. At NCHV, we
never advocate for the growth of resources for the sake of
expanding programs, but the slight uptake in the count, in
conjunction with rising rents across much of the country and
the series of natural disasters that occurred in 2017, demands
nothing short of your continued leadership and attention with
regard to both funding and oversight of these programs.
Homelessness is a multifaceted and complex problem that
differs for every single veteran experiencing it. One of the
best ways that we can address it is for Congress to support a
permanent authorization for the United States Interagency
Council on Homelessness, or USICH. The small team of experts at
USICH convenes Federal agencies in order to set shared policy
priorities and objectives that really can actualize the Federal
plan to end homelessness.
Furthermore, from this unique cross-cutting position, USICH
is able to identify and prevent duplication of services that
would otherwise waste efforts and resources. We can also
encourage further collaboration between VA, HUD, DOL, and all
of their grantees to provide more seamless services to homeless
veterans.
One of the best examples of interagency collaboration is
the HUD-VASH program, as it allows VA to focus its resources
more efficiently by pairing VA-funded case management with a
HUD-funded Section 8 voucher for some of the most vulnerable
veterans we see. The case management funding has historically
been distributed to medical centers through a special purpose
designation, as the case managers truly must be located where
the vouchers are distributed to ensure adequate support for the
veterans who are using these vouchers.
As you know, last September, VA sent guidance to VISN
directors regarding the immediate conversion of this funding
from special purpose to general purpose funds. Well, VA has
backed away from this decision for the time being. This could
have dramatically reduced case management for vulnerable
veterans using these vouchers. And let me be really clear here:
NCHV objects, in the strongest of terms, to this proposed
conversion or any action that would reduce case manager
availability to veterans using HUD-VASH vouchers.
In the 60 communities which have effectively ended veteran
homelessness, these vouchers are well known as critical
resources that make housing affordable, incentivize affordable
housing development, and allow communities to end homelessness.
Any reductions would lead to veterans not receiving the care
which they rely on to maintain housing and these case managers,
like Mr. Peck said, are already stretched thin, sometimes
caring for far more veterans than clinically indicated. To
approve this proposal would be catastrophic to the health,
well-being, and housing stability of all the veterans using
these vouchers; as such, we insist that they must be used for
their intended purpose.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony. It
is a privilege to work with all of you and your staff to ensure
that every veteran facing a housing crisis has access to safe,
decent, and affordable housing, paired with supportive
services. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Kathryn Monet appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Monet, and, again, thank you
all of the panelists for your remarks. I want to now yield to
our Chairman, Dr. Phil Roe, five minutes for comments and
questions.
Mr. Roe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. I have
another Committee here that I have got to go to, but I wanted
to hear this testimony today because to me, one of the--and
first of all, all of you that are here, thank you for what you
do and thank you for the service to our country, those of who
served in the military. I very much appreciate that.
One of the frustrations I think you have to take a step
back is--and I would like to hear any of you--what is the
primary cause? Not for just homelessness in general. I think I
have a fairly good understanding, but for veteran homelessness,
because these are very capable who were in the military and had
responsible jobs in the military and now they are out and
homeless.
And I know there are three of us, Mr. Bilirakis, who is
here, and Mr. Coffman, and myself were here nine years ago when
General Shinseki set there and said, We are going to end
veteran homelessness by 2016, which I thought was an honorable
goal to do and bring the programs to do that.
So, number one, in veterans, why--what is the primary
cause? Is it relationships? Is it mental health? Is it
substance abuse? What is it? Anybody can take a whack at that.
Mr. Peck. I will jump in. It is all of the above. While
combat trauma is the cause in some veterans; military sexual
trauma, among the female veterans, who are also committing
suicide at an alarming rate, but it is also societal issues.
They go into the military, perhaps to escape from a disruptive
family life, perhaps to escape from gangs. They are in the
military for two or three years and they come out really with
knowing how to shoot a gun or how to drive a tank. So, the
transition is very challenging with--among those groups that
are coming out.
Mr. Roe. I would disagree. I think they come out with more
skills than that. They learn leadership skills. They learn how
to get up early in the morning. They work hard all--as a matter
of fact, there is no clock when you are in the military. You
understand that and I understand that.
Mr. Peck. I understand, yes.
Mr. Roe. It is 24/7. So, they bring out some very good
skills, I think you learn in the military.
Mr. Peck. Absolutely. They also have--when we were in the
military, we knew what we were doing 24 hours a day. It wasn't
our responsibility to determine what happens next, what happens
a year from now. So, some of them don't transfer those skills
well into the civilian workforce.
Mr. Roe. A couple of other things. And I have visited the
LA campus and what they are doing for the homeless there
several months ago. With the job market being at historic
lows--in our state, we have a state unemployment rate of 3
percent, and I know California's economy is doing well--how do
attribute this homeless--and I think at this point in time,
whether it is up or down a little bit, these points in time are
never all that accurate; they are just a guess at how many
homeless people there are at any particular point in time--but
why do you think in California the rates are going up? Are
people just moving into California; is that what it is? What
would be the reason?
Mr. Peck. There have always been more veterans in
California than anywhere else. There are more homeless veterans
there than anywhere else.
As you said, the unemployment rate is very low, so some of
the veterans don't have the skills that they need to. The
housing is very high.
Mr. Roe. High, yeah.
Mr. Peck. So, they are unable to, at a minimum-wage job, or
even at $15 or $18 an hour, are able to afford the housing that
would take them out of homelessness. So, a number of them are
staying at our site in our supportive program housing much
longer than they would like to because they can't afford to
move back out into the community.
Mr. Roe. That is one of the things that we found, even in
rural, East Tennessee where I live is a couple things; one,
finding housing that is affordable, even where we are, and to
get developers to build housing for these that would meet these
needs. It is a huge problem for lower- income people.
And afterwards, I would love to discuss with you, a program
we have done at home, beginning at home that seems to be
working pretty well.
And I know not to take all the time--Mr. Martin, you
mentioned, also, something and we seem to be spending more and
more money, but I feel like I am running in place. You
mentioned, and you are correct that every community is
different, and El Paso is different than Northeast Tennessee,
where I live. And so, I think you were so suggesting that you
need more flexibility in these grants to be able to do what you
needed to, but I am not sure whether it was just to fill a hole
in what your community wasn't doing or whether you just needed
the money--just the grant doesn't fit your community?
Mr. Martin. In direct response to your question, Chairman,
it is not necessarily to fill a hole. We have created a
foundation under a, continue-of-care model that was in place
until roughly 2009, 2010, when the new Opening Doors initiative
came out. And that model was the foundation for what it was we
were doing in El Paso and the success that we had in El Paso.
And when we had that shift in funding, which was focused
more on housing, it took the dollars away from the support
services, because the veterans that we are working within The
Opportunity Center are those that are not VA eligible, and so
they have very limited options and they tend to stay with us.
Now, many times, they can access SSVF, but because of local
requirements that we have, that is limited to three months'
worth of assistance.
And so if we go back to the comments that were just made
with regard to a living wage, you can't do that with an entry-
level position, so many times, it is three months and you are
out and we see that return to homelessness or that recidivism
that is going to take place. And that is illustrated in the
numbers that I provided to you within the written testimony for
our organization.
Now, it is too early to tell if that is going to be a
trend, but we did see a significant increase in recidivism from
2016 to 2017 and we are also seeing an increase in shelter
nights, which is how we gauge services. So, that is not unique
individuals served; those are the individuals that come in and
take advantage of the shelter because they simply don't have
any other options at this point.
And so it is that support-service component that is
desperately needed at this point when we talk about case
management. Just to give you an example of some of the services
that were lost: daycare, legal, transportation, mental health,
okay. All of those are those wraparound services that these
panelists have indicated that are desired because we don't need
to simply look at placement; we need to look at sustainability
and that is where that flexibility is needed.
Mr. Roe. My time is expired, Mr. Chairman.
And I want to thank all of you for what you do in a very
difficult situation and population. But, just thank you for the
efforts that you are putting into that.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will now yielded
myself five minutes for questions.
For me, just some context--and these are broad questions,
and I think I can drill down; maybe it will be useful to them,
as well--but ending homelessness is a very laudable vision, but
if we can't measure it, then we won't achieve it. So my--to
each of you, and we will just go down the line: Define ending
homelessness, as it relates to your organization, and then tell
me how you specifically measure the success of achieving that
outcome. Just go down the line. Start with you, Mr. Clancy.
Mr. Clancy. Yes, sir. So, at the TVCA, we don't provide
direct support. We don't receive any Federal funding for HVRP
or any of those programs, so we network with the organizations
in our community. What we see that drives the homelessness or
an important factor is not unemployment, but underemployment,
as was talked about before.
So, it is almost like when you think about unemployment and
you think about the Nation, you never get to zero, right?
Mr. Arrington. Right.
Mr. Clancy. Because there is always some factor in there.
When you are at 3 percent unemployment, you are basically at
full employment of the country and the same thing could be said
on the veterans' side. And so to say that you are going to get
to zero homelessness is probably not an actual achievable goal,
because there will always be folks, through addiction or mental
health, don't take the support that is offered there.
Mr. Arrington. Do you think we are at that functional zero
or do you think it is where there is still ways to--
Mr. Clancy. We have made a tremendous success over the last
nine or ten years getting that down. We have captured the low-
hanging fruit, so to speak, in getting that down to, you know,
the veterans that really need the help.
I have worked--before I took this role, I was the director
of veterans services for Easterseals in Cincinnati and we did
have access to HVRP and HUD-VASH vouchers and also on the voc-
rehab side, educational assistance for veterans. And I can tell
you, it is sometimes hard to find those veterans that you can
apply those funds to, in the Cincinnati area, at least. So,
what we tried to do is get the transition--
Mr. Arrington. Why can't you--what is--why can't you find
the veteran to apply them to?
Mr. Clancy. Well, unfortunately, as we talked about before,
not every part of the country is the same.
Mr. Arrington. Yeah.
Mr. Clancy. So, you have some states that have declared the
end of veteran homelessness and then you have states like Ohio
that had a 7 percent decrease last year in veteran
homelessness. The national rate of veteran homelessness went up
1.5 percent, 568 veterans, but the state of California had
1,800 veterans.
Mr. Arrington. So, just back to my original question, I
think you are saying that the underlying issue with
homelessness, or at least a major underlying issue is
employment, underemployment. And so you would define success as
getting veterans a job?
Mr. Clancy. Getting them a job, as well as, you know,
housing; all those issues combined. But where they are not
needing assistance.
Mr. Arrington. Is it housing or is it the job that allows
them to sustain self-sufficiency so that they can have that
independence and pay the rent and feel the dignity of all that
is involved in that?
Mr. Clancy. That is absolutely right.
Mr. Arrington. Is that--would you define that as success?
Mr. Clancy. Yes, sir.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. Let me ask Ms. Williams, because in
the interests of time, I need to make it through the panel
here.
Ms. Williams. Yes, sir. Quickly, thank you. So, Easterseals
focuses on employment. And as you just mentioned, when you are
able to get someone employment, then that helps them to be able
to sustain housing.
So, we measure success by how much veterans we are able to
get employed and then from there, hopefully, to become
contributing members of society and to be able to sustain
themselves and their families.
Mr. Arrington. Mr. Peck? Thank you.
Mr. Peck. It is four things. Those transitional housing
programs that provide the rehab that get them right off the
street; the mental health counseling to address their mental
health issues; the employment--there is never enough
employment-training money ever; and the affordable housing. So,
you really need those four together.
Mr. Arrington. In the interests of time, let's just keep
going. Mr. Martin?
Mr. Martin. First and foremost, I am not overly fond of the
term ``functional zero''--
Mr. Arrington. Yeah, hit your mic, if you would.
Mr. Martin. I thought I did. My apologies.
Mr. Arrington. No, that is all right.
Mr. Martin. First and foremost, I am not overly fond of the
term ``functional zero,'' because when you look at our veteran
population, those that are not VA eligible, a vast majority of
those, over--almost 70 percent are over the age of 50. So we
look at success as housing sustainability; not necessarily
placement, but sustainability and the wraparound services that
go with it.
Mr. Arrington. Sustainability as in their ability to
sustain their independence and--because of employment?
Mr. Martin. Because of employment and the other related
services--
Mr. Arrington. And rehabilitation, et cetera, okay.
Mr. Martin. --yes, sir, you are absolutely correct.
Sustainability.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. Ms. Monet, then I am done.
Ms. Monet. From NCHV's perspective, we really want to look
at how communities are building the systems that are making
homelessness very brief and non- reoccurring. And I am sure you
are aware that the Federal government does have a set of
benchmarks and criteria that they use to assess whether
communities actually ended veteran homeless, but it really
looks at: Do you know your veterans? Are you making offers of
permanent housing? Can you move them into permanent housing
within 90 days or less? Are you decreasing unsheltered
homelessness, right? Because if you are in a shelter, you still
technically count as homelessness--as homeless on the pit
count. So, things like that are really how we would look at
success.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Monet. My time has
expired. I would now recognize Ms. Brownley, Ranking Member
VHA, for her remarks and questions.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I, too, want to
thank the witnesses today for being here and the work that you
do every single day in support of our veterans in addressing
this issue of homelessness around the country.
Mr. Peck, you had mentioned in your testimony that you were
particularly concerned about VA having an intention to
rededicate some VASH services funds into the general fund. My
understanding in terms of what their intention is--and I will
certainly ask the VA when they are up next--that they were
going to take 5 percent, sort of across the board from these
funds to provide resources so meet sort of the priorities of
the VA, giving those dollars to VISN directors, et cetera, to
be able to accomplish those goals. So, I want to make sure that
we have pulled back from that, but my understanding is that 5
percent, that would roughly mean about $264 million taken away
from supportive services to veterans.
So, I guess my question really is, you know, what are you
hearing on the ground, vis-`-vis, that? Are you hearing that,
you know, these funds are going to be taken away? What do you
know?
Mr. Peck. We are in 11 different locations across the
country, so we are hearing different things. Some of the VAs
have assured us that those funds will be there; other VAs have
not. As I said in my testimony, we are not getting the case
management help we need today when those funds are supposed to
be protected. They are supposed to be fenced, used only for VA
case managers and they are not being, so I don't know where
they are.
And my fear is that if those funds, if the directors have a
choice to redirect those funds, that they will redirect those
funds to other needs within their community.
As I said, the suicide rate among homeless veterans is
very, very high; much, much higher than the rest of the
population. So, in effect, providing services for those
homeless veterans is suicide prevention.
Ms. Brownley. I agree wholeheartedly.
Can you--do you know what has been said in Los Angeles,
relative to this issue, specifically?
Mr. Peck. I have spoken to Ann Brown, the director of the
West LA VA. She said she will not redirect these funds. We
would like to hold her to that.
Ms. Brownley. Very good. In terms of the homeless
population in Los Angeles, do you know what percentage are
female veterans, roughly?
Mr. Peck. I don't. It is quite small. It is 3 to--it is
generally about 3 personality.
Ms. Brownley. And do they typically have children, also?
Mr. Peck. Some portion of them do. Many of them have lost
custody of their children, but some portion of them do, yes. I
am not sure what that proportion is, sorry.
Ms. Brownley. And so, as far as the case management or lack
of case management, is the problem that the resources are there
to hire or is it a problem of just constant churn and turnover?
Do you have any sense of that?
Mr. Peck. The hiring within that bureaucracy is
challenging; it sometimes takes a number of months to do that.
But the West LA VA, with the number of VASH vouchers that there
are in Los Angeles, has something over 200 social workers. That
is really hard to manage. My recommendation is that they spread
those contracts out among the agencies that are knowledgeable
in the community so that each agency is able to do that job
with more oversight because the oversight right now is just not
good.
Ms. Brownley. If homelessness in Los Angeles County has
risen 57 percent, and I believe LA has approximately 20 percent
of the homeless veteran population across the country, do you
feel like you are--that Los Angeles is getting a--the
proportionally correct amount of resources distributed across
the country?
Mr. Peck. Los Angeles has been pointed out before, for
funds because I think everyone who knows anything about
homeless veterans knows that there is an awful lot of homeless
veterans there; more than anywhere else in the country. Whether
we are getting the appropriate share, I couldn't tell you, but
I think we have got something like 1,500 VASH vouchers
something like that.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you. I realize my time is up. I yield
back. I apologize.
Mr. Arrington. I am a little faster and looser than the
Chairman over to my left, so you are okay. This is--there is
probably going to be a second round here, but great line of
questions.
Now I would yield five minutes to the Chairman of the VHA,
Mr. Wenstrup.
Mr. Wenstrup. Well, thank you very much. I want to thank
you all for being here and for what you do each and every day
in the efforts that you make in trying to help our fellow
Americans and those that defended our country.
And I became familiar--when I came back from Iraq, I wasn't
looking for a job; I had a medical practice to go to. But I
became very familiar with the work of Easterseals in trying to
make those match-ups, working not only with potential
employees, but with employers, and trying to make that match.
So, I am going to direct my questions to Mr. Clancy,
because I have a real geographic bias on where he is, being
from Cincinnati, Ohio, and being familiar with the center. I
would like, if you could, just comment for a minutes on the
relationships that you have been able to build with places like
Joseph House and with our Veterans Court and how that relates
to reducing homelessness.
Mr. Clancy. Thank you, Congressman.
The whole purpose of the TVCA, when it was built was to be
the center of collaboration for the hundreds of veterans'
organizations in the Cincinnati area. So, we have built very
good relationships. We don't compete with anybody, you know,
for the Federal dollar. So, when we have a veteran in distress
that comes in through our in-processing center, we can diagnose
them and refer them out to all the agencies that are out there,
including Easterseals.
When I was with Easterseals, we worked very closely with
the TVCA and we continue to do that now.
Mr. Wenstrup. And, of course, Veterans Court and all those
types of things that are trying to get our veterans in a better
direction.
Mr. Clancy. Absolutely. We have a very strong Veterans
Court in Cincinnati and at the TVCA, we have subgroups on
specific issues that we work on: Education, employment, health
and wellness. And, for example, the employment or the education
subgroup right now is working with Veterans Court to try to get
those veterans that need help, access to the G.I. Bill.
Mr. Wenstrup. So, I know the center has been pretty robust
and a lot of interactions with veterans of all ages; not just
recent veterans, but some from previous wars. And we always
want to get some lessons learned.
And where I want to go with this is, this is Economic
Opportunity Committee and Health Committee, and what are you
seeing or what do you think could be done better--you know, we
engage in the Transition Assistance Program, which is
administered by DoD. Are there things we can do before people
take that uniform off that can help them in the long run, as
far as guidance, counseling, on the track to a profession?
Rather than VA and what you do being reactive later, what can
we do more on the front-end?
Mr. Clancy. That is a great point and we--that is one of
the goals we have. One of the things we strive for is to
contact these veterans upstream even as they are separating. We
have a program we call ``Vet Excel'' where we work directly
with the National Guard, which is big in Cincinnati, the Army
National Guard. We work directly with them with the veterans
that are separating to help them with their resume, the culture
change they are going to see from a military unit to a civilian
office in terms of everything from the direct feedback that you
might get in the military that you might not get in the
civilian workforce. Even what to wear, the basics, the very
basics.
But we continue to see the underemployment is a big
concern, so we help them take the experience they have in the
military and be able to change the verbiage or explain properly
to a civilian HR department what they are capable of doing. And
we have a two-week program that we do that, bring in the
companies who work with the HR departments directly. We work
with the veterans directly. And we try to make that one-on-one
match to help that.
So, it is a combination. We definitely need to be upstream
helping these veterans understand the change that they are
about to have.
Mr. Wenstrup. And being local like that, the Guard is a
perfect opportunity to do that.
Mr. Clancy. Absolutely.
Mr. Wenstrup. What kind of success or results are you
having and what are some of the walls, if you will, in the
process?
Mr. Clancy. We are getting great feedback from the
companies that we deal with. They love the veterans. I mean,
there is no problem with unemployment in Cincinnati. There is a
great opportunity for employment. So, they want--they love the
veterans because they show up on time. They have a sense of
mission. They have a sense of team. And so from the HR
perspective, from the company's perspective, we get very great
feedback on all the veterans we send their way.
And from the National Guard side, they are very excited
about what we are doing because they like that their veterans
are hitting the ground running on the civilian side.
Mr. Wenstrup. And from the veterans themselves? I mean I am
looking for best practices here. What do you--what kind of
feedback from the individual veterans themselves?
Mr. Clancy. The individual veterans really appreciate the
mentoring that we can give. We are an all-veteran staff. There
are plenty of corporate veterans out there that can be mentors
for other veterans coming out of the service. And so one of the
best practices we have is having those civilian, now-civilian
former military successful businessmen and women mentor the new
soldiers coming out of the military.
Mr. Wenstrup. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Chairman Wenstrup.
I will now yield five minutes to the Ranking Member of the
Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, Mr. O'Rourke.
Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This has been one of
the most helpful panels that has appeared before the house of
Veterans Affairs Committee in my five years here, so I want to
thank you all for your testimony and what you brought to the
table today.
Some of the take-aways so far for me, Mr. Peck, I think you
asked the defining moral question of this Committee when you
asked: Are these lives worth saving? And when you point out
that there are 20 veterans a day, every single day in this
country who take their own lives and the suicide rate amongst
homeless veterans is 20 times that of the general population,
that is--that should catch everyone's attention and add some
urgency to our work on this. So, I want to thank you for making
it very clear that we are in crisis today and until we resolve
this, we will remain in crisis and we need to meet that crisis
with urgent action.
I think many of the panelists, including Mr. Peck and Mr.
Martin make an excellent point that answers the Chairman's
concern about our fiduciary role for the taxpayers' dollar. If
we are not making that 25:1 ratio and we are spending all this
money to put a roof over a veteran's head, perhaps temporarily,
perhaps permanently, but we don't have the wraparound support
services, we are not getting the greatest bang for the taxpayer
dollar and we are not ensuring that we end some of that chronic
homelessness by providing the mental health care, the daycare,
the transportation services that Mr. Martin talked about. So, I
think you all made an excellent case for us ensuring that there
is accountability and oversight for VA and DOL and HUD, making
sure that we have fulfilled that commitment of 25:1.
The issue that Mr. Martin alluded to that many of us on
this Committee have worked on, which is that we have hundreds
of thousands of veterans who have an other-than-honorable
discharge and what we have been focused on lately is the fact
that that precludes them from being able to see a mental health
care provider. And we have an alarmingly high suicide rate
amongst those veterans who had bad-paper discharges. We are
working on that. I think we are going to get to greater access,
but it means that those same veterans are ineligible for the
HUD-VASH program and it consigns them to greater suffering,
homelessness.
And whether we look at our moral obligation to those
veterans who have served this country or just the taxpayer
dollars being well spent, I think we have to expand eligibility
to include those who have other-than-honorable discharges. And
I want to work with my republican colleagues, with the VA, and
the secretary, and the president on this. I think it is the
right thing to do and we absolutely have to do it.
And then the point that many of you brought up about these
HUD-VASH dollars being moved to the general fund, that is very
alarming. I am very interested in what the VA has to say on
this issue and I anticipate that question will come from both
sides of this Committee.
Last couple of points, I am really glad, Mr. Clancy that
you mentioned Combined Arms, one of these outstanding veterans'
service organizations in Houston. And part of what makes those
so exceptional is they take the mindset that the veteran is not
a victim, but, instead, had so much to contribute, and if we
just unleash their potential, the experience, the expertise
that they have built in service by connecting them in some
cases with the care that they need and they are not currently
getting. The upside for everyone else in society is unlimited
and I am grateful that you pointed that out.
I will end with this anecdote. The Chairman held a really
positive field hearing in Lubbock, Texas, on transitioning
servicemembers into civilian life successfully. And that
morning, we went to Paul's Project at Grace Campus; it is a
homeless center. And they said about 75 percent of their
clients have some medical connection to their homelessness;
their out-of-pocket expenses were too great, they could no
longer pay their mortgage or the rent, or the disability was so
significant they could no longer go to work and they found
themselves homeless.
Several of you mentioned health care as a connection. I
would ask Mr. Martin--I have got about a minute left--talk
about how significant health care is as a connection to
homelessness and perhaps how expanding eligibility decreases
our homeless population.
Mr. Martin. In El Paso at The Opportunity Center, we do
have one distinct advantage and that is that we have an on-site
health clinic and it is operated by a separate entity, which
Centro San Vicente. But that access to medical care is a
critical component, as well as mental health care, because we
also have a community, as it relates to mental health needs
overall that is overwhelmed, and so we have got to look at
accessibility as we sort of pick it up.
And in the absence of that, what happens is we see a large
number of individuals, to use a term that is been used in the
past, that self-medicates through alcohol and drugs, and that
includes the veteran population. There is just a lack of trust
in the system and that is one thing I haven't heard at this
point, especially when we start to get into the older veterans.
We have a lot of folks that simply say, I don't want
anything to do with the VA; I just want out, and it is
distrust, disillusionment, whatever the case might be over
time. And so, that goes back into, to a certain extent,
somewhat of a cultural transition, okay. We have talked about
it in terms of employment, but we also have to look at it from
a social atmosphere, as well. Because in many cases, they would
like to be there and there is a right to have a choice.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ranking Member O'Rourke. And we
will now yield for five minutes to Mr. Bilirakis.
Mr. Bilirakis. I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman. I have a couple questions.
Stakeholders from our Supportive Services for Veterans
Families program in my direct in Florida--I represent the Tampa
Bay, portions of the Tampa Bay Area--they have highlighted the
need for better coordination between the VA and HUD in
strengthening the continuum of care so the veteran homeless
populations have the support they need for long-term success.
They stress the importance of directing dollars we have
provided to the VA towards continuum of care support so the
program can focus their efforts on prevention and
rehabilitation.
So, the question is for the panel, the entire panel--we can
start with Mr. Clancy--how would you recommend VA, HUD, and the
Department of Labor, how could they improve the communication
with community partners like those each of you are part of? And
I appreciate your testimony today.
Mr. Clancy. Thank you, Congressman.
In Cincinnati, we have a very good relationship with our VA
Medical Center and so we are in very good communication with
them constantly. You know, I think there is an advantage to
flexibility and I think, as we mentioned before, and so I
think--I know there is a concern with the HUD-VASH program,
that a dollar is not specifically being directed to them, but
in--again, in Cincinnati, we don't have maybe the needs that
maybe Los Angeles has and I think the flexibility of working
with the VA Medical Center is critical for us, but we have a
very good relationship with them.
Mr. Bilirakis. Please.
Ms. Williams. I will admit, this is my third day on the
job, so if you don't mind, I would love to submit an answer to
you once I get that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Thank you. You are doing very
well. I will tell you that much.
Yes, please?
Mr. Peck. I think it is important that we look at the
entire continuum. There has been a tendency to try to find a
single fix. Housing First was the answer for a while, but I
think it is critical that we provide those more intensive
services that are now done through their Grant and Per Diem
Program at the beginning so that veterans coming in off the
street are getting the services that they need, whether it be
mental health or substance abuse or education or whatever it
may be, and then have a direct connection between those grant
per diem programs and all the permanent housing available, not
just HUD-VASH, but also the supportive housing available
through the HUD program, and that they cooperate with counties
so that the counties are providing a range of services,
particularly in regards to mental health and employment that
can serve the veterans who are VA eligible and the veterans who
are non-VA eligible. So, all those systems have to work
together.
Mr. Martin. I had to sort of think a little bit about the
response to this question because in our reality, we have a
wonderful working relationship with the VA in El Paso, we truly
do, and that is through our GPD program. And so we have a lot
of interaction that is taking place as we work through that.
Just, I think a week and a half ago, I sat in on a
teleconference call that the VA hosted with regard to
Coordinated Entry and I think that is one example of what we
could use, where we are trying to sort of take two systems and
having them use the same entry point. And if you are not
familiar with Coordinated Entry, it can be simply described as
one door in; so, in other words, everybody goes through a
common assessment process.
If they qualify for VA, whether it is SSVF, HUD-VASH,
whatever the case might be, they go direction one. If they
don't, then they go direction two which takes you over to the
HUD-funding side of the fence, okay. And so, that is the
intent; to have the two work together.
Now, the reality is, when you look at direction two, we
need to start looking at support services and that could
potentially pull in the Department of Labor, because a lot of
the employment side of the fence--employment is one of the keys
to sustainability, desired employment, not just an entry-level
job as you work through it. So, you have got to take a look at
what the strengths of the individual are and you have got to
get away from, You must be job-ready as the underlying premise
and you have got to start working with that individual and
develop the skill sets that are needed and then, two, to be
able to provide the coaching that is necessary for
sustainability in employment. So, again, it goes back to
support services.
Mr. Bilirakis. Great. Please.
Ms. Monet. So, I think this is a really important question
and I appreciate that you all are asking this. I will tell you
that I look at it from two perspectives and the first is from a
top-down approach, right, where all of the agencies are really
focusing in on sending coordinated messages and reinforcing the
messages of other agencies to their grantees, encouraging
people to communicate.
I think the other thing to think about in that regard is
that the Federal government is the largest funder of
homelessness assistance, right? So, if you can incentivize,
through your funding mechanisms, coordination I think you will
be in good shape.
The SSVF program does this really well. The Grant and Per
Diem Program is now moving to do that in its current reboot of
its system.
But I think you also need to look at this from the bottom
up and think about what is in it for providers and Coordinated
Entry, as Mr. Martin mentioned, is one really great approach. I
think case conferencing and sharing resources and really
creating a solid system in your community is another thing that
is a benefit to a provider and that providers should be
thinking about and looking at.
Mr. Bilirakis. Well, thank you very much. I see my time has
expired. I will yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Submit the rest of the questions for the record. Thank you.
Mr. Arrington. You bet. Thank you, Mr. Bilirakis. We will
now yield five minutes to Mr. Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Peck, I want to begin by thinking you for the
tremendous work that U.S. VETS does in many particular district
and the wonderful facility being built with the wraparound
services. So, I congratulate you on that work.
You mentioned in your testimony that there is not a lot of
accountability for VA case management and that contractor
organizations are held to and achieve greater outcomes. You
have also said the Inspector General's study was unable to
identify why veterans exited the program.
Would a comprehensive study by an entity outside of VA or
HUD or like JO, for example, be helpful in understanding HUD,
the HUD VASH's efficacy and where there are still issues in
deliverance of services?
Mr. Peck. Absolutely. I think if we can bring transparency
to the goals of the program as opposed to what is actually
happening would be invaluable and I have not seen such a study.
That OIG study that I referred to was specific to the western--
was specific to the California area, so I think a nationwide
study would be excellent to make sure that they are providing
that service based on the model that they say that it is based
on, which is the Housing First model.
Mr. Takano. I think, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make
sure that we look at such a study or at getting such a study
ordered, because it is about the use of, most effective and
efficient use of taxpayer resources. So, if we could work with
you on that, I would appreciate that, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Peck, I want to continue with a line of questioning. In
2016, Riverside County, which I represent, as you know, reached
functional zero for veteran homelessness, but just because
there has been some progress in our area, I know that next door
in Los Angeles County, which has a much larger population, they
have experienced an uptick and they have the largest number of
homeless. We will definitely, I think, suffer if we don't, in
my area, if we don't address what is going on in Los Angeles.
And it doesn't mean we can let up our efforts because we in
Riverside County have reached functional zero.
A continued and coordinated multi-agency strategy is of
course needed to end veteran homelessness. We have seen in
California, the number of homeless veterans rise by 20 percent
last year in distinction to what has happened in Riverside
County. Now, as service providers--as a service provider, do
you feel that the VA remains committed to ending veteran
homelessness?
Mr. Peck. I should hope so. I think the directors that we
deal with at Loma Linda and Los Angeles are committed to this
effort. It frightens me when people talk about the end of
functional homeless--the functional end of homelessness. It
feels like the problem has been solved.
And we have actually experienced, in talking to funders who
say, Isn't that problem solved? And it is not.
Mr. Takano. Well, yeah. So, here is my thing. I realize
that Loma Linda and LA directors, you may feel supportive, but
has the secretary's decision to remove the elimination of
veteran homelessness from his top priorities impact the work
that you will do on the ground?
Mr. Peck. It absolutely will impact. If those funds are
redirected, the homeless population will go up.
Mr. Takano. Last year--okay, well, the VA proposed moving
money from specific funds to a general purpose fund, and how
would that have impacted the services you provide the veterans
and the numbers of veterans you serve?
Mr. Peck. It would not only reduce the case management we
are getting currently from the VA, it would allow a number of
those HUD vouchers to go unused. They cannot be used without
the appropriate case management. So, it is an overall reduction
in service to homeless veterans.
Mr. Takano. So, the HUD vouchers--the HUD-VASH vouchers
would be unused because we aren't doing the wraparound services
as part of the holistic approach that we have to use?
Mr. Peck. Yes. So, the three letters that I have submitted
with my written testimony indicate that in some cases, they are
only using half of the vouchers because the VA cannot commit to
providing case management to 100 percent of the vouchers.
Mr. Takano. So, there is funding on the table that we can't
use.
Mr. Martin, could you quickly respond to that same
question: How would the proposed repurposing of the money
affect you on the ground?
Mr. Martin. Well, when you are talking about VA dollars,
like I said, I am sort of in a different world. And when I talk
about the absence of case management, I am referring to that
crisis response system, that safety net, that emergency shelter
where we have a large number of individuals. Because if our VA-
funded programs, we are able to maintain those levels as we
work through that because it is a requirement of doing so.
Now, when you look at the VASH vouchers, I believe we have
about 294 as a community and I have not heard any concerns that
have come in from the VA in that respect, in direct answer to
your question.
Mr. Takano. I would ask the rest of the panel to submit an
answer to the question that I asked in writing later. But, Mr.
Chairman, I yield back; I am certainly over.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Takano.
Now, I yield five minutes to Ms. Radewagen.
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very
much. I, too, want to personally commend the panel for not only
appearing today, but for doing this very difficult, challenging
work. I mean you are just amazing.
Mr. Clancy, your testimony suggests that regional veteran
collaboratives are part of the solution to ending veteran
homelessness. What are those and why do you think they are
needed?
Mr. Clancy. Thank you, ma'am. The veteran collaboratives,
as I have mentioned not only here, in Cincinnati with the TVCA,
but also Combined Arms in Houston, as the Congressman
mentioned, are critical because it enables the community to
come together in a collaborative sense to provide the best of
services for the veteran. We can combine best practices.
Different organizations receive different funding, and we can,
as best we can, move upstream to get those transitioning
veterans before they become in crisis mode.
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Radewagen. I will now yield
five minutes to Ms. Kuster.
Ms. Kuster. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am delighted to be
here. Thank you very much. It is a very informative hearing. I
think you have taken on kind of a calm tone in what I consider
to be a serious change in policy that Congress was not
consulted about and I want to make sure that we get a chance to
get to the bottom of what the impact is on a daily basis for
our veterans, and not just the veterans that are currently in
the system, but perhaps, more importantly, the veterans who are
not yet in the system or, as you mentioned, have been
disillusioned.
I wanted to mention in Nashua, New Hampshire. We have done
tremendous work in my district, particularly Easterseals--thank
you to Easterseals, Ms. Williams-- and to our own Harbor Homes,
a very effective program integrating health care and housing
services.
