[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HOUSING OUR HEROES: ADDRESSING THE VETERAN HOMELESSNESS CRISIS
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FIELD HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019
HELD IN OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA
__________
Serial No. 116-29
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
40-887 WASHINGTON : 2021
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
MARK TAKANO, California, Chairman
JULIA BROWNLEY, California DAVID P. ROE, Tenessee, Ranking
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York Member
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania, Vice- GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida
Chairman AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN,
MIKE LEVIN, California American Samoa
MAX ROSE, New York MIKE BOST, Illinois
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire NEAL P. DUNN, Florida
ELAINE G. LURIA, Virginia JACK BERGMAN, Michigan
SUSIE LEE, Nevada JIM BANKS, Indiana
JOE CUNNINGHAM, South Carolina ANDY BARR, Kentucky
GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR., DANIEL MEUSER, Pennsylvania
California STEVE WATKINS, Kansas
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota CHIP ROY, Texas
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, W. GREGORY STEUBE, Florida
Northern Mariana Islands
COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
LAUREN UNDERWOOD, Illinois
ANTHONY BRINDISI, New York
Ray Kelley, Democratic Staff Director
Jon Towers, Republican Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
MIKE LEVIN, California, Chairman
KATHLEEN M. RICE, New York GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida, Ranking
ANTHONY BRINDISI, New York Member
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire JACK BERGMAN, Michigan
ELAINE G. LURIA, Virginia JIM BANKS, Indiana
SUSIE LEE, Nevada ANDY BARR, Kentucky
JOE CUNNINGHAM, South Carolina DANIEL MEUSER, Pennsylvania
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, August 22, 2019
Page
Housing Our Heroes: Addressing The Veteran Homelessness Crisis... 1
OPENING STATEMENTS
Honorable Mike Levin, Chairman................................... 1
Honorable Gus M. Bilirakis, Ranking Member (No Opening Statemnet) 3
Honorable Mark Takano, Chairman, Full Committee on Veterans
Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives......................... 4
Honorable Scott Peters, Member, U.S.House of Representatives,
52nd District (CA)............................................. 6
WITNESSES
Dr. Robert Smith, Director, San Diego VA Health Care System, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs................................. 8
Prepared Statement........................................... 51
Mr. Hunter Kurtz, Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian
Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development...... 10
Prepared Statement........................................... 57
Mr. Nathan Fletcher, Supervisor, County of San Diego, No prepared
statement...................................................... 12
Ms. Ginny Puddefoot, Executive, Office for the California
Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (On behalf of
Alexis Podesta)................................................ 14
Prepared Statement........................................... 61
Mr. Ron Stark, President, San Diego Veteran's Coalition.......... 32
Prepared Statement........................................... 62
Ms. Kimberly Mitchell, President and CEO, Veterans Village of San
Diego.......................................................... 34
Prepared Statement........................................... 63
Mr. Matt Schillingburg, Commander, American Legion Post 146...... 36
Prepared Statement........................................... 64
Mr. Greg Anglea, CEO, Interfaith Community Services.............. 38
Prepared Statement........................................... 66
Ms. Tamera Kohler, CEO, San Diego Regional Task Force on the
Homeless....................................................... 39
Prepared Statement........................................... 69
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
National Coalition For Homeless Vets............................. 72
HOUSING OUR HEROES: ADDRESSING THE VETERAN HOMELESSNESS CRISIS
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Thursday August 22, 2019
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
U. S. House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m.,
Military and Veterans Affairs Resource Center, 2nd Floor
Conference Room, 1701 Mission Ave, Oceanside, CA, Hon. Mike
Levin, [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Levin, Takano, Peters, and
Bilirakis.
OPENING STATEMENT OF MIKE LEVIN, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Levin. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for being here.
I call this hearing to order.
I would like to request unanimous consent that Mr. Peters
join us on the dais for this hearing. Hearing no objection, so
ordered. Thanks for being here.
I want to thank everyone for joining us this morning for
today's field hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs Economic
Opportunity Subcommittee.
It is with great pride that I serve as chair of the
Subcommittee and that I am able to bring Congress to my
constituents, my district in Oceanside, California, today. For
those coming from Washington, thanks for being here.
I think you recognize why I love this district so much. I
hope you get to enjoy the beautiful coastline while you are
here.
Our Subcommittee addresses many challenges for our Nation's
veterans such as housing, homelessness, transitions to civilian
life, higher education, and job training.
Today, our hearing titled ``Housing Our Heroes: Addressing
the Veteran Homelessness Crisis'' will examine how federal,
state, local, and nongovernmental resources are working
together to reduce veteran homelessness. We will also review
how all of these important partners can better coordinate.
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with VA Secretary
Wilkie in my Washington office to discuss our collaboration on
veterans' issues.
He made clear his desire to send more resources to southern
California and, specifically, to the 49th district because, and
I quote the secretary, ``If you can solve veteran homelessness
in southern California, you can solve it anywhere.''
In 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs committed to
ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. There is no
question that we have taken significant steps to get our heroes
the services they need with, roughly, 50,000 fewer veterans
experiencing homelessness than a decade ago.
However, we have much work still to do before we meet our
goal, especially in California, where 28 percent of our
Nation's homeless veterans are located.
There are a number of factors that make California unique:
high cost of living, several military bases close to our urban
centers, and a climate that is less taxing on everyone that the
includes on homeless individuals.
But while these factors contribute to homelessness, we are
also a state and Nation with many resources. That means we have
no excuse to fail those who proudly have served in uniform.
This Congress and my Subcommittee has continued working to
improve the variety of Federal programs that currently exist to
support our homeless veterans. This includes permanent housing,
transitional housing, prevention services, treatment, and
employment programs at the VA, the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, known as HUD, and the Department of Labor.
HUD also offers some additional resources to local or
regional planning organizations, also referred to as continuums
of care.
But, yet, homelessness and specifically veteran
homelessness continues to persist. In addition to the testimony
we will hear today, and we have got some fantastic witnesses,
our Committee is currently reviewing a number of bills to
address veteran homelessness and each of us has authored and
worked together on these bills. It is important to know that
they are being done in a bipartisan way as well.
One of my bills, the Housing for Women Veterans Act, would
ensure a portion of supportive services for veteran families
grants go to organizations that have a focus on women veterans
and their families.
This program provides financial assistance, case
management, and other services to low-income veterans who are
residing in permanent housing or transitioning from
homelessness.
And I support two bills that my colleague, Mr. Peters, has
introduced to improve the HUD-VASH program, which provides
housing vouchers to our homeless veterans.
Beyond these efforts, we are here to learn from you--from
our witnesses, from those in the community, about how we can
better support your work, and I am going to recognize my
colleagues in just a second.
But before I do that, I would like to say thank you to the
staff who are here. Thank you to the staff who came out from
the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Thank you to the staff of our respective offices and thank
you to our wonderful hosts here in North County and at the
county of San Diego for opening your facility.
Can we give all the staff a round of applause?
[Applause.]
Mr. Levin. So with that, I have got three of my friends and
three great members to recognize and I would like to start with
my friend, Gus Bilirakis, who is the Ranking Member on the
Economic Opportunity Subcommittee from Florida. We are working
together on a number of pieces of legislation, and with that,
you have five minutes or as long as you need.
Mr. Bilirakis. I won't take too long.
Mr. Levin. All right.
OPENING STATEMENT OF GUS M. BILIRAKIS, RANKING MEMBER
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
appreciate it. It is great to be here in California and
particularly in this part of the state and I will tell you your
Member of Congress is doing an outstanding job.
I am the Ranking Member of the committee. But I will also
tell you that the Chairman is doing a great job--the Chairman
of the full committee, Chairman Takano.
Representative Peters and I serve on the Energy and
Commerce Committee together and he is a great Member as well.
But as far as the Veterans' Affairs Committee, it has been
working for the most part in a bipartisan fashion and I credit
these two gentleman for doing so.
So we are putting our veterans first and putting aside the
labels as much as possible.
I thank all of you for joining us here today for this field
hearing of this Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the
House on Veterans' Affairs--the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
My name is Gus Bilirakis and not only is it a pleasure to
serve as a congressman for the 12th Congressional District of
Florida, which includes the Tampa Bay area--I think most people
know where that is--but also to serve as the Ranking Member of
this Subcommittee.
Before we begin, I want to say what a pleasure it is to be
here at the North County Coastal Military and Veterans Resource
Center and thank my colleague and friend, of course, Chairman
of the Subcommittee, Congressman Mike Levin, for hosting us
today.
It is great to work with a thoughtful legislator like Mike
Levin on our continued goal to provide economic opportunities
to veterans.
The people of the 49th District are lucky to have him as
one of their own and I will tell you that I believe that our
Committee is a model for the rest of the House because we are
actually getting things done for true American heroes.
Today, we are here to examine and highlight programs and
benefits that help combat veteran homelessness. There has been
significant progress, as the Chairman stated, made nationwide
in reducing homelessness among veterans.
Several municipalities have even eliminated veteran
homelessness altogether. While this is good news, as funding
for homeless veteran programs at VA and the Department of Labor
have reached record levels, we must ensure that we have a true
picture of how this money is being spent.
While I believe it is important to provide veterans with
housing through VA's HUD-VASH housing voucher program, it is
even more critical for the long-term success of these veterans
that they also receive comprehensive wraparound services that
help them find meaningful employment.
Without helping veterans find meaningful employment, we are
only providing homeless veterans temporary housing and not
setting them up for positive long-term outcomes.
The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program administered by
the Department of Labor is designed to provide homeless veteran
providers with grant funds to provide job training programs.
And while HVRP has been determined to be one of the most
successful job training grant programs in the Federal
government, I know there is always room for improvement.
I am grateful to our witnesses for giving us an opportunity
to hear directly from those on the ground and this fight
against veteran's homelessness about what they believe works,
what doesn't work, and how we in Congress can help combat this
problem.
Everyone here shares the common goal to ensure those who
have worn the cloth of our country are never homeless. I also
want to thank the staff, Mr. Chairman, on both sides of the
aisle for doing an outstanding job and thank you for hosting.
This is going to be very productive, this hearing.
Once again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me and
hosting us today and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member.
I now have the great honor to introduce the Chairman of the
House Veterans' Affairs Committee, who is doing a tremendous
job. He is a friend and a leader on veterans' issues and in
Congress generally.