I had a wonderful story of a man, John, I met, who had been
living under a bridge with a group of Vietnam-era veterans.
They were, over time, brought in by the social workers and it
turns out part of his problem was a health care issue. He was
diabetic and not been receiving any health care, and when he
was housed and got the health care that he needed, come to find
out that he had been a middle manager in a company in our area.
He had a family that he was estranged from. And over the course
of getting the housing and the services, he was able to reunite
with his family and, actually, now he is a part of helping
other veterans.
So, my question to you is, are there lessons that can be
learned--and I will direct this to Ms. Williams--from the
programs that have been effective? And in particular, we have
been talking a lot about Los Angeles. If you could turn your
attention to rural communities and what more we need to be
doing.
And I think in a bipartisan way, we need to take back this
discussion from an administration that seems to be turning a
blind eye or turning a shoulder toward those veterans in need
and make a decision about funding, fully funding the services
that are needed; the wraparound services, the health care, the
social workers.
So, Ms. Williams, if you could talk about the lessons
learned and where we go from here.
Ms. Williams. Thank you so much for the question and let me
speak specifically first, starting with New Hampshire, that New
Hampshire does have many rural areas and with minimal staffing,
it is difficult to reach all the veterans in need and to
provide the level and attention they need. So, that is the
experience that we are having in New Hampshire.
And secondly, what I would say is that there needs to be
greater flexibility to meet the unique needs of veterans, and I
just want to, again, highlight Easterseals' support of H.R.
4451, which is Congressman Wenstrup and Congresswoman
Brownley's bill, because it does, in fact, allow for that
flexibility.
Secondly, focusing on retention, helping to maintain jobs
and increase employment, and not just any employment, but
better jobs is critical.
And then the final thing I would say toot-toot, again, tie
into what my fellow panelists have discussed is early access to
case management. The community care coordination is vital; that
is what we have heard, and I would just encourage the Federal
agencies and you all to push for that. That is part of how we
achieve success.
Ms. Kuster. Could I ask our representative from HUD, do you
see the continuum of care as part of the mission to address
homelessness from a holistics perspective to not only
employment, but I want to remind the chair that some of these
veterans are 65, 70, 80. Employment is not the only solution.
And if anyone else wants to add in--I have about a minute
left--I would appreciate your comments.
Mr. Martin. A direct answer on that question, when I look
at the population that we serve, over 67 percent are over the
age of 50 and if I take that up a notch and get you to 65 and
older, we are looking at--and I just ran the numbers--18
percent, okay. So, when we look at our mission under the
continuum of care, and our mission statement states this, We
transition those that can and we protect those that can't.
So, you have got to look at that long-term viability for
those that are not in a position to seek some type of
sustainable housing through employment.
Ms. Kuster. Right.
Mr. Martin. And that is where you look at the different
options.
Ms. Kuster. Thank you. The other question I have is about
workforce--and my time is limited--but if you have any comments
on workforce or if you want to submit for the word?
Mr. Martin. I would be more than happy to. I know that we
are piloting a project right now with the local university,
ourselves, and workforce, which is based on the premise that
anybody can work, but I will submit that in a written format to
you so you can--
Ms. Kuster. I would be very interested. And with the brief
indulgence that veterans be included both, on the training
side, but also on the workforce, social workers, and such. So,
I would be very interested in any thoughts you might have.
And the chair is gone, but I wanted to invite him to New
Hampshire for a roundtable on homelessness. Thank you. I will
yield back.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Kuster. We will now yield
five minutes to Mr. Higgins.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank the panel
Members for attending today. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Members, I
would like to suggest that we see a future panel addressing
this crucial issue that would include DoD, because it occurs to
me, as a veteran myself, that our Nation invests a great deal
of energy and money into training our soldiers, sailors,
airmen, and Marines to do their job within the military.
Largely, a soldier in today's military chooses his MOS and
yet we invest virtually nothing prior to their ETS from the
military to help them make a transition to civilian life. And
all of us know there is a term in the military called a
``short-timer,'' a ``99 and wake up,'' et cetera. It seems to
me that if our energies were invested in coordination with the
DoD to have sort of an ETS, AIT, advanced individual training,
to help that military member be prepared for work, because
these men and women who serve our Nation, they lose their
uniform, they lose their rank, but they maintain their skill,
and yet they enter the civilian world as rookies.
You have excellent mechanics leaving the military that
don't have an ASE certification. They are not qualified to
change oil at a dealership. We could fix that if the DoD would
work together with the VA and the existing entities that help
post-ETS transitions.
We have heavy-equipment operators operating dozers and
cranes and, you know, very significant heavy equipments [sic]
that are not certified to operate a forklift when they get out.
Welding certifications, heavy-truck driving certifications,
nursing and medical-profession certifications, all of these
excellent skills that are performed by our military members
every day across the world and when they ETS from service, they
don't have the civilian certifications that are equivalent to
their existing skills. So, they lose not just their uniform and
their rank, but they lose their opportunity to serve their
fellow man with the skills that they have learned and excelled
at within the military.
As a street cop for 12 years, I have had personal
interaction with hundreds of homeless veterans and I can tell
you that there is a sort of an underground culture in existence
and I would like a couple of you to address this. We say we
have 40,000 homeless veterans. We have 184,000 veterans
incarcerated in America at an average cost of, a conservative
average cost of $32,000 per veteran; that is $6 billion.
So, there is a culture that a veteran--because the very
nature of a military veteran is independent and strong and
mission-oriented and they don't expect to be bantered Abby
civilian housing directors and people of that ilk. So, many
veterans house themselves in jails. They will commit a--they
are smart. They will commit a misdemeanor crime that requires
incarceration. They won't make their bond and they will do
three, six months, eight months in a jail, in a local jail,
then they are back on the street and they will live on the
street for a while until they repeat that cycle.
So, I would ask, Mr. Peck and Ms. Monet, if the Chairman
would allow the time, I would ask you to address your
consideration regarding the future that we could envision
working with DoD to help these military veterans make the
transition with the skills that they have into service to
acquire the civilian certification equivalent of their skills
so that we don't have this problem.
Mr. Peck. I think you have hit on a very important problem.
That transfer, once a veteran--once a serviceman or woman comes
out of the military and hits the street, they do so without
appropriate help. The TAP Program is there. It is a lot of
information in a very short period of time. As you said, once
you get to be a short-term, you just want out of there and you
don't necessarily want to talk to anybody.
So, starting a program well before they get out indicating
the possibilities of--other possibilities once they get into
you civilian life, and giving them a connection in the
community where they are discharged so the VA can contact them,
you know, 90 days later or 6 months later and say, How are you
doing? Do you have a job, you know, are you all right? Is your
family okay?
Just rather than the veteran running out of resources after
six months or a year or three years and then being so
disconnected and disillusioned that they won't connect with the
VA. So, I think that connection is critical and we have to find
some formal system to make that transition.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr.--
Mr. Higgins. If the Chairman would allow Ms. Monet?
Mr. Arrington. Go ahead, Ms. Monet. Let's make it quick
because we are running late all right. Ms. Monet, go ahead.
Ms. Monet. I will be as quick as I can.
Mr. Arrington. Thirty seconds.
Ms. Monet. So, I think from our perspective at NCHV, one of
the most interesting things that we do as an organization is we
have a toll-free hotline where veterans who are experiencing a
housing crisis can actually call in and say, Hey, I need help.
And we have heard from a good number of young and recently
returned vets who have said, I am getting ready to get out. I
have nowhere to go. You know, I live on base housing and I
don't even know how to find an apartment; I don't know what
that means.
So, to your point about DoD getting involved in transition
planning, they need to be thinking not only about employment,
but, also asking servicemembers Hey, do you have a housing
plan? Do you have somewhere to live when you get out? If you
don't, can we connect you with VA or a community provider in
the area where you are going so they can help you out and they
can sort of wrap some services around you to get you started
off on the right foot.
I think to your point about incarceration, any transition
planning is important. Not only from DoD, but, you know, when
you are coming out of jail or prison, but even if you are
coming out of mental health treatment or a hospital. I think
folks need to really be cognizant that big life transitions are
points that are--well, they are points of vulnerability, I
guess, where we could be doing a lot more to improve services
to our veterans.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Monet.
Mr. Higgins. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the indulgence.
Mr. Arrington. You bet, Mr. Higgins.
And now we yield five minutes to Mr. Correa.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to first of
all, thank our veterans for your service to our country and I
wanted to also echo some of the comments made by my colleagues
regarding the redirection of funds without properly notifying
Congress. Let's do better next time.
A couple of questions. I will start out--I am from
California and the question I am get asked by a lot of veterans
is: What impact would cannabis use by veterans have on their
eligibility to access the various programs, the services that
you offer? How are they affected in terms of their eligibility?
Mr. Peck. That is a tricky one. I know that the VA does not
allow cannabis use. There are some verifiable medical uses for
marijuana. It is a tricky area because so many of the veterans
that we have in our housing have substance abuse issues,
addiction issues, so--
Mr. Correa. We have an issue of opioid use--abuse.
Mr. Peck. Yep.
Mr. Correa. Then we have right now the issue of the famous
cold memo that has been essentially repudiated by our attorney
general. Then in the state of California, we do have medical
cannabis use. There is a doctor-patient relationship. There is
recommendations made by physicians to their patients for use of
cannabis.
So, we have--what we have here is a conflict of law here,
State v. Federal. And my veterans are asking me, what is going
to happen if I medicated with cannabis; will I have--be
affected in terms of my benefits in the VA?
And I have gotten conflicting answers and I am asking you
here publicly because I need to give my vets and answer. And if
you don't have the answer now, can I ask you to please submit
your answers to me in writing.
Mr. Peck. I will do. I will--
Mr. Correa. To the best you can, give an answer.
Mr. Peck. Yes. But you are right; there is a conflict
between state and Federal and where there is verifiable medical
benefit that should be allowed. So, I will ask all of our
clinicians and get back to you.
Mr. Correa. And, Mr. Peck, you talked about a more
efficient use of funds and unused grant programs, turning them
into vouchers. I am out of Orange County. We have some great
folks providing great services like the Illumination
Foundation, a group that is about 10, 15 years old; gets
homeless folks, gets them into converted motels. You know, gets
them on their feet, wraparound services. Is that the kind of
services you are talking about in terms of also aiding veterans
in terms of getting them back on their feet?
Mr. Peck. Absolutely. Nonprofits really have extensive
outreach into the communities, much more so than the VA.
Mr. Correa. And I say that because the only limitation that
these folks have is resources.
Mr. Peck. Yes, absolutely. I am a big proponent for the VA
to contract and I think those dollars would be much more
efficient and we would reach more veterans.
Mr. Correa. And let me, with the few seconds I have left, I
want to follow-up on Dr. Wenstrup's and Mr. Higgins' comments
about following up with veterans after they take off the
uniform in a meaningful way. I mean, it is one thing to give
them a survey when you leave, but like you just mentioned, you
know, some of these vets may be in many ways, lacking of the
skills that they need to survive out there, especially given
the invisible wounds they have once they leave the service to
our country.
So, do we have a system to meaningfully follow up with them
six months, a year, two years out, other than a survey or a
``fill out the card and send it in?''
Mr. Peck. There is no such system and a lot of us are
advocating that they have to opt-out, rather than opt-in to a
program that would allow the VA to contact them after they--
Mr. Correa. Given that we want to do what is best for the
veterans, given that we want to figure out the best way to use
taxpayer dollars, do--I would just rather follow up with them
however the best we can, six months out, one year, five years
later. As Mr. Higgins said, we have too many of our veterans in
jail today. That is just--there is no excuse for that.
Mr. Peck. A 90-day follow-up, six-month follow-up would
save a lot of lives, for sure.
Mr. Correa. How can we do that? What do we need to--
Mr. Peck. I think my fellow marine, Secretary Mattis would
support that and I would love for someone to talk to him about
that.
Mr. Correa. So, can we do something like that? What do we
need to get going, folks?
Mr. Clancy. Congressman, if I may? Any veteran that comes
to our in-processing center in Cincinnati does get follow-up,
three months, six months, one year. If we get them a job, we
follow up not only with the veteran, but with the employer to
make sure that everything is going well and the veteran is
still squared away.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Correa. I would now yield
five minutes to the gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Banks.
Mr. Banks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to each of you,
once again, for the important work that you do. And Mr.
Chairman, thanks for this incredibly important venue today to
talk about this important issue.
Ms. Monet, I wondered if you could talk a little bit more
about the Housing First model. You said a minute ago, I thought
quiet profoundly, that Housing First should not ever meaning
housing only. Multiple times, the VA has reiterated its support
for Housing First, but I hear from some of the leaders in my
district who serve homeless veterans that it doesn't always
provide the best option. It might put a roof over a veteran's
head, but it doesn't get to the root--underlying problem, such
as drug addiction.
So, could you elaborate a little bit on that and what you
mean by that and talk a little bit more about the Housing First
and why it might fall short in some of those cases.
Ms. Monet. Absolutely. That is a wonderful question. Thank
you for that, sir.
So, Housing First really means that you are, indeed,
putting someone in housing first, but you are then following up
and you are offering services. So, you are saying, Hey, I see
you have this issue. Can we help you address your diabetes or
your opioid use? Or you are unemployed, do you need a job?
Let's get you some employment services.
But Housing First, it is very important to make the
distinction that your ability to stay in that housing is not
predicated on the requirement to access services. So, you are
not requiring them to go to 90 AA meetings in 90 days. You are
not requiring them to jump through a bunch of hoops to stay in
housing, but what you are really doing is enticing them into
the services while they are in housing, because research has
really shown that when a person is in housing, they can better
address all of the other issues that they are facing.
Mr. Banks. Very good. Now, as a segue from that, Mr. Peck,
you talked a little bit ago about the importance of GPD up
front and wonder maybe if you could talk a little bit more
about that, what you mean about that, and why that would be
important.
Mr. Peck. The case management is more robust in the grant
per diem programs, which gives us the opportunity to offer them
the rehabilitation that many of them need and are asking for.
While Housing First is a good model, it is only one avenue and
I think a number of them would welcome the opportunity to get
into a program that could provide the mental health, the
substance abuse treatment, the education, educational
opportunities that a GPD program can offer, which a Housing
First permanent housing program cannot. There is just simply
not the robustness of the case management assistance.
Mr. Banks. Do you--since the VA is continuing to support a
GPD upfront, can you talk a little bit about what we have
seen--the posture from the VA from your perspective.
Mr. Peck. They have supported it. Thankfully, they have
reduced it somewhat. There is a few thousand beds that they
have reduced and I think those beds may not have been well
utilized. They have redesigned the program to make it more
proactive. You have to state what kind of service you can
provide. They are really focusing on outcomes and the outcomes
largely are getting those veterans into permanent housing,
whether through the income they earn through employment or a
disability income. So they are, now, I think, measuring that
program better than they were before.
Mr. Banks. So, you are optimistic about the way forward.
From your perspective, you are not concerned about those
changes; those are good, healthy changes?
Mr. Peck. Those are goods changes, absolutely. And I think
they will continue to support that. I am hoping that they will.
Mr. Banks. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate, once
again, all that you do, and I yield back.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Banks.
And, finally, we now yield to Mr. Peters, five minutes for
questioning.
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank all the
leadership for holding this hearing and for allowing me to
participate even though this isn't my Subcommittee. It is an
issue that is very important to me. I represent San Diego,
which is the home of a tremendous veterans population. Because
of that, the nature of our homeless population is that it is
heavy on veterans.
We have a lot of programs in San Diego that are community-
based, we think are doing well, but, obviously, they depend so
heavily on the Federal participation, so let me turn to a
couple observations and then ask a couple questions. First of
all, we are all very supportive of the interest of the
secretary in suicide--veteran suicide, but we don't want that
to come at the expense of housing, because the two are so
related.
We have heard from all of you that suicide rates among the
homeless veterans are much higher, so keeping them housed and
off the streets and dealing with housing is, in effect, part of
the suicide battle, as well, and we certainly urge the
secretary to keep that in mind as he talks about where he
spends money and shifts money.
And the other observation that I would make, that a lot of
my colleagues have made, is the importance of the Department of
Defense in this. The most cost-effective expenditure of an
American taxpayer money is to really prepare transitioning vets
to come out and be productive, be employed, have a plan. And I
think we may want to ask more of the Department of Defense to
take that on as one of their tasks.
They trained great warriors. They trained them to have the
skills that I think the Chairman had, but they are not
necessarily trained to deal with civilian life in a way that
they could be and they should be at the time of transition.
And Mr. Clancy has talked about some of the efforts that he
has done in his area on that. I commend that. Maybe you know of
0800 in San Diego, which is a transitioning program that tries
to do the same thing; go on the base at the time of transition
and introduce the community at that point so that when people
walk off the base as civilians, they are not strangers to that.
Mr. Clancy?
Mr. Clancy. Yeah, absolutely San Diego has a great program
and it is in my written testimony, but I didn't mention it
today, but the San Diego Veteran Coalition and Military Family
Collaborative is a group that we, as with Combined Arms, we
have conference calls with them, best practices, what are they
doing that is successful? What are we doing that is successful?
And so there are a number of collaboratives around the country
that are working together to, again, learn from each other and
learn how best to prepare the veteran for separation from the
military.
Mr. Peters. Terrific. And I certainly think it is worth
observing that even if the VA and the Veterans Committee were
functioning at 100 percent, we couldn't replace the importance
of community involvement; that is something we can't do as a
government. Not every solution that comes from the government,
I think, with community involvement has been so helpful.
But in the time I have, though, the question I wanted to
ask was about vouchers. In San Diego, we get reports that there
is a large number of vouchers that aren't used and I would like
to just--maybe, Mr. Peck, you could address how is it that
possible? Why does that happen? And maybe what could we do to
make sure that the resources that we do have are being employed
to make sure that veterans have housing?
Mr. Peck. In some instances, unfortunately, it is due to a
high-housing costs, which I am sure is true in San Diego. And I
have worked closely with the VVSD down there, a really good
program. So, some landlords are not taking those vouchers. I
know in Los Angeles, 500 veterans are walking around with
vouchers in hand that cannot find housing, so they stay in
bridge programs like the ones we run and others. So, creating
the affordable housing, talking with landlords is critical to
be able to get those veterans into the--into their housing.
And, additionally, a shortage of VA social workers is
contributing to the--those vouchers not being used.
Mr. Peters. So the landlord--the work with landlords is
more of a local issue.
Mr. Peck. Yes, but it is critical that there is a local
plan for each of these Federal issues. And as you said, the
community-based nonprofits are the ones that know and are
familiar with the community.
Mr. Peters. As a Federal lawmaker, what would you suggest
that I do to see that more vouchers are used in San Diego,
given our high housing costs, Mr. Peck?
Mr. Peck. I would--two things need to be done. Check with
the VA to make sure that they have providing the appropriate
number of case managers and, two, talk with the City, who can
talk to the landlords, is what is happening in Los Angeles, in
an effort to get them to look more closely at these vouchers.
And we have housing locators to reach out to those landlords.
Mr. Peters. Okay. And on our end, I think the case managers
is the answer. We have to make sure that that support system is
provided, as well.
Mr. Peck. Absolutely.
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Peters.
And I would like to say as the chair for the Subcommittee
for Economic Opportunity that I associate myself with much of
what you said and what my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
have said, which is what I love most about this Committee, I
mean, we just somehow when you walk through these doors and
when you are thinking about the customer, which is the veteran,
you just put everything aside and you do everything you can to
put America and our veterans first.
I appreciate the candor and thoughtful responses from our
panelists and I appreciate your service to our veterans and our
country in that regard.
One final comment before we conclude and have the next
panel join us is, as an Economic Opportunity Subcommittee that
oversees the Transitional Assistance Program, and I think
comments were made repeatedly about sort of the ounce of
prevention in transition, the assessment holistically of the
veteran or the serviceman or woman coming out of active duty
into civilian life, and all that we do to invest in time and
resources to prepare these good Americans to defend us and our
freedom and our allies, all that we do to prepare them to be
warriors, and in my opinion, how little we invest to transition
them so that quite frankly we don't need much of your services
because we have done a good job on the front-end and we have
made it as much of a priority to transition them and assimilate
them back into civilian and to tap those skills that they have
learned and those responsibilities that they have had. And we
have rehabilitated where there has been trauma in their
experiences.
So, I hope in the next year, and this is something that I
have made known to this--my colleagues who are staffing the
Committee, I want reform of the TAP program to be of the first
and foremost priority for our Committee. And after some of our
hearings that we have had on TAP, we know how much money we
spend. We don't know what outcomes. They didn't have much to
any outcome. It could be that they are doing a good job.
I have a sense from talking--listening to you and talking
to folks back in my district that we can do a whole lot better.
So I hope we can commit to transforming that program to really
work on the front end. And so we have less drug addiction, less
suicide, less homelessness, and joblessness from our hero's on
account of a program that actually works. Maybe it is working,
I don't know. There really wasn't much data to suggest it was,
so a lot of this is just intuition.
Thank you, guys. You are dismissed. And we would ask that
the second panel come and join us so I can introduce you, and
we can get on with the second panel and the discussion.
In the interest of time, I am going to go ahead and make
the introductions of our panelists. Joining us now this
afternoon is Matt Miller, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for
the Veterans Employment and Training Service of the U.S.
Department of Labor.
And we have alongside of him Dominique Blom, the General
Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and Indian
Housing of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. And also Dr. Thomas Lynch, the Deputy Under
Secretary for Health and Clinical Operations for the Veterans
Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs who is accompanied by Dr. Keith Harris, the Director of
Clinical Operations for the Homeless Program Office.
We thank you for joining us. And, Mr. Miller, let's start
with you. You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF MATT MILLER
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Wenstrup and
Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and O'Rourke, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to provide a statement for today's hearings on
veterans homelessness.
As a former chief of staff in the body, I want to
personally recognize you and Committee staff for their tireless
efforts to ensure that America fulfills its obligations to our
current servicemembers, veterans, and their families.
My name is Matt Miller and I am the Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Policy at the United States Department of Labor's
Veterans Employment and Training Service, or VETS. I am also
the Department's representative on the U.S. Interagency Council
on Homelessness.
Secretary Acosta stands firmly behind our country's
servicemembers and veterans. He has a clear goal that will
assist our veterans in finding and keeping good jobs. For the
Department, one veteran experiencing homelessness is one too
many. We look forward to working with the Subcommittees in
providing those who served our Nation with the employment
support, assistance, and opportunities they deserve to succeed
in civilian workforce.
Our partnerships throughout DOL extend VETS ability to
achieve its mission, and bring all of DOL's resources to bear
for America's veterans. One important component of VETS mission
is the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, or HVRP, which
provides grants to organizations to assist in reintegrating
homeless veterans into meaningful employment. Grantees also
provide wrap around services to link homeless veterans with
health care and housing opportunities provided by our partners.
While HVRP is like a canoe compared to the carrier-size
programs that the VA and HUD offer, it serves a critical
mission in ending homelessness among veterans. Each HVRP
participant receives customized employment and training service
such as occupational, classroom, and on-the-job training to
address his or her specific barriers to employment.
The HVRP program succeeds because of the hard work and
local connections of our grantees like U.S. VETS, but also
because of the collaborative efforts of our government's
partners at the Federal and state levels.
Two weeks ago I had the humbling experience of touring one
of our grantees located along Skid Row in Los Angeles,
California. While there, I heard about Jeremy, an honorably
discharged Marine Corps veteran. He had been incarcerated for
seven years and began working with our grantee Volunteers of
America.
Jeremy's counselor worked with him to develop a career
plan, and within four days of enrolling in the program Jeremy
got a job with the SoCal Construction Company. And since
starting, his wages have increased from $12 to $14 an hour. In
fiscal year 2017, the HVRP program received an appropriation of
$45 million that provided services to over 16,000 homeless
veterans, with a placement rate of 67 percent, and an average
salary of $12.88 an hour.
The fastest growing segment of the veteran population are
women. HVRP funds are used to serve them along with veterans
with families and incarcerated veterans. We also support stand-
down events where we partner with Federal and state agencies,
local businesses, and social service providers which offer
critical services to homeless veterans. Additionally, to assist
with the Hurricane Harvey relief effort, VETS awarded $50,000
for three stand-down events in Houston, Texas, serving a total
of 756 homeless veterans.
I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to
highlight a significant challenge we face; the statutory
definition of homeless veteran. If Jeremy, who I mentioned
earlier, had first received permanent housing from one of our
counterparts at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, he would not be eligible
to apply for our programs at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, and, thus,
not able to take advantage of our employment services.
Studies have shown that barriers to employment still exist
after immediate housing needs are met, and individuals still
run a risk of becoming homeless again. VETS' 2016 annual report
to Congress proposes a solution to this, and I would like to
work with you to further discuss how we can rectify this
problem.
Chairman Wenstrup and Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley
and O'Rourke, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee,
Department of Labor is committed to the goal of ending veterans
homelessness, and we look forward to working with you, our
Federal partners, and the Interagency Council to ensure the
continuous success of our efforts.
This concludes my statement. Thank you, again, for the
opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any
questions you may have at this time.
[The prepared statement of Matt Miller appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Miller. We now yield five
minutes to Ms. Blom.
STATEMENT OF DOMINIQUE BLOM
Ms. Blom. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon to you,
Chairman Arrington, Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Brownley,
and Ranking Member O'Rourke, and Members of the Subcommittee.
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the efforts of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, and our Federal
partners for ending veterans homelessness.
I am Dominique Blom, a Career Senior Executive and the
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and
Indian Housing at HUD. My office is responsible for the HUD-
VASH program.
HUD is committed to working towards the goal of ending
veterans homelessness with our Federal and local partners by
maximizing our collective resources. Thanks to funding from
Congress and this collaborative partnership, we have made
remarkable progress.
HUD's general homeless programs run by HUD's Office of
Community Planning and Development provide about $2.4 billion
annually to help homelessness primarily through permanent
supportive housing. Ninety-seven millions of these funds serve
approximately 17,000 veterans through the continuing of CARE
program, including 10,000 veterans with disabilities. Thousands
more veterans are served with rapid re-housing, emergency
shelter, and other assistance.
My office administers the HUD-VASH program, which combines
housing choice voucher rental assistance provided from HUD with
case management and clinical services provided by the VA. This
program is one of our most effective tools at reducing veterans
homelessness.
Since 2008, over 131,000 veterans and their families have
used a HUD-VASH voucher to move into safe, stable housing. And
as of September, over 77,000 veterans were housed through HUD-
VASH. Shortly, HUD will be awarding approximately 5,500 new
HUD-VASH vouchers with the additional $40 million that was
appropriated last year.
Although we have seen incredible results through the
program, we continue to make changes to address local needs.
First, HUD is changing the distribution of homeless veterans is
between HUD and VA plan to develop a process to recapture
unused HUD-VASH vouchers and reallocate them to high-need
cities.
Second, we have awarded 4,700 VASH vouchers as project
based vouchers, allowing for the development of affordable
housing in high cost areas.
Third, we are encouraging public housing authorities to
project base their existing HUD-VASH vouchers, which was made
easier through the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization
Act of 2016. These efforts demonstrate our commitment to
optimizing the effectiveness of HUD-VASH while also allowing
for local flexibility in addressing homeless veterans
population.
Building on the success of HUD-VASH, Congress appropriated
5.9 million in 2015 for the Tribal HUD pilot program to begin
addressing veterans homelessness in Indian country. As of last
week, 299 Native American veterans were receiving case
management, and of those, 234 were already housed under the
program.
One of the lessons learned from the Tribal HUD-VASH
demonstration and the Indian housing need study is that
homelessness looks different in Indian country. As tribes face
severe housing shortages, close family ties often result in
overcrowding as families live with other families.
The tribal HUD-VASH program has become instrumental in
getting entire families into appropriately sized homes. When
Army Infantry Specialist Jeremiah Miguel of the Tohono O'odham
Nation returned to his reservation in Arizona, he found himself
sharing one room with his girlfriend and six children. But
after receiving a HUD-VASH voucher, his family now lives in a
four bedroom apartment.
While most communities across the country showed a decline
in veterans homelessness, sharp increases were in a few areas
with extremely high housing costs needs, and that led to the
overall increase. Based on the 2017 point-in-time count,
veterans homelessness increased by 1.5 percent between 2016 and
2017.
But the larger story here is that veterans homelessness has
declined by a historic 46 percent since 2010. And the results
are largely due to the success of the HUD-VASH program, perhaps
one of the best examples of Federal partnership.
Together, HUD and the VA and the U.S. Interagency Council
on Homelessness have implemented a joint decision-making
structure to administer the programs and policies related to
HUD veterans homelessness. We have also jointly created a set
of standards to evaluate whether communities have ended
homelessness.
And since 2014, more than 880 state and local officials
have set the goal of ending veterans homelessness. And as of
January 11th, 60 communities across 30 states have achieved
this goal. This is an amazing accomplishment.
In conclusion, we must continue to find ways to maximize
the effectiveness of HUD-VASH program and to continue to work
collaboratively to bring critical housing and health resources
to veterans while also assisting communities in utilizing all
available homelessness assistance resources. Thank you very
much for facilitating this work. And I welcome any questions
you may have.
[The prepared statement of Dominique Blom appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Blom.
Dr. Lynch, you now have five minutes.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS LYNCH, M.D.
Dr. Lynch. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Wenstrup,
Ranking Members and Members of the Subcommittees. I appreciate
the opportunity to discuss the VA's commitment to ending
homelessness among veterans. I am accompanied today by Dr.
Keith Harris, who is director of clinical operations for VA's
Homeless Programs office.
Let me state up front, VA remains committed to ending
veteran homelessness, and is working in close collaboration
with our partners to ensure that veterans have permanent,
sustainable housing with access to high quality health care and
other supportive services.
VA and our partners at the Department of Housing and Urban
Development and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
have developed systematic protocols for ending veteran
homelessness which include the identification of all veterans
experiencing homelessness, the ability to provide shelter
immediately, and the capacity to help veterans swiftly move
into permanent housing.
The number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the
United States has declined by nearly one half since 2010. This
is an unprecedented decline both as it relates to ending
homelessness in this country and in comparison to other public
health efforts.
To date, 60 communities across 30 states have achieved the
goal of effectively ending veteran homelessness. Over 600,000
veterans and their family members have been assured housing
through HUD's targeted vouchers and VA's homeless programs.
VA has dramatically increased the number of services
available to veterans that focus on housing, clinical care, and
social services, as well as resources aimed at preventing
homelessness. Overall, the message is positive and important.
Communities, in partnership with VA, are preventing and
reducing veteran homelessness.
Recently, VA proposed a reallocation of specific purpose to
general purpose funding. This shift did include funding in
support of the HUD-VASH program. The goal was to give
facilities greater flexibility in the effective use of their
budget to reduce homelessness, reflecting local variations in
the use of resources. This, unfortunately, resulted in
unnecessary confusion. Please, be assured that our commitment
to veteran homelessness remains unchanged.
There will be no change in funding to support our homeless
programs until we solicit further input from our congressional
colleagues, our external stakeholders, and local VA leaders.
Over the next several months VA will engage in a formal
interagency process to solicit further input to ensure that any
realignment of funds best supports our Nation's veterans.
VA's way forward is to work with Federal partners to
implement our interagency strategic plan to end veteran
homelessness. Important objectives include enhancing integrated
services for homeless veterans struggling with suicide risk and
substance abuse; addressing high need communities by
recapturing and reallocating available resources; emphasizing
efforts to improve employment outcomes; and fully committing to
coordinated entry efforts in local communities.
To expand on these objectives, 57 percent of veterans who
are at risk of homelessness or are currently homeless have a
mental health diagnosis, and 46 percent have a substance use
disorder. Our homeless program is working closely with our
mental health and suicide prevention offices to respond to
these clinical priorities.
VA's efforts must comprehensively be linked to all
community efforts as well, we heard this in the first panel.
One size does not fit all when it comes to ending homelessness.
All VA medical centers are now required to work with their
local communities to develop and operate a coordinated entry
center and system for all homeless individuals including
veterans. This ensures coordination of community-wide services
for veterans experiencing homelessness, system-wide awareness
of available housing and services, and easy access to an
appropriate prioritization for these resources.
After six years of consistent progress, HUD's 2017 point-
in-time count shows a continued decline in homelessness in most
communities, but stalled progress in others due largely to high
rent and low vacancy rates. We are continuing to promote
development of affordable and permanent supportive housing, and
are working with all partners to encourage efforts aimed at
financing and developing additional housing stock.
When veterans are at risk for homelessness, VA and its
Federal, state, and community partners must work together to
rapidly connect them with appropriate assistance to provide
housing stability. Sustaining the momentum and preserving the
gains made so far requires continued attention, collaboration,
and investment of financial resources.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. My colleague and
I are prepared to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Thomas Lynch, M.D. appears in
the Appendix]
Mr. Arrington. I thank the panelists for their remarks. We
are going to go in reverse order. Mr. Higgins, you are prepared
to ask questions, I am going to defer to you for five minutes.
The gentleman from Louisiana.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the panelists
for appearing today regarding this crucial issue that
challenges our Nation.
Mr. Miller, I particularly would like to ask you, sir, and
I thank you and Secretary Acosta for your dedication to the
Department of Labor. To what extent does DOL and Veterans
Affairs coordinate homelessness programs by job training to
prevent unnecessary duplicative process?
Particularly asking because one of our challenges, as we
have heard today from both panels, is funding. And in the
effort to protect the people's treasure and yet provide the
needed services for our veterans, it is, you know, we are duty-
bound to find areas where there are duplicative services that
may not be necessary.
So to what extent does the DOL and VA coordinate programs?
And, are there similar programs operated by DOL and VA that
absolutely need to be operated separately? Would you address
that, Mr. Miller?
Mr. Miller. Well, Congressman, of course. As I stated in my
testimony, or oral statement, we do a collaborative effort very
much so with the VA, with HUD, with FEMA, with other
organizations as well as U.S. Intercouncil on Homelessness. But
when a grantee for an HVRP program puts forth an application
one of the things that they have to have in that application is
a strategy of how they are going to work with agencies such as
VA and HUD and overcome housing and health care needs of the
individual.
We use things such as the VA supportive services for
veterans families, that is [indiscernible] VA's Grant Per Diem
program, HUD's veteran affairs, supportive housing, the HUD-
VASH program that was mentioned, or continuing of care. In
addition to the--you mentioned about the Federal level, but we
also work with states and local levels who do that as well as
our grantees.
You know, we provided about $45 million for grantees all
over the country nationwide in both rural and urban settings
for 155 grantees all over the country, and we also urge them to
work together. I mean, that is what makes our program such a
success is the collaborative efforts between our grantees and
our partners.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you for that very thorough response. I
am going to shift gears in the remaining time regarding the
services provided for incarcerated veterans. It is a good
program. How is funding and staffing for that? Are you able to
touch the local, state, and Federal jails where veterans are
incarcerated and provide these services? Just give the
Committee, please, an overview of where you are on that
program.
Mr. Miller. Well, yes, sir. We provide an incarcerated
veteran's transition program that we use where we provide
grants to incarcerated population. Fortunately, there--we are
aware that there is--this could be duplicative of what exists
in states as well as correctional--department of corrections
within states. So that is something that we take into
consideration. But we do provide grants for folks to go in and
work with incarcerated veterans.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you again for that answer. I yield the
balance of my time, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Higgins. We now yield five
minutes to Mr. Peters.
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling on this
end of the bench. It is a little like Christmas in January, I
appreciate that.
I had some questions for Ms. Blom, if I could, about the
HUD-VASH, as I think you heard the comments I made before to
the previous panel. Are there any actions that HUD is taking to
address the mortgage and rental cost disparities in high cost
markets with the HUD-VASH voucher program?
Ms. Blom. Yes. Thank you very much for the question. We
definitely have seen, particularly in west coast cities, those
in California as well as in Seattle, that there has been an
increase in veterans homelessness, largely driven by decrease
of affordable housing and high costs of living in those cities.
So we have recognized this. We do believe that there are
some potential solutions here. First, we believe that it is
important for housing authorities to be working with their
partners to project base these vouchers.
Mr. Peters. Right.
Ms. Blom. And now VASH vouchers can be used as project
basing, and made much easier as a result of changes Congress
made in 2016. And we will continue to encourage the project
basing of these vouchers so that there is a development of
affordable housing, and it is available long term for veterans.
Secondly, we are also changing and allowing housing
authorities flexibility for their payment standards. So they
can go above a certain amount that HUD generally provides for
housing, going above that in these high cost areas.
And then, third, we are also encouraging that housing
authorities provide additional landlord outreach. Finding those
landlords that will be more willing to serve veterans.
Mr. Peters. And I know there is a cap on the project based
vouchers of 20 percent, is that something you are considering
raising, or, if not, why not?
Ms. Blom. So just in the last two years, HUD now has the
flexibility to allow housing authorities to go above that 20
percent cap. So HUD-VASH vouchers are part of that pool of
vouchers that housing authorities now can project base without
any need for approval from the department.
Mr. Peters. So that decision is made at that local level?
Ms. Blom. Yes, that is.
Mr. Peters. Okay. Great. And can you tell me why the HUD-
VASH vouchers expire at 120 days? Have you ever considered
extending that?
Ms. Blom. When we say that it expires, it expires for that
particular servicemember.
Mr. Peters. Right.
Ms. Blom. That voucher then would go back to the housing
authority and that housing authority, once it receives a
referral from VA, would be able to reissue that voucher. But I
think what you are asking, is there a possibility to extend the
120 day period for that particular veteran, we will look into
that and see if that is possible.
Mr. Peters. And I understand there might be a reason to do
that, you want to put some urgency behind it. But, of course,
in a tough market it may present different circumstances, I
don't know.
Mr. Miller. Precisely. We will look into that.
Mr. Peters. Are you satisfied that local agencies are
taking advantage of this flexibility about project basing
vouchers? And, if not, is there a way that we can help them
understand the benefit of that?
Ms. Blom. Uh-huh. So I think, particularly in LA, we are
going to have concentrated efforts occurring there. We were a
little taken aback by the increase in the point-in-time count
for veterans homelessness in LA. We know we need to do
concentrated outreach to the housing authorities in the LA
region to talk about targeted ways that we can be increasing
the success rate of VASH vouchers there, and project basing is
certainly one of those solutions.
Mr. Peters. Okay. I really appreciate the testimony. Thanks
for being here. And we want to encourage your continued
attention to housing the veterans that we have on the streets,
and we will look forward to working with you on that.
Ms. Blom. Absolutely.
Mr. Peters. Mr. Chairman, I yield back, thank you.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Peters. We now yield five
minutes to our Health Committee Subcommittee chair Mr. Brad
Wenstrup.
Mr. Wenstrup. Dr. Lynch, question for you. How many
veterans getting out of DoD are homeless within the first five
years or so?
Dr. Lynch. I honestly don't have the answer to that, sir.
Dr. Harris, do you have a quick estimate?
Dr. Harris. I don't have an estimate, but we have a work
group that works with DoD, VBA, and others looking at the
transitioning servicemembers from DoD and following them down
to VA and assessing homeless rates. But we are very early in
that process.
Mr. Wenstrup. So you are in the process. Because I think it
is a key number to figure out, right? What is the problem here,
you know, why does this occur? It kind of reminds me, you see
situations of a child who presents the emergency room every
three weeks or so with a cough, you treat the cough, and then
they get a little better, and three weeks later they are back
with the same cough.
At some point you want to go into the home and figure out
why they are getting cough, and that is where you find that
there is mold growing, or whatever the case may be. So this is
important information, especially because it is current and it
is now. So this goes back to what we want to do, or considered
doing, in the transition process.
So if the majority of people are homeless within the first
three years, you know, why did that happen? What was missing
from when they left that we can get them on the right track
before they even take off the uniform? So I hope that this is
something--and you can affirm this or not--that you are
definitely trying to track as best you possibly can. I know
that sometimes those numbers are hard to track people when they
leave, but as best you can I hope that that is the process
taking place.
Dr. Lynch. And may I just make a couple of follow-up
statements?
Mr. Wenstrup. Sure.
Dr. Lynch. I think, number one, it really emphasizes the
importance of prevention, which is a process that our homeless
program is really focusing on now. Two aspects of that; one,
preventing veterans going back into homelessness, and, second,
preventing veterans getting into homelessness.
Secondly, I would just like to emphasize that we have
initiated two programs now, initially focused on suicide
prevention, but easily converted, if there is an opportunity.
One is called Concierge for Care, where we are actually
reaching out to veterans after they transition, offering them
help in terms of completing the enrollment process, and
offering them the opportunity to schedule an appointment at
their VA.
Mr. Wenstrup. So--
Dr. Lynch. The President's recent executive order also
focused on the transitioning servicemember. And that is going
to begin taking a look at how we begin to provide services to
that transitioning servicemember and also how we begin to
integrate with DoD, which is another point that has come out
throughout this hearing.
Mr. Wenstrup. Yeah. So what we are interested in, as you
can tell, is moving that timeline. Okay? Not until after the
problem exists, but how can we get there before it exists to
make sure that it doesn't. And so my question is, do you have--
at this point is, do you have walls in front of you, from DoD
or whoever, or whatever the case may be, something we need to
fix here? Are there things, obstacles, in your way to achieving
that goal of getting as close as you can to the veteran as soon
as you can?
Dr. Lynch. I think we are in a position now, that is
probably better than we have ever been, to collaborate with DoD
and to begin to look at how we provide services to the
transitioning servicemember. To begin to address problems,
whether it is suicide prevention or homelessness, before we
reach a critical point, treating them earlier before they get
to homelessness or suicide risk.
Mr. Wenstrup. Can you describe the relationship that is
starting to form then between VA and DoD?
Dr. Lynch. We have recently recruited within our suicide
prevention program Dr. Keita Franklin who comes directly from
DoD, and is going to be helping us reach out and collaborate
with DoD, and integrate the programs that both VA and DoD have.
Mr. Wenstrup. And just real quick. It has been said in your
testimony that some communities have zero homelessness, or net
zero homelessness, so what does that mean for the future? Does
that mean we don't need to do anything more in those
communities, or is this, in your opinion, a constant light that
needs to be on?
Dr. Lynch. I think it gets back to the whole issue of zero
homelessness. I don't think we are going to get there because I
think it is a continuing problem. We have to continue to be on
the alert for homeless veterans. We have to be able to provide
them immediate shelter, whether that is transitional housing or
permanent housing. And we have to provide them the wrap around
support that keeps them in housing and keeps them from going
back to homelessness. I think it will be an ongoing effort.
Mr. Wenstrup. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I now yield five
minutes to my Ranking Member and friend, Beto O'Rourke.
Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Lynch, a couple
of the witnesses on the previous panel, including Mr. Martin
from El Paso, mentioned case manager to client ratios that are
way out of whack from best practices. That it should be 1 to
25, Mr. Martin mentioned El Paso he may have 1 to 200, 1 to
250. What is the answer to that? Who is responsible and how do
we get that back down to a manageable level? You just
mentioned--you ended your answer to Dr. Wenstrup by talking
about the importance of wrap around services, so how do we make
sure that we are following through on that?
Dr. Lynch. I think what was apparent to me when I listened
to the first panel was that there is no correct answer. There
are unique opportunities in every community and we need to
understand those.
Mr. O'Rourke. Should we be a 1 to 25?
Dr. Lynch. I think we--I don't know what--
Mr. O'Rourke. Is that open for debate?
Dr. Lynch [continued]. --the right ratio is, Congressman. I
think we need to understand the community, we need to
understand the veteran. Some veterans may, in fact, need
greater support than other veterans.
Mr. O'Rourke. So we don't have a bench mark, then I don't
know what to measure against, and I don't, you know, give me a
little bit of context. I feel like they made a very good case
that having active case management improves the likelihood that
a veteran is going to transition out of homelessness. You seem
to dispute that there may be a benchmark.
Dr. Lynch. I don't think I am disputing the need for case
management, I think I am saying that trying to put a number on
it is a difficult thing--
Mr. O'Rourke. If you don't put a number on it, we can never
measure it, we will--
Dr. Lynch [continued]. --because veterans are--
Mr. O'Rourke [continued]. --never know how you are doing--
Dr. Lynch [continued]. --individual--
Mr. O'Rourke [continued]. --we will never put the resources
to it.
Dr. Lynch [continued].--and some veterans may actually need
greater support. And as veterans become more acclimated to
home, and to employment, and to community, they may need less
support.
Mr. O'Rourke. Okay. Well, I would love a better answer from
you and the VA, and so I will submit that for the record. And I
hope you can get me back something that we can measure and act
upon. Otherwise, we are just taking subjective measurement, or
it is different in each case, and I don't know that we are
going to get the resources to those community providers who are
telling us--you just heard them right now saying that they
don't have what they need to take care of these veterans and
improve their chances of escaping homelessness, and living to
their full potential.
I am going to switch to a different subject. Many of the
panelists also mentioned the connection to access to health
care. There was a recent announcement by the President and the
Secretary of the VA about improved access to mental health
care. I want to ask you, does that specifically include
veterans who have an other than honorable discharge? And by
extension, will that allow those veterans who have a bad paper
discharge to access the HUD-VASH voucher program which today
they cannot?
Dr. Lynch. Right now we are aiming to try to focus on every
veteran who is transitioning. Right now we can address about 40
percent of them because of eligibility. We are going to need to
explore the issue of other than honorable and dishonorable, and
how we are going to address those veterans.
I think there is an opportunity working with HUD to give
vouchers to veterans with other than honorable discharge
because we can work with the community to provide the wrap
around services. We also, I believe, have the opportunity to
work with SSVF to provide care for veterans who may receive
other than honorable discharge.
Mr. O'Rourke. Okay. And I just want to make sure I nail
down the specifics in your answer. Will veterans who have an
other than honorable discharge be eligible for the HUD-VASH
voucher program?
Dr. Lynch. Mr. Blom, do you want to?
Ms. Blom. Yes, thank you. I can address that. We have had a
partnership with VA to start piloting a program to have a
portion of those HUD-VASH vouchers serve other than honorable
discharge members. And this is decided on the local level with
the VA medical center as well as a continuum of care partner
that provides then those wrap around services, the case
management, and then that referral is come to the local public
housing authority. We, today, have two housing authorities in
localities that are participating in this pilot, and we are
hoping to expand it in the future.
Mr. O'Rourke. How many veterans who have an other than
honorable discharge status are participating in this program,
in this pilot program?
Ms. Blom. I will be able to get that information back to
you after this hearing.
Mr. O'Rourke. Okay. I appreciate that. And I just--
Dr. Lynch. Congressman, would mind if Dr. Harris just
commented briefly on El Paso?
Mr. O'Rourke. Not at all. Yeah, please.
Dr. Harris. I appreciate the question about the staffing,
and understand the concerns about that. And I don't want to
speak for the prior panelists, but I don't believe he was
speaking about the HUD-VASH program in speaking about a 200 to
1 ratio, that does not exist in our program.
The positions are funded on roughly a model of 1 to 25,
medical centers do have some leeway within that. Instead of
hiring one GS-12 social worker, they might hire two peers, for
instance, a GS-6, something like that. El Paso is actually at
100 percent staffing, it is one of the rare medical centers
that is. So staffing is not a challenge there, their vouchers
are reasonably well utilized as well.
Mr. O'Rourke. So the point that I took from that, and I
will cede to the Chair, is that there are not enough resources
dedicated to support services which includes funding the
appropriate case manager to client ratio, and it is making it
harder for those providers to extend mental health care,
transportation, family care to their clients that in turn helps
them to transition out of homelessness.
So if I am using the wrong nomenclature or the wrong
measure, let me know. I just want to resolve the discrepancy
between you saying, we have got everything filled and John
Martin saying, we are at 1 to 250. Somewhere there, there is a
breakdown, and I would love to find out who is responsible. Not
to punish them but to make sure that we get the resources to
those who are providing the care in the community where there
is a gap right now.
And I just want to thank the previous panel for hanging
out, it looks like we are going to wrap this one up soon. The
fact that we are all in the same room, maybe we can quickly get
together and resolve what the discrepancy is, and come up with
a solution for El Paso and some of these other communities, so.
I will yield back to the Chair. Thank you.
Mr. Arrington. I thank the Ranking Member, and that is an
excellent line of questioning. I will yield five minutes now to
the other Ranking Member for the Health Committee, Ms.
Brownley.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Dr.
Lynch, for stating on the record that there will be no VASH
funding transferred to general purpose funds.
Dr. Lynch. Can I also just add the corollary that the
Secretary is committed to getting input not only from our
Federal partners but also from our community partners as well,
and our stakeholders. I think, this program is now ten years
old, and I think it is time that we need to have a critical
reevaluation.
And I think what I took from the first panel was the fact
that there are different ways to manage problems in different
communities. We need to hear that, we need to understand it,
and we need to figure out how we adapt our programs to be more
effective.
Ms. Brownley. I couldn't agree more, and I welcome that
interaction with our community partners and hope to have the
discussion here as well, so. But thank you for stating that on
the record because I think that people were concerned that that
was happening today, so.
Anyway, I wanted to go back, we have been talking a lot
about the HUD-VASH vouchers, I represent a little bit of Los
Angeles County but I represent all of Ventura County, and we
have the issue of expensive housing, that is an issue for us.
What another issue has been is that our housing authority in
the City of Ventura has been told by the VA that the vouchers
can only--they have some outstanding vouchers and right now I
think the City of Ventura is only using 67 percent of the
vouchers that are allocated to them, or the funding allocated
to them.
So what the VA has been telling them is that those vouchers
can only go to chronically homeless veterans. And, you know, I
want to know whether that is true or not. I mean, if it is
true, you know, to be chronically homeless you have to be, you
know, out on the street for a long period of time, it is almost
like you have to be on the street for a year before you could
even qualify to be chronically homeless, at least based on my
understanding of that definition. So could you speak to that?
Dr. Lynch. I am going to ask Dr. Harris to speak for VA to
begin with.
Dr. Harris. Sure. And unlike the last question, we do
concur on the numbers here. Our number is 70 percent
utilization, but it is clear that utilization is low in Ventura
County, and part of that is a result of lower staffing in that
area than we would like, and there is aggressive efforts right
now to recruit for that.
In the terms of the question about chronic homelessness. It
is true that HUD-VASH is targeted to the chronically homeless
population, that is the population that most needs that kind of
intensive support. It is not true that vouchers can only be
allocated or given to chronically homeless. That is a message
we need to correct with that medical center, and we will.
Ms. Brownley. Well, we don't have a medical center in the
County of Ventura, but--
Dr. Harris. Sorry, greater LA and then through that--
Ms. Brownley. Okay. Very good.
Dr. Harris [continued]. --through the supervisory chain is
what I mean.
Ms. Brownley. Okay. Very good. Very good. So, I think
clearing that up will be very, very helpful. So, and I do, you
know, applaud, Ms. Blom, what you were talking about in terms
of using the vouchers or unused vouchers for project based
projects as well as high need areas. I think that that, you
know, providing that flexibility is very good. But I want to
make sure that in a county like Ventura County that they can
utilize their vouchers, because the need is there, before they
would give up those vouchers to another area.
But I wanted to follow-up on Mr. Peters' line of
questioning with the project based opportunities. He was saying
it is capped at 20 percent, but you are saying that that is
eliminated, so a local housing authority, local government can
decide, no, we want to use all of our vouchers for a project
based?
Ms. Blom. Housing authorities can use all of their HUD-VASH
vouchers for project basing, there is no longer a cap on that
measure. So housing authorities have that--
Ms. Brownley. And that information is out to housing
authorities across the country?
Ms. Blom. We believe it is.
Ms. Brownley. Okay.
Ms. Blom. But if you have specific instances where you
believe we have not communicated that, we are happy to
reinforce the point.
Ms. Brownley. Well, it is the first I heard it today, so I
will certainly check in with our housing authorities to see if
they understand that. And in terms of homelessness in high cost
areas. So has there been any conversations about raising, you
know, raising the level of the voucher so it can be competitive
in these expensive marketplaces?
Ms. Blom. Yes, we have been talking about that. We
currently allow housing authorities to go up to what we call
110 percent of the payment standard. And where housing
authorities believe they need even more flexibility to go above
that, we will consider that on a case by case basis. And I
think housing authorities in these high need high cost areas
would be able to make a compelling argument for that.
Ms. Brownley. And is there anything new coming forward in
terms of addressing suicide, but particularly for female
veteran suicide, which we know is--it is 20 times higher than
the rate of suicide attempts on--excuse me--the suicide rate
amongst women veterans is exponentially higher than suicides
amongst civilian women.
And is there anything new in terms of trying to address
homelessness for women, and certainly homelessness for women
and their children? Any new opportunities? I know I have a
bill, there are other bills out there, but is HUD looking at
other opportunities?
Ms. Blom. So, at this point, the department has not
targeted an additional population specifically to focus on. And
our current areas of focus don't include women veterans at this
point, but just recently there had been conversations within
HUD about trying to look to see what kinds of resources we
could potentially dedicate for female veterans.
Ms. Brownley. Thank you. Dr. Lynch, do you have any
comments?
Dr. Lynch. I would just add that VA is in the process of
re-engineering its suicide prevention program. We will continue
our emphasis on those at immediate risk, but try to move a
little further to the left to understand those groups that may
be at high risk for suicide. And women certainly would be
included in those high-risk groups as are homelessness, and the
goal is to begin to focus outreach to those groups that could
potentially become at risk for suicide over time. So I think,
yes, VA is beginning to look at this, and they are beginning to
look at it in terms of targeted populations
Ms. Brownley. Very good. I am over my time, again. I
apologize, and I yield back.
Mr. Arrington. I want to thank the gentlelady for her
questions. And now yield five minutes to Mr. Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Lynch, as we have
heard from service providers earlier this morning, the HUD-VASH
program is very successful at housing veterans and given them
the support services they need. In communities all across the
country, including mine, the HUD-VASH program is helping
veterans rebuild their lives. My colleague from Pennsylvania,
Representative Boyle, has a bill to improve oversight of HUD-
VASH contracts.
It is a straight forward bill that requires the VA to give
notice to Congress before a contract expires to help prevent
lapses in service for veterans. It is supported by several VSOs
including AMVETS, VVA, DAV, and PVA. Dr. Lynch, are you
familiar with this bill?
Dr. Lynch. Only vaguely, having heard about it this
morning. But I think VA looks forward to reviewing that bill
and to providing feedback, but we don't have specific positions
right now.
Mr. Takano. Well, just can you tell me, as to the core
intent of the bill, do you agree that Congressional
notification is a straight forward fix to help reduce lapses in
service for veterans?
Dr. Lynch. Without having looked at the whole bill,
Congressman, I am really reluctant to comment or commit at this
time.
Mr. Takano. Well, I am not asking you to agree with the
whole bill but just the principle of a timely notification to
Congress that a program could lapse, or funding would lapse,
just so that our oversight role is somewhat, I think, enabled
here.
Dr. Lynch. I would submit that I think it is always
important to communicate with our Congressional colleagues,
particularly with issues that arise in their district.
Mr. Takano. Well, with regard to homeless services that are
about to lapse, that are about to, you know, because funding is
expiring, shouldn't Congress know about that? Shouldn't
Congress be informed that, hey, this program is about to end or
run out of funding here, shouldn't we be notified about that?
Dr. Lynch. I guess I am trying to understand, does this
bill relate to the review that recently occurred of some of our
homeless programs and the fact that some did not--
Mr. Takano. Well, [indiscernible], maybe I shouldn't say
funny, but shouldn't--it requires notice to Congress before a
contract expires to help prevent lapses in service to veterans.
So it is about a contract expiring not funding expiring, but a
contract expiring with a provider.
Dr. Lynch. At this point, I guess I am going to have to
defer and say until we have had a further chance to look at the
bill I am going to reserve my opinion at this time.
Mr. Takano. Okay. Well, thank you. Well, thank you. Let me
just move onto another question. In October 2013, the VA
identified approximately 168,000 enrolled veterans with an HCV
diagnosis. And give the diagnosis--and given the advancements,
given the advancements in Hep C treatments as of March 2017, VA
has been able to successfully treat more than 84,000
veterans.While VA continues to work through the list of known
veterans, what is VA doing to identify the untreated pool that
may still exist out there, specifically, at risk homeless
veterans?
Dr. Lynch. We are actively working in the communities with
our VSO partners to try to encourage veterans to come forward
for testing. This is our current emphasis right now, to try to
increase outreach so that we can identify those veterans who
have not come forward to be identified.
Mr. Takano. All right. Well, thank you. I assume that there
is adequate resources to be able to try and find these veterans
that are still untreated.
Dr. Lynch. We are actually successfully partnering with a
number of our VSO associates to try to encourage that outreach
into the community.
Mr. Takano. Well, in early 2017 Secretary Shulkin laid out
his top five priorities for VHA. These included, one, greater
choice; two, modernizing the system; three, strengthening
foundational services; four, timeliness with services; and,
five, suicide prevention.
Of note, given the topic of this hearing is the fact that
homelessness is missing. Since late 2009, VA secretaries have
made homelessness a priority, and as a result, veterans
experiencing homelessness have been cut down--have been cut
nearly in half.
In 2017, HUD's annual survey found that veteran
homelessness had increased by 1.5 percent over 2016 figures. Do
you believe the agency's downgrading of veteran homelessness
from its top priorities is having a direct impact on its
ability to help this at risk population?
Dr. Lynch. I honestly don't believe the agency has
downgraded the emphasis on homelessness, Congressman. I think
we continue to have a strong emphasis on identifying and
treating our homeless veterans.
Mr. Takano. Well, even as veteran homelessness has
increased 1.5 percent over 2016 figures, and the Secretary has
not included this in his top priorities, you can say that with
a straight face to me?
Dr. Lynch. Yes, I can, sir.
Mr. Takano. Can you back that up? One point five percent
over the 2016 figures. The facts contradict what you are saying
to me.
Dr. Lynch. I think what we know is that there have been
circumstances in certain communities that relate to high rent,
the decrease availability of housing that we are working on
aggressively, but I think VA continues to be committed to the
homeless program and to--and basically to ending--not ending,
but addressing homelessness among our veterans. Yes, I do,
Congressman.
Mr. Takano. Well, I would say that these statistics show
otherwise, and I have not--I am not satisfied with your answer,
sir.
Dr. Lynch. I am sorry.
Mr. Takano. I yield back.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Mr. Takano. Are there any other
follow-up questions from my colleagues? I am going to go ahead
and take a few minutes and follow up with some questions.
What you mentioned, Dr. Lynch, the term ``permanent
housing,'' explain what that means.
Dr. Lynch. Right now there are two options when we house
veterans, and I may ask Dr. Harris to expand on this a bit.
There is a process by which we put a veteran into transitional
housing, surround the veteran with supportive services, and
then attempt to move the veteran into permanent housing on a
long term basis. There is another model called Housing First
where we try to move the veteran into a permanent housing
situation and wrap the services around him at that time.
Mr. Arrington. So I am going to ask you the same question I
asked your partners, your community partners. What is success
when it comes to addressing homelessness in the veteran
community?
Dr. Lynch. I think success can be defined as identifying a
home for veterans, number one. Putting the services in place to
keep that veteran in a home, and trying to find employment to
make that veteran self-sufficient moving forward. And, finally,
I think it is having an aggressive prevention strategy that
keeps veterans in the home and prevents new veterans from
entering homelessness.
Mr. Arrington. I think that is well articulated, those sort
of stages of success. And, ultimately, the outcome seems,
desired outcome, is that there is a self-sustainability and
self-efficiency. What is the rate of success with respect to
the ultimate outcome, desired outcome, for everybody I have
listened to in this discussion which is self-sustainability of
the veteran?
Dr. Lynch. Keith, would you like to give an answer to that
with some better numbers that I might be able to give?
Dr. Harris. Well, if I am following your question, are you
asking for a percentage that, for instance, is housed and
sustain that without a subsidy, for instance?
Mr. Arrington. Yeah, exactly. So you identify this person
as homeless, this veteran, you have done this necessary wrap
around services to stabilize or rehabilitate, and you have
transitioned him through some temporary assistance, and now
they are completely self-sufficient.
Dr. Harris. Sure. And it is an incredibly important
question, especially as we look at the long term sustainability
of our efforts. A couple things, there is a million ways we can
go with that, let me just cover a couple of them.
Mr. Arrington. Just give me one.
Dr. Harris. Okay. Well, the first one is, if you look, for
instance, at our Grant and Per Diem program, which is the
largest of our transitional housing programs by far. Two-thirds
of the veterans that exit to permanent housing do so with no
subsidy. Without a HUD-VASH voucher, without a rapid rehousing
assistance. I think that is incredibly important, that is why
you heard such emphasis, especially, for instance, from Mr.
Peck in U.S. VETS, which is a big one of GPD providers about
the importance of employment. So that is one place that we are
seeing independent--
Mr. Arrington. Which program is that?
Dr. Harris. That was Grant and Per Diem.
Mr. Arrington. Okay.
Dr. Harris. So my point being, there are successes through
these programs that are not requiring subsidy.
Mr. Arrington. Could you give me the same ultimate outcome
measurement for all the programs within your--
Dr. Harris. Not off the top of my head. But, yes.
Mr. Arrington. But you do have them?
Dr. Harris. We could get that, yes.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. I would like for you to submit to the
Committee for the record the outcome of self-sufficiency once
you have identified a homeless veteran and you have had them
matriculate through whatever program that you have--
Dr. Harris. Sure.
Mr. Arrington [continued]. --that you are responsible for.
Dr. Harris. If I could add one-
Mr. Arrington. Yeah.
Dr. Harris. --one piece. I am interpreting this as
primarily a question about employment, it may not be entirely
that. Employment is not a goal, not necessarily a feasible goal
for everybody we serve. About a third of the veterans we see
are disabled at the point of assessment. If you add in retired,
or volunteers, or students, that number gets up much higher in,
for instance, in the HUD-VASH program.
Mr. Arrington. So maybe the way to do it is, those that are
able to be self-sufficient, what is our success rate?
Dr. Harris. Sure.
Mr. Arrington. Because I recognize that there are
situations where they are not.
Dr. Harris. Roughly half of the veterans exiting our
programs [HKW(1]or in HUD-VASH who are able and searching for
it, do, in fact, obtain employment. So that is a sizable chunk,
but it is not everybody, and we would like that to be higher.
Mr. Arrington. For everybody, what are the accountability--
and I am not picking on anybody, I just think we have to define
success, we have to measure that, and then to know which of the
20-some-odd programs are working, and where we can--and I am
not against spending more money if a program is working towards
our desired outcome to get veterans the help they need and
self-sufficiency. But in addition to those things, and the
right partners--and by the way, I do think, at least for me,
those who are closest to the problem are going to be best able
to solve that, and so I put a lot of faith in the community
partners in regard to these programs and the programs' success.
But another driver in success of affective programs and
services would be accountability. And that is the
accountability of the panel that proceeded you all, and that is
the accountability of the veteran and what they are asked to
do, and what eligibility. Sort of whether it is time
limitations, or work requirements, or whatever it is, could you
talk about just the accountability measures built into this
with respect to the key stakeholders, our veteran and our
community partners and providers? Start with you and just go
down the line, and then I will wrap up.
Mr. Miller. Okay, Mr. Chairman, thank you. With HVRP
programs, there is accountability built in. We monitor our
grantees on a regular basis and subject them to just criteria.
And if they don't meet the criteria, we set them up on an
action plan, corrective action plan, to make sure that we work
with them, that we partner with other folks to work with them,
and to make sure that they deliver the services that are needed
to the specification of the grant in which we gave them money
for. At VETS and HVRP, you know, we don't measure homelessness
as much as we measure how many people get a job.
Mr. Arrington. Employment, uh-huh.
Mr. Miller. And so for the Secretary, you know, he talks
about jobs, jobs, jobs, and that would be our goal. You know,
the basic goal of Department of Labor is making sure veteran
homelessness is rare, non-reoccurring, and brief.
Mr. Arrington. And over 60 percent job placement is what I
understand it.
Mr. Miller. Yes, sir, 67--
Mr. Arrington. That is remarkable. I must say that I was
blown away by that statistic, I would like to drill down at
another time. But if that is, in fact, the success rate, then I
think we have identified at least one program that we might
want to make even greater investment in, because ultimately you
can't sustain a home if you don't have a job. So kudos to you
guys if, again, that success measure is accurate. I don't have
any reason to believe it is not.
Ms. Blom? Accountability?
Ms. Blom. Yes. Thank you very much for--
Mr. Arrington. Is it there? Do you believe it is there
sufficiently in your programs?
Ms. Blom. So we hold our housing authorities accountable
for the utilization of the VASH vouchers. Nationwide, we have
an 88 percent utilization rate, which means that 88 percent of
the funding that has been provided to those housing authorities
is actually being used to house veterans.
Another 5 percent of funding, going up now to 93 percent of
all the funding available is in the hands of veterans but not
yet in the form of housing for them. These are veterans that
are searching for housing.
So we do believe a 93 percent success rate is very good in
the program. Of course, we want to see that take up,
particularly in the high cost areas such as LA and Seattle.
Mr. Arrington. When you say ``93 percent success rate,''
what is that measure again?
Ms. Blom. It is the measurement of funding that is being
expended to house veterans. So, today, that is 88 percent of
all funding that the department has dedicated to the HUD-VASH
program is being used to house veterans. And as a result of
that, we have 77,000 veterans that are currently housed.
Another 5 percent of that funding is in the hands of veterans
to be able to search for a house so that they can live in
stable environment.
Mr. Arrington. Do you know of the 93 percent that you give
assistance to for housing how many of those individuals move
off of Federal assistance, who can sustain their own housing?
Ms. Blom. So today we rely on the VA for those types of
statistics. The VA, as I understand, tracks exits of VASH
vouchers, either as positive, neutral, or a negative outcome as
a result of ending their participation in the VASH program.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. Dr. Lynch, you get the last word.
Dr. Lynch. Pretty much what Ms. Blom said. We are tracking
how many veterans successfully housed following involvement in
our programs. We track how many do not get housed. And also,
importantly, we track how many fall back into homelessness. And
these are solid numbers, and we are able to track those for our
programs across the country.
Mr. Arrington. And one last question, if my colleagues will
indulge me here, kind of a rapid round closure. And we will
start on this end, and, Mr. Miller, you close us out. What is
not--everybody comes putting their best foot and presentation
forward, and I appreciate that, and I bet there is success,
some may be more wildly successful than others, but I just have
to believe that there is something that is not working, and
so--I am a continual improvement guy myself, I can tell you
there is a lot of things not working in my own operation I
would to fix, and I am working on. So could you tell me what is
not working about your program where we can help you? If we
can't help you, just tell me that you are working on it, and
that--to a greater avail for our veterans.
Dr. Lynch. Dr. Harris would like to start and I would like
to follow.
Mr. Arrington. Real quick. Just ten seconds.
Dr. Harris. Sure. I think the biggest one is the lack of
prevention. I think we are seeing too many people falling into
homelessness. And it is not a failure of the homeless system,
it is a broader failure of the entire societal system. And we
need to go upstream further than we have.
Mr. Arrington. And that may address some of the discussion
around TAP, if we make that more robust and effective. Okay.
Good.
Dr. Lynch. I would say very briefly that I think our
greatest opportunity is to look at how we can partner more
effectively, particularly with the community. Learn from their
experience and incorporate that into our program overall.
Mr. Arrington. Excellent. Ms. Blom.
Ms. Blom. Great. And I will focus my remarks on tribal HUD-
VASH. There is a Senate bill that was introduced, Senate 1333,
that would permanently authorize the tribal HUD-VASH program.
That would help communities be able to project base those
vouchers, and, again, produce stable housing for veterans long
term in Indian country.
Mr. Arrington. Thank you, Ms. Blom. Mr. Miller, final word.
Mr. Miller. And, Mr. Chairman, as stated in our 2016 annual
report to Congress, one of our things that we would like to
work with you on is the technical amendment to the term
homeless veteran to include recently housed. We estimate that
if that were changed we would be able to serve 10,000 more
veterans, homeless veterans.
Mr. Arrington. Okay. Well, God bless you guys, and thanks
for coming. And if there are no further questions, then the
panel is now excused.
I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative
days to revise and extend their remarks, and include extraneous
material. Without objection, so ordered. This hearing is now
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:00 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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Prepared Statement of John F. Clancy
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, my name is John Clancy. I serve
as the President and CEO of the Tristate Veterans Community Alliance
(or TVCA). Thank you for inviting me to testify today at this important
hearing regarding veteran homelessness. As an independent, veteran-led,
non-profit organization focused on improving the access to, and the
quality of, services offered to veterans and their families in the
local community, we appreciate the opportunity to share our perspective
and provide recommendations to address the challenges we see around
veteran homelessness.
The TVCA was created four years ago to serve as a backbone
organization responsible for aligning veteran support in our region,
which is centered around Cincinnati, Ohio, but includes parts of
Northern Kentucky and Southeast, Indiana. We partner with over 150
local organizations and operate a Veteran In-Processing Center that has
serviced over 1,150 veterans since opening 28 months ago. We have four
active workgroups focusing on employment, wellness, education as well
as a special Northern Kentucky focused group. We have piloted programs
that leverage our United Way 211 call center, that serve as a career
accelerator for mid-level Non-Commissioned Officers, and that
facilitate data sharing efforts both inside and outside our region. Our
efforts are characterized by the following aspects:
We are proactive, seeking to engage veterans and families
before a crisis happens (often while they are still serving)
We seek collaboration whenever possible. We do not want
to add another drop to the ``sea of goodwill''.
We work across sectors. We have many businesses involved
in our efforts, but also include social services, veteran organizations
and all major educational institutions.
We look for systemic solutions in addition to program
improvement.
That said, how do we view the efforts of the Department of Veteran
Affairs (VA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
and the Department of Labor (DOL) to reduce veteran homelessness? The
efforts of all three agencies have been commendable and successful. The
VA designed a research-informed strategy called ``Housing First'' to
address the problem, especially for those veterans who had experienced
chronic homelessness (USICH, 2015). This strategy involved a co-
sponsored initiative with HUD to invest resources in stable permanent
housing for chronically homeless veterans and case management services
to prevent them from experiencing further homeless episodes. Other
programs, including the DOL's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
(HVRP), have also served to facilitate the successful transition of
veterans from homelessness. With the current strategy at its ten-year
mark, the VA and HUD Housing First programs have successfully reduced
veteran homelessness by nearly 50%. However, based on client trends
seen in our region, we believe that the client needs and demographic
profile are beginning to show signs of moving from traditionally
``homeless'' individuals to those who are ``transitioning'' or ``at
risk'' (see Figure 1 and Table 1). To serve the new customer base, we
should begin to adapt the current system to not only focus on homeless
veterans, but also successful life transitions for at risk veterans.