We can debate whether San Diego or Riverside has the best
veterans in the United States. But my friend, Mark Takano, is
truly an exemplary leader in the House.
Chairman Takano, for your opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF MARK TAKANO, FULL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Chairman Levin, and I appreciate how
you and the Ranking member, Mr. Bilirakis, have worked across
the aisle to improve economic opportunities for our Nation's
veterans.
Mr. Bilirakis, I particularly congratulate you on the
recent success on your adaptive housing bill. That was a
victory not just for you but for all of us and we--and it is
just an example of how whether you are a minority Member of the
Committee or the majority we are moving legislation through to
help our veterans and it does have to do with housing as well.
Mr. Bilirakis. With your leadership, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Takano. Thank you. Thank you.
And, of course, to my left is a tremendous member, a
classmate of mine and somebody who has always had veterans at
the core of his values and it is a--you know, I can't tell you
what a pleasure it is to serve with Congressman Peters.
And Congressman Levin, you have hit the ground running and
this is such an important issue--addressing veteran
homelessness.
This field hearing is a testament to both the majority and
majority's desire to come together and examine the negative
trends affecting veterans.
And veteran homelessness is one of the major issues we have
to combat. The national--from the national perspective we have
made tremendous progress. We really have. We have really cut
down numbers of people who are veterans--of people who are
homeless--veterans who are homeless.
But in southern California the challenge remains
persistently stubborn. We do our Nation's servicemembers who
volunteered to fight for our Nation the opportunity to
successfully transition out of the armed services and an
opportunity to thrive in our community.
When I became the chair of the full Veterans' Affairs
Committee, I made decreasing veteran homelessness one of my top
priorities. My work combating veteran homelessness did not
begin in the 116th Congress.
Improving the lives of veterans has been my passion since I
was first elected and, in fact, five years ago when I was the
Ranking Member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, which
is this very Subcommittee, we held a field hearing on veteran
homelessness in Riverside, California.
And since then, the county of Riverside has become the only
county in California to functionally end veteran homelessness,
according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Now, I want to be careful. It doesn't mean that there are
no homeless veterans. It is a statistical concept of functional
zero--achieving a functional zero.
But nevertheless, I don't want to underplay the importance
of this achievement. Although I would like to take full credit
for this feat, it took the combined efforts of Congress, HUD,
the Departments of Veterans Affairs, State, and local
government and veterans service organizations and private
partnerships to functionally end veteran homelessness in
Riverside.
And the good news is it can be done. It will take an all-
hands-on-deck approach to identify all veterans in the
community experiencing homelessness and provide them with
shelter and wraparound services in an expedited manner.
I am heartened to see that the witnesses present today
represent many of the key stakeholders that must come together
to end veteran homelessness in Oceanside and throughout
California throughout San Diego County.
Now, make no mistake, we in California have a long road
ahead of us. Over one-fourth of the Nation's veterans--homeless
veterans reside in California and the state has seen a 17
percent rise in homeless veterans from 2016 to 2018.
So even as the national numbers have gotten better, the
numbers here in California have gotten worse. We understand
that veteran homelessness is a complicated issue and that jobs
and education are part of the solution but not the whole
solution.
We must look at veterans holistically and establish
correlations between mental health, substance abuse, single
parent status, rank, discharge status, as well as other
indicators with homelessness in order to best utilize our
resources.
We know that not all homeless veterans are on the street
and in shelters so we must improve our methodology for
identifying and counting homeless veterans and we must continue
to improve services for homeless veterans with dependents.
We must look to new models for providing HUD-VASH vouchers
to homeless veterans and, potentially, incentivize landlords to
take more vouchers and we must also intervene before veterans
are in crisis.
To do these things we will need the commitment of all those
in the room and I look forward to working with colleagues on
both sides of the aisle and everyone else here today to curtail
veteran homelessness.
Again, Chairman Levin, I appreciate the opportunity to make
a few comments and I look forward to the testimony today.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Chairman, for your great leadership
and I think the Ranking Member said it well. You know, we are
working together and we are getting things done.
I know in our Subcommittee we have gotten a number of bills
through Subcommittee, through full committee, and passed in the
House and a number of them already signed into law. So if
anybody ever thinks that nothing is happening in Washington, if
you only are watching, you know, cable news they don't always
cover this stuff.
But we are getting really important things done and nowhere
is that more evident than our veterans and it is only possible
with the leadership of Chairman Takano.
With that, I would like to introduce my friend,
Representative Peters, for his opening statement. Scott has
been a great mentor.
You know, when you get to Washington, nobody tells you how
you set up your district office and how you actually have a
good operation, and Scott and his team were incredibly gracious
with us to make sure that we had a really great district office
operation.
He is a great leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee
and we are working together on a number of areas that are of
regional importance to greater San Diego, and that certainly
includes veterans where Scott is leading some really important
initiatives.
So with that, I will turn it over to my friend,
Representative Peters.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SCOTT PETERS
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Chairman Levin, and thanks to
Ranking Member Bilirakis for joining us today from Florida,
Chairman Takano making the trip from Riverside. It is great to
have you here.
If you represent the county of San Diego where we have over
235,000 veterans--I think one of the largest communities in the
country--you are going to work on veterans issues.
Last term I was--last Congress I was able to be a Member of
the Veterans' Committee. I am not on the Committee this
Congress but I appreciate your letting me waive in and sit with
you today because this is of critical importance to my
constituents and the entire region.
It is a shame that we have veterans living on the streets
in San Diego. I am proud of the progress we have made
nationally over the last decade.
California is still challenged. But San Diego actually has
seen some progress. And so I want to--I think we ought to
recognize that. We have a long way to go.
But there is a lot of people in here from government
agencies and nonprofits who have been working pretty hard who
deserve some thanks for that.
I worked to end veteran homelessness while in Congress. I
think it is important to note also that homeless veterans are
twice as likely to take their own lives as veterans who are
housed.
Another issue that we have with veteran suicide it is
important--an important aspect of that is with respect to
homelessness.
I have, as was mentioned, worked to support and improve the
HUD VA Supportive Housing, or the VASH voucher program, and
earlier this year we secured commensurate VA case management
funding to make sure that any increase in funding for vouchers
is met with equivalent funding for supportive services.
And recently I have introduced two bills, both of which
have passed this committee. The first allows veterans with
other than honorable discharges to receive these housing
vouchers in support of services from the VA and the other
second bill will direct HUD and VA to look at how best to serve
homeless veterans in high-cost housing markets like we have
throughout California and, specifically, in San Diego.
I won't replay the bipartisanship comments except to say
that I think it is true that veterans--the Veterans' Committee
is the most bipartisan forum in Congress.
I think that is a credit that has to do with the fact that
we know we are all pulling together. We don't have a lot of
enemies in that space.
But I do want to say thank you to the Veterans Service
Organizations. The VSOs provide a tremendous amount of guidance
from the veteran's community itself to help us make sure we get
it right and to call us out on both sides of the aisle when we
are not getting it right. And so we want to thank you for that.
And I just also want to thank the folks from the VA from
Washington and locally for the work that you do. It is not
easy.
Sometimes Congress doesn't make it easy on you. But the
work is very important and thank you for being here and for
what you do.
And with that, I yield the rest of my time.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Representative Peters.
I want to echo the thanks to all of those from the VSOs
that are here. This hearing today doesn't substitute for the
ongoing dialogue that we have with you.
You inform the work that we do in Washington and we
encourage you to continue working with us and to, you know,
work with our district staff.
In our district office we have got a veteran, Andy Ortega,
who is here somewhere. You can raise your hand, Andy.
So if anybody has complaints you can direct--no, I am
kidding.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Levin. But no, we are here--we are here to help, and we
do a ton of veteran's case work out of our Oceanside office. So
very grateful for that work.
We have got a really terrific first panel with some real
leading experts locally and I would like to just very briefly
introduce everybody.
First is Dr. Robert Smith, the director of the San Diego VA
health care system, doing an outstanding job serving our
veterans here locally. I am grateful for the opportunity to
have gotten to see what you do firsthand.
I am grateful for you being here this morning for all you
do for our veteran community.
Assistant Secretary Hunter Kurtz, thanks for coming out
from Washington. You join us from the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development where you oversee the Public and
Indian Housing program. Thanks for being here.
My friend, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, you
are a true leader in our community. I am grateful to work with
you on a whole host of issues.
Thank you also for your service in the Marine Corps and
thank you for everything you have done specifically on the
issue of veteran homelessness in San Diego.
And finally, Ms. Ginny Puddefoot, executive officer of the
California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.
Thank you for being here. Appreciate it very much. Great
panel. Want to get right to it. All of you will have five
minutes. Your full statement will be added to record.
But with that, Dr. Smith, you are now recognized for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF ROBERT SMITH
Dr. Smith. Good morning, Congressman Levin--excuse me,
Chairman Levin, Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and
Congressman Peters.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the topic
of veteran homelessness, the challenges faced by homeless women
veterans, and the risk factors and unique challenges faced by
homeless veterans with respect to nutrition, employment, and
criminal justice.
The VA San Diego San Diego health care system serves
veterans throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties. Our
facilities include the medical center in La Jolla, community
clinics throughout the region, and the Aspire Center--a unique
residential treatment program for PTSD and mild TBI.
In 2018, we provided care for approximately 85,000 veterans
through nearly 1 million outpatient visits including
approximately 110,000 visits conducted at the Oceanside clinic.
As a complexity 1-A health care system, we provide a wide
array of medical, surgical, mental health, and advanced
rehabilitation services.
The January 2019 point in time count reported a total of
8,102 homeless individuals of which 1,068, or 13 percent,
identified as veterans. Of those, 624 were sheltered and 424
were unsheltered.
The total number of homeless veterans in the region
decreased by 18 percent from 2018 and the unsheltered veteran
count decreased by 35 percent, and I would like to compliment
my staff as well as our community partners on their efforts to
make that occur.
Since 2011, the overall number of homeless veterans in the
region has decreased by 35 percent. The same 2019 count
identified 483 homeless individuals in the city of Oceanside.
We estimate that 63 of those are veterans.
VA San Diego currently has 97 staff within the various
homeless programs, including fifty-two and a half who are
assigned specifically to HUD-VASH. We have 1,824 HUD-VASH
vouchers allocated and 1,411 veterans are permanently housed
using those vouchers.