While there has been much success using Housing First strategies
with those who are chronically homeless, our experience shows that
there are decreasing rates of return as specific subpopulations are
engaged. At one of our veteran housing organizations the population is
becoming increasingly younger (Table 1, as evidence of an ongoing
trend). They are also starting to engage more first-time clients
(Figure 1) and a large percentage of clients who previously lived with
family and friends, local institutions or even their own home, rather
than the streets (Table 1).
To accomplish this shift in mindset toward successful life
transitions, a broader set of outcomes need to be developed that
involves not just housing attainment, but boosting veteran self-
efficacy, development of clear personal goals, and developing or
enhancing the motivation to succeed in the civilian world. For veterans
in distress, there are several strategies that correspond to how soon,
or at what level, we engage.
At an individual level for those in acute distress, work
to ensure the right clinical levels of care are accessible and
available.
At a systemic level, we need to make sure existing
organizations are communicating and strategizing across sectors,
including the continuums of care, medical centers, and other veteran
wellness and support groups (HUD/VA funded or not).
Finally, and ultimately, we need to ensure that the
transition system from military to civilian life is coordinated,
veteran-centered, and resourced. This includes a greater level of
information sharing, new and improved programming focused on proactive,
strength building approaches.
We believe that regional veteran collaboratives are a key part of
the solution. This collaborative approach allows the community to
mainstream best practices, decrease competition, and allow for the
scaling up of efforts to support transitioning veterans. A coordinated
community-based approach that brings together diverse sets of resources
and identifies new opportunities across public and private sectors is
needed.
Several collaborative models have been developed including
AmericaServes in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Washington
State; America's Warrior Partnership based in Georgia; Combined Arms in
Houston; the San Diego Veteran Coalition and Military Family
Collaborative and many others. These various efforts have embraced and
developed many critical aspects of a veteran's collaborative and help
push communities toward impact in important ways.
We applaud your review of the mix of programs available for
veterans, assessing the correct mix for current needs and
opportunities. We invite you to become more involved in regional
veteran collaborative efforts, helping develop frameworks and resources
for groups seeing to have a collective impact for veterans and military
families. In closing, we would like to stress again the importance of a
relevant, trusted community organization that can initiate and sustain
the conversation for aligning strategy on transition support,
employment and wellness.
References
Graeser, N. & Corleto, G. (December, 2014). More than a house:
Ending veteran homelessness by addressing failed transition policies.
Policy brief: University of Southern California: Center for Innovation
and Research on Veterans & Military Families. Los Angeles, CA.
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). (2015).
Opening doors: Federal strategic plan to end homelessness (as amended
in 2015). Washington, DC: Author.
Appendices
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Table 1. Joseph House Client Survey - May 2016
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Variable N Percentage
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prior living situation
Family or friends 15 38%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Own home 7 18%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prison or institution 14 35%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homeless 15 38%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VA 5 13%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total clients - May 2016 56 100%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Joseph House began tracking client intakes and outcomes in
HMIS in 2014. Up until then, Joseph House used an internal spreadsheet.
The data above represents a blending of both data sources, highlighting
the most complete and consistent fields.
Prepared Statement of Angela F. Williams
ON ASSESSING FEDERAL PROGRAMS AIMED AT REDUCING VETERANS'
HOMELESSNESS
Chairmen Wenstrup and Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and
O'Rouke, and Members of the Subcommittees:
My name is Angela Williams. I am the President and Chief Executive
Officer of Easterseals, a national network of more than 70 leading
nonprofit organizations that provide local services and supports to
individuals with disabilities, veterans, and other Americans who, with
access to essential services and supports, are successfully
participating in and contributing to their communities.
Thank you for inviting me to discuss Easterseals' expertise in
serving homeless and at-risk veterans and our experience with the U.S.
Department of Labor's (DOL) Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program
(HVRP) and other federal programs aimed at reducing veteran
homelessness. As a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, I am honored to
testify before the U.S. House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittees on Health
and Economic Opportunity on this very important topic. We are all
indebted to the brave men and women in uniform willing to serve our
country proudly.
Easterseals has been actively serving veterans for more than seven
decades. Founded in 1919, Easterseals expanded our mission in the 1940s
to help address the unmet needs of World War II veterans returning home
with service-connected disabilities. Easterseals continues to fill the
gap between the services veterans need and the services currently
available through government or other sources. Easterseals serves
veterans and their families through existing programs, such as
assistive technology, respite, and medical rehabilitation. In addition,
Easterseals operates employment, care coordination, and other programs
that exclusively serve veterans and military families. I am pleased to
represent Easterseals' legacy in responding to the needs of veterans
experiencing homelessness and unemployment.
STRATEGY TO REDUCE VETERAN HOMELESSNESS IS HAVING AN IMPACT
Today's hearing on veteran homelessness is focused on where we are
and where we are headed. However, it is important to remember where we
started and the journey we've been on together to this point. In 2010,
about the time Easterseals started a new phase in its effort to help
homeless veterans, our country's veteran homeless population grew to
over 74,000. \1\ Today, based on the most recent Point in Time count,
veteran homelessness has dropped by nearly 46 percent to about 40,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Annual
Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)
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This dramatic reduction in veteran homelessness didn't happen by
accident. This progress is a result of the all-hands-on-deck strategy
developed by Congress and the federal government. This strategy
recognizes that the most effective way to reduce veteran homelessness
is to combine the power and resources of the federal government with
the on-the-ground capability and scope of state and community partners.
The progress is also attributable to the strong collaboration among
federal, state, and local partners and the complimentary alignment of
federal veteran homeless programs across various federal agencies. It
is clear that not one single program or entity can solve veteran
homelessness. Rather, it takes the combined strengths, resources, and
collaboration of many to impact the lives of homeless veterans and at-
risk veterans by helping them to find stable housing and to
successfully reintegrate and contribute in their communities.
While we can be proud of our collective accomplishments, there is
more work to be done to achieve our shared goal of ending veteran
homelessness. Our nation's veterans and their families deserve this
commitment and action! Easterseals believes our nation can make even
more progress in reducing the number of homeless veterans by enhancing
our current public-private partnership model. As I will detail in my
testimony, Easterseals asks Congress to improve and expand DOL's
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program and to maintain the effective
collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA)
Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) Program and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development and VA Supportive Housing
(HUD-VASH) Program. In addition, we ask Congress to expand the
availability of care coordination and community-based supportive
services to proactively address reintegration challenges well before
the veteran meets the at-risk definition for existing federal programs.
ENDING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS ONE VETERAN AT A TIME
Allow me to share with you a story that brings life to our
programs. Paula is one of the homeless, unemployed veterans who is now
contributing to her community as a result of the effective response and
collaboration among veteran programs and community partners. Paula
proudly served in the U.S. Air Force before being honorably discharged
in 1986. Her post-military life includes many challenges and bad
decisions that led to a failed marriage and a felony conviction. Paula
made a commitment to herself to positively change her life, hoping a
move from California to New York would help jump-start her new
beginning. Finding a job immediately after her move was key to her
transition. However, she struggled to find a job due to her criminal
background and other employment barriers, including her age.
Out of money and without any other support in her new city, the 66-
year-old entered a women's homeless shelter. After learning she was a
veteran, the shelter connected Paula to a local SSVF provider, who
began working with Paula to help her find stable housing. When Paula
explained her desire to find employment, the SSVF provider referred her
to Easterseals New York, which operates two HVRP grants (New York City
and Syracuse) and specializes in helping homeless veterans and older
adults find employment. Easterseals' HVRP team met with Paula to learn
about her employment goals. Based on her skills and past employment
background, Paula expressed interest in customer service. She also
identified her lack of access to transportation and interview clothing
as additional barriers to obtaining employment.
The Easterseals employment specialist worked with Paula to update
her resume and prepared her for potential interviews. An Easterseals
social worker helped Paula obtain, through HVRP funds, an appropriate
interview wardrobe and subway cards to get to job interviews. While
Easterseals was fast at work to help her find a job, the local SSVF
provider, Help USA, was successful in getting Paula connected with a
HUD-VASH housing voucher. Paula had renewed hope and purpose, going
between housing appointments for her HUD-VASH voucher and job
interviews. Paula first found a place to live. Thanks to the generous
support of a private donor, Easterseals was able to provide Paula with
resources to start furnishing her apartment. In November of 2017, just
three months after enrolling in HVRP, Paula successfully interviewed
for a Customer Service Representative position at the New York location
of a major national staffing company. She is working full-time and
earning $19.00 per hour. Until she received her first paycheck,
Easterseals provided her with a 30-day unlimited subway card to assist
her with transportation to and from work. Paula is now successfully
reintegrated into society, contributing and making a difference. She
found success locally, all as a result of multiple local organizations
working together with federal veteran homeless programs. Her story, and
the behind-the-scenes work of federal, state, and local partners,
exemplifies why we must strengthen and build from our country's
homeless veteran strategy - representing promise for the 40,000 other
homeless veterans nationwide who can benefit from community-based
supports.
EASTERSEALS ASSISTS HOMELESS VETERANS FIND EMPLOYMENT
Easterseals is participating in our country's effort to reduce
veteran homelessness by helping homeless veterans find jobs.
Easterseals is a leading national provider of employment services,
specializing in helping job seekers with significant barriers to
employment find success in the workplace. Our experience in serving
individuals with disabilities and other most-in-need job seekers made
us a natural and effective partner to help homeless veterans and
veterans at risk of homelessness to find jobs and stable housing. We
are pleased to be testifying today alongside one of our partners, the
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV). We work with NCHV to
provide education and training to homeless veteran service providers to
assist them in serving homeless and at-risk veterans with disabilities.
Understanding the important role employment plays in helping
veterans transition out of homelessness, Congress authorized the
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program in 1987 as the only federal
nationwide program focused exclusively on the employment of homeless
veterans. \2\ Easterseals began our partnership with DOL's Veterans'
Employment and Training Service (VETS) in 2009 to help veterans
experiencing homelessness return to the labor force. Easterseals
affiliates located in Oregon and Maryland secured DOL VETS grants to
help at-risk veterans find jobs. Today, Easterseals affiliates operate
11 HVRP grants serving veterans in Indiana, Maine, Maryland, New
Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, and the District of
Columbia. During the last program year, Easterseals provided HVRP
employment and support services to nearly 1,200 homeless or at-risk
veterans, of whom more than 61 percent found employment during the year
with an average wage of $13.99 per hour.
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\2\ Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, P.L. 100-77
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Easterseals has helped homeless and at-risk veterans from across
the country to find jobs through HVRP. Building from the HVRP model, we
have found that our successful programs include four important
elements: veteran-centered approach, effective community connections,
strong employer engagement, and access to emergency financial support.
1. Veteran-Centered Approach to Employment Services: Easterseals
uses a person-centered approach to all of our employment services. Our
employment specialists meet individually with jobseekers to identify
their goals, skills, talents, and work history so they can be connected
to the training and supports they need to achieve success in the
workplace. Our HVRP team in Cincinnati, which includes Chairman
Wenstrup's congressional district, is staffed by four U.S. Army
veterans who regularly tap into their own service and transition
experiences to assist veterans who enroll in Easterseals Serving
Greater Cincinnati's HVRP program.
This person-centered approach is effective in working with homeless
and at-risk veterans. Every veteran seeking employment and other
supports comes to HVRP from different backgrounds and life experiences.
We work extensively to build a trusting relationship and rapport with
the veterans, which allows us to better assist them in identifying
their needs and goals. Paula entered the program self-motivated with a
clear sense of where she wanted to go. In our initial meeting, we were
able to work with her on an employment strategy, which she used to find
a job within three months. For a young female veteran we recently
served, also in New York, the HVRP team met several times before we
gained her trust. After several appointments, she opened up about her
military sexual trauma while on active duty in the U.S. Army and her
recent struggles living out of her car in sub-zero temperatures. This
initial assessment and enrollment process represents the critical
foundation from which employment services and other supports are
identified and delivered. This process is very different based on each
veteran and their needs.
2. Community Connection and Collaboration: Easterseals recognizes
that a veteran and his or her family are best served when they are
connected to and can benefit from the full strength and alignment of
the community they call home. Easterseals works closely with community
partners to ensure that the unique and evolving needs of veterans are
met effectively. While we specialize in employment services,
Easterseals affiliates who serve veterans through HVRP or other
programs may also employ licensed social workers, care coordinators,
and counselors who can work with veterans to directly meet their needs
or to connect them to other federal homeless programs and existing
supports at another local organization.
Easterseals New Hampshire has a long history of serving veterans
and National Guard and Reserve Members through community care
coordination, employment, and mental health and substance abuse
treatment. In 2016, Easterseals New Hampshire became a statewide HVRP
provider, working closely with the state's SSVF providers and VA
supportive housing case managers to provide optimal veteran care and
support. In addition, Easterseals New Hampshire collaborates with other
state and community partners, including the New Hampshire Office of
Veterans Services, Vet Centers, American Job Centers (AJC), housing
shelters, local VFW, DAV, and American Legion chapters, Homeland
Heroes, among others.
It was because of such community connections that John, a New
Hampshire veteran, received the support he needed to get his life back
on track. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, John was living in a veterans-
only shelter following completion of in-patient substance abuse
treatment. The shelter referred John to Easterseals New Hampshire,
where he was assigned a Care Coordinator, working under a private
health insurance contract, to focus on improving his overall health and
well-being while also decreasing his emergency room visits. During this
engagement, John expressed a deep desire to find and maintain
employment, which had always been a struggle given his past substance
abuse problems and transportation challenges after losing his license.
Easterseals connected John internally to its HVRP team, where an
Easterseals employment specialist worked with John to update his
resume, to enroll him in a regular Job Club, and to boost his job
search skills. On a path toward employment, John was referred by
Easterseals to other local providers to help him find temporary
housing, get mental health treatment, and assist him with money
management. After an aggressive job search, John was recently hired as
a floor technician where he has earned the respect of his boss and
coworkers. John is doing well and saving for a car and an apartment
thanks to the coordinated community response and the behind-the-scenes
support of federal veteran homeless program funds.
Easterseals Oregon assists homeless and at-risk veterans in
Multnomah, Marion, Polk, Jackson, and Josephine Counties as both a HVRP
and SSVF provider. Easterseals Oregon's HVRP staff regularly connects
most-in-need veterans to other state and communities partners to help
them achieve their reintegration goals. The Oregon program's co-
location with the Oregon Employment Department and its day-to-day
collaboration with Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists
have produced strong results. During the last program year, 96 percent
of the veterans participating in the Portland (OR) HVRP grant were
connected to the local VA benefits office, 93 percent were co-enrolled
with the local AJC, and 55 percent were connected to other community
supportive services. Their community collaboration and connections
provide homeless and at-risk veterans with seamless access to the
supports they need to be successful.
3. Regular Employer Engagement: Easterseals' success in helping
homeless veterans find employment relies on an engaged employer
community. Easterseals affiliates specializing in employment services,
including those that operate HVRP grants, regularly engage private and
public sector employers throughout the job search and placement process
through Business Advisory Councils or other community-based outreach
activities.
In Oregon, A&M Transport, G4S Security, and the City of Portland
have been strong partners, assisting our HVRP and other employment
programs by hosting mock job interviews and job shadowing opportunities
for job seekers, sharing their employment and training needs with our
employment teams, and, ultimately, hiring homeless veterans and other
job seekers. Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati works regularly
with more than 40 local employers, including Jancoa, Shelterhouse, and
Nehemiah Manufacturing, to assist and hire HVRP veterans. Our affiliate
that assists homeless veterans from Maryland, Virginia, and the
District of Columbia conducts outreach and site visits throughout the
year with businesses in the region. Easterseals Serving DC / MD / VA's
focus on business engagement has resulted in strong hiring
relationships with security firms and other major employers and small
businesses, including a local Jiffy Lube that is veteran-owned and has
prioritized the hiring of homeless and formerly incarcerated veterans.
Our affiliate in Maine plays a leadership role on state and veteran-
specific workforce development boards. Through its recent HVRP grant,
Easterseals Maine has developed strong local business ties that lead to
job training and placement opportunities for homeless veterans. For
example, the HVRP team developed an apprenticeship program with the
Shipyard Brewery for a Brew Master position in collaboration with the
GI Bill. In New York, Easterseals holds quarterly training workshops
for employers in Syracuse and New York City on the benefits of hiring
veterans. Through HVRP, they often work with businesses including, Rite
Aid, Home Depot, Ryder Transportation, Spectrum Cable, Macy's, Pratt
Institute, First Quality Maintenance, Levy Restaurants, Bay City Auto,
and JP Morgan Chase.
4. Emergency Financial Assistance: A single unexpected expense or
bill can immediately derail a veteran's path toward reintegration
success. Easterseals appreciates that federal homeless veteran
programs, including HVRP and SSVF, recognize this risk and allow
federal funds to be used to address certain emergency situations. For
example, Easterseals helped Paula, the veteran from New York, with a
subway card using HVRP funds to ensure she could get to and from job
interviews. This small HVRP investment paid off as evidenced by Paula
securing a job through one of those interviews.
However, the needs of homeless and at-risk veterans often far
exceeds the resources available through HVRP or other public funds.
Easterseals works nationally and locally to connect with other
nonprofits and private funders to fill this growing gap. Easterseals
Serving DC / MD / VA partners with the Salvation Army, Red Cross,
Volunteers of America, and other charitable organizations in their
community to assist veterans with subway and bus passes, gas cards, and
other emergency needs. Easterseals New Hampshire created Veterans
Count, a private donations-based fund that is used to meet the
temporary, emergency financial needs of veterans and military families.
Veterans Count is now active in Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, New
Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont. These
funds help stabilize housing needs, pay for work clothing or tools, and
cover costs to obtain vital documents such as identification cards,
birth certificates, and military service records, such as a DD Form
214.
Nationally, Easterseals has worked with a private donor for the
last five years to meet the unique needs of female veterans, including
emergency financial support. Last year, we saw a huge spike in need
following the hurricanes. Lisa, who served eight years in the U.S.
Marine Corps, was one of the veterans who reached out to Easterseals
after her Houston home was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Easterseals
was able to provide Lisa with timely assistance that allowed her and
her family to get into a temporary apartment while they rebuild their
home. In 2017 alone, more than 1,500 female veterans-several impacted
by hurricanes-received care management services, with more than 100
provided emergency financial assistance, through the generosity of this
Easterseals donor.
HVRP REPRESENTS A POSTIVE RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Federal investments in programs such as HVRP, SSVF, and HUD-VASH
are paying off with the dramatic reduction in veteran homelessness
since 2010. This is especially true with DOL's Homeless Veterans'
Reintegration Program. About 17,000 veterans receive services through
HVRP under current funding levels. Despite serving the chronically
homeless or hardest to serve veterans, HVRP exceeded its employment
placement rate for the last program years. \3\ The average $2,500 cost
per participant, based on DOL's program year 2018 target, is more than
paid for when veterans secure employment through the program.
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\3\ U.S. Department of Labor, FY 2018 Congressional Budget
Justification
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Earlier, I told you about Paula, the Air Force veteran from New
York. She came to HVRP seeking employment but had significant barriers
to employment, including a criminal conviction and gaps in her work
history. Through the supports and services available through HVRP,
Paula is now earning approximately $3,000 a month, well over the
average HVRP cost per person (based on her full-time, $19 per hour
customer service job). She is a taxpayer, contributing back to the
community that helped her get back on her feet.
We are finding similar HVRP success across the country. Through the
Veterans with Families HVRP grant that Easterseals operates locally, 78
veterans from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia were
enrolled in the program last year, 66 of whom found jobs, with an
average starting wage of $20.42 per hour. In New Hampshire, which
serves high percentages of chronically homeless, 45 of the 77 HVRP
enrolled veterans were placed into employment with an average hourly
wage of about $10.00 per hour. Easterseals Crossroads provides HVRP
services in the eight county area surrounding Indianapolis (IN). Last
program year, 107 of the 153 homeless veterans in Easterseals
Crossroads' program found employment, with an average hourly wage of
$13.04. In Syracuse (NY), 49 of the 76 veterans who enrolled in HVRP
during the last full program year exited for employment, averaging
$11.99 per hour. In Oregon, 56 of the 95 veterans from Salem and Marion
and Polk Counties found jobs within the year with an average hourly
wage of $14.32.
In each example, the veterans who were experiencing homelessness
and joblessness earned, on average, more in their first couple months
of employment then the program invested in them, based on the national
HVRP cost per veteran. And based on a 2016 independent HVRP review, the
mean hourly wages of HVRP participants rose by more than 13 percent
over the program years analyzed, from $10.21 in 2009 to $11.55 in 2013.
\4\ HVRP and its companion housing-first federal programs represent a
positive return on their public investment.
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\4\ 2016 Evaluation of the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration
Program; Avar Consulting, Inc.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUPPORTING HOMELESS VETERANS
Easterseals strongly believes that the federal response to veteran
homelessness has been strong and effective by engaging on-the-ground,
community partners. Easterseals asks Congress to consider the following
recommendations to help strengthen federal homeless veteran programs to
make them even more effective.
1. Support Full Funding and a Long-Term Extension of HVRP:
Easterseals appreciates the bipartisan support in Congress for HVRP and
the current legislative efforts to help accomplish our HVRP
authorization and funding goals. Easterseals supports H.R. 4451, the
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2017,
that was introduced in November by Health Subcommittee Chairman
Wenstrup and Ranking Member Brownley. Among other things, the bill
would extend HVRP through fiscal year (FY) 2022 at $50 million a year.
In the past, HVRP has been extended one year at a time. A multi-year
extension would demonstrate Congress' commitment to the employment
needs of homeless and at-risk veterans. Easterseals also wants to thank
Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Member Kathleen Rice of New York for
her work with Representative Greg Walden of Oregon on a bipartisan
effort the last two years to boost HVRP funding. This effort was
supported by several members of these distinguished subcommittees.
Increased funding would allow DOL to expand the HVRP grant size to
provide more resources for retention and other services, such as
training, when necessary, to meet the employment goals of our veterans.
REQUEST: Easterseals urges Congress to approve a multi-year
extension for HVRP (as proposed in H.R. 4451) and to raise the non-
defense discretionary budget caps and fund HVRP in FY 2018 at no less
than $47.5 million, as recommended in the U.S. House funding bill for
DOL.
2. Expand Eligibility of HVRP Services: Veterans receiving housing
support through SSVF or HUD-VASH are not considered homeless for
purposes of HVRP. As a result, these veterans are unable to benefit
from HVRP employment services, even though the veteran may be
unemployed or underemployed. Therefore, Easterseals supports the
changes in H.R. 4451 and its companion bill in the U.S. Senate (S.
1473) that would expand HVRP eligibility to veterans who receive
housing assistance through federal homeless programs and who are
transitioning from being incarcerated. In addition, we have found
inconsistency with what is considered imminently at risk of losing
housing or employment. With proper and common-sense documentation,
veterans who have fallen behind in rent, especially after losing a job,
should be considered imminently at risk and eligible for HVRP
employment services. Finally, Easterseals wants to highlight the
growing employment and housing needs of some National Guard and Reserve
Members who, based on their status, are not eligible for HVRP services.
REQUEST: Easterseals urges Congress to expand eligibility of HVRP
to include other at-risk veterans. Easterseals supports the changes
proposed in H.R. 4451. In addition, we ask Congress to include a new
section within H.R. 4451 to ensure that all veterans who are imminently
at risk of losing their housing or employment are eligible for HVRP
services.
AMEND H.R. 4451 by INSERTING the following after section
2(c)(4):
``(5) veteran who will imminently lose his or her housing or
employment without intervention services. Imminent housing risk can
include documented default in rent or mortgage or eviction notices.
Imminent employment risk can include probationary periods, poor
performance reviews or other employment warnings.''
3. Increase HVRP Grant Size to Provide Dedicated Resources for
Retention and Other Services: DOL, in its most recent congressional
budget justification, accurately described what Easterseals HVRP
providers are seeing on-the-ground when enrolling veterans into the
program. DOL noted: ``Even though the homeless veteran population has
significantly decreased since 2009, those remaining homeless veterans
consist of the chronically homeless or hardest to serve.'' \5\ Veterans
with significant barriers to employment, such as addiction and mental
health challenges, criminal backgrounds, and chronic homelessness,
require more costly and intensive services to help them find employment
success. Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati, which includes parts
of Chairman Wenstrup's district, recently assisted a veteran with
significant barriers. After leaving the military in 2014, Jason
struggled with a divorce and its impact on his relationship with his
children. He turned to alcohol, which led to his trouble with the law.
When Easterseals connected with him, he had served his jail time and
completed alcohol treatment. We met with Jason to identify his
employment goals and worked with him for several months before he
landed a job in an area he is passionate about: physical fitness. He
works at a gym where he mentors others on becoming healthy and
improving their fitness. He has also focused on his own health and
well-being and has been sober since he was released from jail.
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\5\ U.S. Department of Labor FY 2018 Congressional Budget
Justification
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Our work with veterans, like Jason, doesn't end when they are
successful in finding a job. It represents just one part of a journey.
We check in regularly and are available to assist Jason and all of the
veterans we work with through HVRP to help address challenges that may
arise following their employment. These ongoing retention costs will
also increase in serving the hardest-to-serve, chronically homeless
veterans. One Easterseals HVRP team leader said, ``due to the very
nature of these veterans' histories and severity of need, those who
obtain employment often subsequently lose it or are put on probation
and need assistance due to reoccurring issues, such as substance abuse,
and require costly intensive and individualized services.'' A 2017
national homeless study affirmed the need to prioritize job retention
and reemployment services, especially for jobseekers with significant
barriers to employment. \6\ Also, our affiliates find it difficult to
deploy appropriate staff and resources in rural areas given the limited
grant sizes. Even with the recent grant ceiling increase, the HVRP
grant amount fails to meet ``the costs of serving each homeless
individual,'' as concluded by the recent HVRP evaluation. \7\
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\6\ Integrating Rapid Re-Housing and Employment , Heartland
Alliance 2017 Study
\7\ Evaluation of the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program,
Avar Consulting, Inc. Study, 2016
3REQUEST: Easterseals urges Congress to support an increase in the
urban and rural grant amounts to address the growing and evolving needs
of homeless veterans enrolled in the program. In particular,
Easterseals recommends additional funding for retention, rural outreach
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and services, and for expanded intensive case management.
4. Include Greater HVRP Flexibility to Better Match the Needs of
Veterans: Greater program flexibility is sometimes needed to help HVRP
providers effectively address the unique needs of homeless and at-risk
veterans. DOL measures HVRP grant providers on the number of veterans
who attain a training credential. Easterseals helps veterans develop
new skills and credentials by connecting them to specialized training
that includes security, commercial driver's license (CDL), medical
coding, information technology, and nursing. However, the training
performance requirement often runs counter to the immediate, sometimes
desperate, need of the veteran to find employment quickly to maintain
housing or other needs. The needs of each veteran should be the primary
factor for the type of services and training required to achieve
employment. In another example, an Easterseals affiliate was working
with a homeless veteran who, after securing a job, needed
transportation assistance until she received her first paycheck. HVRP
could cover subway or bus passes, but not toll fares (by adding
resources to the veteran's E-Z Pass card) even though her car, based on
her job's location, was the better transportation option. Also, in some
communities that lack available transitional or affordable housing, the
prohibition on using HVRP funds to pay for rent or housing deposits
delays or prevents a veteran's ability to meet his or her goal.
REQUEST: Easterseals recommends that Congress support greater
flexibility within HVRP, on a case-by-case basis, to address the
individualized needs of homeless and at-risk veterans. In addition,
Easterseals recommends the following report language to H.R. 4451.
INSERT the following language in the H.R. 4451 report:
``The Committee recognizes the individualized barriers and unique
challenges faced by veterans who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness. As such, the Committee provides the Secretary of Labor
the authority to waive a rule, on a case-by-case basis, if a waiver
greatly improves the veteran's ability to find stable housing and to
become gainfully employed.''
5. Expand Early Access to Community Care Coordination to Address
Veteran Reintegration Needs: The community care coordination and case
management model used in HVRP is the foundation of HVRP. The community-
based, holistic approach ensures veterans and their families have
access to a continuum of care that is local, timely, and effective. Not
all veterans who could benefit from community care coordination have
access to these services. Providing veterans with access to care
coordination and supportive services earlier in the process will, based
on our experience in the field, address the problems before they turn
into a crisis, saving time, heartache, and money. Congress should
consider ways to expand federally funded community care coordination or
case management to proactively meet the challenges of veterans well
before they meet the homeless and unemployed eligibility criteria of
programs like HVRP and SSVF.
REQUEST: Easterseals recommends that Congress create a pilot
program at the VA that uses this holistic model to address the
reintegration needs of veterans, including those in rural areas with
limited access to other supports, who would otherwise not qualify for
existing federal veteran homeless or employment programs.
CONCLUSION
Easterseals appreciates Congress' commitment to and investments in
public-private partnerships and community-based solutions to respond to
veteran homelessness. Together, we have improved the lives of thousands
of America's veterans who are now living, working and contributing to
their communities. Thank you for considering Easterseals' views. I look
forward to your questions.
Prepared Statement of Stephen Peck
Good morning. My name is Stephen Peck and I'm the President and CEO
of U.S.VETS. I'm also a Vietnam veteran. I served with the First Marine
Division near Danang in '69-`70, and I've been working for homeless
veterans since 1991. U.S.VETS has been in the fight against veterans'
homelessness since 1993 when we started our first program in Inglewood,
California. Since then we have grown into the largest veteran-specific
non-profit housing and service provider in the country, providing
housing and services to 3300 veterans every night, and providing
homelessness prevention, employment, and mental health services to an
additional 5,000 veterans annually in the communities we serve.
I'm also the president of the California Association of Veteran
Service Agencies, seven veteran non-profits that collectively provide
housing and care to more than 25,000 veterans each year from Eureka to
San Diego.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent, numerous government
policies, and the best efforts of hundreds of communities, there are
still more than 40,000 veterans living on our streets - and the number
is rising across the nation. In California, which has 25% of the
nation's homeless veterans, the number of homeless veterans has risen
nearly 20% this past year, and in Los Angeles, the number rose 57%!
This is no time to be taking our eye off the ball.
The five-year ``Getting to Zero'' effort, launched by the Obama
Administration in 2009, was always an aspirational political goal.
Federal estimates say the number of homeless veterans dropped by more
than half from 2010 to 2016, a significant accomplishment. But faced
with an intractable homeless veteran population that refused to drop
further, the administration moved the goalposts.
``Functional Zero'' was the new goal, a complicated formula that
basically said that if there were enough homeless beds in each
community to house every veteran who wanted (and asked) to get off the
street, then the goal was achieved. But it has been difficult for
communities to achieve even this reduced goal because the number of
veterans falling into homelessness every month, is outstripping
communities' efforts to keep up.
Because that five-year effort was not completely successful, there
is a sense that the government is moving on to other problems. There is
no longer an emphasis and determination to get every veteran off the
streets. This shift in focus is evident in two ways:
First: The proposal by the VA to take permanent housing supportive
service dollars out of the special projects category, where is it
protected, and placing these dollars into the general fund, where
medical directors can redirect it at will. While they have said that
they will not shift these dollars, the VASH funds remain in the general
fund line item.
And second: VA's overall management of the HUD-VASH program. It is
plagued by lack of accountability, insufficient data collection, and
inadequate outcome measures.
Together, these two factors represent a direct attack on our
ability to get veterans off the street and into permanent housing, and
provide the case management and supportive services that will keep them
there.
We are talking about a population that is extremely vulnerable.
Study after study confirms this and I have included references in my
written testimony. 37% of HUD-VASH participants have mental or
behavioral health issues, including PTSD, depression, psychoses and
substance abuse. Other issues include situational factors such as
unemployment and the breakup of relationships, social isolation, and a
lifetime of poverty and adverse events. All of these factors, coupled
with their homelessness, make these veterans much more vulnerable to
suicide, which I will talk about in a minute.
These factors confirm our belief that the support services provided
along with the permanent housing in the HUD VASH program are essential
to its success.
The Housing First model that the VA professes to follow requires a
client/case manager ratio of 25 to 1. Additionally, it requires access
to assistance, with a simple phone call, 24 hours a day.
That is not what's happening.
We have project based VASH beds at 5 of our sites and our clinical
directors report that VA social workers are, at best, providing minimal
coverage. 75 VASH vouchers require 3 full-time case managers in the
Housing First model - we never have three, rarely have two, and our
clinical staff picks up the slack. This is true of many communities
across the country.
I've attached 3 letters to my written testimony from three
different communities that have been awarded HUD Vouchers, Kern County
and San Francisco, CA, and Miami, Florida (Attachments 1,2,3). In each
case, the VA is indicating that it does not have the resources to
provide adequate case management coverage for the number of HUD
vouchers awarded. The result is many of the vouchers go unused, while
veterans languish on the streets.
If I understand correctly, funding that congress has appropriated
to the VA, specifically for VASH case management positions, is for some
reason not available
Vulnerable veterans still living on our streets need every dollar
of this funding. If the VASH program were turned into a grant program,
experienced veteran non-profits would assume full responsibility, would
spend every dollar appropriately, and could be held to outcome measures
that we are already used to assuming. Because our programs are
residential, we have staff 24/7 and are used to responding to client
issues day and night. We provide case management for 423 beds of
permanent supportive housing with a 92% retention rate. By contrast, a
recent Inspector General Study reports a 70% success rate of the HUD-
VASH program. This study also states that the reason the vast majority
of those veterans exited the program was unknown ``as HUD's systems do
not have the capacity to track this information.''
If a non-profit provided that level of coverage while contracted
with the VA, we would lose the contract.
I have heard various reasons why the HUD VASH money is being put
into the General Fund category. One of them is so that Medical
Directors are free, if necessary, to redirect funds to one of the
Secretary's 5 main priorities, one of which is suicide prevention. Let
me give you some statistics:
An estimated 9.3 million adults (3.9% of the adult U.S. population)
reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year. This compares to
12.1%-18% of the homeless veteran population who have had suicidal
thoughts in the past 30 days.
A study by the VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans
stated that the rate of suicide attempts among homeless veterans was 20
times higher than the rate of suicide attempts among all veterans.
So I think it's safe to say that the effort to end homelessness
among veterans is part of that suicide prevention effort. It is part of
that effort not just because these veterans have been housed, but
because they are supposed to be provided knowledgeable, compassionate
case management on a regular basis which gives veterans the skills and
reliable support that will fend off the despair that threatens to
overcome their will to live.
We all have been at this for a long time and you might ask what is
your return on investment - you've put a lot of money into this and
still haven't solved the problem. My 25 years of experience in helping
homeless veterans tells me that if you pull back now, the number of
homeless veterans on the street will continue to grow, and those
veterans, in their desperation, will fall back on the only services
available to them, which are the very expensive emergency mental health
and medical services that are available in communities. They will spend
time in jail, they will use emergency homeless shelters - and they will
continue to die, having been abandoned by the country they fought for.
Solving homelessness is not a one-time fix, it is an ongoing effort
to mitigate the inequality that exists in our system for veterans, who
through lack of opportunity, lack of education, mental illness, combat
trauma, or other deficits, end up on the margins of society. We are
paying for this tragedy one way or another so we simply have to make
the decision that these veterans' lives are worth saving.
References
#1 Pathways Into Homelessness Among Post-9/11-Era Veterans
S Metraux, M Cusack, TH Byrne, N Hunt-Johnson, G True. 2017.
``Pathways into homelessness among post 9/11 era veterans.''
Psychological Services, Volume 14, Issue 2, pp. 229 - 237.
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/22751
Boston University
Stephen Metraux
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and University of the Sciences
#2 HUD-VASH EXIT STUDY
FINAL REPORT, September, 2017
Prepared for
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Prepared by
Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, VA National Center on Homelessness Among
Veterans
Meagan Cusack, VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans
https://www.huduser.gov/ portal/sites/default/ files/pdf/ HUD-VASH-
Exit-Study.pdf
#3 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office
of Inspector General's (OIG) OFFICE OF AUDIT, REGION 9, LOS ANGELES,
CA, 2014
https://www.hudoig.gov/ sites/default/ files/documents/ 2014-LA-
0003.pdf
#4 Evaluation of Housing for Health
Permanent Supportive Housing Program, 2017, RAND Corporation, Santa
Monica, Calif.
Sarah B. Hunter, Melody Harvey, Brian Briscombe, Matthew Cefalu
https://www.rand.org/ pubs/research--reports /RR1694.html
#5 The 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress,
December, 2017
https://www.hudexchange.info/ resources/documents/ 2017-AHAR-Part-
1.pdf
#6 Suicidal Self-Directed Violence Among Homeless US Veterans: A
Systematic Review. Hoffberg, Adam & Spitzer, Elizabeth & Mackelprang,
Jessica & A. Farro, Samantha & Brenner, Lisa. (2017). https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/28731200
#7 CDC Suicide Facts at a Glance
https://www.cdc.gov/ violenceprevention/pdf/ suicide-datasheet-
a.pdf
#8 Housing Placement and Suicide Attempts Among Homeless Veterans
VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans
Lindsay Hill, Project Coordinator
http://dcoe.mil/ files/2012SPC-Hill-Housing--Placement.pdf
ATTACHMENT ONE
Miami VA Healthcare System
In Reply Refer To: 546/00/122
Teresa Patterson
Broward County Housing Authority
4780 North State Road 7
Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319
Dear Ms. Patterson:
Thank you for your interest in p.roviding Homeless Services to
Homeless Veterans. The Miami VA Healthcare System is committed to
providing HUD VASH services to eligible Veterans. Tremendous progress
has been made in reducing Veteran Homelessness in Broward and Miami-
Dade counties.
Historically, requests for additional HUD VASH vouchers have been
supported with additional resources to provide case management to the
high-risk chronic homeless individuals. However, due to a shift in the
allocation of resources for HUD VASH VA Central Office, this is no
longer the case. This has resulted in a reorganization and
consolidation of the program. As a result, the Miami VA Healthcare
System is unable to support the request for additional HUD VASH
Vouchers at this time, but the request can be revisited in 6-9 months.
We continue to be committed to providing the highest quality services
to those Veterans who are currently receiving HUD VASH services at this
time.
If you have any further questions, you may contact Beth Wolfsohn,
Homeless Program manager at (305) 575-7000 extension 2511.
Sincerely,
Paul M. Russo, MHSA, FACHE, RD
Medical Center Director
ATTACHMENT TWO
HOUSING AUTHORITY
OF THE COUNTY OF KERN
Creating brighter futures ...one home, one family at a time
California Veterans Assistance Foundation
Attn: Deborah Johnson
2215 Buena Vista St.
Bakersfield, CA 93304
Dear Mrs. Johnson,
The Housing Authority of the County of Kern has been issued eight
allocations of VASH vouchers since the program began in 2012. These
allocations total 160 vouchers, and as of today, there are still 25
vouchers available . Of these 25 vouchers, 21 have never been issued
due to the lack of staffing to support the case management component.
There are currently 75 homeless veterans on the communities By-
Name-List who need housing solutions. As of December 13, there were 25
homeless veterans on the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)
prioritization list. These veterans could be served by the VASH
program, if there was adequate case management. Instead they are being
matched to other PSH programs, utilizing resources that are needed for
homeless individuals with no other program options.
The Housing Authority is currently meeting with the VASH team
quarterly to brainstorm ways we can reach 100% utilization, and ensure
the most vulnerable veterans get this resource first. At the last
meeting in October of 2017 the VASH team expressed that another social
work position was authorized. As of today, that position has not been
staffed, and the VASH team does not know the status. In short, the
understaffed VASH program in Kern County has several implications on
veteran homelessness:
1. Kern County might not receive the appropriate allocation of
future vouchers .
2. HUD might decide to recapture the vouchers already issued due to
underutilization.
3. Veterans are utilizing community resources that could be
provided to non-veteran homeless,
4. Because the VASH team has such high caseloads, they are not able
to fully participate in the community's work to end veteran
homelessness.
Thank you for taking the time to review the status of the VASH
program in Kern County. If you have any other questions please feel
free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Heather Kimmel
Assistant Executive Director
ATTACHMENT THREE
SAN FRANCISCO VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
4150 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
Barbara Smith
Actiiig Executive Director
San Francisco Public Housing Authority
1815 Egbert Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94124
Dear Ms. Smith,
The Ending Veteran Homelessness Initiative remains a priority of
the San Francisco VA Health Care System, and the Housing and Urban
Development -Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HDD-
VASH) program is an important part of our ongoing effort to reach
functional zero.
Based on our internal deliberations, the San Franeisco VA Health
Care System affirms with this letter our commitment to support a new
allocation of HUD-VASH vouchers to:
San Francisco -up to 50 vouchers
Support for this allocation includes sufficient clinical staff of
an appropriate discipline to provide case management as mandated in VHA
Directive 1162.05 "Housing and Urban Development Department of Veterans
Affairs Supportive Housing Program." Material support shall include
office space and furniture, IT equipment, government owned vehicles or
compensation for use of privately owned vehicles, and adequate clinical
supervision and oversight.
This allocation of vouchers is predicated upon receiving the
anticipated support of additional funding for clinical staff to provide
the necessary clinical supervision and oversight of the HUD- VASH
Veterans.
Sincerely,
Bonnie S. Graham, MBA
Health Care System Director
San Francisco VA Healt Care System
Prepared Statement of John W. Martin
First and foremost, we thank the members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, and more specifically the Committee on Veteran's
Affairs Subcommittee on Health and the Subcommittee on Economic
Opportunity for the invitation to the Opportunity Center for the
Homeless to testify at the hearing scheduled for Thursday, January 18,
2018. In presenting our testimony, we would like to preface our
comments as those of a provider, with a ``boots on the ground''
mentality. We further represent that our comments, both within this
written statement and in our testimony, represent those of an
organization that has been `in operation for 24 contiguous years - an
organization that was founded on and continues to operate on the
principle of ``Recovery through Service''. A majority of our staff has
a lived experience with homelessness and thereby understands the
realities that those that are homeless face.
In preparation for this hearing, we met with several community
service providers to ensure that the comments noted herein are
reflective of the community, and not that of a single organization. In
so doing it is important to first understand the context in which these
statements are being made through a brief introduction of the
community, its primary source of funding, and a picture of veteran
homelessness in El Paso.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Background
El Paso County is home to over 837,000 \1\ residents. It occupies
over 1,000 square miles at the farthest west tip of Texas, bordering
both New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The City of El
Paso is the sixth largest in Texas, and the largest Texas border
community.
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\1\ United States Census Bureau, Quick Facts, El Paso County, Texas
- Population Estimates 07/01/2017
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Income in El Paso County is significantly lower than the rest of
the state. A little over 22% of El Paso County residents live below
100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). A little over half of El Paso
County residents live below 200% of FPL. \2\
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\2\ United States Census Bureau, Community Facts, El Paso County,
Texas
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There are a total of 40 programs/agencies that provide housing
(emergency shelter, transitional, and permanent housing) to the
homeless within our community--that based on the most recent point-in-
time count (conducted January 26, 2017) provided housing to 1,242
individuals \3\. The Opportunity Center is the primary provider of
services to the homeless as illustrated through the point-in-time
results that reflect that the Opportunity Center housed 30% of the
total homeless population, within our community, on that evening and
53% of the single adult homeless population. The Opportunity Center is
a no-barrier shelter, allowing all to access services.
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\3\ Adjusted Point in Time based on reported occupancy within the
Opportunity Center for the Homeless.
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The City of El Paso is solely reliant on funding received through
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through Continuum
of Care Funds (primary), Emergency Shelter Grant (secondary), and the
Community Development Block Grant (tertiary). The primary and secondary
funding streams have been and continue to be aligned with the federal
objectives, as delineated within Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan
to Prevent and End Homelessness (amended 2015), generally referred to
as Housing First. The City and County of El Paso currently provides no
funding to supplement the referenced sources.
The re-alignment of public funding in line with the federal
strategic plan has significantly curtailed and/or eliminated resources
within El Paso for the homeless. This directly impacts the efficacy of
the Continuum of Care as it relates to those that are homeless, to
include the veteran homeless population.
Organizational Summary
The Opportunity Center for the Homeless (OC), coming to the close
of its 24th year of operation, consists of: two homeless resource
centers - one for single adult men, one for single adult women; one
emergency shelter for families; and eight residential programs for the
chronically homeless, elderly, disabled, single women, mentally ill,
veterans, and men and women in school/work programs. The veterans
program is a transitional living center, the balance is permanent
housing.
Community Funding
Funding received through HUD, and more specifically the Continuum
of Care (CoC) is the primary funding stream for our community. The
chart on the following page tracks community CoC funding from 2005
forward.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Key points include:
The community, overall, has lost funding in the amount of
$552,971 or 20.1% from 2014 forward. All funding through the CoC is now
directed toward housing, increased inventory.
The community has lost funding, and associated services,
under CoC, associated with support services, equal to $1,211,158 per
year. The support services include; mental health care, youth services,
transportation, day care, legal, support services (case management),
substance abuse, and relapse. All services focused on the homeless
population in general.
This has resulted in an increased inventory of permanent
beds, but absent of support services -the efficacy of the system is
jeopardized as it relates to sustainability and recidivism with a
specific emphasis on the individual (i.e. return to homelessness).
Veteran Homelessness in El Paso
In recent years, there has been a strong focus through cross-agency
initiatives to end veteran homelessness, chronic homelessness, and
homelessness as it relates to families and youth.
For purposes of this discussion, our comments will now be focused
on the veteran homeless initiative. As stated previously, the
Opportunity Center provides the only no-barrier shelter in El Paso for
both men and women (separate facilities). We also operate the Veteran's
Transitional Living Center (VTLC).
Provided on the following page, are charts which depict the number
of veterans served (unique), and shelter nights, for those that access
our program(s) with an emphasis on the two 24-hour resource centers
(male and female) under the Opportunity Center.
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
In 2017, the veteran population within our shelters comprised 14%
of the total population served, and utilized 19% of the total shelter
nights (services).
The figures for 2017 as it relates to individuals served are level
with 2016. There is an increase in veteran shelter nights by 30% in
2017 from the prior year. In digging into the data further, a majority
(67.4%) are over the age of 50. Additionally, it is the older homeless
veteran that consumes a majority of the shelter nights at 81% over the
total veteran homeless population.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
We, as with many providers who work with the homeless, observe that
the hard living conditions of homelessness cause the aging process to
speed up and that people living in homelessness are less likely to
survive into old age. The National Coalition for the Homeless
references in their Fact Sheet on the homeless elderly that street
conditions are so severe that ``a fifty year old living on the street
may possess physical traits resembling a 70 year old.''
Discussion
Recent initiatives include federal agencies working together with a
common objective; in this discussion that objective is to end veteran
homelessness - a goal that we as a community have not yet attained.
The City and County of El Paso has historically relied exclusively
on funding received through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) to mitigate and end homelessness. HUD funding (as
with the VA) has historically provided for sustainable programming
within communities such as El Paso. A community with stated, limited
financial resources
As demonstrated in earlier charts, we have seen an overall
reduction in HUD (CoC) funding of 20% or approximately $523,000. This
has resulted from a shift in funding priorities toward housing from
``safety net'' services. This in and of itself is not reflective of the
full picture, for in reality we have lost in excess of $1,211,158 per
year in service related dollars that comprise the ``safety net'' -
services which are required in support of Housing First initiatives,
and currently unavailable.
As a direct result, we have seen an increase in the number of
permanent beds available to the homeless, both veteran and non-veteran
but we do not have the ability to provide the appropriate support to
the individual to ensure sustainability and prevent recidivism, thus
reinforcing the need to provide extended care through ``safety net''
services.
This is further compounded by the historical, local limitation(s)
imposed on recipients of permanent housing funds within our community.
A majority of housing assistance is limited to three months, to include
SSVF and Rapid Rehousing funds - the principal source of assistance for
homeless veterans. It is recognized by all, that the two programs as a
result of veteran eligibility requirements are needed to run in concert
with one another - thus the need for a single Coordinated Entry
process. For veterans that don't meet the SSVF eligibility
requirements, HUD funding through Rapid Rehousing is the remaining
option. However, with a majority of assistance being limited to three
months - and with limited support upon housing placement, recidivism is
occurring which leads to further displacement, trauma, and distrust
with the system. This is reflective of the increased number of veteran
shelter nights within our resource centers.
Sustainability is further complicated through the lack of support
services for employment - one of the most critical. For one must
recognize that even though housing is in place the homeless are still
struggling with their own challenges that placed them within
homelessness. Such challenges include poverty, high housing costs, and
personal issues such as struggles with mental health and substance
abuse. The desire is to integrate these individuals into their
community.
Employment is recognized as one of the most critical and effective
strategies in preventing and ending homelessness \4\. As such, it
should be noted that:
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\4\ Sources Shaheen and Rio (2007) and ABT Associates (2003).
Given the opportunity, those that are homeless can and
want to work
Employment offered at the earliest stages of engagement
with the homeless helps them develop trust, motivation, and hope.
Work is a critical recovery tool for people with
substance abuse and mental health histories, supporting their continued
stability.
Employment services offered within a supportive housing
model result in increased net earnings for tenants and decreased
reliance on public entitlements.
Cost-savings and additional tax revenue provided by
client income offset more than three quarters of funder investment.
Traditional employment services are based on the premise that
clients must be ``job ready''. Employment programs need to diverge from
this premise to one whose underlying philosophy is that anyone is ready
for work. For in reality, the individuals have varying lengths of
homelessness - in many cases for several years and they are still
struggling with their personal challenges as well as having minimal
work and education histories, along with criminal records. Furthermore,
an individual's interest in securing employment can motivate them to
take positive steps in their lives. Additionally, it is recognized that
entry-level jobs often do not lead to long-term employment or financial
security.
As such, this needs to be recognized under a Housing First model
for individuals to view professional growth potential and career
ladders as fundamental components of work experience, and thus personal
security.
Closing
A successful, holistic strategy to end homelessness requires that
we incorporate three basic principles in our objectives as it relates
to ending homelessness; the provision of services must be person-
centered, client-directed, and strengths-based.
A person-centered approach is based on the idea that an
individual is ultimately responsible for his or her self-change
allowing the individual to change for the better.
A client-directed approach means that the client
ultimately decides whether to choose services and which services to
choose.
A strengths-based approach focuses on each client's
strengths, skills and abilities enabling them to envision a path around
obstacles and toward achievement of goals.
This requires financial, sustainable resources that are currently
unavailable to our community in the form of support services to support
the Housing First initiative.
Prepared Statement of Kathryn Monet
Chairmen Wenstrup and Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and
O'Rourke, and distinguished members of the House Committee on Veterans'
Affairs:
I am Kathryn Monet, the Chief Executive Officer of the National
Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV). On behalf of our Board of
Directors and Members across the country, we thank you for the
opportunity to share our views with you this morning.
NCHV is the resource and technical assistance center for a national
network of community-based service providers and local, state and
federal agencies that provide emergency, transitional, and supportive
housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance,
legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of
homeless, at-risk, and formerly homeless veterans each year. We are
committed to working with our network and partners across the country
to end homelessness among veterans.
The good news is that since June of 2014, 60 communities and three
states have achieved the federal benchmarks and criteria for ending
veteran homelessness. This is an achievable goal. We have seen the
annual point in time (PIT) count of veterans experiencing homelessness
decrease by 45 percent since 2009, largely a testament to the
dedication and hard work of local service providers, community
partners, and VAMC staff. While in the abstract this is progress toward
the goal of ending veteran homelessness, in real terms it is life
changing for the veterans that were able to access housing and
assistance as a result.
The bad news is that our hold on this progress is tenuous at best,
as evidenced by the slight increase in the PIT count of veterans
between 2016 and 2017. The increase nationwide was 585, or 1.5%, to
40,056 veterans. While 36 states and DC saw decreases in their PIT
count, other communities with particularly high cost rental markets
were faced with dramatic increases. From NCHV's perspective, an
increase of even one veteran is one too many.
The 2017 PIT count is a stark reminder that now is not the time to
take our foot off the gas pedal, or shift resources for these programs
elsewhere. We need to double down on efforts to ensure that
homelessness is rare, brief, and nonrecurring, for veterans and all
Americans.
For communities and providers, this means looking at community-
level data to identify acuity and ensure that service providers across
the community have the resources, expertise, and the will to partner to
meet these needs. Providers must continue to implement evidence-based
strategies like Housing First that help homeless veterans quickly
access permanent housing, employment, and any resources they may need
for housing stability. We also need to recognize that successful
implementation of this model also includes access to health and mental
health care, and wraparound services like benefits assistance and
employment and training services to ensure that a placement is
sustainable. This also means partnering with other providers to create
a system effective at connecting veterans to the most appropriate
resources to meet their needs. Housing First never means housing only.
At the national level, the Department of Veterans Affairs must soon
name a permanent leader for its homeless programs. While there is a
deep bench of high quality candidates who have acted in this role
temporarily, the position has been officially vacant since the end of
2016. Permanent leadership would improve effectiveness and send a
strong signal that this issue remains a priority at VA.
Congress must ensure that the key programs that serve veterans
experiencing homelessness are sufficiently funded. At NCHV, we do not
advocate for the unqualified growth of resources for the sake of
expanding programs. The slight uptick in the PIT count, in conjunction
with rising rents across much of the country, and the series of natural
disasters that occurred in 2017 leads NCHV to recommend the following
authorizing and appropriations levels for the key programs below:
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program: $50 million
Grant and Per Diem: $257 million
Supportive Services for Veteran Families: $400 million
HUD-VASH: $40 million for new vouchers
Another priority at the national level is to focus on interagency
collaboration, as homelessness is a multifaceted and complex problem
that differs for each veteran experiencing it. One of the best ways we
can do that is to ensure the authority for United States Interagency
Council on Homelessness (USICH) does not sunset. The small professional
staff of policy experts and analysts at USICH is directed by a Council
comprised of Cabinet Secretaries and agency heads, and their work cuts
across these agencies and departments. USICH is the body which brings
together different agencies with different missions, but which all have
potential impacts in the attempt to end homelessness; USICH is able to
convene them and set policy priorities and shared objectives to
actualize the plan to end homelessness. Furthermore, from their unique
cross-cutting position, USICH is able to identify and prevent
duplication of services that would otherwise waste effort and
resources. Finally, USICH is focused on cost-effective solutions to
ending homelessness which drives them to identify and support policies
that best economize tax-payer money while still achieving superior
results in our efforts to end homelessness among veterans and for
everyone.
We can also encourage further collaboration between VA, HUD, DOL,
and their grantees to provide more seamless services to homeless
veterans. One great example of interagency collaboration is the HUD-
VASH program. HUD-VASH has proven to be a successful interagency
program, allowing VA to focus resources more efficiently by pairing VA-
funded case management with a HUD-funded Section 8 voucher for the most
vulnerable veterans. The case management funding historically has been
distributed to VAMCs through a special purpose designation, as the case
managers must be located where the vouchers are distributed to ensure
this program works.
In late September of 2017, VA sent guidance to VISN Directors
regarding the immediate conversion of funding for 99 line items,
including HUD-VASH case management funding, from special purpose funds
to general purpose funds. NCHV objects, in the strongest terms, to any
conversion of special purpose homeless program funding for any purpose,
especially any of the critically important funding available for HUD-
VASH case management. In the 60 communities and three states which have
effectively ended veteran homelessness, HUD-VASH vouchers are well-
known as game changing resources that increase the availability of
stable and affordable housing for chronically homeless veterans who
desperately needed it.
Per 38 U.S.C. 2003(b), VA has a statutory duty to ensure that
veterans in receipt of a HUD-VASH voucher have case management as
needed. Every VA case manager that is currently budgeted for is
desperately needed; the loss of any of these positions will lead
directly to veterans not receiving the care they rely on and deserve.
These case managers are already stretched thin - sometimes caring for
more veterans than clinically indicated. To remove these positions
would be catastrophic to the health, well-being, and housing stability
of the more than 87,000 veterans and their families residing in HUD-
VASH funded housing.
There is a correlation between homelessness and suicide. The risk
for suicide among the homeless has been estimated at five times higher
than that of the general population, and studies have shown the high
prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts among older homeless and
at-risk veterans. Further, there is significant overlap between the
populations of veterans experiencing homelessness and opioid use
disorders. VA researchers have found that veterans seeking medication
assisted treatment for opioid use disorders are ten times more likely
to be homeless than veterans seeking care at VA. These highly
vulnerable veterans are not the type of population that should be
subject to wide variability when it comes to case management. As such,
NCHV insists these funds must be used for their intended purpose.
In Summation
Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony at today's
hearing. It is a privilege to work with the House Committee on
Veterans' Affairs to ensure that every veteran facing a housing crisis
has access to safe, decent, and affordable housing paired with the
support services needed to remain there.
Prepared Statement of Matt Miller
Introduction
Chairmen Wenstrup and Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and
O'Rourke, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittees, thank you for
the opportunity to provide a statement for today's hearing on veterans'
homelessness. I thank you all for your tireless efforts to ensure that
America fulfills its obligations to our current servicemembers,
veterans, and their families. My name is Matt Miller and I am the
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor's
(DOL, or Department) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS).
We work hard every day to ensure all veterans, especially those most in
need, are prepared to meet their employment objectives.
Secretary Acosta stands firmly behind our country's servicemembers
and veterans. He has set several clear goals that will assist our
veterans in finding and retaining good jobs: (1) creating clear career
pathways; (2) eliminating barriers to employment; (3) enabling and
promoting apprenticeship opportunities that lead to meaningful careers;
and (4) increasing the portability of licensing and credentials for
military servicemembers and their spouses.
As the Department of Labor's representative on the United States
Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), I have the opportunity to
see the federal coordination efforts firsthand. The Council last met on
December 12th to discuss success to-date, the work ahead, opportunities
to strengthen the Federal Strategic Plan, and essential strategies
driving the national progress on ending homelessness. Additionally,
VETS participates in the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Advisory
Committee on Homeless Veterans.
Homelessness among veterans has dropped by 46 percent from January
2010 to January 2017. Yet, on a single night in January 2017, there
were still 40,056 homeless veterans. For the Department, one homeless
veteran is one too many. That is why we look forward to working with
the Subcommittees in providing these brave men and women who served our
nation with the employment support, assistance, and opportunities they
deserve to succeed in the civilian workforce.
We also note that our partnerships throughout DOL extend VETS'
ability to achieve its mission, and bring all of DOL's resources to
bear for America's veterans - including veterans experiencing
homelessness, separating servicemembers, and their families. VETS'
mission is focused on four key areas: (1) preparing veterans for
meaningful careers; (2) providing them with employment resources and
expertise; (3) protecting their employment rights; and, (4) promoting
the employment of veterans and related training opportunities to
employers across the country.
Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP)
One important component of the VETS mission is the Homeless
Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP), which helps homeless veterans
reenter the labor force. HVRP provides grants to state and local
Workforce Development Boards, tribal governments and organizations,
public agencies, for-profit/commercial entities, and non-profit and
faith-based organizations to assist in reintegrating homeless veterans
into meaningful employment, and to stimulate the development of
effective service delivery systems to address the complex problems they
face. This program succeeds not only because of the hard work and local
connections of our grantees, but also because of the collaborative
efforts of our Federal and State government partners, including VHA
medical centers who provide referrals to grantees and supportive
services to veterans served by HVRP. These efforts help ensure that
homeless veterans have access to a robust, comprehensive support
network.
HVRP's client-centric, hands-on approach has placed thousands of
previously homeless veterans, some of whom were chronically homeless,
on a path to self-sufficiency. Historically, the Department also has
funded two additional types of grants designed to address difficult-to-
serve subpopulations of homeless veterans: the Homeless Female Veterans
and Veterans with Families Program (HFVVWF) and the Incarcerated
Veterans' Transition Program (IVTP). In addition, the Department
supports ``Stand Down'' events (described below) and technical
assistance grants.
Each HVRP participant receives customized employment and training
services to address his or her specific barriers to employment.
Services may include occupational, classroom, and on-the-job training,
as well as job search, placement assistance, and post-placement follow-
up services. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting one of
our grantees in Los Angeles, CA where I met Mr. Jeremy White. Mr. White
is an honorably discharged Marine Corps veteran. Prior to enrolling in
our program, Mr. White had been incarcerated for seven years. He began
working with our grantee, Volunteers of America in Los Angeles, this
past October. When he arrived, Mr. White had no job and was
experiencing homelessness. Jeremy's career developer worked with him to
develop a career plan. This plan guided Mr. White to housing resources
through the Department of Veterans Affairs' Supportive Services for
Veteran Families program, job readiness training through a local
American Job Center, and ultimately gainful employment at SoCal
Construction all within four days of program enrollment.
Since his enrollment, Mr. White has been saving part of his income
and is now seeking housing with the support of the SSVF program. Since
beginning employment, his wages have increased from $12 to $14 an hour.
Mr. White continues to be a role model for other veterans within the
grant program and his success drives others to commit to their own
career plans.
HVRP Program Performance
In FY 2016, DOL was appropriated $38.1 million for HVRP. With these
resources, DOL funded 64 new HVRP grants, 89 option-year HVRP grant
extensions, 12 HFVVWF grants, IVTP grants, and 64 Stand Down grants.
These grants enrolled 16,638 participants, placing 65 percent into
employment, with a cost per participant of $2,007.
In FY 2017, the HVRP program received an appropriation of $45
million with which the Department awarded 74 new HVRP grants, 81 option
year HVRP grants. These grantees will provide services to over 16,230
homeless veterans, with a placement rate of 67 percent, who earned an
average hourly wage at placement of $12.88 an hour.
Providing Services to Homeless Female Veterans and Veterans with
Families
HVRP funds also target subpopulations of homeless female veterans
and veterans with families who are experiencing homelessness. As noted
in HUD's 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, homeless
women veterans accounted for 11 percent of the overall homeless veteran
population. The program provides direct services through a case
management approach that leverages Federal, state, and local resources.
Eligible veterans and their families are connected with appropriate
employment and life skills support to ensure a successful integration
into the workforce.
Providing Services to Incarcerated Veterans
HVRP funds also support incarcerated veterans who are at risk of
homelessness by providing referral and career counseling services, job
training, placement assistance and other services. Eligible
participants include veterans who are incarcerated and are within 18
months of release, or are less than six months from release of a
correctional institution or facility.
Stand Down and Technical Assistance
Through HVRP, the Department supports ``Stand Down'' events. These
events, typically held over one to three days in local communities,
provide an array of social services to homeless veterans. Stand Down
organizers partner with Federal and state agencies, local businesses
and social services providers to offer critical services, including
temporary shelter, meals, clothing, hygiene care, medical examinations,
immunizations, state identification cards, veteran benefit counseling,
training program information, employment services, and referral to
other support services.
Additionally, to assist with the Hurricane Harvey relief effort,
VETS awarded $50,000 for three Stand Down events in Houston, Texas,
which served a total of 756 local homeless veterans.
The HVRP grant also provides funding to the National Veterans
Technical Assistance Center (NVTAC). The NVTAC provides a broad range
of technical assistance on veterans' homelessness programs and grant
applications to existing and potential grantees, interested employers,
Veterans Service Organizations, and, Federal, state, and local agency
partners.
Jobs for Veterans State Grants
VETS awards Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) to each state and
territory to support two types of staff positions in the American Job
Center (AJC) network: Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP)
specialists and Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER)
staff. DVOP specialists and LVER staff support HVRP participants by
helping veterans achieve employment through case management, direct
employer contact, job development, and follow-up services.
DVOP specialists provide individualized career services targeted
for meeting the employment needs of disabled veterans and other
veterans with significant barriers to employment, including homeless
veterans. In addition, DVOP specialists often refer veterans who
experience homelessness to other AJC services, such as the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult and Dislocated Workers
services and training. AJCs also engage in advocacy efforts with local
businesses to increase employment opportunities for veterans, and
encourage the hiring of veterans, including homeless veterans.
The transition from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) to WIOA has
provided an extraordinary opportunity to improve job and career options
for our nation's jobseekers and workers, including veterans, through an
integrated, job driven public workforce system that links diverse
talent to businesses. While retaining the network of DVOP specialists
at AJCs, WIOA strengthens accountability and transparency of outcomes
for core programs, including establishing common performance indicators
across these programs. The Department has adopted these new common
performance indicators for JVSG and other VETS-administered programs to
track the outcomes of veterans participating in employment and related
programs. However, due to the WIOA metrics requiring several quarters
to track and compute, VETS will continue to also measure the
traditional HVRP measures in a more real-time environment.
Transition Assistance Program (TAP) Employment Workshop
VETS also administers a mandatory three-day TAP Employment Workshop
and optional Career Technical Training Track courses to help prepare
transitioning servicemembers for a successful transition out of the
military. All transitioning servicemembers are evaluated throughout the
transition process and if an individual is evaluated as not meeting one
or more Career Readiness Standards that are applicable to the
Department of Labor during their transition, the individual's
commander/designee facilitates a ``warm handover'' of the servicemember
to the public workforce system for a review of the employment services
available through AJCs and to facilitate access to individualized
career services. A warm handover is also provided to Service members
transitioning with an Other Than Honorable Discharge or without a
viable post-transition housing plan or transportation plan. Such warm
handovers can be accomplished by introducing the servicemember to a
local AJC staff member (on or near the military base), connecting them
to the AJC nearest their eventual destination, or through a facilitated
call from the servicemember to the DOL Toll-Free Help Line (1-877-US2-
JOBS or 1-877-872-5627), and/or to services provided by the Department
of Veterans Affairs. Programs such as TAP have been instrumental in
working to ensure transitioning servicemembers are in the best possible
position to avoid the issues that the vulnerable population may face
prior to their transition.
HIRE Vets Medallion Program
This past November, the Department announced the HIRE Vets
Medallion Program to recognize organizations that have invested in
employing and retaining veterans. The HIRE Vets Medallion Program is a
powerful way that companies can signal their investment in veterans'
careers. The Department believes encouraging employers to hire
veterans-including veterans who are experiencing or who have recently
exited homelessness-is essential for national success in preventing and
ending homelessness among veterans. Secretary Acosta states, ``through
their military service, America's veterans have leadership skills,
technical expertise, and proven problem-solving capabilities. These are
attributes that any employer would want.'' All organizations with at
least one employee are eligible to apply for a HIRE Vets Medallion. The
Secretary of Labor will recognize applicants with an award and a
virtual HIRE Vets Medallion that can be placed on websites, used in
social media, and in printed materials.
Later this year, DOL will launch a demonstration for the HIRE Vets
Medallion program to prepare for the full implementation of the
program. This coming Veterans Day, the Department will recognize up to
300 organizations for their contributions to veteran recruitment,
employment, and retention.
Studies and Legislative Proposal
DOL's Chief Evaluation Office recently sponsored two independent
studies of the HVRP program. In 2016, a Formative Evaluation of HVRP
was completed. This study documented the types of services and support
offered by HVRP grantees. It identified potentially promising practices
or models and provided recommendations for future program development
and evaluation. Study findings were based on a combination of site
visits, literature reviews, and statistical analysis of HVRP
administrative data. VETS has already acted on many recommendations and
is using the results of the study to improve program operations. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Department of Labor. (2017, December 21) Formative Evaluation
of the HVRP Report. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/ asp/evaluation/
completed-studies/ Formative--Evaluation--of--the--Homeless--
Veterans--Reintegration-- Program--Report.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Building on the learnings from the formative study, in September of
2017, DOL funded a long term Impact Evaluation Study of HVRP. \2\ The
goals for this study are to evaluate the effectiveness of HVRP on
participants' employment outcomes, using the most rigorous design
feasible (experimental or quasi-experimental methods); and to conduct
an implementation evaluation to understand program models and
variations, partnerships, and the homeless veterans served. For all of
these individuals, the study design is expected to incorporate an
extensive array of descriptive and outcome information. This project is
expected to conclude in the fall of 2022 and will include detailed data
on the long-term employment outcomes for HVRP program participants.
VETS looks forward to sharing the findings of this study with the
members of the Subcommittees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Department of Labor. (2018, January 4) Chief Evaluation Office
Current Study Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program Impact Evaluation
Description. Retrieved from: https://www.dol.gov/ asp/evaluation/
currentstudies/ Homeless-Veterans-Reintegration- Program-Impact-
Evaluation.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In our most recent Annual Report to Congress, DOL recommended a
technical amendment to the definition of homeless veteran at 38 U.S.C
2002(a)(1) so as to include persons who are considered ``recently
housed,'' defined as an individual who now has stable living
conditions, but was considered to meet the definition of ``homeless
veteran'' within the previous 60 days of requesting services. Studies
have shown that barriers to employment still exist after immediate
housing needs are met, and individuals still run a risk of becoming
homeless again. \3\ This recommendation is especially critical now; as
communities have become more successful at helping veterans to exit
homelessness more quickly, the current definition creates an unintended
barrier for those veterans to be able to access the employment services
and opportunities that will help ensure that they do not experience
homelessness again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Department of Labor. (2017, December 21) VETS 2016 Annual
Report to Congress. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/ vets/media/
VETS--FY16-- Annual--Report--to-- Congress.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
We at the Department of Labor are committed to working with our
federal, state, and local partners to achieve the goal of ending
veteran homelessness, and we look forward to working with the Committee
to ensure the continued success of our efforts. Chairmen Wenstrup and
Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and O'Rourke, and distinguished
Members of the Subcommittees, this concludes my statement. Thank you
again for the opportunity to testify today. I am happy to answer any
questions that you may have at this time.
Prepared Statement of Dominique Blom
Introduction
Good afternoon Chairman Wenstrup, Chairman Arrington, Ranking
Member Brownley, Ranking Member O'Rourke and members of the
subcommittees. Thank you for this important opportunity to discuss the
efforts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and
our federal partners to end veteran homelessness in the United States.
HUD is committed to ending veteran homelessness by working
collaboratively with our partners and maximizing the effectiveness of
all existing resources. Thanks to funding from Congress and close
collaboration among federal and local partners, the nation has
continued to make progress in addressing veteran homelessness and
creating sustainable federal and local systems that quickly respond to
homelessness.