Our staff connect homeless veterans to a wide variety of
services including the HUD-VASH program, grants and per diem
programs, and adjunctive programs such as supportive services
for veteran families, rapid rehousing, and homeless prevention.
The team manages an array of homeless veteran outreach
programs through street and clinic-based services. These
include staff assigned to the Veterans Bridge Shelter, our
justice outreach program, or field work with community
partners.
Identification of homelessness is also embedded in our
primary care and mental health programs where veterans
receiving care are regularly screened for homelessness or risk
factors for homelessness.
VA San Diego enjoys a robust relationship with our
community partners. Our staff serve on the Regional Task Force
on the Homeless and collaborate with coordinated entry system.
Our homeless program director chairs the monthly meetings of
the Regional Veterans Consortium, which includes providers and
community partners seeking to end veteran homelessness.
Our homeless program and suicide prevention staff
collaborate with our community partners to provide training and
to assure that case management staff can address the needs of
veterans in crisis.
They meet regularly to discuss and develop treatment plans
for high-risk veterans. Our homeless veteran's community
employment services program connects veterans to local
employers and assist veterans through individual and group
services to access competitive employment.
The 2019 point in time count also identified 83 homeless
women veterans. Providing service and support to homeless women
veterans is a priority for us. We provide services to women
veterans in the grant and per diem programs including those
located at Interfaith Community Services in Oceanside and
Veterans Villages of San Diego, or VVSD.
The local Veterans Bridge Shelter operated by VVSD provides
dedicated shelter beds to women veterans. VA San Diego staff
have close relationships with the shelter and assist with
immediate referrals for women veterans.
Our homeless program staff collaborate closely with our
women's veteran programs overall to provide access to tailored
health care services.
We have approximately 10,000 women veterans currently
enrolled with us and we provide a full range of services
including dedicated women's health providers in all of our
community clinics, gynecological specialists on staff, and
strong maternity care programs through our DoD partners and the
community, as well as any needed mental health services
including military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence
prevention programs.
Food insecurity among veterans is also a priority for us.
VA San Diego partners with the San Diego Food Bank and other
community agencies to address the needs of veterans. VA San
Diego is committed to providing the high-quality care our
veterans have earned and deserve.
We continue to improve access and services to meet the
needs of all veterans. We are committed to working with our
community partners to end homelessness among veterans.
We support all efforts to increase homeless veteran HUD-
VASH prioritization eligibility. We appreciate the opportunity
to appear before you today and the resources Congress provides
the VA to care for veterans.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I am prepared to
respond to any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Robert Smith appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Dr. Smith. I appreciate that.
Assistant Secretary Kurtz, you are now recognized for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF R. HUNTER KURTZ
Mr. Kurtz. Good morning. Thank you, both Chairman, Ranking
Member, and Congressman Peters for this opportunity to discuss
the Department of U.S.--I am sorry, the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development's efforts to end veteran's
homelessness.
This is actually my first hearing since I have been
confirmed and I can't think of a better issue to have that be.
HUD is committed to ending veteran homelessness by working
collaboratively with our partners in maximizing the
effectiveness of all existing resources.
Since 2010, there has been an overall decline of 49 percent
in veteran's homelessness and to date 77 communities and three
states have effectively ended veteran's homelessness.
Thanks to funding from Congress and close collaboration
among Federal and local partners, the Nation continues to make
progress in reducing veteran's homelessness and creating
sustainable Federal and local systems that quickly respond to
veterans' housing needs in the future.
I am honored to serve as HUD's assistant secretary for
Public and Indian Housing, the office that administers the HUD
Veterans' Affairs Supportive Housing program, or HUD-VASH.
In the HUD-VASH program, local housing authorities and
local VA medical centers work collaboratively to provide homes
and critical services to some of the most vulnerable veterans.
I am a houser at heart and I can attest that this program
has been successful in providing home--at providing a home, not
just a house, to our Nation's veterans.
The HUD-VASH program has been a very successful tool in
addressing veteran's homelessness. Since 2008, HUD has awarded
over 97,000 HUD-VASH vouchers to PHAs across the country. These
vouchers have helped over 174,000 veterans move into housing.
There are currently over 76,000 veterans that are in
housing due to HUD-VASH vouchers. This partnership between HUD
and the VA has been a model of interagency collaboration, both
at the headquarter level and on the ground.
Currently, the housing authorities in California who
administer VASH vouchers are providing housing opportunities to
15,000 formerly homeless veterans.
In Los Angeles County, there are 6,540 homeless veterans
counted in 2009. This latest point in time count has
demonstrated a reduction of 41 percent in veteran homelessness
from a decade ago.
Local agencies such as the San Diego Housing Commission
continue to engage in collaborative efforts with their local
partners to seek innovative solutions to address homelessness.
The restoration of the Hotel Churchill, a historic landmark
hotel located in the heart of downtown San Diego, is one such
example of the life changing results that come out of locally-
based collaborations.
Built in 1914, the Hotel Churchill had become a vacant and
abandoned property when the SDHC acquired it in 2011. After a
$20.6 million restoration and rehabilitation, the Hotel
Churchill became repurposed as a 72-unit affordable permit
supportive housing development with 56 of those units dedicated
to formerly homeless veterans.
Residents of the Hotel Churchill receive on-site supportive
services including mental health, social and recreational
services, and life skill courses, all to ensure their long-term
success.
In Los Angeles County, which has the largest VASH
allocation nationwide, PHAs are engaging in a number of
collaborative efforts to meet the serious challenges of
operating with an extremely high cost rental market.
These include inter-jurisdictional agreements between PHAs
to eliminate delays caused by portability and expand housing
choice for veterans, adopting a standard PHA application form
to reduce confusion for veterans and VA case workers, and
working with local and county government to support landlord
outreach incentive programs.
HUD and the VA are currently focused on changes to the
allocation of new HUD-VASH voucher and supporting PHAs in their
effort to improve utilization.
For example, HUD made changes to the eligibility criteria
for the FY 2019 HUD-VASH allocation, only awarding additional
HUD-VASH vouchers to those PHAs utilizing their existing
resources.
HUD believes it is critical that all existing HUD-VASH
resources are being used as efficiently and effectively as
possible to serve the maximum number of veterans across this
country.
A great deal of progress has been made over the years in
the way HUD works with other agencies to address veteran's
homelessness.
The HUD-VASH program continues to be a model of interagency
collaboration and one of the best tools for ending veteran's
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 very much for this opportunity to discuss HUD's
efforts to end veteran's homelessness and the improvements we
are making to our program to achieve success.
Thank you all.
[The prepared statement of R. Hunter Kurtz appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Secretary Kurtz, and I think we all
look forward to working with you and with HUD in the months
ahead. Appreciate your coming out, being here.
With that, I would like to recognize Supervisor Fletcher
for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF NATHAN FLETCHER
Mr. Fletcher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you
having this hearing and having us here. I think you and I share
the distinction of the elected officials in the room. We have
the least seniority of anyone.
We are the baby elected officials, having just been elected
the last time.
But I say that because I appreciate our first conversation
we had post-election. You said, ``What can I do to help our
veterans?'' This is an important issue and I joined you in your
town halls on this issue and I appreciate you having this.
And Chairman Takano, thank you for your work on deported
vets. I know for many years we worked together on that, and
appreciate that.
And then to my local member, Mr. Peters, thank you. I know
for many, many years you have been standing up for us in San
Diego and for decades, in fact, going back. And so we are
incredibly grateful for that.
Mr. Bilirakis, welcome to San Diego. We appreciate you
being here. Spend lots of money.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Fletcher. The weather is nice and we are very grateful
for you making the time on this issue.
I just want to touch on, briefly, in addition to being a
member of the county Board of Supervisors, I sit on the
Regional Task Force on Homeless on the board there where we
work on these issues, and the governor recently asked me to
join a statewide homeless in support of housing task force.
Our first hearing is next month. And so we spend a lot of
time addressing these issues and I think we all share the same
commitment and, certainly, as someone who served--I spent 10
years in the Marine Corps--it is always striking as a society
that if we have the moral authority to send young men and women
to war, then we have the moral obligation to care for them when
they come back.
And as a society if we don't want to put forward the
efforts at all levels of government to do that, then we can
stop making combat veterans.
But given there is always the funding available to fund the
making of them, I appreciate the commitment to find the funding
to make sure we take care of them on the back end.
I think a lot has been said. You know, in San Diego we have
almost a quarter of a million veterans. About 10 percent of our
region's Active duty transition out every year, and has been
talked about there is issues surrounding the high cost of
housing.
There are issues surrounding the stigma of post-traumatic
stress, the stigma of mental health injury, which often
precludes veterans from getting the care that they need, and
that provides a compounding situation which leads us to the
point where we have homeless veterans despite tremendous effort
and tremendous resources being put forward.
And I just want to tackle one issue just quickly on the
issue of behavioral health and mental health care, which is one
of the largest things that stops veterans from getting it is
the stigma.
The VA provides incredible care. I am the greatest possible
fan of the VA. I get care at the VA. I have never had a bad
experience at the VA. I don't know veterans who have had bad
experiences at the VA.
The problem is getting veterans to go to the VA and ask for
care that they don't want anyone to know they have, which goes
into the stigma issue, and if we don't tackle that then the
veterans won't access the available services.
Their untreated mental health issues will lead to self-
medication, often via substance abuse, which will then trigger
a downward spiral into the issue of homelessness. And so I
think that is a really important point.
And I think efforts to counter any movement to try and
privatize or outsource the VA are critical because that is a
safe place for us to go.
We get culturally competent care from people who care about
us and understand us and I think the integrity of that needs to
be maintained.
The VASH voucher is the lifeline and the Federal
government's commitment to that is essential and I am very
appreciative to Congressman Peters and Mr. Levin for
introducing legislation to protect that funding. Efforts to
siphon money off for other areas are things that can't go.
And then a critical point, which was mentioned earlier, is
making sure it is not just the VASH voucher; it is the case
management that goes with it. We don't want to just shelter or
warehouse people. We want them to get on a path to being
better.
One of the challenges we have in the local entity is how do
we get landlords to be willing to accept us. We have an
indescribably expensive rental market in San Diego County,
which is compounded by a variety of factors.
At the state we are looking at things we might do to try
and control the rents. But we are launching landlord assistance
programs through the county.
We are providing leasing bonuses, application expenses,
damage claim reimbursements, security, utility deposit
assurances to try and get landlords to do their job, to accept
those vouchers, and I will certainly--am open to any form of
incentive or encouragement or perhaps pressure to try and make
sure that we can do that and that is something, certainly, that
is on us to try and tackle.
And then I think there is a variety of other areas that we
can get into where we have to do more. Certainly, TBI is an
issue, not just PTS. San Diego County does not have a memory
care veterans in nursing homes.
The state of California funds several of those in other
areas--San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento Valley, West Los Angeles,
Napa Valley.
We have the Chula Vista Veterans Home but it doesn't
provide specific services for those who are suffering from
dementia and we know that TBI often leads and triggers into
those issues.
And so that is an area where we not only work with the
Federal government but with the state government as well to see
what else we may be able to do.
But I am incredibly grateful for this hearing and
incredibly grateful for all of you as a veteran that you care
and that you take the time to work on these.
So thank you very much.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Supervisor. We are grateful for you
leading the way.
With that, I would like to recognize Ms. Puddefoot for five
minutes.
STATEMENT OF GINNY PUDDEFOOT
Ms. Puddefoot. Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Ginny Puddefoot and I am the
executive officer of the California Homeless Coordinating and
Financing Council.
The Council is under the California Business, Consumer
Services, and Housing Agency, and is chaired by Alexis Podesta,
the Secretary of the Agency.
The California Department of Veterans' Affairs--CalVet--is
represented on the Council by Undersecretary Russell
Atterberry, who, until January 2019, served as Vice Chair of
the Council.
First, I would like to give you a few facts and figures
about homelessness and veterans homelessness in California.
California, as you know, has 39= million residents, or about 12
percent of the Nation's population.
But it has 25 percent of the Nation's homeless--over
130,000 people--and I do want to point out that is based on the
2017 Point-in-Time count. We know the numbers have gone up
since then.
We have the largest number of veterans of any state, about
2 million. That is about 8= percent of the Nation's veterans.
But we have about 28 percent of the Nation's homeless veterans,
roughly 11,000.
The homeless Point-in-Time count--well, the 2019 count
occurred earlier this year. While the final numbers from HUD
won't be available until the fall, the vast majority of local
reporting agencies are reporting increases in their homeless
populations.
In contrast, we have seen progress in reducing veterans'
homelessness. For example, Los Angeles County has reported an
overall increase of 12 percent in its total number of homeless
but reported a slight drop in the number of homeless veterans
since 2017.
I know we are in San Diego. I do also, though, want to
acknowledge our neighbor to the north, as Chairman Takano did,
in being the first county in California to achieve functional
zero when it comes to the number of homeless veterans.
That means that homelessness among veterans in Riverside
County is rare, brief, and nonrecurring, and no veteran is
forced to live on the street.
There is, clearly, still a tremendous amount of work to do
in addressing homelessness in general and veterans'
homelessness specifically. Some of that work is underway
throughout the state.
In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 41, which
created the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention
Program and provided $600 million to fund it.
It provides new affordable housing for veterans and their
families with an emphasis on developing housing for veterans
who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
It places a priority on projects that combine housing and
supportive services and encourages and fosters innovation--
innovative financing by leveraging public, private, and
nonprofit fiscal resources.
The funding is administered by CalVet and the Department of
Housing and Community Development in close consultation with
the California Housing Finance Agency.
To date, 17 projects comprising 546 units have been
completed and are currently occupied by veterans. Another 47
projects comprising 1,772 units are in the pipeline.
Last year voters passed another ballot measure, Proposition
1, the Housing Programs and Veterans Loan Bond. Proposition 1
authorized $4 billion in bonds, including $1 billion for the
CalVet home loan program.
The CalVet home loan program provides loans with below
market interest rates with low or no down payment requirements.
Nearly all California veterans are eligible for this program.
The voters also approved Proposition 2, which allows
revenue from 2004's Proposition 63 to be utilized for housing
programs. Specifically, this funding will fund the No Place
Like Home program, which provides $2 billion in funding for
development of permanent supportive housing for people who are
in need of mental health services and who are experiencing
homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of
chronic homelessness, and the process for getting that money
out the door is underway.
More immediately, in the 2018 and 2019 Budget Acts a total
of $1.1 billion was appropriated to provide flexible block
grant funding to local jurisdictions, specifically, the largest
cities, all of the counties, and the 44 Continuums of Care.
These funds are designed to provide short-term assistance
to local jurisdictions until the longer-term programs are
online. It can be used for a variety of services, including to
address veterans' homelessness.
Thank you very much for the chance to participate in this
hearing this morning.
[The prepared statement of Ginny Puddefoot appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you for being here. Thanks to everybody
for their opening statements. I would now like to recognize
myself for five minutes to begin the questioning and I would
like to begin with Supervisor Fletcher.
I want to thank you again for your service to our country
and now your service on the Board of Supervisors as well as
your time in the state legislature and particularly on the
clear and pressing issue that we are talking about today--
veteran homelessness.
And I was wondering, before we dive into specific solutions
we will be hearing from a lot of people as well on the second
panel who are out there in the field working on these issues
every day.
Could you paint a picture for the hearing record and for
our benefit of the current state of veteran homelessness as you
see it in San Diego and anything we should know about the
veteran population that is homeless?
Mr. Fletcher. No, thank you for that.
I think when we look at--you know, a number of folks have
alluded to kind of recent numbers and kind of point in time
count.
In that--in that recent point in time count, which is just
a snapshot--it is not a total picture. It doesn't encapsulate
the entirety of the problem. It is one morning and one day.
We identified in that 1,100 people who identified--who were
identified as veterans.
Now, out of those, 653 were in a shelter. So they were
sheltered and they were housed and they were covered. Four
hundred and forty-eight were unsheltered.
That is a 32 percent decrease from the point in time count
the year before and there is other data that suggests in San
Diego County it is going down and getting better.
I think, from my perspective and where I sit, I think the
biggest challenge that we face, again, is getting landlords who
are willing to accept those VASH vouchers.
We just got some--we have a ad hoc measurements committee
at the RTFH where we are really looking at system metrics of
how we could hold ourselves accountable for what we want, and
the number of veterans who have a voucher but are not utilizing
that voucher is of great concern to me because that is where
you all are doing your job to provide the resources and provide
the funding and we have to do our job to do that.
Now, again, you know, I alluded to the fact that the rental
market is incredibly tight. We have NIMBY challenges in terms
of siting new facilities and siting new housing. We have a
challenge with app-based home rental.
We have vacancy issues with foreign wealth funds buying
floors in new towers. We have a lot of things that are
contributing to that.
But we have to find a way to crack this nut to make sure
that that veteran who has that voucher has a place to go
because when we have challenges in general in homeless we don't
have similar programs where someone will pay to house somebody,
and so this ought to be the easiest problem to solve.
And so that is where I think we have to move swiftly to
identify available land to build housing. At the county we are
doing an inventory of all of our housing in my district. We
have multiple projects going.
We have 404 units going in Claremont. We are doing
somewhere between 120 and 160 units in downtown where we take
government-owned land and build, and then provide the services.
And then I just want to go back and really tackle or really
highlight, Mr. Chairman, what I think is a really important
component, which is when we talk about the epidemic of veteran
suicide, the most common refrain you see in the debate is,
well, fix the VA.
Well, I have already alluded to we could always make it
better. We always can make everything better. But if you read
the actual studies and the information you will see that
somewhere north of 80 percent of veteran suicide never called
the VA.
They never called the VA, and had they called the VA they
would have got world-class care. The reason they didn't call is
because of the stigma associated with it.
So if you think about in our society two Marines are in
combat side by side, one gets nicked with shrapnel--no scar, no
lasting impact, right--they get a medal and we honor them for
their sacrifice.
The veteran right beside him has devastating post-traumatic
stress from the exact same combat experience and they don't get
anything. We, as a society, still have a stigma around the
unseen wounds of war that is preventing veterans when they
transition out from getting help.
Getting that help is what will keep them housed and keep
them employed and keep them in a life of purpose. And so we
have to deal with the downstream issue of those who are
suffering.
Get them substance abuse treatment. Get them mental health
treatment. The efforts to help those regardless of their
discharge status is vital and we got to get landlords to
accept.
We got to site more housing to get those services there.
But I really think tackling the stigma on the front end is a
national issue that is of paramount importance because, again,
in so many populations the problem we have is they don't have
access to behavioral services.
Veterans have access to the services. We just got to get
them to ask for it. And so I just think that is a really
important component as well.
Mr. Levin. Thank you. I really appreciate that, and I have
questions for all the rest of you as well. So if it is okay
with my colleagues we will go ahead and do two rounds for this
panel before we move on to the second panel.
So with that, I would like to recognize the Ranking Member
for five minutes of questioning.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it very
much and I want to thank the panel.
From your point of view at the local level, what is the one
message or need that we need to take back to Washington that
would make your job easier or would reduce homelessness among
veterans? I think that is the bottom line. Why don't we start
with you, sir, if you don't mind?
Dr. Smith. Thank you for that question, Congressman
Bilirakis. I think I would say affordability may be the one
word. Our biggest challenges, as Supervisor Fletcher said, is
often in finding affordable housing for the veterans that need
it.
Certainly, I think there are other challenges in reaching
out to veterans and making them come forward, becoming aware of
all of them. But that would probably be the single largest
challenge.
Mr. Bilirakis. Can I ask you a question, again, for the
panel and I know--I want everyone to answer the first question.
But why do you think we have a high percentage of homeless
veterans here in California as opposed to some of these other
states? Is it the climate? Are they natives or do they move
here? Is it because of the cost of living?
Why do you think that is the case? Because it sounds like
you guys are doing--and gals are doing a great job, and I know
we have the funding.
We can always increase the funding, put an emphasis on
veterans with HUD as well, which, you know, I would like to ask
that question. But, yeah, what do you think, Mr. Smith? What do
you think, Dr. Smith?
Why do you think there is such a higher percentage here in
California? I know we have more veterans here in California.
There is no question. I think--I remember Florida is number
three but California is number one with regard to vets.
Dr. Smith. I would probably say, Congressman, yes to all of
your suggestions. I think it is multi-factorial. It is the
climate.
It is the fact that San Diego and southern California is
welcoming to veterans. I think there is at times economic
opportunities here that people seek.