General HUD Homeless Assistance Programs
HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) provides
about $2.4 billion annually to communities to help end homelessness.
Funding is primarily used for permanent supportive housing, which
successfully houses people with long histories of homelessness and
significant disabilities. Permanent supportive housing has proven to
reduce hospitalization and emergency room utilization while
dramatically improving the well-being of the people it serves. HUD also
provides funding for rapid re-housing, a cost-effective strategy that
helps people move quickly into housing, provides short-term financial
assistance, and provides supportive services to help the formerly
homeless stabilize in their housing, increase their employment and
income, and connect them to community supports. HUD also supports
emergency shelter, transitional housing, and many other types of
assistance dedicated to ending homelessness.
In 2017, approximately 17,000 veterans were served using $97
million through HUD's Continuum of Care (CoC) program. Most of that
funding is for permanent supportive housing that houses approximately
10,000 veterans with disabilities. Thousands more veterans are served
with rapid re-housing, emergency shelter, and other assistance.
Housing and Urban Development - Veterans' Affairs Supportive Housing
(HUD-VASH)
HUD-VASH is part of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program in the
Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH). The HCV program currently
houses over 2.2 million families and had an annual budget of over $20
billion in 2017. HUD-VASH is the only PIH program dedicated to homeless
veterans; however, many formerly homeless families, including veteran
families, are assisted in the regular HCV program.
The HUD-VASH program has been very successful in its approach to
addressing veteran homelessness. The program provides long-term housing
assistance to the most vulnerable veterans experiencing homelessness by
combining HCV rental assistance for homeless veterans with case
management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA). VA provides these services for participating veterans at
VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics.
In the HUD-VASH program, the local VA case managers screen and
determine veteran eligibility for the program. These HUD-VASH eligible
veterans are then referred to the partnering Public Housing Authority
(PHA) to receive their housing voucher assistance. By agreeing to
administer the HUD-VASH program, the PHA is relinquishing its authority
to determine the eligibility of families in accordance with regular HCV
program rules and PHA policies with one exception: PHAs are required to
prohibit admission of any member of the household subject to a lifetime
registration requirement under a state sex offender registration
program.
A total of $675 million has been appropriated in new HUD-VASH
funding to date. HUD-VASH vouchers are renewed based on actual leasing,
as is the case for the HCV program generally. When a household leaves
the program, their voucher is typically reissued to another eligible
household. Since 2008, over 131,000 veterans and their families have
moved into housing with a HUD-VASH voucher. As of the last day of
FY2017, more than 77,000 veterans and their families were housed with a
HUD-VASH voucher.
HUD-VASH vouchers are specifically targeted to communities based on
geographic need, meaning the size of the eligible population. Every
year since 2008, HUD and VA have collaboratively awarded new HUD-VASH
vouchers based on geographic need and administrative capacity. A total
of 87,864 HUD-VASH vouchers have been awarded to PHAs between 2008 and
2016. Of these, about 4,700 were awarded through a competitive set-
aside as project-based vouchers (PBV), in which the rental subsidy is
assigned to a specific housing unit rather than provided to a veteran
to find a unit in the private market to rent. PBV have proven to be an
effective tool to help address the need for HUD-VASH in high-cost
rental markets or where there is a lack of affordable housing stock. In
addition to the HUD-VASH vouchers specifically awarded as PBV, PHAs,
with the support of their local VA partners, have the ability to
convert any of their existing HUD-VASH vouchers to PBV. The Housing
Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) made this process
even easier for PHAs. PHAs can now convert any of their existing HUD-
VASH portfolio without additional approval by HUD. HUD will be awarding
approximately 5,500 new HUD-VASH vouchers with the additional $40
million in HUD-VASH funding that was appropriated in FY2017 and has
worked with VA and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
(USICH) to determine the processes and priorities for this award
process, as has been the case in past years as well.
We realize the distribution of homeless veterans across the country
has changed since 2008. For this reason, HUD and VA are working
collaboratively to develop a process for recapturing unused HUD-VASH
vouchers from communities that no longer need them. We will then
reallocate these vouchers to current high-need communities.
To fulfill our commitment to ending veteran homelessness, it is
important to remember that we must serve all veterans experiencing
homelessness, including those not eligible for VA services. To achieve
this, HUD has been working with VA and CoC-funded local supportive
service providers to test a process that allows PHAs to partner with
local, VA-designated service-providers and use a portion of their
existing HUD-VASH vouchers to assist those homeless veterans with an
other-than-dishonorable discharge who do not qualify for VA health
care.
These efforts around HUD-VASH demonstrate HUD's commitment to
optimize the effectiveness of the HUD-VASH program and allow for local
flexibility in addressing the homeless veteran population.
Tribal HUD-VASH
The Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, or ``Tribal
HUD-VASH,'' pilot program provides rental assistance and supportive
services to veterans who are Native American and experiencing
homelessness, or at risk of homelessness, while living on or near a
reservation or other Indian areas. Veterans participating in this
program are provided housing assistance through HUD and supportive
services through VA to foster long-term stability and prevent a return
to homelessness.
The pilot was first authorized in the Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015-Public Law 113-235, approved
December 16, 2014-and Congress has continued its support in subsequent
years by enacting funds for renewal grants and modest expansion. Thirty
tribes or tribally designated housing entities were invited to
participate in the program based on their level of need and
administrative capacity; ultimately, 26 of those invited submitted
applications and were awarded grants totaling $5.9 million to fund
approximately 500 units of rental assistance for veterans and their
families, and to fund associated administrative costs. HUD will renew
those grants, and potentially fund additional grants or units of
assistance, using funding provided in the Consolidated Appropriations
Act of 2017.
Implementation of the program is overseen by HUD's Office of Native
American Programs (ONAP) within the Office of Public and Indian
Housing; and VA is responsible for providing case management services
and referring eligible veterans for housing assistance. As of November
2017, 281 total veterans were receiving case management services, and
of those, 214 veterans had been housed under the Tribal HUD-VASH
program. The program is producing tangible results, housing Native
American veterans and their families who were living in severely
inadequate units-without running water, heat or electricity-or in
overcrowded living conditions.
In FY2017, HUD worked with VA to produce three regional joint
trainings for tribal grantees and key stakeholders, VA Case Managers,
and HUD Grants Management staff. The trainings provided an opportunity
for the respective staffs to share ideas and enhance the cross agency
and local working relationships that are key to this program's success.
Continued Collaboration with VA and USICH
HUD has worked closely with VA for many years administering HUD-
VASH. Together, HUD, VA, and the USICH have implemented a joint
decision-making structure known as ``Solving Veterans Homelessness as
One'' (SVHO) where the agencies jointly administer the programs and
policies related to veteran homelessness and develop and implement a
range of strategies for preventing and ending veteran homelessness.
This structure allows us to jointly review data on HUD-VASH and other
programs and to coordinate policymaking to ensure our assistance is
integrated and impactful.
This collaboration has also helped us improve utilization in the
HUD-VASH program, coordinate the implementation of the Tribal HUD-VASH
program, better target available assistance to those with the highest
needs, and ensure resources are prioritized for communities with
greater numbers of veterans experiencing homelessness.
HUD, VA, and USICH have also used the structure of SVHO to work
together to create a set of standards to evaluate whether communities
have ended veteran homelessness. Since 2014, more than 880 mayors, city
and county officials, and governors have set a goal of ending veteran
homelessness in their communities. As of January 11, 2018, 60
communities across 30 states have achieved the goal.
The agencies also collaborate on the implementation of Coordinated
Entry Systems, meaning a system that is easy for veterans and other
persons experiencing homelessness to access. Coordinated Entry ensures
that a person experiencing homelessness has simple access to housing
and other homelessness resources. The collaboration between HUD and VA
ensures that veterans have access to all the resources in a community,
including VA dedicated resources, no matter where and how they access
assistance.
Technical Assistance for Communities
Since the ability of any community to meet the goal of ending
veteran homelessness depends on the strength of each community's
leadership and successful implementation of proven strategies, HUD and
its federal partners are committed to helping communities get there. In
addition to providing funding for homeless assistance, HUD supports
several technical assistance initiatives that have helped reduce
veteran homelessness. The Built for Zero and Vets@Home initiatives help
communities implement best practices and learn from the success of
other communities. Both initiatives were designed with the explicit
goal of helping communities reach the goal of ending veteran
homelessness.
In 2012, HUD and VA partnered with the 100K Homes Campaign and
Rapid Results Institute to hold ``bootcamps'' for 13 HUD-VASH
communities. The events brought together PHA, VA, CoC, and HUD staff as
community-centered groups to map their processes and come up with ways
to improve them in creative and collaborative ways. These bootcamps
were extremely successful and helped to get the HUD-VASH program
utilization to where it is today. This bootcamp model has since been
used to inform the continuing collaborative process for HUD-VASH and
the roll out of Tribal HUD-VASH.
Some best practices have included incorporating HUD-VASH in a
larger coordinated entry system to ensure there are multiple access
points for veterans seeking help, coordinated outreach efforts to
locate all veterans in need of assistance, and better data sharing
across systems to ensure veterans do not fall through the cracks.
HUD has worked with our partners to identify specific strategies
for utilizing HUD-VASH vouchers in high-cost, low-vacancy communities.
These are often the same communities with the greatest need. In
addition to converting HUD-VASH to PBV, PHAs have used their
flexibility to increase their payment standard, including the adoption
of exception payment standards, to be competitive in the private
market. Another strategy has been intensive landlord outreach and
maintaining landlord relationships. PHAs have also been able to connect
with local service providers that are able to assist veterans in their
housing search.
In the coming year, HUD will continue to help communities with
targeted assistance. We will be launching a technical assistance
initiative focused on helping communities with high numbers of
unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, including high numbers of
unsheltered veterans. The initiative will focus on helping those
communities implement best practices that have helped end veteran
homelessness in cities such as Houston, New Orleans, and Las Vegas. HUD
is also providing assistance to rural communities to help increase
their capacity and address uniquely rural challenges for veterans such
as transportation.
Results
Each year, communities across the country conduct point in time
counts of people experiencing homelessness. The count, held at the end
of January 2017, includes people living in shelters as well as people
sleeping on sidewalks, in parks, in cars, or in other places not meant
for human habitation. Based on that count, veteran homelessness
increased by 1.5 percent (585 veterans) between 2016 and 2017, but has
declined by 46 percent (a decrease of 34,031 veterans) since 2010. This
kind of reduction is historic, and HUD-VASH has been a primary reason
for this progress. Most communities across the country actually showed
a decline in veteran homelessness. However, sharp increases in several
communities with extremely high housing costs led to an overall
increase.
A robust body of evidence shows that the combination of permanent
supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and other targeted interventions
can indeed end homelessness. Although there was a small increase last
year, the long-term national trend and the results in the many
communities that have ended veteran homelessness show the positive
results of a coordinated effort.
Conclusions
Despite this slight increase in national veteran homelessness in
2017, a great deal of progress has been made in the way we work
together to address veteran homelessness. However, we acknowledge that
there is still a lot of work to be done. The HUD-VASH program continues
to be a model for interagency collaboration and one of the best tools
we have for ending veteran homelessness. We must continue to find ways
to maximize the effectiveness of the HUD-VASH program, while also
assisting communities in utilizing all available homeless assistance
resources.
Thank you again for this opportunity to describe HUD's efforts to
end veteran homelessness.
Prepared Statement of Thomas Lynch, M.D
Good afternoon Chairman Wenstrup, Chairman Arrington, Ranking
Member Brownley, Ranking Member O'Rourke and Members of the
Subcommittees. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the Department
of Veterans Affairs' (VA) commitment to ending homelessness among
Veterans. I am accompanied today by
Dr. Keith Harris, Director of Clinical Operations, VHA Homeless
Programs Office.
Introduction
VA remains committed to the objective of ending Veteran
homelessness, and pursues that objective in close collaboration with
our Federal agency partners, leading national organizations, State and
local government agencies, Veteran Service Organizations, and other
nonprofit partners in communities across the country. The ultimate goal
is to make sure that Veterans have permanent, sustainable housing with
access to high-quality health care and other supportive services, and
that Veteran homelessness in the future is prevented whenever possible
or is otherwise rare, brief, and nonrecurring. VA and our partners are
striving to implement a systemic end to Veteran homelessness. VA, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), have developed criteria
for that systemic end of Veteran homelessness, including that
communities across the country that have identified all Veterans
experiencing homelessness, are able to provide shelter immediately to
any Veteran experiencing unsheltered homelessness, provide service-
intensive transitional housing in limited instances, have the capacity
to help Veterans swiftly move into permanent housing, and have
resources, plans, and systems in place should any Veteran become
homeless or be at risk of homelessness in the future. VA also continues
to integrate resources in the homeless program to address mental health
concerns and/or substance use disorders (SUD) of homeless Veterans and
those at risk of becoming homeless, with an emphasis on evidence-based
treatment and suicide prevention. Efforts in support of this include
mandatory suicide prevention training for all homeless program
employees, and the inclusion of SUD specialists in homeless programs.
Current Progress
The number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in the United
States declined by nearly half since 2010. To date, 60 communities,
across 30 States, have been confirmed by VA, HUD, and USICH as having
achieved the goal of effectively ending Veteran homelessness.
Nationally, the total number of homeless Veterans, including those in
sheltered and unsheltered locations on a single night in January 2017,
was just over 40,000. While this represents a slight increase in
Veteran homelessness over 2016, decreases in Veteran homelessness in
the majority of HUD Continuums of Care in 2017, coupled with the
overall decline in Veteran homelessness since 2010, demonstrate that
the evidence-based strategies employed by VA and its partners to help
Veterans become and remain permanently housed are working. In addition,
over 600,000 Veterans and their family members have been permanently
housed, rapidly rehoused, or prevented from falling into homelessness
through HUD's targeted housing vouchers and VA's homelessness programs.
Ending Veteran homelessness is not a single event in time; rather,
it is a deliberate effort made to achieve the goal, and continued
follow-up efforts to make sure that progress toward achieving the goal
is maintained. We continue to identify innovative local solutions,
especially in areas where higher rents have contributed to an increase
in Veteran homelessness.
VA dramatically increased the number of services available to
Veterans who are at risk for or currently facing homelessness. These
programs and initiatives focus on identifying, interceding, and rapidly
engaging homeless and at-risk Veterans on matters concerning housing,
clinical care, and social services, as well as resources aimed at
preventing homelessness. These programs include:
Housing and Urban Development - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing
(HUD-VASH): Through this collaborative program between HUD and VA, HUD
provides eligible homeless Veterans with a Housing Choice rental
voucher, and VA provides case management and supportive services so
Veterans can gain housing stability and recover from physical and
mental health problems, substance use disorders, and other issues
contributing to or resulting from homelessness. The program goals are
to help Veterans and their families gain stable housing while promoting
full recovery and independence in their communities. As of the last day
of Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, 83,459 total HUD-VASH vouchers were in use
and 77,850 Veterans were housed and are no longer homeless.
Understanding that there are homeless Veterans who are not eligible for
VA health care, and to further progress toward the goal of ending
Veteran homelessness, HUD and VA are jointly piloting efforts to
provide a small number of HUD-VASH vouchers to those who are ineligible
for VA health care because of a disqualifying ``other than honorable''
discharge. This program allows communities that are able to demonstrate
they have served and continue to prioritize eligible Veterans to
provide a portion of their vouchers to former Servicemembers who do not
qualify for VA benefits. As of the last day of FY 2017, 83,459 total
HUD-VASH vouchers were in use and 77,850 Veterans were housed and are
no longer homeless.
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD): The GPD program allows
VA to award grants to community-based agencies to operate transitional
housing programs and offer per-diem payments to such agencies that
furnish authorized services to qualifying Veterans. The purpose of the
program is to promote the development and provision of temporary
housing and/or related services with the goal of helping homeless
Veterans access permanent housing, achieve residential stability,
increase their skill levels and/or income, and obtain greater self-
determination. GPD-funded projects offer communities a way to help
homeless Veterans by providing housing and other services, and at the
same time assist VA medical centers (VAMC) by augmenting or
supplementing care. As a result of section 712 of Public Law 114-315
(codified at 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) Sec. 2013), the GPD
program is able to offer a new case management grant to improve
retention of permanent housing for formerly homeless Veterans exiting
transitional housing programs. In FY 2017, over 600 GPD-funded projects
participated in the program, which temporarily housed 23,737 Veterans -
14,530 of whom exited GPD into permanent housing.
Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF): This program is
designed to rapidly rehouse homeless Veteran families and prevent
homelessness for those at imminent risk of becoming homeless due to a
housing crisis. Funds are granted to private nonprofit organizations
and consumer cooperatives, which then provide very low-income Veteran
families with a range of supportive services designed to promote
housing stability. SSVF is the only VA homeless program that can
provide direct services to family members. In FY 2017, 21 percent of
all those served by SSVF were dependent children. SSVF's ability to
serve Veterans and their children helps keep families together. In FY
2017, SSVF assisted 129,458 individuals; 83,916 were Veterans, and
27,535 were children.
Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO): The purpose of the VJO program is
to prevent homelessness and avoid the criminalization of mental illness
and extended incarceration among Veterans. This is accomplished by
ensuring that eligible justice-involved Veterans encountered by police,
in jails, or in courts have timely access to VA mental health,
substance use treatment, and homeless services when clinically
indicated, and other VA services and benefits as appropriate. In FY
2017, VJO provided services to over 46,000 justice involved Veterans.
Health Care for Reentry Veterans (HCRV): The HCRV program is
designed to address the needs of incarcerated Veterans when it comes to
re-entering their communities. The goals of HCRV are to prevent
homelessness; reduce the impact of medical, psychiatric, and substance
use problems on community readjustment; and decrease the likelihood of
re-incarceration for those leaving prison. In FY 2017, the program
served 9,732 Veterans and provided services to 890 Federal and State
prisons.
National Call Center for Homeless Veterans (NCCHV): The NCCHV,
which can be reached at 1-877-4AID VET (1-877-424-3838), was founded to
ensure that homeless and at-risk Veterans have free, 24/7 access to VA
staff. The hotline is intended to assist homeless and at-risk Veterans
and their families; VAMCs; Federal, State, and local partners;
community agencies; service providers; and others in the community. In
FY 2017, NCCHV received more than 131,310 total calls, 80,777 from
Veterans. More than 59,000 Veterans were referred to the homeless
programs at their local VAMCs.
Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV): The central goal of the
HCHV program is to reduce homelessness among Veterans by connecting
homeless Veterans with health care and other needed services. This
program provides per diem payments to community-based facilities that
provide housing; outreach services; case management services;
rehabilitative services, and care or treatment to all eligible homeless
Veterans. The program also provides HCHV Contract Residential Services,
ensuring that chronically homeless Veterans, especially those with
serious mental health diagnoses and/or substance use disorders, can be
placed in VA or community-based programs that provide quality housing
and services that meet their specialized needs. In FY 2017, over 6,300
Veterans exited the HCHV program, and entered independent housing. HCHV
is also responsible for the Coordinated Entry Initiative, providing
guidance to VAMCs on their participation in their partner Continuums of
Care coordinated entry systems.
Homeless Veterans Community Employment Services (HVCES): To help
improve employment outcomes and connect with homeless Veterans who are
the most difficult to reach, VA continues to support Vocational
Development Specialists, who serve as Employment Specialists and
Community Employment Coordinators within HVCES. HVCES staff members are
embedded in homeless program teams within the medical center,
complement existing medical center-based employment services, and are a
bridge to employment opportunities and resources in the local
community. In FY 2017, roughly 7000 Veterans existed homeless
residential programs with employment. VA staffmembers work very closely
with their colleagues at the Department of Labor (DOL), especially
through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) and Jobs for
Veterans State Grants (JVSG), which are two programs that address the
employment needs of homeless Veterans.
Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams (H-PACT): H-PACTs provide a
coordinated ``medical home'' tailored to homeless Veterans' needs. H-
PACTs are open-access, provide wrap-around care and case management,
and are performance-based and accountable. At selected VA facilities,
Veterans are assigned to an H-PACT that includes a primary care
provider, nurse, social worker, homeless program staff, and others who
offer medical care, case management, housing assistance, and social
services. The H-PACT provides and coordinates the health care that
Veterans may need while helping them obtain and stay in permanent
housing. Patients engaged in an H-PACT were permanently housed 81 days
faster than a non-H-PACT enrolled homeless patient. In FY 2017, H-PACTs
provided care for almost 20,000 Veterans at 63 locations.
The National Center on Homelessness among Veterans (the Center):
Authorized by section 713 of Public Law 114-315 (38 U.S.C. Sec. 2067),
the Center promotes recovery-oriented care for Veterans who are
homeless or at-risk for homelessness by carrying out and promoting
research; assessing the effectiveness of VA programs; identifying and
disseminating best practices; integrating evidence-based and best
practices into polices, programs, and services for homeless or at-risk
Veterans; and serving as a resource for research and training
activities carried out by VA and by other Federal and non-Federal
entities with respect to Veteran homelessness.
Community Resource and Referral Centers (CRRC): CRRCs are a
collaborative effort of VA, communities, service providers, and agency
partners. Centers are located in strategically selected areas to
provide both a refuge from the streets and a central location to engage
homeless Veterans in services. The goals of CRRCs include: (1) to
provide Veterans with more efficient and better-coordinated access to
the range of VA and community-based services and programs that can best
address their needs; and (2) to support a more efficient and cost-
effective delivery of that support to Veterans. When Veterans enter
these centers, they are referred to physical and mental health care
resources, job development programs, housing options, and other VA and
non-VA benefits. In FY 2017, over 29,000 Veterans received services
through VA's 31 CRRCs.
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV): The DCHV program
provides time-limited residential treatment to homeless Veterans with
mental health and substance use disorders, co-occurring medical
concerns, and psychosocial needs such as homelessness and unemployment.
In FY 2017, over 7,000 Veterans received services through the DCHV
program.
Homeless Veterans Dental Program (HVDP): HVDP helps increase the
accessibility of quality dental care to homeless and certain other
Veteran patients enrolled in VA-sponsored and VA partnered homeless
rehabilitation programs. In FY 2017, over 15,430 Veterans were provided
dental care through HVPD.
Future State
Maintaining strong support for Federal housing and homelessness
programs is essential for preventing and reducing Veteran homelessness
Overall, the message is positive: communities, in partnership with VA,
are preventing and reducing Veteran homelessness.
Recently, in an attempt to give VAMC facilities more control over
homeless funds that directly impact the Veterans they serve, VA
proposed a conversion of Specific Purpose funding to General Purpose
funding, including funding in support of HUD-VASH. We received feedback
from some of our valued internal and external partners that they need
additional information from us about this conversion, and that we need
to have more discussions with them before proceeding. As a result, VA
will continue to pause plans to reallocate funds from specific purpose
funds to general funds in FY 2018 to allow time to evaluate the
feedback we are receiving from our stakeholders and partners. Over the
next several months, VA will engage in a formal interagency process to
solicit further input to ensure that any realignment of funds best
supports our Nation's Veterans.
VA's way forward is to work with Federal partners to implement the
elements of our interagency strategic plan to end Veteran homelessness.
Important strategic objectives include enhancing integrated services
for homeless Veterans struggling with suicide risk and SUD, addressing
high need communities by recapturing and reallocating available
resources, emphasizing efforts to improve employment outcomes,
addressing prevention of new episodes of homelessness as well as
recidivism, and fully committing to coordinated entry efforts in local
communities. VA's strategy for addressing the needs of homeless and at-
risk Veterans will be improved by integrating suicide prevention,
mental health, and substance use disorder resources with the programs
that are currently available through VA's Homeless Program.
Of the Veterans assessed by VA homeless programs in FY 2017, 57
percent who are at risk of homelessness, or currently homeless, have a
mental health diagnosis and 46 percent have a substance use disorder.
Additionally, VA research shows that nearly a third of Veterans
receiving care for suicidality showed evidence of homelessness. It is
critical that VA addresses this aspect of Veteran homelessness in order
to save their lives. Therefore, our Homeless Program is working with
our Mental Health and Suicide Prevention offices to identify ways in
which we can harness our collective resources to respond to this
clinical priority.
In order to end Veterans' homelessness, VA's efforts must
comprehensively be linked with local community efforts. VA's Federal
partners, including DOL and HUD, require that all communities develop
and operate a coordinated entry system (CES) for all homeless
individuals, including Veterans. CES is a critical element in our
continued effort to end Veteran homelessness because it ensures
coordination of community-wide services for Veterans experiencing
homelessness, system-wide awareness of the availability of housing and
services, and easy access to and appropriate prioritization for these
resources for Veterans who are in need. VA is committed to
participating in this national effort.
VA's plan is to expand prevention and diversion efforts. We must
reduce the flow of Veterans into homelessness if we are to continue the
decline nationally, as tracked by HUD's Point-in-Time (PIT) count.
After six years of consistent progress, the 2017 PIT Count data shows a
mix of continued declines in Veteran homelessness in most communities,
but stalled progress in others due largely to high rent and low vacancy
rates. We are continuing to promote development of affordable and
permanent supportive housing. We are also working with all partners to
encourage efforts aimed at financing and developing additional housing
stock in order to address the market factors that contributed to
increases in 2017.
Conclusion
When Veterans become homeless or even at-risk for homelessness, VA
and its Federal, State, and community partners must work together to
rapidly connect them with appropriate assistance to provide housing
stability. Sustaining the momentum and preserving the gains made so far
requires continued attention and investments of financial resources.
Failure to provide such resources will severely jeopardize our ability
to sustain our progress and will put at risk thousands of Veterans and
their families in the future. It is critical that we do not allow
Veterans to slip into homelessness in the future.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. My colleague and I are
prepared to answer any questions.
Statements For The Record
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Statement of Shurhonda Y. Love, Assistant National Legislative
Director
Thank you for inviting DAV to submit testimony for the record for
today's hearing to examine the effect of federal agencies' efforts
[including those of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Labor (DOL)] to reduce
homelessness among our nation's veterans. DAV was also asked to assess
the impact of VA's decision to realign specific purpose funds for
homeless programs.
Any veteran can experience homelessness and we recognize that many
veterans are at higher risk for becoming homeless due to service-
incurred and war-related disabilities and/or reintegration challenges
following military deployments. This is particularly true of women
veterans. DAV Resolution 239 directs DAV to support sustained
sufficient funding to improve services for homeless veterans. For this
reason, DAV urges Congress to give homeless veterans programs priority
consideration within the federal government's planning and budgeting
activities.
As you know, homelessness is a complex problem often stemming from
mental illness, substance use disorders, unemployment, lack of basic
independent life skills and disabilities. Homeless individuals often
struggle with several of these issues concurrently. For veterans,
homelessness can be further complicated by unsuccessful attempts to
reintegrate into families, careers, and communities after deployments.
Service-incurred or exacerbated disabilities, such as post-traumatic
stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance use disorders,
traumatic brain injury or other physical disabilities can further
complicate these issues.
For the most part the federal government's enhanced efforts to
assist homeless veterans in recent years has been a good news story.
Since 2009, homelessness among veterans has decreased by almost half
(46 percent); between 2015 and 2016 the number of homeless veterans
decreased by 17 percent. Some states and communities have declared that
their homeless veterans' populations have been virtually eliminated. VA
and advocates often credit VA's ``Housing First'' policy with its
success. Securing stable housing with aggressive case management is
often the linchpin to obtaining the services and benefits veterans need
to launch their recovery.
The bad news is that there are now indicators that some of the
remarkable progress made on reducing homelessness among veterans may be
eroding, particularly in high-cost metropolitan areas such as New York
City and Los Angeles where affordable housing is scarce. Los Angeles
City and County alone identified a 26 percent increase in homelessness
between 2016 and 2017. This led to a slight increase in homelessness
among veterans overall (1.4 percent between 2016 and 2017). According
to HUD, individuals with long-term disabling conditions were the most
likely to be affected by homelessness during this past year.
The National Coalition on Homeless Veterans (NCHV) also indicates
that flat funding for many of the VA's pillar programs in fiscal year
(FY) 2018 will not be sufficient to ensure the federal government
continues to make progress reducing the number of homeless veterans. In
particular it is concerned about the VETS HVRP programs in DOL (flat
funded for more than a decade) and that funding for Supportive Services
for Veterans Families-a program that assists veterans and families at
risk for homelessness to remain in permanent housing-are not sufficient
to support demand for veterans' needs. They are also concerned that
there are no new requests for HUD-Vouchers. HUD-VASH is credited as the
program most responsible for the reduction of veterans living on the
street. As a top priority of the previous administration the HUD-VASH
program grew from $5 million to almost $500 million. In 2016, VA
reports it used almost 80,000 vouchers and housed 72,481 veterans.
According to HUD, since 2010, the HUD/VASH program has helped almost
480,000 veterans and their families with housing, re-housing or
preventing homelessness.
The decision by VA Secretary Shulkin to realign specific purpose
funds to give hospital directors more control over veterans' needs
specific to location within the Veterans Health Administration posed a
significant concern for sufficient funding for homeless programs. In
December 2017, in response to Senate appropriators and veterans'
advocates, the Secretary temporarily overturned his initial decision,
but the initiative took a toll.
The partnership between VA and HUD requires VA to provide intensive
case management for use of housing vouchers. Diminished dedicated
funding available for case management would significantly compromise
the success of the subsidized housing vouchers program. VA case
managers serve to ensure veterans maintain sobriety and treatment
regimens and obtain necessary medical care. They can assure that
benefits are secured and job training or education goals are being met.
They assist in identifying community resources to meet veterans
frequently cited unmet needs-such as legal assistance for a variety of
issues, child care, family reconciliation assistance, financial
guardianship, credit counseling, discharge upgrades, and family and
marital counseling. They also help entice reluctant landlords to lease
properties to veterans because the case manager serves as a reliable
intermediary. Case management is essential to veterans achieving long-
term housing stability and makes the HUD-VASH program optimally
effective.
We are pleased that the Secretary reconsidered his decision to pull
funds out of earmarked accounts, but the effect on VA's ability to
support case management for HUD-VASH vouchers has already impacted
programming. For example, NCHV reports that the VA facility in San
Francisco indicated it will only support half of the slots it has been
allotted leaving 50 of the 100 vouchers on the table. As the Secretary
proceeds to determine how best to fund HUD-VASH case management in the
future, DAV hopes he will carefully consider the potential negative
impact of releasing these funds on the programming for some of VHA's
most vulnerable veterans.
Specific purpose (or centralized) funds are designated as such to
assure that resources are used for certain programs-particularly for
those programs with high costs that may make them vulnerable to
``raiding'' for other purposes. This status is generally reserved for
high visibility programs-usually those of great interest to Congress or
the Administration (prosthetics and sensory aids, post-deployment
mental health services for war veterans, women veterans, and
polytrauma, for example).
Veterans organizations co-authoring the Independent Budget have
long supported a centralized fund for prosthetics. Previously when
funding for prosthetics was allocated through general purpose funds,
these resources were used for other purposes. Once funds were
centralized, delivery of prosthetics was more timely and predictable
and veterans' complaints diminished. Having one account to fund
purchases also eases tracking of expenditures to ensure funds are used
for the allocated purpose.
While DAV has no resolution regarding the centralization of funding
for homeless programs, we know from experience that unfencing funding
is highly likely to reduce funding for that purpose. Re-categorizing
funds as general purpose allows other local priorities to be funded,
which appears to be the reason to ``release'' funding to the field.
Secretary Shulkin indicated that medical centers would be able to use
released funding from homeless programs as networks and medical centers
saw fit, so long as there was demonstration of ``some'' commitment to
helping homeless veterans. DAV is concerned that local managers, faced
with numerous priorities, will use the released funds at a lower rate,
resulting in insufficient funding to meet the needs of this population
and continue the improvements in programs for homeless veterans made in
recent years. For these reasons, we are pleased that the Administration
will take more time to assess the potential effect of releasing
dedicated funding for homeless programs and hope the Secretary will
permanently restore specific purpose funding for these important
supportive services.
Homelessness is defined under the McKinney-Vento Act as occupying
public or private space not generally intended or used for sleeping,
including living in the streets, cars, or those residing in emergency
shelters. Some advocates believe this definition actually
underestimates the population, particularly for women who are more
likely to stay in unsafe housing situations (such as those with abusive
domestic partners) in order to remain housed. According to researchers,
veterans are at greater risk of homelessness than civilian peers.
Approximately 80 percent of homeless veterans have mental health
conditions or substance use disorders. PTSD and service in Iraq or
Afghanistan are modest risk factors for experiencing homelessness, but
socioeconomic status and behavioral health are more significant risk
factors. For both women and men, being black and unmarried are
significant risk factors. Recipients for disability compensation are at
lower risk of homelessness, possibly because the steady income may
assist a veteran in obtaining stable housing.
Women veterans are at especially high risk of homelessness (with
increased risk of 2.4 percent compared to 1.4 percent of male
veterans). Loss of employment and dissolution of marriages contributes
to women being at higher risk for homelessness and living in poverty
than civilian peers or male veterans. Homeless women veterans tend to
be younger than male peers, and 21 percent of women veterans have
dependent children and they are 8 percent more likely to have non-
military related PTSD. They are more likely to seek intensive services
for treatment of mental health issues than their male peers.
Additionally, because of their increased likelihood of having
dependents which gives them priority for housing vouchers, women are
19-20 percent more likely to be referred to HUD-VASH programs than men.
For these reasons, policy changes effectuating cuts to homeless
programs may be particularly perilous for them.
VA has several evidence-based practices being used to assist
homeless veterans including Mission-Vet (Maintaining Independence and
Sobriety through System Integration) and Getting to Outcomes. These
practices are targeted at veterans with co-occurring morbidities and
are shown to keep veterans in housing placements more effectively than
usual practice. About half of the veterans who have used HUD-VASH
vouchers have accomplished their goals or no longer require services.
Most leave the program after identifying appropriate benefits or
securing employment.
Grant and per diem (GPD) programs, which provide transitional
housing and supportive services through community agencies, are another
important stepping stone to stable housing and recovery for disabled
homeless veterans. In 2016, more than 16,500 veterans exited these
programs to permanent housing; however, without the support of case
management for HUD-VASH vouchers many veterans using these programs
will likely struggle more to achieve stable, independent housing and
lives.
In addition to housing programs, VA offers health care services
specifically for homeless veterans and a range of mental health
programs that meet their needs. Domiciliary programs offer a
therapeutic environment for many homeless veterans, allowing them to
seek intensive treatment for substance use disorders and mental health
conditions. Psychosocial rehabilitation, often provided through the
domiciliaries is another program from which it appears that funds are
being diverted. Some veterans also seek vocational rehabilitation
through VHA's compensated work therapy programs. Unfortunately, some of
the centralized funding for many of the supportive mental health and
mental health research programs administering and improving care for
homeless and other veterans has also been released to the field. While
the effect of the releasing centralized funds may not have the same
dramatic impact on VA's mental health programs it would on the
supported housing programs, the release of these funds may impact the
overall quality of the mental health services upon which many veterans
rely.