California is often viewed as the land of opportunity and
many veterans have served in southern California at different
times and remember the area fondly.
So they may come back here seeking services and there is a
reputation that we and others have of providing help to them so
they may be coming seeking help as well.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Yes, sir?
Mr. Kurtz. To your first question --
Mr. Bilirakis. Yeah. Yeah. That would be fine.
Mr. Kurtz [continued].--I would say--I would start off with
that we also have a program, the Tribal HUD-VASH program, that
deals with Native American populations and that has not been
permanently authorized.
On the second question, I would say, you know, probably--as
Dr. Smith said, sort of yes to everything but definitely
affordable housing issues as well as--this is my first time in
southern California and I think the climate would be.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Bilirakis. Yes. It is very nice. Last night I felt
like--I was outside and I thought it was indoors in air
conditioning. So it is very pleasant.
Mr. Fletcher. I don't think--I have yet to be convinced by
data that veterans shop for the best place to be homeless. I
think that the climate is very nice, I think, but--and we
certainly have a lot of veterans here and we have a lot of
folks who served here and want to stay here.
But we have a disproportionate number of homeless compared
to the percentage of veterans, which indicates to me that there
I something else that is going on there and I think it simply
goes back to the cost of housing.
Our cost of housing is astronomically high. I was recently
in Kansas and if you are a veteran in Topeka, Kansas, you can
use your VASH voucher. Someone will take it. There will be a
housing that will be there.
The other challenge that we face in California is as we
confront the issues of wildfires, of climate change, of carbon
emissions, of vehicle miles traveled, the challenge for us to
increase our supply of housing is to increase our density in
existing areas of housing. And so everyone wants you to build
housing as long as you don't build it anywhere near them.
Well, the problem is you can't build housing that isn't
near somebody and so--and so because there is nowhere to go
where you can do it and still meet the other goals we have.
And I will give you a specific example. I think it was
three years ago. I looked it up exactly. We had an affordable
housing project that was going in the city of Poway. Wonderful
folks--love their country, love their veterans. It was 11
units.
I mean, it was all of 11 units, and traffic was mitigated.
Everything was taken care of, and we had more veterans on the
waiting list than spots available.
But the opposition to that was outrageous and community
opposition killed 11 units that all would have gone to veterans
with the promise that they would bring it back in the right
spot and here we sit three years later--those 11 units have not
been brought back.
And so we have a challenge that we have to overcome as
policy makers of addressing legitimate community concerns,
making sure things work with traffic and all those issues and
safety, and then saying at the end of the day we have to build
this housing.
And I don't think it is a disregard for veterans. It is
just a disregard for veterans who have mental health issues or
substance abuse issues or who are low income and have
affordable housing because those are the three categories of
housing that no one wants near them.
And so I think that there is a notion of--and I will wrap
up--there is a notion of--you know, I have heard the analogy
of--you know, it is like we have neighborhoods who say there is
a leak in your side of the boat. You know, go fix it somewhere.
Well, we are all in the boat together and there has to be a
collective sense that every neighborhood in every community is
going to have to shoulder its share of the load and take in
affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, behavioral
health and substance abuse programs and we can design them in a
way that preserves the integrity of the neighborhood.
But that is a fight we have here in San Diego and I am
constantly engaging with community groups and they say, well,
we don't want these folks here, and I say but those folks are
there now.
They are in your canyons. They are in your alleys. They are
on the streets. So let us get them in a clean safe environment
for a better thing. And so we just have to have the courage to
persist here.
Mr. Bilirakis. Agreed. Thank you. I yield back.
I know we have another panel.
Mr. Levin. We will have another round. And with that, I
would like to recognize Chairman Takano for five minutes.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Chairman Levin.
Supervisor, I want to--I want to delve more into this topic
because it is not just here in San Diego. I was talking to one
of the L.A. County supervisors and this particular supervisor
was telling me stunning stories about projects--housing
projects specifically designed to help veterans, and this
supervisor was just astounded at the virulent opposition.
And I was--you know, I understand--you know, Riverside was
one of the places in the 1980s that rapidly developed and I
understand the backlash that communities can have against
developments--rapid development.
I can understand what, say, high-density developments that
have a low income element to it. People in single family
homes--detached homes will rally and say, we don't want poor
people in our community.
So and I think this is playing out all over various
communities in California, and but I was--you know, the good
will toward veterans, and as I think you say, it is veterans
with substance abuse challenges--veterans that--this is what
the community gets wind of and then they rise up.
What do you think--do you have more--I mean, you are new to
this but I think this is--I think supervisors and county and
city council people, the people who have to make these land use
decisions have the hardest job, really.
Mr. Fletcher. Well, no, and I think a lot about this. This
dominates a lot of my thought, both as a supervisor who has
land use authority and on the unincorporated areas is where we
have less opportunity but as someone who delves on these
issues, but also as someone the governor also appointed me to
the California Air Resources Board where we are tasked with
meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets and goals.
And so we have these conflicting goals of we have to
significantly increase the availability of housing not just for
veterans, not just for those who are homeless, but you got
folks that are working.
I mean, you have folks that are working a full time job and
living in their car, and so we have to increase the housing
there.
And so the notions--the intersection, I believe, Mr.
Chairman, is the intersection of transportation and housing. So
part of this is community opposition. We have to design
projects.
We have put together things that we know are going to work,
right. We can't have a devastating project. We can't put a 100-
story tower in the middle of a residential area and it would be
devastating. It would be bad.
We have to design them in a way that mitigates legitimate
community concerns and then we have to have the courage to
overcome pure NIMBY-ism against people because they are low
income or they are suffering from an illness or an addition,
right, and that is on us because we are going to be held
accountable for not addressing the problem, and so you are
going to get grief there.
I think we have to be willing to take the grief to address
the problem.
But the other component of this, particularly in
California, is issues surrounding transit and transportation.
And so where we have the greatest potential and opportunity for
growth is in the urban areas where we do urban infill and we
increase density.
Now, because of the challenges we face with vehicle miles
travelled, up over a billion in San Diego County in the last 10
years.
Although we hit our 2020 climate change goals, we are not
on track statewide to hit our 2030 goals. In fact, we are going
in the wrong direction.
And so the only way we are going to do that is by changing
the way we approach transportation to have an actual investment
in transit in areas where we have density of housing and
density of employment, and if you can do that then you can
start to alleviate some of the traffic issues, some of the
greenhouse gas issues, some of the parking issues.
But, again, that requires a fundamental change in
thinking--of rethinking. It is not just about expanding
freeways, which we know an induced demand only increases
congestion.
It is about getting even a small percentage of those folks
out of those and into transit. And so I think the intersection
of transportation and housing is vital to tackling this issue
broadly and getting communities to realize that we can add this
and it is not going to increase their local congestion.
And then some of this is just a change of mindset. We have
to go out and make the case for why these programs are
important, why they are, and then sometimes we have to do the
difficult work of--you have 17 folks from a neighborhood and
they are really upset.
But there are 17 of them. You know, this is the project I
have in Claremont. I got 404 units going in. And so we have to
at a certain point do everything we can to build consensus and
coalitions and get people to buy in and then at a certain point
we got to pull the trigger and we got to approve things, and we
have to be willing to take that and go out and explain for why
that is in our collective interest and good.
And so some of it is overcoming community opposition and
some of it is folks in my situation being willing to make the
difficult decisions.
And then the last point I will say on this is there has
been a great debate in state of California at the legislative
level about how really should have land use authority.
We saw Senator Wiener introduce legislation that in many
ways would take that away from local entities, right, and
create more by right development in areas where the development
is right.
And my message to local governments, and it is heresy for a
local government to say this, but if we can't get the job done
then maybe they should take it away.
If local governments can't figure out how to approve the
housing that we need in appropriate areas, right, then perhaps
we shouldn't be the ones tasked.
There is nothing written, you know, in society that we are
the only ones that have land use. And so I think that continual
pressure that you see from the governor here in terms of suing
local jurisdictions for not hitting their Wiener targets and in
terms of the legislature, in terms of looking at very
controversial changes to how we zone and land use I think are
very important conversations that have to be had but have to
lead to an increase in density.
Mr. Takano. Thank you.
Mr. Levin. Thank you. I would like to recognize
Representative Peters for five minutes.
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Actually, as the supervisor was speaking I actually wrote
down Poway on my note before you got to me because that was
the--that was sort of the illustration of one of the
challenges, which is you had a community that you would suspect
would be supportive of veterans but they all came out against
this 11-unit--you know, 11 units is not 10,000 units.
And I think it was--I think, frankly, the unwillingness of
the local elected(s) to do what you said, Supervisor, which is
to stand up to that was really shocking but not uncommon.
And I would just add I think that it is clear that one of
the biggest--maybe the biggest challenges for us in
homelessness in San Diego is the cost of housing in general.
In general, more supply will lower the cost of housing, and
I agree with what you said except that I think in the gap is
something we call the environmental quality--California
Environmental Quality Act, which empowers single individuals to
file lawsuits against projects, even if they have nothing to do
with the environment--even if they are on surface parking lots,
have nothing to do with sensitive resources.
That has got to be cut back so that local elected officials
can do their jobs and be empowered and not be disempowered or
undercut by lawsuits by one--literally, one or two disgruntled
people.
I think we have not come to grips with that and if the
state would take one action short of taking away land use
authority is empower local elected officials to do what you
said.
Let us give them the chance to do the right kind of
development to build more housing in a way not just to preserve
the neighborhoods but improves them through investment.
So I certainly agree with you. And, Supervisor Fletcher, we
are lucky to have you in this position with your background and
with your history of fighting for these issues.
I do want to ask specifically--I am going to get to you,
Ms. Puddefoot, with the same kind of question--what is it
Congress can do to bolster these programs for veterans,
especially those with chronic homelessness? What do you think
are the priorities we should take back for this Committee and,
in general, for Congress?
Ms. Puddefoot. Well, I am, clearly, not an expert on
veteran homelessness. But I can speak briefly about the chronic
homelessness issue.
I think that is one reason that the state has put an
emphasis on the development of permanent supportive housing. We
know that there is a need for housing that is combined with
services that are tailored to an individual and are not time
limited and that provide an opportunity for, whether it is
veterans or other chronically homeless, individuals to receive
the ongoing support they need to stay housed.
I think one of the things that we haven't spoken to--
touched on here-- is that it is much more cost effective to
keep people housed than it is to address their needs once they
are homeless.
And so, you know, when we are looking at this from our
perspective and being tasked with looking at ways to reduce the
overall numbers of homeless in California generally, one of the
areas that we are really focusing on is rapid rehousing or
diversion before homelessness actually occurs.
Mr. Peters. Those are programmatic suggestions or the
descriptions of what California is doing. The implication, I
think, is that you want us to continue funding or increase
funding in the Federal government. Is that it? Is that your
answer?
Ms. Puddefoot. You put me in a little bit of an awkward
spot, given my position here. But I think definitely funding is
at the heart. Programs follow funding.
Mr. Peters. Can I just ask a specific question about the
California response to leveraging resources like the low-income
housing tax credit?
We understand that lost a little value with the tax plan
that Congress passed--the president's tax plan in 2017, I
guess--because there is not as much to write off against it.
Can you tell us if there is ways you think that that
program can be improved from the perspective of housing
California's homeless?
Ms. Puddefoot. You know, I am not--I am not able--I am not
versed, unfortunately, in that--
Mr. Peters. Okay.
Ms. Puddefoot [continued].--and can't address that. I will
say that in addition to funding one of the most important
areas, whether it is federal, state or local, is to really
align programs and supports and funding.
I think that collaborative process to sort of minimize the
administrative burden on local jurisdictions is really
critical.
Mr. Peters. Okay. And--
Ms. Puddefoot. And that is one reason we provided flexible
block grant funding.
Mr. Peters. Supervisor Fletcher, maybe 30 seconds.
Mr. Fletcher. Yeah. One thing I think from Congress that
would be incredibly helpful there is tremendous instability in
general in the Federal government. It is not from your branch
of government and it is not from the Supreme Court.
And so I think--I think--but the problem is--the problem is
we are dealing in markets and we are asking people to make
long-term commitments to build projects.
We are asking them to make long-term commitments to site
property, and the instability is a real problem. And so knowing
that the VASH voucher will be there, it will be funded, it will
be protected--knowing that these HUD programs will be there,
they will be funded, they will be protected, is a really
important thing that sends signals.
When I go to folks and say we need to do this and when
there is all of this instability--people don't know day to day
what will happen--it makes it hard, and none of these problems
will solve themselves quickly.
And so I just think that continued commitment to the HUD
funding--not just veterans housing, all their housing programs
because we are cobbling things together to try and make them
work.
And that is where I think--I think the Congress, in a
bipartisan way, can be that source of stability to say these
are things we are going to fight to protect and ensure will be
there and that is a specific thing that would be helpful to us
at the local level.
Mr. Peters. Okay. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Levin. I wanted to thank you for that because it is a
perfect segue to what I am about to ask. I want to recognize
myself again for five more minutes. I wanted to ask about HUD-
VASH specifically and wanted to start with Secretary Kurtz.
In your testimony I noted that you mentioned HUD did not
request new HUD-VASH vouchers in fiscal year 2020 because the
2019 funding was enough to meet the demand of current
referrals.
Would we be correct to interpret that as meaning more HUD-
VASH voucher funding would not increase the number of veterans
served and if that is the case can you explain?
Mr. Kurtz. Sure. At this point, we--actually HUD has not
requested additional HUD-VASH funding since, I think--I believe
it was fiscal year 2015, and we believe that there is
sufficient funding currently across the Nation--that we just
need to sort of work to utilize what funding is there currently
to ensure that we and the VA are working--you know, working
together to house the veterans as well as we are looking at
flexibility such as we have taken--are allowing VA medical
centers, the regions that they cover, we can switch vouchers
from one public housing authority to another in that area, and
if need to--we have not yet--but we are looking at possibly
even moving funding at a broader scale, if need be.
Mr. Levin. So I wanted to address that. As I understand it,
community agencies refer veterans to HUD-VASH through the
coordinated entry system. Is it possible that the community
partners are unable to refer more individuals due to their own
capacity limits? And if that is the case, how do we address
that issue?
Mr. Kurtz. Actually, that is a really interesting question
because I have--before I came back to HUD I worked at the local
level and worked with--one of the programs I worked with was
HUD-VASH and we were concerned about issues like that and
actually just sort of brought everyone together--the VA, our
local partners, you know, folks in the city as well as the
local housing authority and, you know, tried to work out
strategies to ensure that we were coordinating better.
You know, it is really a collaboration and a communication
that we need to ensure is taking place at the local level, and
we saw success after that.
Mr. Levin. Thank you. I would like to switch from HUD to VA
and to talk about VA funding for intake and for case
management.
My understanding is HUD-VASH eligible veterans are often
chronically homeless. They have severe health problems and they
require intensive services and support.
Dr. Smith, can you discuss any challenges your staff face
in serving the population and any additional resources that
they may need and, therefore, that you may need at the VA?
Dr. Smith. Thank you, Chairman Levin.
You are correct that the population that are served by HUD-
VASH vouchers can be challenging. They represent individuals
who may be chronically homeless but also often have disability,
mental illness, substance use, and simply reaching them can be
challenging.
We have both intake staff as well as HUD-VASH case managers
that are working continuously to reach out into areas where
veterans may be. We have five outreach staff currently and
three of those are field-based, sometimes working with San
Diego Police Department or Oceanside Police Department to
actually go out into areas where veterans might be--might be
living in an encampment or in some other non-habitable
situation.
So part of our program is involved in outreach and then
there is also an intake part. That intake part sometimes can be
challenging, again, because it requires typically a face-to-
face visit with a veteran that takes some time.
There may be documents that are unavailable and that intake
process sometimes can be a delay in getting the voucher packet
to the PHA and then to getting the veteran housed.
We have at different times had staffing issues. I am happy
to say that we are right now staffed up and able to process
those vouchers.
Mr. Levin. I wanted to ask a follow-up. I was struck by
Supervisor Fletcher's previous comment that the biggest
challenge is getting landlords willing to take VASH vouchers.
My understanding is that there are several incentives that
the county offers to landlords to accept those VASH vouchers.
Trying to understand from the supervisor or from Dr. Smith
where does that funding originate and is it sufficient.
Is it a matter of more funding needed to secure housing and
to get more landlords willing to take these vouchers? And
either of you or both of you can feel free to address that.
Mr. Fletcher. Well, we take that funding from our general
fund. That is county general purpose money that we could spend
on anything and we dedicate it that.
We try to cobble together wherever we can get it from, and
that really is key because we are trying to overcome that
barrier.
You know, if that landlord can rent it to somebody for more
money and they don't have--they aren't homeless, they don't
have a problem, they are more likely to do that. And so it is a
real challenge for us and I think the efforts to address the
value of the VASH voucher in high-cost areas are really
important because we have a high-cost area and we are trying to
address that.
But, you know, potentially having that is really important.
If there were funding available to help increase these
incentives that is a greater tool that we have. That is where
we are giving them bonuses for taking them.
We are providing insurance if they damage anything. We are
guaranteeing the utilities will be paid. We are just trying to
get them comfortable with being willing to do it and so that is
area where some jurisdictions provide those incentives. Some
don't. Some do what they can but they could--they could always
do more.
And then I think the flexibility around housing authorities
is very important. At the county, we are the housing authority
for the unincorporated area and we are the housing authority
for 13 of the 18 incorporated jurisdictions within the county.
But you have San Diego, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, and
National City have their own housing authorities. They get
their own VASH vouchers. And so the ability--the greater
flexibility there is almost always good.
And so I would say high-cost areas is a really important
area to view those as distinct and different, particularly when
they have more severe levels of veteran homelessness.
I think the incentive program, some potential funding to
augment or increase incentives--obviously, you don't want folks
to cut back commitments they have already made because it
comes.
But if they could increase what they are already doing and
the flexibility are three things that I think would be helpful.
And then I just want to reemphasize the case management
piece is vital because we have also had a very problem--very
big problem with we get them housed and then they don't stay
housed, right, because they are having all of these issues and
that case manager is that person who is going to work them
through.
They are going to work them through the system. They are
going to stick with them. They are going to stay with them.
They are going to check on them.
They are going to encourage them and, you know, when you
encounter folks that are suffering chronic homelessness, it
takes a lot of visits and a lot of patience.
This is very, very, very hard work to get someone to
transform their life. And so that case management supportive
role. The goal I not just to get them in a place with the VASH
voucher where they have an unstable unpredictable unhealthy
life.
I mean, that is better than being on the street. But then
we got to figure out how we--how we get them there and that is
where that case management piece is vital.
Mr. Levin. Appreciate it, Supervisor.
Mr. Fletcher. Thank you.
Mr. Levin. We want to make sure that we move along fairly
quickly. We want to get to our second panel. I want to be
respectful of everyone's time.
And I would like to recognize Ranking Member Bilirakis for
a second round of questions for our first panel.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Puddefoot, what best practices can other counties in
the state take away or even in the Nation? What best practices
can we take away from Riverside County to reach the goal of
functional zero for veteran homelessness?
And I want to give the Chairman partial credit for that as
he represents the county. So outstanding. What best practices
can we take away?
Ms. Puddefoot. Well, I really could defer to the Chairman
here. But from what we have observed, there was a real
collaboration and coming together of all of the different
organizations and entities that touch on veteran care, veteran
housing, to really provide that comprehensive approach but also
to tailor it individually and to take into account, as
Supervisor Fletcher mentioned, the specific needs for case
management and provide that on an ongoing basis.
The other thing that I know Riverside County has done is
use the data that is collected through the Homeless Management
Information System to really provide some feedback and some
rigorous analytics about what is working within their
communities and where the gaps are.
And I think if we could replicate that, we are currently at
the agency level really looking into how the state could
encourage all local jurisdictions to have access to that kind
of data and analytics.
We have seen that being effective not only in Riverside but
also in Santa Clara County and Los Angeles and elsewhere. So it
is that collaborative piece of bringing everyone to the table,
which in some places is really happening but in a lot of
jurisdictions it is still very siloed, which means that the
people--all the right people-- are not in the room to make it
happen.
Mr. Bilirakis. Mr. Chairman, would you like to add anything
to that?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Takano. You know, just that I have worked--our office
has worked with the county, and the county is a really key
player because it is actually a county statistic, and two very
empowered people within that--within the county staff had the
authority and the--just the sheer energy to dedicate themselves
to this.