The Department of Labor (DoL) also offers a job-focused, case-
managed approach to assisting homeless veterans with job training,
search and placement services through the Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Program (HVRP). As homeless veterans become stable, these
programs can offer assistance with vocational rehabilitation and even
remedial academic skills to bolster their ability to live and work
independently. The HVRP is funded under veterans programs, but
administered under DoL Veterans Employment Training Services. DAV has
been a long-term supporter of adequate funding and permanency for
veterans' employment and/or training programs (Resolution No. 251).
Since FY 2002, Congress has authorized $50 million for this program
doing so again for FY 2018. However, over time the value of this
authorization has eroded. In FY 2015, DoL claims HVRP exceeded its
target of placing 65 percent of program participants in jobs (it placed
69 percent of participants). It also exceeded its target of placing 62
percent of women participants in jobs (it placed 68 percent of women
participants). It also did so at a significantly lower cost per
participant than it estimated ($2,007 compared to $2,242). Given the
long-term success and efficiency of the program, Congress should add
funds to compensate for inflation and meet veterans' increased demand
for these services.
Mr. Chairman, VA can be proud of the comprehensive array of
services it provides to homeless veterans, but it cannot reduce funding
levels for the program or leave it to local management to determine
priorities and expect to see the same results and success rate of
reducing veterans' homelessness. VA must continue its commitment as
stated until no veteran has to call the street his or her home.
This concludes my statement and I am happy to respond to any
questions you may have.
MILE HIGH BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE
Statement of James Gillespie, Community Impact & Government
Relations Liaison
ON: ASSESSING THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS VA, HUD, AND DOL USE TO PROVIDE
HOMELESS AND AT-RISK VETERANS WITH HOUSING, HEALTHCARE, SUPPORTIVE
SERVICES, AND JOB TRAINING, SEARCH, AND PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE.
Chairmen Wenstrup, Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley, O'Rourke,
and distinguished members of the Subcommittees on Health and Economic
Opportunity, on behalf of Mile High Behavioral Healthcare and its
affiliates, thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement
regarding programs that benefit our nation's homeless and at-risk
Veterans. It is our firm belief that no individual who fights for our
homeland should ever be without a safe place to call home.
Mile High Behavioral Healthcare is one of the leading providers of
evidence-based substance use disorder and mental health treatment
services in Colorado and also manages a Veterans' Administration (VA)
Grant and Per Diem site through its subsidiary, the Comitis Crisis
Center, in Aurora, Colorado. The VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per-
Diem (GPD) Program awards grants to community-based agencies that
provide transitional housing and supportive services to assist homeless
Veterans in achieving residential stability and self-sufficiency. The
VA provides per diem payments to non-profit organizations to help
offset the operational costs of these programs. The following remarks
are respectfully submitted for your consideration from the viewpoint of
an experienced, community-based provider that serves homeless Veterans
and their dependent children.
Background
It is estimated that there are currently 39,471 Veterans
experiencing homelessness in the United States. In FY 2017 alone, 600
GPD-funded sites provided services to 23,737 Veterans through the use
of over 12,500 transitional housing beds. VA data systems only track
Veteran admission into GPD programs, so data on the number of children
(and spouses) served in these programs is currently unavailable.
However, based on an analysis conducted by the Homeless Program Office,
the VA has identified that approximately 8% of Veterans who entered GPD
programs and had a full assessment completed within 30 days prior to
admission, had either full or partial legal custody of children. This
is estimated to be 2,500 children in FY 2017. Additionally, 3,020 of
the 23,737 Veterans served in GPD programs in FY 2017 were women,
accounting for 13% of Veterans served.
The Grant and Per-Diem Program is an Effective Housing Intervention
It is our experience as a service provider that the VA's GPD
program is a viable and effective housing intervention. Our
organization is a Housing First agency, but also sees the need for
transitional housing within the continuum of housing services to be
essential, if not critical. There are distinct advantages to serving
Veterans and their family members in a care setting through
transitional housing. After all, homelessness is a symptom and not the
diagnosis. It is the potential underlying root causes of homelessness
that must be addressed, such as trauma or possible addiction to
substances or mental health challenges. Some causes are circumstantial
or environmental (i.e. the housing market or job loss), but others are
internal and both should be addressed contemporaneously in order to
help Veterans become permanently housed.
Our organization takes a ``whole person'' approach to our care-
integrating primary care and behavioral health care services into a
shelter setting. Because we get to know our Veterans and their family
members through intensive case management and clinical care, we can
accurately assess the risks associated with addiction and/or mental
health struggles, such as suicidality. While in our care, Veterans and
their family members not only receive dedicated shelter, but also a
full suite of behavioral health care services that are customized to
their individual needs. This ranges from parenting classes to
certified, evidence-based interventions such as Family Therapy,
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and gender-specific trauma groups.
Transitional housing also gives our Veterans the opportunity to
self-resolve. This is critical. You have likely heard the expression
``I am just one paycheck away from homelessness.'' The converse is also
true. Many are just one paycheck, one security deposit, one car repair
away from being housed. The GPD program gives our Veterans the
opportunity to get back on their feet again and to work hard in doing
so. If we immediately place our homeless Veterans on housing subsidies
without the critical support services, what incentive would one have
for enhancing one's income and quality of life and no longer having
need of a housing subsidy?
A key component in our case management is to provide Veterans with
increased skill and income. Whether through financial literacy classes,
resume writing classes, computer literacy workshops, or mock
interviews, we want to prepare our Veterans to be able to put their
best foot forward in seeking and sustaining gainful employment. Working
on soft skills and life skills within our care setting better prepares
our Veterans to compete in the job market. Our agency has one of the
highest rates of employment among GPD sites in Region 8, primarily due
to the attention we spend on preparing our Veterans for employment, as
well as our professional connections with business owners and
employers. Attached are two articles highlighting our former clients
``BANKS AND TRUST: Local credit union works with homeless vets to show
them money matters'' and ``The new domestic war: A veteran's fight for
basic human needs.''
Here in the Denver Metropolitan region, housing affordability is a
key barrier to finding a safe place to call home. Even with a housing
subsidy, the Housing First approach only works if housing stock is
readily available. Given that our vacancy rate is between 4%-5% in the
Denver Metro, having transitional housing available is an important
safety net program to ensure that Veterans and their family members are
not left out cold on the streets while waiting for an affordable and
accessible unit to become available.
Because of the GDP program, the Comitis Crisis Center is able to
serve 25 Veterans through eight GPD-funded beds, as well as 65-100
attached family members in unfunded beds. (The GPD program does not
reimburse providers for serving Veterans' family members.) The
opportunity for these families to move through the GPD program, with
other Veteran families, is a collective life-changing experience for
them. The program builds a strong sense of community, which is a
cornerstone principle for those involved in recovery. Well after
graduating through our programs, our Veteran families stay in touch
with each other, creating an environment for pro-social activities, as
well as accountability. Peer Support Services have been shown to be
effective in improving health, abstinence, quality of life and social
connectedness. \1\ There is also evidence that peer-facilitated
interventions improve social connectedness for women, \2\ decrease
alcohol use for individuals with criminal justice involvement \3\ and
improve rates of post-discharge treatment adherence. \4\
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\1\ Giese-Davis, J., Bliss-Isberg, C., Carson, K., Star, P.,
Donaghy, J., Cordova, M. J., & Spiegel, D. (2006). The effect of peer
counseling on quality of life following diagnosis of breast cancer: an
observational study. Psycho-Oncology, 15(11), 1014-1022.
\2\ Marcenko, M. O., Spence, M., & Rohweder, C. (1994).
Psychological characteristics of pregnant women with and without a
history of substance abuse. Health & Social Work, 19, 17-22.
\3\ Rowe, M., Bellamy, C., Baranoski, M., Wieland, M., O'Connell,
M. J., Benedict, P. & Sells, D. (2007). A peer-support group
intervention to reduce substance use and criminality among persons with
severe mental illness. Psychiatric Service, 58(7), 955-961.
\4\ Tracy, K., Burton, M., Nich, C., & Rounsaville, B. (2011).
Utilizing peer mentorship to engage high recidivism substance-abusing
patients in treatment. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,
37(6), 525-531.
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The Changing Face of our Modern Military: Matching Services to Need
As noted earlier, 13% of all homeless Veterans served in a GPD
program in FY 2017 were women. It is estimated that the number of
Veterans who are women will expand by 16% by 2035. It is important that
our services continually adapt to the changing face of our modern
military, including the services offered by the VA's GPD program.
Currently, if you are a non-Veteran homeless family in the United
States, federal funds (through HHS/TANF program) will pay a ``head-in-
bed'' per diem for each family member to the service agency housing the
family. If you are a Veteran homeless family, the VA's Grant and Per
Diem (GPD) program will only pay for the cost of occupancy for the
Veteran but not for the attached and dependent children. This issue
causes a barrier to access shelter services for both male and female
Veterans with children, but more so for Veteran women who usually have
children in tow. I have been asked why Veterans do not enroll in the
TANF program for per diem services for family members when they come to
our homeless shelter, the Comitis Crisis Center. The shelter is located
in the seven-county Denver Metro area, but only has the capacity to
administer TANF contracts with two of the counties through a
competitive RFP process. If the Veteran happens to originate from one
of these two counties, then the TANF benefit would apply. A challenge
is that homeless Veterans are highly mobile and tend to cross state
lines seeking employment opportunities or originate from counties that
provider agencies do not have contracts with through their respective
departments of human services. For these Veterans with family, we
accept them into our GPD program, but absorb the cost of any associated
dependents. Though it is the right thing to do, but it comes at a real
cost to us and serves as a disincentive for serving homeless Veterans
who have dependents. Below is a sample taken from an actual program
year at Comitis:
Calculation for Family Gap
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No of Veterans served - 2013 25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No of family members - 2013 61
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average of family member per Veterans 2.44
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forecasting - 2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Per diem rate 38.87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Veterans - per day 310.96
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average family member per Veteran - per day 758.74
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total expense per month for Veteran and family per day 1,069.70
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
for 12 months - 365 days expense for Veteran and family 390,441.38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reimbursable from Per diem - Veteran only 113,500.40
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAP 276,940.98
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reimbursement Gap Due to Serving Veterans With Dependents
As you can see from the table, the Comitis Crisis Center must find
alternative funding sources to cover the annual $276,941 gap in
reimbursement to house Veterans' family members. Strictly speaking from
a financial and program sustainability standpoint, it would be more
efficient for us to end the GPD program and utilize our shelter beds to
serve homeless families through the TANF program, whereby each bed has
an attached per-diem rate to cover operating costs.
Recommendations
Mile High Behavioral Healthcare appreciates the collective impact
that the VA and provider agencies across the country have achieved in
reducing Veteran homelessness. Aligning with the goal to completely
eliminate homelessness among our Veterans, we recommend that the VA
provide greater access to services for homeless Veterans with children.
From operating costs to the reality that these children grow out of
their shoes every month, we request that we better serve our Veterans
by serving their greatest treasure-their children. A 2011 GAO study,
``Homeless Women Veterans: Actions Needed to Ensure Safe and
Appropriate Housing,'' noted that more than 60% of surveyed GPD
programs that serve homeless women Veterans did not house children, and
most programs that did house children had restrictions on the ages or
numbers of children. I believe that we can and should do better! We
greatly honor the family members of those engaged in active service
away from home, and it is time to also honor our homeless Veterans and
their family members by housing them all together so families do not
undergo further trauma resulting from being separated from one another.
Adapting policy to the changing needs of our homeless Veterans, we
respectfully urge you to support H.R. 4099: To amend title 38, United
States Code, to ensure that children of homeless veterans are included
in the calculation of the amounts of certain per diem grants. H.R.
4099, also known as the ``Homeless Veteran Families Act,'' is a bi-
partisan bill that gets us one step closer to providing better care for
our Veterans and their family members.
In addition to Mile High Behavioral Healthcare, the following
Veteran Service Organizations also support this bill: The American
Legion, The Wounded Warrior Project, Disabled American Veterans,
Paralyzed Veterans of America, Got Your 6, National Coalition for
Homeless Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the
Purple Heart, and American Veterans (AMVETS). Attached are letters of
support from Gold Star Wives of America, The American Legion,
Volunteers of America, and the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Additionally, attached are letters of support from a sampling of other
GPD sites, including: Catholic Services of Acadiana, Ohio Valley
Goodwill Industries, McCall Center for Behavioral Health, Friendship
Service Center of New Britain, Veterans Village of San Diego, Talbert
House, Homeless Empowerment Program, Clara White Mission, and Father
Joe's Villages.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement. Questions
concerning this statement can be directed to James Gillespie, Community
Impact and Government Relations Liaison, Mile High Behavioral
Healthcare, at (720) 975-0155, extension 13 or [email protected].
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA (PVA)
CONCERNING: EFFORTS TO REDUCE VETERANS HOMELESSNESS
Chairman Wenstrup, and Chairman Arrington, and members of the
Subcommittee, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) would like to thank
you for the opportunity to provide our views on the efforts of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), and the Department of Labor (DOL) to reduce veteran
homelessness.
Every member of PVA, regardless of their injury, faces significant
challenges when transitioning back into society. As a catastrophically
disabled veteran it can be difficult to maintain substantial gainful
employment which could very well result in them becoming homeless.
In 2009, the White House and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced the goal of ending veteran homelessness. This presidential
mandate resulted in VA leadership adding homelessness programs as a
metric to all director's dashboards. The Director's dashboard provides
a list of the priorities for each individual Director.
In 2014, Mayors Challenge was launched as an initiative among
mayors to end homelessness in their respective cities. The program used
vouchers to provide to homeless veterans to utilize for housing. This
movement has resulted in many cities effectively ending ``functional''
homelessness. This program ended homelessness for newly homeless
veterans, not those who previously received vouchers or were
chronically homeless.
Since then, thanks to VA's collaborative efforts with HUD, the U.S.
Interagency Council on Homelessness, community partner organizations,
and local and state governments, there was a 17 percent decrease in
Veteran homelessness between 2015 and 2016 contributing to a 47 percent
overall reduction in Veteran homelessness across the United States
between 2010 and 2016. This statistic is quadruple the previous year's
annual decline, and represents a 47 percent decrease since 2010. More
specifically, as of August 1, 2016, the number of veterans experiencing
homelessness in the United States has been cut nearly in half since
2010. By utilizing a Point in Time count in January 2016, HUD estimated
that just over 13,000 unsheltered veterans were living on the streets,
a 56 percent decrease since 2010. A Point in Time count is a tool used
to determine the number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons
on a single night.
In 2015 VA no longer recognized ending homelessness as a priority;
therefore, all homeless programs were eliminated. Directors are no
longer held accountable for the results of their homeless programs.
Also homelessness is no longer on Director's dashboards. VA Central
Office has only mandated that directors perform outreach, there is
nothing specific provided about what must be conducted.
When ending homelessness became a priority VA deployed a housing
first strategy that was and currently is very effective. This program
gets people in housing where they belong. Unfortunately this initiative
does not address the underlying issue of why the veteran is homeless in
the first place. Very rarely are financial issues the sole cause of a
veteran's homelessness. It's no secret mental illness and substance
abuse play a very important role in a veteran becoming homeless. In
many cases the money HUD provides is not enough for the veteran to find
housing in a good neighborhood. The veterans are forced to reside in
the same areas they were trying to escape. Another problem is there is
no mandate that veterans must be ``clean'' while participating in the
program. It has been found that veterans with substance abuse problems
will sometimes take advantage of this and transform their new residence
into a drug house. This creates an adversarial relationship with the
community that is often times very difficult to overcome. Unfortunately
at this time, VA does not have the staff or the programs to address the
problems with the voucher system.
VA did conduct research and found that if a veteran is involved in
the VA health care system they were less likely to commit suicide,
become homeless or become incarcerated. The importance of increasing
the access to VA medical care cannot be overstated. Currently the
system in place to provide veterans with Mental Health care is broken.
Many VA Medical Centers do not have the resources to provide the
necessary psychiatric and therapeutic treatment. Moreover, there is a
serious lack of providers who will actually work with VA to provide
``choice care'' outside of the VA leaving veterans with few
alternatives. For those veterans who are employed and have secondary
insurance it is possible to find those services in the private sector.
For veterans who are on the verge of homelessness that do not have the
access or the ability to seek out these services, they will most likely
give up, leaving their mental illness untreated and will also leave
them on the street.
Just recently Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs
announced that he was going to reduce the amount of HUD/VASH funds and
redistribute these funds to local VA Medical Centers and let leadership
determine how the funds are best spent on their individual homelessness
programs. The problem is, this program is no longer a metric for VAMC
leadership. There will be no oversite as to how these funds are spent
and what they are spent on.
In response to the spotlight on homeless veterans, more
specifically their disability claims, VA now expedites any claim filed
by a homeless veteran. Initially a metric was implemented that required
all claims to be completed within 90 days for homeless veterans.
Unfortunately this has not been entirely successful since it takes
longer to adjudicate a homeless claim than it does a claim that has not
been expedited. As of January 5, 2018, the average amount of time to
adjudicate a non-homeless expedited claim is 96 days; comparatively,
the average time to adjudicate an expedited claim is 111 days. Not
surprisingly, this is no longer a metric either; consequently, the
staff and resources are no longer available to make this process
successful.
PVA certainly applauds VA's dedication to end homelessness and for
the progress they have made; more progress needs to be made regarding
the barrier to access to VA programs and services. There is a lack of
outreach and resources for those who are most in need. Unfortunately,
with the lack of resources and oversite for these programs which
disappeared after 2015, the chance of any program being successful is
minimal. VA has made strides but more work needs to be done for the
program to be called a success. PVA offers the following
recommendations to ensure homelessness programs are effective.
First, there must be oversight. Without homelessness as a priority
there is no longer any emphasis on ensuring the effectiveness of these
programs. There should be a metric for Homelessness programs. If HUD/
VASH funds are going to be redistributed to VA Medical Centers those
directors must be held accountable for how those funds are utilized. It
should not be left to the respective medical center director's
discretion as to how those funds are spent.
Second, the HUD/VASH program must receive continued funding. In
2015 leaders in Chattanooga, Tennessee joined the national movement to
end veteran homelessness and were able to return to functional zero by
January 2017. Unfortunately, due to a funding shortfall announced by
HUD in June 2017 issuance of new housing vouchers were halted. For
cities like Chattanooga to continue on their movement to end veteran
homelessness they must receive the necessary funding to do so.
Third, the lack of resources to provide adequate mental health care
within VA medical centers must be addressed. If VA is unable to provide
the resources needed for veterans to receive adequate care within their
respective VAMC then the choice program must provide the stop gap so
any veteran no matter where they reside is able to receive mental
health care.
PVA is announcing their support of H.R. 4099 the ``Homeless Veteran
Families Act.''
Under current law, a veteran who has dependent children is not
eligible for services under the Grant Per Diem (GDP) program. VA does
not have the authority to reimburse the costs associated with housing
dependent children of homeless veterans. More often than not, providers
will give preference to non-veteran homeless families due to other
federal assistance programs being available to provide reimbursement of
expenses for dependent children. Homeless veterans with children only
account for three percent of all homeless veterans which has not
changed in the past two years. The ``Homeless Veteran Families Act''
would provide the VA with the authority to pay a partial per diem to
GDP providers. For each child the provider would receive per diem at a
50 percent rate for each of the minor dependent(s) accompanying the
veteran.
Chairman Wenstrup and Chairman Arrington, PVA thanks you for the
opportunity to offer our views and concerns on government programs
aimed at ending veterans' homelessness. PVA is ready to work with the
committee to support those efforts to help our veterans who have done
so much for this nation and its people.
THE AMERICAN LEGION
VA, HUD, AND DOL EFFORTS TO REDUCE VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
Chairmen Wenstrup and Arrington, Ranking Members Brownley and
O'Rourke and distinguished Members of the Subcommittees, on behalf of
National Commander Denise H. Rohan and the 2 million members of The
American Legion, we thank you and your colleagues for the work you do
in support of our servicemembers and veterans as well as their
families. The American Legion is our nation's largest patriotic and
service organization for veterans, serving every man and woman who has
worn the uniform for this country.
We thank you especially for holding this hearing to assess the
various programs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), and Department of Labor (DOL) use to provide
homeless and at-risk veterans with housing, health care, supportive
services, and job training, search, and placement assistance.
BACKGROUND
Generally, the causes of homelessness can be grouped into three
categories: economic hardships, health issues, and lack of affordable
housing. Although these issues affect all homeless individuals,
veterans face additional challenges in overcoming these obstacles,
including: prolonged separation from traditional support systems such
as family and close friends; highly stressful training and occupational
demands, which can affect personality, self-esteem and the ability to
communicate upon discharge; and non-transferability of some military
occupational specialties into the civilian workplace. Research
indicates that those who served in the late Vietnam and post-Vietnam
eras are at greatest risk of becoming homeless, but that veterans from
more recent wars and conflicts are also affected. \1\ Veterans
returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq often face invisible
wounds of war, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic
stress disorder, both of which correlate with homelessness.
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\1\ https://endhomelessness.org/ homelessness-in-america/ who-
experiences-homelessness/ veterans/
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VA and HUD reported a little over 40,000 homeless veterans on a
single night in January 2017 (2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to
Congress). \2\ VA has taken decisive action toward its goal of ending
homelessness among our nation's veterans. To achieve this goal, VA has
developed a plan to assist every homeless veteran willing to accept
services retain or acquire: safe housing; needed treatment services;
opportunities to retain or return to employment; and benefits
assistance. Also, VA has implemented a prevention initiative - the
Supportive Services for Veterans and Families (SSVF), which is VA's
primary prevention program designed to help veterans and their families
rapidly exit homelessness, or avoid entering homelessness.
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\2\ https://www.hud.gov/ press/press--releases --media--advisories
/2017/HUDNo--17-109
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Since 2014, more than 880 mayors, governors, and other state and
local officials have answered the call of the Mayors Challenge to End
Veteran Homelessness, pledging to do all they can to ensure their
communities succeed. And it's working. A growing list of 57
communities, including the entire states of Connecticut, Delaware, and
Virginia, have proven that ending veteran homelessness is possible and
sustainable. \3\ As documented through federal criteria and benchmarks,
urban, suburban, and rural communities across 26 different states have
proven that they can drive down the number of veterans experiencing
homelessness to as close to zero as possible, while also building and
sustaining systems that can effectively and efficiently address
veterans' housing crises in the future. \4\
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\3\ https://www.usich.gov /goals/veterans
\4\ Ibid.
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The national data expresses the same picture of remarkable
progress. Thanks to unwavering commitment and partnership at the
federal, state and local levels, stakeholders and advocates have seen
veteran homelessness reduced by 45 percent in this country between 2009
and 2017. \5\ Progress has been driven by urgent action at all levels
of government and across all sectors. Federal agencies have engaged in
unprecedented coordination and shared responsibility. Congress has
expanded investments into federal programs, such as the HUD-VA
Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program and the Supportive Services for
Veteran Families (SSVF) program, which provide a range of housing and
service interventions. State and local entities and the philanthropic
community have aligned investments with federal resources. Communities
have formed stronger relationships to deploy those resources through
best practices, including coordinated entry and Housing First
approaches. Also, governors, mayors, and other public officials have
mobilized their communities in support of a clear and ambitious goal to
prevent and end veteran homelessness.
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\5\ https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ blog/2016/11/14/
together-we-can-end- veteran-homelessness
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Another critical federal program in the fight to eliminate veteran
homelessness is the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP)
within the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training
Services (DOL-VETS). HVRP is the most effective program available to
address homeless veterans' financial issues by helping them obtain
gainful employment. HVRP grantees use a case management approach to
assist homeless veterans, and provide critical linkages for a variety
of support services available in their local communities. The program
is employment focused; veterans receive the employment and training
services they need in order to re-enter the labor force. Direct
services include placement in employment, skills training, job
development, career counseling, and resume writing. Support services
such as clothing, provision of or referral to temporary, transitional,
and permanent housing, referral to medical substance abuse treatment,
and transportation assistance are also available.
In 2016, VA awarded $300 million via 275 individual SSVF grants to
non-profit organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The VA's SSVF grantees cover
400 of the 416 Continuums of Care across the country. \6\ Through FY
2015, more than 157,000 homeless and at-risk veterans and their
families were served with these funds. Additionally, in 2015, 55,669
veterans served in the SSVF Program exited to permanent housing
outcomes. Over the course of the program's lifetime, 78 percent of all
participants have exited to permanent housing. \7\
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\6\ HUD's Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote
community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide
funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local
governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while
minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals,
families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect
utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and
families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families
experiencing homelessness.
\7\ http://www.nchv.org/ images/uploads/ NCHV--Policy--Statement--
SSVF--2017.pdf
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Lastly, through FY 2017, HUD has awarded approximately 93,000 HUD-
VASH vouchers. \8\ Nationwide, more than 300 Public Housing Authorities
(PHAs) have participated in the program. Recently, Congress made
permanent a set-aside program to encourage HUD-VASH vouchers to be used
on tribal lands, thereby filling an important gap in our service
delivery system. HUD-VASH, SSVF and HVRP are very vital programs in the
quest to combat and ultimately end veteran homelessness. Data has
proven their quality and effectiveness.
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\8\ http://www.nchv.org/ images/uploads/ NCHV--Policy--Statement--
HUD-VASH--2017c.pdf
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The American Legion urges Congress and the VA to continue to
adequately fund/prioritize these programs that have been game changers
to at-risk and homeless veterans. The American Legion will not rest
until we see continued efforts in getting veterans off the streets and
into affordable and safe housing as well as support services they need
in order to sustain their healthy independent living.
DEFINITION OF HOMELESS PROGRAMS:
1. The HUD-VASH program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)
rental assistance for Veterans experiencing homelessness provided by
HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA. At the
local level, the HUD-VASH program operates as a collaborative effort
between VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) and local Public Housing Agencies
(PHAs). The VAMC identifies Veterans who are eligible for the program
and refers them to the PHA to receive a HUD-VASH voucher. The PHA
provides the rental subsidy, and the VAMC provides case management and
clinical services.
2. The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program,
administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is the only
national, veteran-specific program available to help at-risk men and
women veterans from ever becoming homeless. The program is also the
most suitable resource for homeless veterans who are able to quickly
transition out of homelessness into permanent housing. SSVF grantees
are nonprofit, community-based organizations that provide very low-
income veterans and their families with services in the following
areas: health, legal, child care, transportation, fiduciary and payee,
daily living, obtaining benefits, and housing counseling. The program
also allows for time-limited payments to third parties - e.g.
landlords, utility companies, moving companies, and licensed child-care
providers - to ensure housing stability for veteran families. SSVF
funds are leveraged with local Continuums of Care and other community
partners at no extra cost to the federal government.
3. Administered by DOL-VETS for over two decades, HVRP served
approximately 17,000 veterans in 2016, with a national placement rate
into employment of 68.4 percent. These men and women find employment at
an average cost to the program of $2,007 per placement. Both the
placement rate and the cost per placement represent improvements over
the last several years. Please note - HVRP is the only nationwide
program focused on assisting homeless veterans to reintegrate into the
workforce. This program is a highly successful grant program that needs
to be fully funded at $50 million. Currently, HVRP is funded at $45
million.
HOMELESS DATA (2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report [AHAR] to
Congress):
40,056 veterans are experiencing homelessness in the U.S.
Three in five homeless veterans (62% or 24,690 veterans)
were staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs,
while two in five (38% or 15,366 veterans) were found in places not
suitable for human habitation
Almost all veterans were experiencing homelessness in
households without children (98% or 39,101 veterans). About two percent
(955) were veterans who were homeless as part of a family
The number of homeless veterans increased by 585 people
between 2016 and 2017. This increase was driven entirely by an 18
percent increase in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness in
unsheltered places (2,299 more veterans). Partly offsetting the
increase in unsheltered veterans, the number of sheltered veterans
decreased by 1,714 people (or 7%).
Increases among veterans experiencing homelessness were
due entirely to increases among veterans in households without
children. The number of veterans in families declined overall (by 16%),
among sheltered veterans (by 11%) and unsheltered veterans (by 29%).
Since 2009, veteran homelessness has dropped
considerably, with 45 percent (or 33,311) fewer veterans experiencing
homelessness in 2017 than in 2009.
Just under 30 percent of all veterans experiencing
homelessness were in California (29% or 11,472 veterans).
In three states, more than half of all veterans
experiencing homelessness were unsheltered. Those states were:
California (67%), Hawaii (62%), and Oregon (53%).
More than 1.4 million American veterans live in poverty
and are more vulnerable to becoming homeless than their civilian
counterparts. VA research shows that one in 10 veterans living in
poverty is likely to experience homelessness.
PREVENTION: The American Legion assists veterans and their families
with:
Disability claims and health care benefits
Interview & Resume Workshops
Branding & Networking Sessions
Job Fairs
Small Business Development Workshops
Credentialing Roundtables and Summits
Advocacy at Local, State and National Levels
EXAMPLE OF LEGION'S ASSISTANCE
During The American Legion's 2017 Washington Conference, we went on
a site visit and received a briefing from U.S.VETS about their programs
and services. U.S.VETS is the nation's largest nonprofit provider of
comprehensive services to at-risk and homeless veterans. In addition,
we had conversations with several veterans about the program and how
helpful it has been in assisting them with becoming more independent
and hopeful for the future. The American Legion's Operation Comfort
Warriors Program donated $4,800 worth of comfort items and necessities
to the U.S.VETS facility during the tour. The in-kind donation was well
received by U.S.VETS.
CONCLUSION
Due to our work with homeless veterans and their families, The
American Legion understands that homeless veterans need a sustained,
coordinated effort that provides secure housing and nutritious meals;
essential physical health care, substance abuse aftercare and mental
health counseling; as well as personal development and empowerment.
Veterans also need job assessment, training and placement assistance.
The American Legion believes all programs to assist homeless veterans
must focus on helping veterans reach their highest level of self-
management.
The American Legion will continue to place special priority on the
issue of veteran homelessness, and we call on Congress and the VA to do
the same. With veterans making up approximately 10 percent of our
nation's total adult homeless population, there is plenty of reason to
give the cause special attention. \9\ Along with various community
partners, The American Legion remains committed to seeing VA's goal of
ending veteran homelessness come to fruition. Our goal is to ensure
that every community across America has programs and services in place
to get homeless veterans in the housing (along with necessary health
care/treatment) while connecting those at-risk veterans with the local
services and resources they need.
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\9\ https:// www.legion.org/ homelessveterans/taskforce
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The American Legion applauds Congress for its substantial funding
for homeless programs, while giving major thanks to VA, HUD, and DOL,
for its implementation of these programs that have literally saved the
lives of thousands of veterans. We strongly believe that with the path
VA has taken in eliminating veteran homelessness, and the proper
utilization of the resources at the state level and in local
communities, we can continue to make tremendous progress.
The American Legion thanks the subcommittees for holding this
important hearing and for the opportunity to explain the views of the 2
million veteran members of this organization. For additional
information regarding this testimony, please contact Mr. Jeff Steele,
Assistant Director of The American Legion's Legislative Division at
(202) 861-2700 or [email protected].
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES (VFW)
Statement of Kayda Keleher, Associate Director
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE WITH RESPECT TO
``ADDRESSING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS: CURRENT POSITION; FUTURE
COURSE''
Chairmen Arrington and Wenstrup, Ranking Members Brownley and
O'Rourke, members of the Subcommittees, on behalf of the women and men
of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) and its
Auxiliary, thank you for the opportunity to provide our remarks on the
oversight for efforts of the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA),
Labor (DOL) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce veteran
homelessness, as well as VA's decision to realign specific purpose
funding for homeless veterans' programs.
In recent years, these three agencies have made significant
improvement toward ending veteran homelessness. However, much work
remains.
HOMELESS VETERAN POPULATION
A homeless person is federally defined under the McKinney-Vento Act
as an individual or family lacking fixed, regular and adequate
nighttime residence. Thanks to efforts by this committee, the
definition is also expanded to include those fleeing domestic violence
and other dangerous or life-threatening conditions.
Immunity to homelessness does not exist for any subset of the
veteran population. Homelessness does not discriminate against gender
or race, though it is worth noting that women veterans are an
exceptionally vulnerable portion of this population. Women veterans are
at an increased risk of homelessness (2.4 percent), when compared to
their male veteran counterparts (1.4 percent). This is in part due to
their increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), loss of
employment, dissolution of marriages, and feelings of having a lack of
gender-specific support. These increased risks may all be amplified if
the veteran does not self-identify as a veteran--meaning they may be
less likely to be offered or seek veterans benefits. It is also
important to note that 21 percent of homeless women veterans have
dependent children, which often times may add to the anxiety and
importance of finding permanent housing. In the VFW's survey of women
veterans, 46 percent of women veterans who were homeless or at risk of
becoming homeless were currently living in another person's home, of
that 46 percent, 71 percent have children.
PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING NEEDS
Since 2009, the rate of veteran homelessness has been nearly sliced
in half. With an overall decrease of nearly 50 percent of this
population, and three states and 57 communities having virtually ended
veteran homelessness within their borders, efforts between VA, DOL, and
HUD have clearly been successful. However this should not create
complacency, as major metropolitan areas saw slight increases in their
homeless veteran populations between 2016 and 2017.
This impressive rate of progress over recent years is in part due
to VA using various evidence-based practices such as Housing First,
Getting to Outcomes and the Maintaining Independence and Sobriety
Through Systems Integration, Outreach and Networking: Veterans Edition.
By implementing these programs with case management teams serving
homeless veterans VA has been able to target veterans who struggle with
comorbidities that adds to their risk of homelessness, while helping
them obtain a stable roof over their heads. These practices include,
but are not limited to, programs such as Department of Housing and
Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers, Homeless
Providers Grant and Per Diem Program (GDP) and Supportive Services for
Veteran Families (SSVF).
The HUD-VASH program is a collaborative program between HUD and VA
which emphasizes the ``Housing First'' model of care. In this program,
homeless veterans receive a housing choice rental voucher from HUD,
which is paired with VA case management and supportive services to
sustain housing stability and recovery from physical and mental health
programs that may contribute to or result from homelessness.
Approximately half of the veterans who have used this program have
accomplished their goals or no longer require services. In 2016, HUD-
VASH housed 72,481 veterans.
However, veterans fortunate enough to obtain HUD-VASH vouchers also
face difficulties. The VFW's service officers have reported in various
cities that their homeless veterans sometimes prefer sleeping under a
bridge rather than living in the unsafe neighborhoods eligible through
their vouchers. With a high percentage of homeless veterans suffering
from poor mental health, the VFW does not believe they should be forced
to struggle with their PTSD in some of the most unsafe neighborhoods in
the country. Nor should survivors of sexual trauma be forced to choose
between homelessness and a neighborhood where their homes have been
broken into and they are harassed on the streets. The VFW urges
Congress, VA and HUD to work together with local VA's to find solutions
best for those cities to ensure HUD-VASH vouchers put veterans in safe
and secure housing.
Veteran families transitioning to permanent housing with low income
may utilize SSVF. This program was designed to rapidly rehouse homeless
veteran families and prevent homelessness for those at imminent risk.
In 2016, SSVF assisted nearly 150,000 individuals, all of whom are
veterans or their families.
Under the GPD program, grants are awarded by VA to community-based
agencies to create transitional housing programs and offer per diem
payments. This is intended to promote the development and provision of
supportive housing and supportive services with the goal of helping
homeless veterans achieve residential stability, increase their skill
levels and/or income and obtain greater self-determination. In 2016,
more than 16,500 veterans exited these programs for permanent housing.