And they are ready now, as is so often the case with
working on veterans issues, veterans are not necessarily all
that much different in their challenges than the general
population and so they are ready to apply the things they have
learned on how to effectively reach veterans, how to provide
the--how to plan for the case management.
I do believe they also did a lot of work with landlords on
the incentive side. So they are a little frustrated now because
they need the resources to deal with the general homeless
population.
And so they are kind of armed with the basic learnings that
they have gleaned from working on this veteran's issue.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Thank you.
I guess I have a little more time, Mr. Chairman. I won't
take it all. Who wants to answer this question? What role does
substance abuse play in hindering success for the chronically
homeless and which programs should be invested in to address
this issue?
It is so important and it is all linked together, whether
it is mental health or substance abuse with regard to homeless.
That is not always the case but who would--who would like to
address that?
Mr. Fletcher. I will talk very briefly on this.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Please.
Mr. Fletcher. You can't talk about mental health and
substance abuse as separate issues. They are one issue. The co-
occurring rates of both of those are in the 80s and 90s. The
overwhelming majority of folks who are homeless who have a
substance abuse problem arrived at that problem by self-
medicating an undiagnosed and untreated mental health issue.
Mr. Bilirakis. Right. Right.
Mr. Fletcher. If we just deal with the mental health, they
are still addicted. If we just deal with the addiction, there
is still that.
And so we got to view it in the context of behavioral
health, which means medication for addiction treatment. It
works. I mean, the data is irrefutable that it works.
And then there is controversial things like needle exchange
that save lives, promote public health, help get people clean.
And some of these are uncomfortable or difficult.
But all of the health care data suggests this is the way we
address it. And so I think substance abuse is a cornerstone in
terms of addressing this challenge we face.
Mr. Bilirakis. Very good. Anyone else?
Ms. Puddefoot. I would just add that in California we
adopted legislation to really require housing--funded housing
by the state-- to adopt housing first principles, which include
low barrier and a prohibition against refusing to provide
housing or housing-based services for someone solely because
they have behavioral health issues.
And so that--really, that has been research based, evidence
based best practice around making sure that people are housed
in order to provide effective support for dealing with
behavioral health issues.
Mr. Bilirakis. Well, thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Levin. Thank you.
I would like to recognize Chairman Takano for the second
round of questions.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Chairman Levin.
Dr. Smith, you know, while the VA's budget is at record
levels we are still seeing needs across the agency for all
services.
Meanwhile, our Committee really--regularly hears from NGOs
or, in other words, private companies who offer their own
solutions for homelessness in southern California.
What is the process and capacity for VA to accept outside
funding to address the homeless challenge? Is there a process?
Dr. Smith. Congressman, I am afraid I would have to take
that one for the record because that is not something that I
work a lot on locally. The bulk of the funding is managed out
of the central office programs who put out requests for grants,
notices of funding applications.
Mr. Takano. So you are not really prepared to talk about
private-public partnerships or this area of homelessness?
Dr. Smith. Well, not--I am not prepared to talk about
funding for them. I would say that those private-public
partnerships are very important and particularly the work that
we do with partners here.
I would point out to some of the panelists in the second
half--Veterans Villages of San Diego, Interfaith, and so forth.
So--
Mr. Takano. So my questions might be addressed to the
second panel is what you are saying?
Dr. Smith. Yes, sir.
Mr. Takano. Okay. You know, the transition process is
something that our Committee has been deeply involved with and
Chairman Levin and Ranking Member Bilirakis and a number of our
Committee members are--Mr. Cisneros from Orange County--they
are all particularly attuned to trying to improve this
transition process.
So I want to--I want to switch gears a little bit from the
importance of wraparound services for chronically--for chronic
homelessness. I mean, that is--I mean, I think--I think it is
really important to emphasize that for our chronic homeless
population, as the supervisor said, it is a lot of work and a
lot of resources to support people in getting their lives in
order.
But on the front end, trying to help veterans transition
smoothly to avoid paying out large amounts of unemployment
insurance it seems to me that we could do a better job on the
front end.
And I know that Camp Pendleton has the Skills Bridge
program that I have been hearing the VA ramp up across the
country. That is something that I find very promising.
Can you--you know, I would like to ask what we should be
done--what we should be sharing with servicemembers to ensure
that they don't find themselves homeless and how we can improve
the transition process.
Dr. Smith. Thank you for that question, Congressman.
Certainly, the transition--area of transition is critical.
In San Diego, we have a robust transition program where we are
really reaching out particularly in working with the medical
treatment facilities to accept those who have been identified
as having needs at the time of separation from the service.
But I think, as you point out, there is a large cadre of
Active duty military who separate without, for a variety of
reasons, either knowing as much as they might about VA services
or perhaps just not feeling like it was time for them.
One of the complaints I often get when I am out in the
community is veterans that either don't know about the VA or
weren't--feel like they weren't told about the VA at the time
of their separation from Active duty.
So I think that is an area that we are all committed to
improving. I certainly know that there is work going on at a
national level to try and change or to assist in that so that
we have really a continuous process of reaching out to veterans
to make them aware of veteran's services that are available to
them.
Mr. Takano. Supervisor, you look like you have something to
say about this.
Mr. Fletcher. Well, I think the--the efforts on the job
stuff is really good. There is funded programs. They can do it
while they are on Active duty while they are getting off. I
think all of that is good. I think that has improved
significantly. I got out a decade ago.
One thing that struck me when I was in, and perhaps it has
been addressed, is you have a lot of servicemembers who get out
and have no idea what they want to do next because they never
thought about it.
They never thought about it, and it always struck me, when
I was in the Marine Corps every year I went to the career
planner, and the career planner--we would have our counseling
session about my Marine Corps career--where did I want to go,
what did I want to be assigned, what job, what duty, what term
of enlistment.
And it would be interesting--folks in DoD would know
better--but perhaps when they join in boot camp there is just
someone who asks them a question, hey, how long do you think
you want to stay in and what do you think you want to do when
you get out, right, and then they write it down.
And then the next year when they go to the career planner
someone says, hey, you said you wanted to stay in for life--how
long do you think you want to stay in--do you think you might
want to do when you get out.
And if we did that every year with the veteran, just what
do you think you want to do when you get out, because otherwise
they get discharged and then they are just wandering.
And then there is all these programs and services but now
they are disconnected from that period out and they are not in
a mindset of having a plan for what they want to do.
And so that has been addressed in recent years but--
Mr. Takano. Well, Supervisor, I mean, there has been some
work done in this area. Let me just--I am over time, but let me
just say that I have always thought from day one there should
be educational or training goals established and their
commanding officers should also be a part of the process of
holding those soldiers accountable every year.
So that is a longer discussion, but thank you.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Peters, I would like to recognize you for five minutes.
Mr. Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Just on that last point, there is a good model in San Diego
County that is developed called zero8hundred I know you are
familiar with, which actually--in which the Navy allows the
community effectively to go on to the base as they go through
that dump of documents that they used to call Taps--now they
call GPS--to try to engage young people.
We could talk more about that later. We think that is a
pretty good response.
Ms. Puddefoot, you mentioned the continuum of care funding
and I want to just go back to that. Now, that is not
specifically related to veterans. But because in San Diego such
a high proportion of our veterans--our homeless are veterans it
is important to us.
Shortly after I took office, there was reporting in the
Voice of San Diego to the effect that San Diego consistently
had fourth or fifth highest numbers absolute of homeless
people.
But we were always about eighteenth to twenty-third in the
funding out of the continuum of care. Are you aware of that
reporting?
Ms. Puddefoot. I am not specifically aware of that. I can
say that the first round of flexible block grant funding-- that
was the $500 million that was part of the 2018 budget-- gave
not only funding to the continuums of care but also to the 11
largest cities.
Mr. Peters. Right.
Ms. Puddefoot. And so San Diego got funding.
Mr. Peters. That is the California funding.
Ms. Puddefoot. That is California funds.
Mr. Peters. Let me just--let me just--
Ms. Puddefoot. Yes.
Mr. Peters [continued].--make sure you understand what I am
talking about because we looked at that. Part of it has to do
with the fact that there are some long-term commitments out of
that funding. For instance, you know, we are going to spend for
10 years on this particular building, and that skews it
somewhat.
But, Mr. Kurtz, I understand that the continuum of care is
not part of your direct responsibilities at HUD. Is that right?
Mr. Kurtz. That is correct, sir.
Mr. Peters. Okay. You mentioned in the context of another
program the VASH vouchers, trying to get the most out of a
consistent level of funding. I have to raise this with you
because we think that--by the way, L.A. is being take care of--
we think that San Francisco is now falling behind. But the
inequity of the funding to San Diego is something I would ask
you to look at.
We made--it took a long time to make progress. But by the
end of the Obama administration with Secretary Castro, we had
identified four or five new approaches to this--a more fair
formula--not based, believe it or not, on something like the
age of the building stock as a proxy for the amount of
homelessness you have.
We would ask you to take a look at that or ask the folks in
HUD. Since the change of administration, the equities haven't
changed. It is not a partisan issue. We just haven't heard
anything about it. And so if we could just send you back with
that message that would be great.
Mr. Kurtz. Absolutely.
Mr. Peters. And I guess I would just--we have to get on to
the other panel, but I want to thank all the--oh, I wanted--Dr.
Smith, I wanted to give you a chance to talk about--you had a
little answer on the--Mr. Bilirakis's question on substance
abuse and you were cut off because of time. So I will give you
a chance to answer that question.
Dr. Smith. Thank you, Congressman Peters.
I did want to mention some of the things that are going on.
Ms. Puddefoot mentioned low-barrier approaches to accepting
individuals who are homeless immediately into housing so that
we are not requiring abstinence as a condition of housing.
But I do--I did also want to mention what Supervisor
Fletcher talked about, which is medication-assisted therapy,
which are available through the VA now as part of the approach.
And it is also--there is a comprehensive effort going on
throughout the VA on opioid reduction strategies and we have
this tension between individuals who may be having issues with
addictions and at the same time working to reduce the usage of
opioids across the board.
We have been very successful at total opioid reduction
usage here in San Diego by more than 50 percent. That is
actually true nationally in the VA. So we have seen that
approach.
One of the really critical things is the availability of
alternative therapies. So I am happy to say that we do have a
full complement of complementary and assistive therapies such
as use of yoga and tai chi, acupuncture, chiropractic therapy,
which can be alternatives to the usage of substances of abuse.