It is worth noting that without the case management support that comes
with HUD-VASH, veterans using the GPD program will most likely struggle
to maintain a level of stability and housing.
Aside from Housing First programs, VA also offers a variety of
health care services specific to the needs of homeless veterans. This
ranges from the Homeless Veterans Dental Program to Homeless Patient
Aligned Care Teams. This is absolutely crucial to the holistic needs to
overcome homelessness.
To further address the holistic needs of overcoming homelessness,
VA is partnered with DOL for employment training and searching. The
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) provides veterans with
case management to assist in training, searching and placement. This
program is the only DOL program wholly dedicated to providing homeless
assistance to homeless veterans. It is critical in offering assistance
to homeless veterans as they become more stable and helps prepare them
to reenter the workforce in a role of meaningful, long-lasting
employment.
Through surveys, the VFW is aware homeless veterans are
significantly more likely to be dissatisfied with VA employment
benefits and the Transition Assistant Program. Congress and VA
recognized certain veterans face considerable barriers to employment
and need more inclusive case management and support services. To
address this issue, Congress created the Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment (VR&E) program. VR&E also provides other support, such as
counseling and assistance finding meaningful employment. The VFW views
VR&E as a cornerstone of VA services. That is why we urge Congress to
expand VR&E eligibility requirements by authorizing VA to classify
homelessness as a qualifying barrier to employment, without regard to
service-connection or when a veteran was discharged from military
service.
HOLISTIC CARE NECESSARY TO IMPROVE
Treating and eliminating homelessness must be done in a holistic
manner. This involves taking a deep look and understanding at the
homeless individual's status of income and employment --whether that
employment is meaningful or not, if they suffer from mental illness,
substance abuse disorders, disabilities or a lack of basic independent
life skills. For veterans, these individual symptoms of homelessness
are often magnified when trying to transition from military to civilian
life. They may have unsuccessful attempts at reintegrating into their
new life and community post-military service. Supportive services such
as legal assistance or child care help ensure homeless veterans are
able to successfully transition back to civilian life. The VFW believes
it is absolutely imperative for Congress, VA, DOL and HUD to
systematically address the holistic economic, psychological,
sociological and overall health care needs of veterans asking for
assistance in overcoming homelessness.
One particular way this can be done is by meeting the need of child
care assistance for veterans seeking employment training through VA and
DOL programs. Through VFW's survey of women veterans, we found that one
of the top barriers to overcoming homelessness for this population was
access to child care. If a veteran cannot afford rent, then it is not
feasible to assume they can afford the cost of child care. This is why
the VFW urges Congress to pass legislation which would allow for cost-
free access to such services for veterans below state poverty threshold
limits. Cost-free access to child care for this population would also
serve as one of the few means for VA and DOL to prevent homelessness.
Many benefits require veterans to be on the streets before they are
deemed eligible for benefits.
There are currently four pilot sites offering free child care
within VA, which are not limited to low-income veterans, but have been
vital tools in ensuring veterans are able to attend their scheduled
appointments or complete treatment regimens without the child care
pilot program. This important program must be made permanent and
expanded to include homeless veterans and those at risk of becoming
homeless.
The VFW also encourages Congress to work with VA to provide more
separate living arrangements for veterans with children and veterans
who have survived sexual trauma. Congress and VA must work together to
better understand that individuals face homelessness for different
reasons, and their needs to overcome homelessness are equally unique.
FUNDING
While the reduction in veteran homelessness has been impressive,
and the holistic partnerships and approaches taken by VA, HUD and DOL
are absolutely critical to that success, such success could be
diminished if funding fails to keep pace with demand. Congress must not
force the government to manage by the need of budget for this
population, but by the need of demand.
The National Coalition on Homeless Veterans (NCHV) found that flat
funding for VA's pillar programs in fiscal year 2018 will not meet the
necessary demand to continue reducing the homeless veteran population.
Of particular concern for the VFW and NCHV are HVRP, HUD-VASH and SSVF.
The HUD-VASH program alone is credited as being the most responsible
for the nearly 50 percent decrease in the homeless veteran population
as this program has helped house nearly half a million veterans and
their families.
Specifically, the VFW has great concerns with VA's decision to
realign specific-purpose funds allocated for homeless programs as a
means to provide VA health care facility directors with more individual
control over their location's general funding needs. In theory, this
could be a successful idea. But this theory will undoubtingly be a
failure without the transparency and desire to work with Veteran
Service Organizations (VSOs) and Congress, and that cost should most
certainly not come at the expense of homeless veterans.
After receiving negative feedback from VSOs, and a letter from the
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans
Affairs and Related Agencies, VA chose to put a temporary halt on this
initiative. We ask that this committee join us in closely monitoring
VA's attempts to handicap its successful homeless veterans programs.
Taking away the guaranteed specific-purpose funding for homeless
veteran programs, such as the massive cut initially suggested by VA to
HUD-VASH, would result in a guaranteed failure of the program. The
specific funding for HUD-VASH is crucial to the ability of case
managers within VA to properly perform their jobs and assist homeless
veterans in all the ways they are intended to help. These case managers
are like life coaches for homeless veterans getting their feet back on
the ground. This program's case management is the embodiment of the
holistic approach and answer to successfully overcoming homelessness.
Since VA has reconsidered and postponed the timeline to readjust
this funding, the VFW has eagerly awaited the opportunity to have a
transparent and open conversation with VA about the intent and how to
responsibly move forward. Yet just because the decision was put on hold
for now does not mean there were no repercussions. The VFW's Department
of California's Homeless Service Providers have found that VA's
attempts to reallocate HUD-VASH funding has negatively impacted the
program.
The two primary concerns they have found thus far include
employment rates of HUD-VASH case managers as well as individual state-
funded programs for homeless veterans. In communities across
California, such as Kerr County, VA has not been able to hire enough
HUD-VASH case managers even with current funding. This results in case
managers taking on an average of 50 homeless veterans instead of VA's
suggestion of 25 homeless veterans per case manager. While managing
twice as many veterans as suggested, and with the travel requirements
of case management, locations such as these are not able to utilize all
the vouchers they receive. With a massive cut in funding, there is a
major fear that employment rates for case managers will only get worse.
It has also been rumored that voucher distribution will be halted in
some communities, out of fear that they will run out.
Also, various states who have implemented their own programs to
assist in combating veteran homelessness that rely on HUD-VASH funding.
For example, California's Proposition 41, Veterans Housing and Homeless
Prevention Bond, is heavily dependent on VA's Supportive Housing as a
subsidy for the bonds used to provide for homeless veterans and their
families. This serves as an example of how cutting HUD-VASH funding
could have even more worrisome unintended consequences that cut deeper
than originally thought.
VETERANS VILLAGE OF SAN DIEGO (VVSD)
Congressional Testimony Written Statement
From: Kimberly M. Mitchell, President and CEO Veterans Village of
San Diego
Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD) is a nationally recognized
non-profit that has served veterans since 1981. We are the primary San
Diego non-profit in providing housing and services for homeless
veterans and supportive services to veterans and their families. For
over 3 decades, VVSD has focused on housing and serving veterans in
need, especially veterans who struggle with homelessness, addiction,
mental health issues, war trauma, and long-term unemployment.
VVSD operates over 500 beds for homeless veterans and their
families throughout San Diego County. In addition, we currently operate
hundreds of emergency and transitional beds for homeless veterans.
Later this year, we will open a brand new permanent supportive housing
apartment complex with 54 units of 1, 2, and 3 bedroom apartments where
low income, homeless veterans and their families will have a place to
live with access to the comprehensive programs and resources they need.
In our residential treatment programs, VVSD assists veterans who
have substance use and mental health issues, which includes men and
women of all generations from Vietnam through the current conflicts.
Working with alcohol and drug case managers and mental health
professionals, our clients have the opportunity to rebuild their lives,
repair relationships and return to the community as productive
citizens.
HOW VVSD VIEWS OUR PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE VA, HUD & DOL
With excellent financial and moral support from DOL, VA, and HUD,
VVSD programs have turned around and even saved the lives of thousands
of homeless veterans. In 2017 VVSD's Veteran Employment Programs funded
by DOL/HVRP, the California Employment Development Department, Walmart,
and USAA placed over 300 homeless veterans into a variety of full-time
meaningful employment positions with an average starting wage exceeding
$14 per hour. Another example of VVSD's success is that our VA Rapid
Re-housing program. Known as the VA Supportive Services to Veterans
Families (SSVF) Program, Rapid Rehousing has placed and served over
1544 veterans (250 households with children) since 2013, and has
prevented homelessness to over 135 households with children. Our SSVF
Program not only placed these veterans into permanent supportive
housing but also assisted them secure income from a job or benefits
programs. We continue to work with many of these veterans on the issues
most important to them ranging from family budgeting, to trauma
assistance, to securing a job or obtaining Veterans' Benefits. Without
these excellent programs, hundreds, perhaps thousands, more homeless
veterans would live on the streets of San Diego, in their vehicles,
under bridges, or in canyons.
As valuable as these federal programs are to San Diego's homeless
veterans and to VVSD, San Diego continues to have major homeless
challenges. Even though San Diego County is the 17th largest region in
the U.S., we have the third highest number of homeless veterans; over
2,000 in the course of a year. Veterans are not the only people who are
homeless in San Diego, but last January, the annual count discovered
over 9000 homeless people in San Diego County, of which over 5,600 are
unsheltered homeless. Some of the reasons why our region has a high
population of homeless people and homeless veterans include the
following:
1) San Diego has an enormous shortage of affordable housing. As a
result, many landlords are reluctant to accept veterans and other low
income people subsidized by SSVF, HUD-VASH, Section 8 and similar
programs. Our public housing has a waiting list of many years. Locally,
the City of San Diego pays double security deposits to landlords to
accept rapid re-housing veterans. We believe this is a great idea that
could be followed by the federal government.
2) Many federal housing programs minimize the scourge of drug use
and how much it directly contributes to homelessness and deaths in San
Diego and across the country. San Diego continues to be the
methamphetamine capital of America. In 2016, 377 San Diego deaths were
linked to Methamphetamine, 66 more than the prior year. Last year 47%
of all meth seizures on the U.S. border were in San Diego County
according to the DEA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 56% of
adults booked into county jails tested positive for the drug last year
compared to 49% in 2015.
VVSD recognizes that there are many homeless veterans who do not
have substance use or mental health problems. The ``Housing First''
model, which has assisted in placing many of our clients into much
needed permanent supportive housing, may overlook the direct connection
between homelessness, drug use, war trauma or mental health issues.
VVSD believes that the ``Housing First'' model is a great solution for
some, but not the only solution for all of our homeless veterans.
VVSD's experience and third party data indicate to us that over 50% of
all homeless veterans struggle with substance use. Similarly, a
comprehensive Army study of nearly 500,000 soldiers and veterans from
the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars concluded that repeated deployments and
the effects of combat were the top reasons why 47% of these combat
veterans suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS). At VVSD's
residential treatment center for homeless veterans, our Mental Health
Clinicians work with over 2/3 of these homeless veterans who struggle
with both substance use disorder and PTS or other traumatic conditions.
These challenges have multiple causes but are often based on a
combination of living on the street, prior physical, sexual or
emotional abuse in the family or the military, and the effects of
military combat. In our view, it's critically important for government
programs to be allowed and continue to fund these underlying causes of
veteran homelessness.
VVSD believes the HUD-VASH Program is a valuable service for many
homeless veterans. However, the VA Case Management ratio is often too
high with 35-40 veterans for each VA Social Worker. Since these
veterans usually live in different areas of a sprawling San Diego
region, we think a better and more effective case management ratio for
VASH would be 1:20.
Finally, San Diego needs more homeless prevention services. If the
VA, DOL, and HUD were to fund outpatient veteran service clinics that
prevent homelessness, it would be a wonderful use of government funds
and would be far less costly than treating veterans after they become
homeless or end up in prison. These veteran service centers ideally
would have a variety of services including mental health and substance
use treatment, providing individual, group and family therapy, and
recovery support groups, similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step
model. These centers would also provide job search assistance and a
social support system where veterans have the opportunity to socialize
and support each other as they face the challenges of reintegrating
into the civilian world, post-military. Veterans have a special
connection to other veterans and once discharged from the service, they
strive to reestablish that connection, and these veteran service
centers would be a great resource for them.
Respectfully,
Kimberly M. Mitchell
President & CEO
VETS ADVOCACY
January 18, 2018
Chairman Phil Roe, M.D.
House Committee on Veterans Affairs
335 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Ranking Member Tim Walz
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
333 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Re: HVAC ``Addressing Veteran Homelessness: Current Position;
Future Course'' Statement for the Record
Dear Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz,
We write to thank you for your leadership in addressing the veteran
homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. Vets Advocacy is a nonprofit formed
out of the landmark settlement of the class action brought on behalf of
homeless and disabled veterans, Valentini v. Shinseki, to partner with
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to end veteran
homelessness. We represent the interests of our former clients in that
lawsuit, homeless and disabled veterans in Los Angeles. The settlement
agreement that created us not only settled the litigation, but also
created a long-term partnership between us, as representatives of the
Valentini plaintiff class, and the VA. The single biggest project at
the heart of our partnership with the VA is the revitalization and
reactivation of the 388-acre West LA VA campus. Together with the VA,
we helped deliver a Draft Master Plan that called for the development
of 1,200 supportive housing units for homeless veterans, including all
the essential life-enhancing services to support the future residents
on the campus. In January 2016, the Secretary of the VA took a historic
step by adopting the Draft Master Plan as official policy for the
campus. Following VA's adoption of the Draft Master Plan, Congress
proudly fulfilled its obligation, without any opposition, to LA's
homeless veterans by enacting the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016.
That law authorized the implementation of the Draft Master Plan and
expressly gave the Secretary broad authority to develop homeless
veteran housing on the 388-acre West LA VA campus.
The veteran homelessness crisis in Los Angeles has substantially
deteriorated. According to the most recent homeless count, there were
over 40,000 veterans experiencing homelessness nationwide in 2017, a
1.5% increase from 2016. Los Angeles County accounted for much of the
increase, with the number of veterans experiencing homelessness rising
57% from 3,071 in 2016 to 4,828 in 2017. This was even sharper than the
overall increase in homelessness in the county, which saw a 23% rise to
a new high of 57,794 in 2017. Veterans experiencing homelessness in Los
Angeles County were also especially vulnerable as the majority were
unsheltered; in 2017, 73% of veterans were unsheltered, up from 53% of
veterans being unsheltered the prior year. If veterans experiencing
homelessness in Los Angeles and Seattle were excluded from national
figures, veteran homelessness would have declined by 5% in 2017; as
such, addressing veteran homelessness in these regions should continue
to be a priority.
The role of the West LA VA campus in halting veteran homelessness
in Los Angeles will be hugely significant. The Draft Master Plan's
1,200 supportive housing units will add significant and critical supply
to LA's housing market for homeless veterans, which has been plagued by
unprecedented scarcity.
A key element of the Draft Master Plan is the provision of
supportive services to ensure homeless veterans stay housed and receive
the support they need to live independently and with purpose and to
have meaningful social connections to community. Much of that funding
will come from the special purpose funding for the HUD-VASH program,
which a memorandum dated September 22,2017 put at dire risk. Currently,
given the disproportionate number of homeless veterans in Los Angeles,
the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System receives a substantial
amount of specially-allocated HUD-VASH funding.
Last year, the amount of that funding going to Los Angeles was
roughly $90 million. It funded the Welcome Center on the West LA VA
campus, as well as supportive services, including outreach workers,
peer-to-peer support, and case management, for up to 6,000 homeless
veterans living in community-based supportive housing. Abandoning the
agency's long-standing policy of special funding for homeless veterans,
all these services that are essential to helping those who fought for
this country, including the roughly 60 emergency beds in the Welcome
Center, are in serious jeopardy. Given the undisputed need for those
services in Los Angeles, we unequivocally oppose the directive set
forth in that memorandum.
While it is our understanding that the VA has subsequently modified
the position articulated in the September 22 memorandum, we remain
extremely concerned about the underlying administrative approach
embodied in that document. Any compromise or diminution in the
itemization of funds for these critical support services deprives
veterans of the wide of services they need and deserve. It would be our
hope that should the VA return to policies as outlined in that
memorandum, that Congress would take appropriate and immediate action
to repeal such efforts.
We are grateful for your leadership and hope you can continue to
ensure our homeless veterans have the resources and policies they need
to have affordable, decent, and safe housing. In addition, I am happy
to make myself available to you or committee staff for any questions or
clarification regarding Vets Advocacy's statement for the record.
Sincerely,
Jesse Creed
Executive Director
Vets Advocacy
10250 Constellation Blvd, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90067
424-348-0086
Questions For The Record
Question from Representative Beto O'Rourke:
During the hearing, HUD stated that it had started a pilot program that
allows a certain number of veterans with other than honorable
discharges to access the HUD-VASH program. Please provide a
detailed description of this pilot program, including the number of
veterans currently participating in the pilot program, the number
of total veterans expected to participate over the course of the
pilot program, the start and end dates of the pilot program, the
cost of the pilot program, and the metrics that will be used to
measure the results of this pilot program.
HUD Response:
One of the requirements to date for admission to the HUD-Veterans
Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program has been that
participants must be eligible to receive Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) health care benefits. VA's determination of eligibility is
dependent on the participant's discharge status and length of service.
Nationally, HUD and VA estimate that 15 percent of veterans
experiencing homelessness are ineligible for VA health care services;
many of these veterans are chronically homeless individuals and
families with a history of recurring bouts of homelessness.
Additionally, many communities are reporting that while they are able
to serve most eligible veterans who require permanent supportive
housing, there's a large need for resources to serve the veterans who
are not eligible for VA health care.
To address this need, HUD, VA, and the United States Interagency
Council on Homelessness (USICH) have implemented flexibilities under
the existing HUD-VASH program to allow Public Housing Authorities (PHA)
to partner with VA-designated supportive service providers to
administer the HUD-VASH program. These non-VA service providers will be
able to serve the veterans, except those with dishonorable discharge
status on their DD-214, that were determined ineligible for VA health
care benefits.
For a PHA to adopt this flexibility, the local VA facility must
first demonstrate they have sufficient HUD-VASH resources to meet the
needs of the existing VA-eligible chronically homeless veteran
population. If the resources are sufficient, VA may consent to the
partnering PHA's designation of up to 15 percent of its HUD-VASH
vouchers for use by other homeless veterans, with services provided by
the VA-designated supportive service providers. Service providers must
enter into a formal agreement with the PHA that ensures the program
will be administered in accordance with all applicable HUD-VASH
requirements, including prioritizing participants, participant
referrals, case management and services. An interagency review
committee must approve the supportive service provider agreement, and
VA will issue a formal approval letter.
Many supportive service providers who receive funds through HUD's
Continuum of Care (CoC) program currently provide case management
services to this under-served veteran population. Designated service
providers do not receive any additional funding for their participation
in the HUD-VASH program. There is no change to the way PHAs administer
the HUD-VASH program. There is no additional cost to the PHAs or to
HUD. PHAs would continue issuing HUD-VASH vouchers upon referral.
At present, only New York City, New York and Northampton,
Massachusetts have been approved to use this flexibility.
In New York City, the two local VA facilities, the Bronx VA Medical
Center and the VA New York Harbor Health Care System, and the local
public housing authority, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA),
jointly agreed to allocate up to 5 percent of their total HUD-VASH
voucher allocation, or 147 vouchers, to serve this expanded veteran
population. NYCHA will administer the expanded HUD-VASH vouchers in
partnership with the designated service provider, the New York State
Division of Veterans Services.
In Northampton, the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare
System and Northampton Housing Authority agreed to allocate up to 25
HUD-VASH vouchers to serve this population. The designated supportive
service provider is Soldier On, a private nonprofit organization.
In both cases, these numbers were determined after careful review
of CoC homelessness data. HUD does not have leasing data on these
vouchers at this time.
The interagency group has limited the initial number of approved
communities to a maximum of nine. There is no set time frame or set
number of communities that will be considered for future expansion.
Expansion will be done deliberately to ensure newly selected agencies
can learn from the experiences of the previously approved communities.
The metrics used to measure success of the participating PHAs will
be the same as the traditional HUD-VASH vouchers. PHAs will be held
accountable for maintaining high levels of voucher utilization and
issuance of available vouchers in a timely manner.
HUD and its partners at VA and USICH will have more information to
report after communities that have been approved begin implementing
this flexibility.
MIAMI VA HEALTHCARE SYSTEM LETTER
In Reply Refer To: 546/00/122
Teresa Patterson
Broward County Housing Authority
4780 North State Road 7
Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33319
Dear Ms. Patterson:
Thank you for your interest in providing Homeless Services to
Homeless Veterans. The Miami VA Healthcare System is committed to
providing HUD VASH services to eligible Veterans. Tremendous progress
has been made in reducing Veteran Homelessness in Broward and Miami-
Dade counties.
Historically, requests for additional HUD VASH vouchers have been
supported with additional resources to provide case management to the
high-risk chronic homeless individuals. However, due to a shift in the
allocation of resources for HUD VASH VA Central Office, this is no
longer the case. This has resulted in a reorganization and
consolidation of the program. As a result, the Miami VA Healthcare
System is unable to support the request for additional HUD VASH
Vouchers at this time, but the request can be revisited in 6-9 months.
We continue to be committed to providing the highest quality services
to those Veterans who are currently receiving HUD VASH services at this
time.
If you have any further questions, you may contact Beth Wolfsohn,
Homeless Program manager at (305) 575-7000 extension 2511.
Sincerely,
Paul M. Russo, MHSA, FACHE, RD
Medical Center Director
FROM CONGRESSWOMAN ANN KUSTER TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Congresswoman Ann Kuster:
1.New Hampshire-based housing organizations have experienced a
shortage of caseworkers to work VA's supportive housing initiatives
under the HUD-VASH program. These hiring challenges across the nation
have presented significant impediments to achieving ``functional
zero''.
a.Please describe in detail what VA has done and is currently doing
to address these hiring challenges, in New Hampshire and also
nationwide.
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Response: VA currently provides
specific purpose funding to support positions providing care and
services related to the Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA
Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH). There are approximately 3,700 positions
funded nationally to support HUD-VASH, with almost 3,300 (88.6 percent)
of them filled at the end of December 2017. Positions are expected to
be filled within 90 days of receipt of funding. In the event of vacant
positions, it is expected that staff will be detailed into HUD-VASH
positions as needed to ensure that there is continuity of care and that
access to HUD-VASH services is not reduced.
New Hampshire is primarily served by two VA medical centers (VAMC),
Manchester, New Hampshire and White River Junction, Vermont. The
Manchester VAMC has 13 HUD-VASH positions, all of which are currently
filled. The White River Junction VAMC has 11 HUD-VASH positions, 10 of
which are currently filled. The use of HUD-VASH vouchers across the New
Hampshire public housing authorities (PHA) remains high with 92.17
percent of all New Hampshire vouchers leased up.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans with Veterans
Veterans a Voucher and Awaiting a Vouchers
PHA Vouchers Issued Leased Looking for Voucher from Available Percent Housed
Housing the PHA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NH001 138 133 4 2 -1 96.37%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NH901 143 126 7 4 6 88.11%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 281 259 11 6 5 92.17%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b.Please describe in detail what VA has done and is currently doing
to ensure that veteran services are not impacted by these caseworker
shortages while the hiring challenges remain.
VA Response: The Homeless Program Office has a goal of 90 percent
of all funded positions being filled, including HUD-VASH. Currently the
HUD-VASH office reviews positions that have been vacant for more than
90 days, and where warranted will intervene with the Veterans
Integrated Service Network (VISN) and VAMC leadership; VISN Homeless
Coordinators; and VAMC staff to ensure that HUD-VASH positions are
filled and care is not compromised. VAMCs are required to continually
reassess the need for staff and different disciplines to ensure an
optimal mix of staff for the HUD-VASH Veterans on their caseloads.
2.Please state whether VA has considered a systemic and robust
process to hire non-VA caseworkers to manage the HUD-VASH program.
a.If the answer is no, please explain why not.
b.If the answer is yes, please describe in detail the training that
these non-VA caseworkers receive, including training about utilizing VA
resources and any military cultural competency training.
VA Response: Yes, the HUD-VASH program has considered and adopted
processes that promote contracting for non-VA caseworkers. The decision
to contract is done on a local level, either by the VISN or the VAMC.
While using contracted positions can enhance services, the Federal
procurement process can often prove lengthy, with the potential for
additional cost per voucher. Federal procurement laws and regulations
ensure fairness, equal opportunity, capacity, and appropriate fiscal
stewardship. However, valuable time is consumed in the contract
procurement package preparation and the solicitation, evaluation, and
award process. Upon the award of a HUD-VASH services contract, the
vendor must hire the appropriate staff. Each new hire in a contracted
HUD-VASH position must be vetted for clearance and oriented to their
respective HUD-VASH program and facility. VAMCs are encouraged to
contract for HUD-VASH case management services when doing so is
operationally, clinically, and financially beneficial and feasible.
Beginning on June 1, 2011, and in response to the fiscal year (FY)
2011 HUD-VASH voucher allocation, VA issued a memorandum instructing
each VISN to immediately hire staff or begin the process to contract
for HUD-VASH case management services. To assist in the contracting
process, VA attached sample contracting documents to the memorandum,
including: a blanket Statement of Work (SOW), a Quality Assurance
Surveillance Plan, and a Source Selection Evaluation Plan. The HUD-VASH
Program Office updated the SOW and produced a templated Independent
Government Cost Estimate in 2017.
3.Please state whether the September 2017 memorandum signed by
then-Acting Under Secretary of Health Dr. Alaigh is the only VA
communication that proposed funding changes to Special Purpose funds
and HUD-VASH funding.
a.If the answer is no, please provide the Committee with copies of
any other communications from the past 12 months that related to
changes in HUD-VASH funding.
VA Response: No, the September 2017, memorandum signed by then-
Acting Under Secretary of Health, Dr. Alaigh, is not the only VA
communication that proposed funding changes to Specific Purpose funds
and HUD-VASH funding. There were memoranda issued on January 8, and
February 6, 2018, by the Deputy Under Secretary of Health Operations
Management, to clarify that funding was not being repurposed. Both
memoranda are attached for your review: (1) FY18 10N Budget Guidelines
- January 8, 2018 and (2) Memo on HUD-VASH Specific Purpose Funding -
February 6, 2018.
4.U.S. Vet's testimony at the hearing included a letter (enclosed),
dated November 6, 2017, from the Miami VA Healthcare System. This
letter stated that due to a shift in the allocation of resources for
HUD-VASH VA Central Office, the Miami VA Healthcare System needed to
limit the number of veterans it can serve via HUD-VASH. Please state
whether there were similar letters sent by other VA Healthcare Systems
after September 1, 2017.
a. If so, please provide the Committee with copies of these
letters.
b.Please describe actions that VA took, after it made the decision
to not make changes to HUD-VASH funding to ensure letters like the one
from the Miami VA Healthcare System were corrected, including any
actions that VA took to ensure that veterans did not lose housing due
to any confusion regarding funding.
VA Response: To VA's knowledge, the Miami VA Healthcare System was
the only facility that limited the number of Veterans that could be
served with new HUD-VASH vouchers related specifically to funding. All
VAMCs had to write letters of support for PHAs to submit a Registration
of Interest to HUD for the allocation of vouchers that are currently
being prepared for issuance. All VAMCs were provided the opportunity to
indicate a desired number of new HUD-VASH vouchers in the letter of
support that would be preferred; however, that number was not binding.
VA spoke with HUD after the decision was made to not have HUD-VASH
funding removed from specific purpose funding to see if the Miami VAMC
would be able to revise their letter of support. This occurred after
the December 1, 2017, deadline for PHAs to register for HUD-VASH
vouchers with HUD. As a result, HUD was unable to make an exception as
they had already extended the deadline by one month to allow for
clarification around HUD-VASH funding in VA.
LETTER FROM TIM WALZ, RANKING MEMBER TO BEN CARSON, SECRETARY, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
January 31, 2018
The Honorable Ben Carson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20410
Dear Mr. Secretary:
In reference to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on
Health and Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity's hearing titled,
``Addressing Veteran Homelessness: Current Position; Future Course'' on
January 18, 2018, I submit the enclosed questions for the record. I
request that you provide your responses to the questions by the close
of business on February 28, 2018.
In preparing your responses to these questions, please list your
responses consecutively and include the full text of the question you
are responding to in bold font. To facilitate the printing of the
hearing record, please e-mail your response as a Microsoft Word
document to Chris Bennett at [email protected] .gov by the
close of business on February 28, 2018. If you have any questions
please contact him by email or phone at 202-225-9756.
Sincerely,
Tim Walz
Ranking Member
House Veterans' Affairs Committee
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SUBCOMMITTEE on HEALTH
SUBCOMMITTEE on ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY HEARING
``Addressing Veteran Homelessness: Current Position; Future Course''
QUESTIONS
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
From Representative Beto O'Rourke:
1. During the hearing, HUD stated that it had started a pilot
program that allows a certain number of veterans with other than
honorable discharges to access the HUD-VASH program. Please provide a
detailed description of this pilot program, including the number of
veterans currently participating in the pilot program, the number of
total veterans expected to participate over the course of the pilot
program, the start and end dates of the pilot program, the cost of the
pilot program, and the metrics that will be used to measure the results
of this pilot program.
LETTER FROM TIM WALZ, RANKING MEMBER TO HONORABLE DAVID J. SHULKIN,
M.D., U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
January 31, 2018
The Honorable David J. Shulkin M.D.
Secretary
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Dear Mr. Secretary:
In reference to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on
Health and Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity's hearing titled,
``Addressing Veteran Homelessness: Current Position; Future
Course'' on January 18, 2018, I submit the enclosed questions for
the record. I request that you provide your responses to the
questions by the close of business on February 28, 2018.
In preparing your responses to these questions, please list your
responses consecutively and include the full text of the question
you are responding to in bold font. To facilitate the printing of
the hearing record, please e-mail your response as a Microsoft Word
document to Chris Bennett at [email protected] by
the close of business on February 28, 2018. If you have any
questions please contact him by email or phone at 202-225-9756.
Sincerely,
Tim Walz
Ranking Member
House Veterans' Affairs Committee
Enclosures:
Letter from U.S. Vets's Hearing Testimony
QUESTIONS
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
From Representative Ann Kuster:
1. New Hampshire-based housing organizations have experienced a
shortage of caseworkers to work VA's supportive housing initiatives
under the HUD-VASH program. These hiring challenges across the nation
have presented significant impediments to achieving ``functional
zero''.
a. Please describe in detail what VA has done and is currently
doing to address these hiring challenges, in New Hampshire and also
nationwide.
b.Please describe in detail what VA has done and is currently doing
to ensure that veteran services are not impacted by these caseworker
shortages while the hiring challenges remain.
2.Please state whether VA has considered a systematic and robust
process to hire non- VA caseworkers to manage the HUD-VASH program .
a.Ifthe answer is no, please explain why not.
b.Ifthe answer is yes, please describe in detail the training that
these non-VA caseworkers receive, including training about utilizing VA
resources and any military cultural competency training.
3.Please state whether the September 2017 memorandum signed by
then-Acting Under Secretary of Health Dr. Alaigh is the only VA
communication that proposed funding changes to Special Purpose funds
and HUD-VASH funding.
a.Ifthe answer is no, please provide the Committee with copies of
any other communications from the past 12 months that relate to changes
in HUD-VASH funding.
4.U.S. Vets's testimony at the hearing included a letter
(enclosed), dated November 6, 2017, from the Miami VA Healthcare
System. This letter stated that due to a shift in the allocation of
resources for HUD-VASH VA Central Office, the Miami VA Healthcare
System needed to limit the number of veterans it can serve via HUD-
YASH. Please state whether there were similar letters sent by other VA
Healthcare Systems after September 1, 2017.
a.Ifso, please provide the Committee with copies of these letters.
b.Please describe the actions that VA took, after it made the
decision to not make changes to HUD-VASH funding, to ensure that
letters like the one from the Miami VA Healthcare System were
corrected, including any actions that VA took to ensure that veterans
did not lose housing due to any confusion regarding funding.
LETTER FROM MARK TAKANO TO NCHV Q&A
Mr. Takano. Last year--okay, well, the VA proposed moving money
from specific funds to a general purpose fund, and how would that have
impacted the services you provide the veterans and the numbers of
veterans you serve?
NCHV Response:
In the 60 communities, including three states, which have
effectively ended veteran homelessness, HUD-VASH vouchers are well-
known as game changing resources that increase the availability of
stable and affordable housing for chronically homeless veterans who
desperately needed it.
Switching the way these funds are allocated could have resulted in
decreases in funding available for case management at some VAMCs,
meaning fewer case managers available or VAMC Directors moving funds
from other critical VA programs to serve homeless veterans. Case
managers work with veterans on an ongoing basis to prevent crises from
developing where possible. To lower staffing levels would raise client-
to-case manager ratios, which in many cases will in turn mean that
preventative care will suffer. In real terms, this means veterans would
only see case managers when they were in crisis. For many, that would
be far too late.
These case managers are already stretched thin - sometimes caring
for more veterans than clinically indicated. To remove these positions
would be catastrophic to the health, well-being, and housing stability
of the more than 87,000 veterans and their families residing in HUD-
VASH funded housing. Of course, the health, well-being, and safety of
the veterans is the primary concern - but, the veteran homelessness
response system is complex and contains many moving parts, all built
around a properly functioning HUD-VASH program. Decreasing the
effectiveness of this program sends shockwaves through all of it.
For instance, this shift provoked a great deal of uncertainty
across the country. Because of this uncertainty, as HUD and VA were
implementing new procedures for public housing authorities (PHAs) and
VAMCs to request additional new vouchers, several PHAs were unable to
request the number they felt was needed because their local VAMC would
not commit to case managing them. Many of these instances will be very
familiar to some members of the committee and others in Congress. If
additional vouchers are allocated in the upcoming fiscal year, the
process may benefit from modifications to account for interest from
PHAs where local VAMCs may not be as supportive as they could be.
Furthermore, many developers of affordable housing rely on
vouchers, particularly project-based vouchers, as proof of operating
funds in order to obtain funding to develop housing at sufficient
levels of affordability. Uncertainty has a very real impact on the
ability of developers t o convince financial institutions to lend them
the required capital to build these structures. As we erode confidence
in the HUD-VASH system (to include delays in funding as well as the
basic inter-departmental relationship on which the program is built) we
chip away at our ability to create the needed infrastructure to house
veterans. This effect will be felt for years.
Finally, there would be an impact on the programs that operate the
buildings in which veterans who hold project-based vouchers live. With
less case management - perhaps with the crisis-only case management I
discussed earlier - comes less stability. These veterans were
clinically indicated to receive HUD-VASH vouchers because they need the
highest level of care. Without it, they are at greater risk of relapse,
dangerous drug use, suicide, isolation, behavioral issues, and
ultimately homelessness. For those programs that work every day to
operate a building to house formerly homeless veterans, these outcomes
would be disastrous.
NCHV asks for the Committee's commitment to continued oversight of
this issue to ensure veterans using a HUD-VASH voucher are able to
access case management.
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