Mr. Peters. Thank you.
I just want to say, again, thanks to all of you for coming.
We would appreciate your advocacy on helping us with the
continuum of care issue. If you could be aware of that, that
would be helpful.
But thanks to all of you for what you are doing and, Mr.
Kurtz, I hope you had a nice time in southern California and
you will tell your friends it is a nice place.
I yield back.
Mr. Kurtz. I have. Thank you, sir.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Levin. Well, thank you all very much.
I want to quickly transition to our second panel in the
interests of everyone's time. So if we could have the panelists
for panel number two please stand and come to the front.
And, again, to our panelists from the first panel we are
very grateful. We are going to--we are going to jump right into
it.
[Pause.]
Mr. Levin. We have Ron Stark. Hi, Ron. How are you?
[Laughter.]
Mr. Levin. They had--the other panel they had it opposite.
The board president of the San Diego Veteran's Coalition.
Kimberly Mitchell--good to see you--president and CEO of
Veterans Village of San Diego. Matt Schillingburg, commander of
American Legion Post 146 in Encinitas. Thanks for being here.
Greg Anglea, CEO of Interfaith Community Services. Thank you.
Easy commute for you, right across the street. And Tamera
Kohler, CEO of the San Diego Regional Task Force on the
Homeless. Thank you so much for being here.
As you know, you will have five minutes. Your full
statement will be added to the record and I want to make sure
we stick to time. We have until 12:30 and then we got to be out
of here. So we will get right to it.
Mr. Stark, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF RON STARK
Mr. Stark. Thank you, Chairman Representative Levin.
Mr. Levin. Make sure your mic is on.
Mr. Stark. Is it on? Thank you. Thank you.
Chairman Representative Levin, Ranking Member Bilirakis,
and House Committee Chair Takano, I like the idea of zero. It
is a good target and so appreciate that.
I am Ron Stark, president of San Diego Veteran's Coalition.
I want to say that my testimony here with respect to this
Committee on Veteran's Affairs Subcommittee Economic
Opportunity entitled ``Housing our Heroes: Addressing Homeless
Veterans Crisis'' is given in my role as the president of the
San Diego Veteran's Coalition, though it is certainly informed
by observations in other roles and throughout the county I work
for mental health systems in substance use prevention.
I have managed large treatment and recovery centers in
substance abuse prevention. I am co-chair of the San Diego's
One VA Community Advocacy Board.
I was co-chair on the Advisory Committee for the VA Aspire
Center as well as logistics coordinator for the Stand Down for
Homeless Veterans, and those observations informed my
perspective and that of the coalition.
And it is an honor to be here with you and colleagues in
the community in San Diego County. The number of homeless
veterans using the annual point in time count method seems to
always be met with challenges of being underreported, over
reported, subjective measures, unreliable methods, counting
veterans on the street early in the morning and uses self-
reports to interviewers in that.
And though this is--I participated in San Bernardino County
when I was up there for four years in the homeless count and
San Diego County since 1997 because I served in the military
and these are my people. I am going out and help find them,
identify them so they can maybe get other resources.
I find that becoming an observation where I challenge
whether or not we are really getting to all of the homeless
veterans. I live in the 92114 in this county. We have a--what
we call the Bamboo Village and the point in time count isn't--
doesn't go there.
We walk by there but we don't go there, and so there are
places in that count where you just look and you know there is
a path leading to where homeless are, but just the methods of
it.
In that regard, it seems that with some of the current
technologies we could develop, implement and I think the House
could really be instrumental in reviewing this. Sophisticated
methods have a more real-time estimate of the number and
conditions of our veterans who are homeless.
The San Diego Veteran's Coalition has some 160-member and
participating organizations, agencies, for-profit businesses,
and we all come in contact with veterans every day and we get
together and we share our perspectives and coordinate
activities to really maximize leverages across community-based
organizations. The VA is a strong partner in that coalition as
well and organizations here at the table with me as well.
It just--we have supported and promoted a safeguarded
cross-sector data sharing that provides a much more reliable
estimate to use to determine how much funding programming is
required and where.
The idea--we use currently--there is 57 licenses, I
believe, with the San Diego United and it is a platform. It is
a data-sharing platform, backbone supported by 211 San Diego,
to do some initial screening, partially enroll, refer, intake
veterans, some minor intakes into services before referring,
and then a follow-up.
And that platform can provide a reliable number of how many
veterans use a particular service and collect valuable
demographic information to direct policy.
SD United is capable of being interoperable with larger
community information exchanges and I know that is a topic
across practically every state in this country is how to share
community information that includes information from public
health, the VA, community-based organizations, providers,
private practices, and can compare profiles and aggregate
reports of how many veterans are homeless, their services
requested and usages of those met and unmet needs, demographic
and geographic information about veterans. So you could put the
dollar where the need is. You could put the energy where the
need is.
Anecdotally, we hear there are veterans, especially female
veterans, who are functionally homeless, going from one friend
or family member in lieu of living on the streets but yet not
providing their own shelter, sleeping in their cars, parked off
streets, in a friend's residence in their--and so that wouldn't
be part of the homeless count because you don't count cars
parked at residents.
You kind of look if the windows are--and it looks like
someone is sleeping in that car.
[The prepared statement of Ron Stark appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Mr. Stark, if we could, I want to make sure we
get to everybody's intro.
Mr. Stark. Right. Right.
Mr. Levin. But hold those thoughts.
Mr. Stark. Okay.
Mr. Levin. We are going to be asking you plenty of
questions. We want to thank you for all the great work that you
do, particularly the North County Stand Down had the honor to
join you last year. Look forward to helping you in years ahead
as well. Thank you for being here.
I would like to turn to Ms. Mitchell. Thank you for the
recent visit to Veterans Village of San Diego. I know my
Ranking member, my friend, Mr. Bilirakis, is going to be
joining you later today. Now I would like to hear your opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF KIMBERLY MITCHELL
Ms. Mitchell. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, thank you
for the opportunity to appear before you today and to provide
testimony about the needs--housing needs of our veterans.
I am Kim Mitchell, the president and CEO of Veterans
Village of San Diego. We are a not-for-profit housing provider
here in San Diego and we serve more than 2,000 military
veterans each year.
I also serve on the board of directors for the California
Association of Veterans Service Agencies, known as CAVSA, and I
offer my testimony on behalf of both VVSD and CAVSA today.
I want to begin by acknowledging the many men and women in
the audience today who have served our country in uniform.
Thank you for your service.
Mr. Chairman, I am reassured by the title of today's
hearing--veteran homelessness is a crisis. It is one that
touches both rural and urban parts of our country, and one that
requires immediate resources and attention if we are ever going
to get ahead of it.
Today in San Diego, we are finally catching our breath. The
last two years have been difficult, as a devastating outbreak
of hepatitis plagued our homeless communities across the
region.
In response, VVSD and our partners stood up an emergency
bridge shelter to provide safe clean living conditions for an
additional 200 homeless veterans that were on the street and
susceptible to this potential deadly virus. We had to act fast,
but I believe our response not only helped rebuild livelihoods
but it also saved lives.
As the immediate threat of hepatitis subsides, now is the
perfect time for reflection. In my mind, the most important
question is what can we do to prevent this from happening
again.
Improvements can be made across the board, but because of
the work that we do at VVSD I can offer some concrete
recommendations about what the VA can do to help.
First, we need to expand the VA's grant per diem program,
GPD, by increasing the rates at which providers are reimbursed.
GPD is the first line of defense against veteran
homelessness and it is widely regarded as a successful short-
term program that helps at-risk veterans get back on their
feet.
The program works and VVSD and my fellow CAVSA members
strongly support the goals and structure of the program as it
operates today. It is worth noting, however, that the
significant structure and regulatory changes to GPD three years
ago made it more challenging to administer. VVSD and CAVSA
commend the VA for improving the effectiveness of this
important program but note that the changes added significant
cost to grantees. As such, we ask that Congress or VA increase
the reimbursement rates by at least 25 percent.
This modest increase will result in community partners like
VVSD being able and willing to expand the number of beds they
offer, especially to individuals participating in the bridge
and clinical tracks.
Second, we need to better leverage project-based HUD-VASH
vouchers by contracting our supportive services to the
qualified veteran housing providers that receive these
vouchers.
As administrators of HUD-VASH project-based grants, VVSD
and CAVSA members bear the burden of the VA by maintaining its
25-to-1 ratio in case managers to program participants.
At our facilities, we see that the VA case management staff
are often so busy that it is hard for them to show up to
provide our tenants with the mental health, job training, and
social services support they need.
As a result, we end up funding the support out of our own
pockets. As nonprofits, this is hard to do. It is also
especially frustrating, given the fact that Congress has
consistently funded these positions.
It is just that the VA can't seem to be able to provide the
staff that they need in the field.
There are two solutions to this problem. Congress could
enact legislation that awards the recipient of project-based
HUD-VASH vouchers with the commensurate funding to administer
the services provided with that voucher. Or the VA and HUD
secretaries, which have virtually unlimited authority to waive
law and regulation to improve the administration of HUD-VASH,
could issue a directive to accomplish the same goal.
Either way, the routine failure of the VA to provide the
casework associated with HUD-VASH is a significant drag on the
effectiveness of the program and must be remedied without
delay.
Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, this concludes my oral
remarks today and I want to thank you again for shining a light
on this important issue and working to improve the
effectiveness of the VA's homeless housing programs.
I am happy to answer any questions that the Committee may
have.
[The prepared statement of Kimberly Mitchell appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Ms. Mitchell.
Mr. Schillingburg, you are now recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF MATT SCHILLINGBURG
Mr. Schillingburg. Yes, good morning, Congressman Levin,
Congressman Bilirakis, and Congressman Peters.
Although I live in Congressman Peters' district, I do
support Congressman Levin with the work of veterans in the
North County because I am the commander of the American Legion
in Encinitas.
Less than 1 percent of the population of the United States
ever volunteer to support and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.
In doing so, servicemembers become a special part of our
Nation that are willing to sacrifice their own lives to
preserve the freedoms that so many Americans enjoy on a daily
basis.
Over 2 million servicemembers, men and women, have been
deployed over 3 million times since 9/11 in the global--in the
support of global war on terrorism.
These troops have included Active duty, reserve, National
Guard personnel, with reserve and National Guard personnel
being utilized as part of the operational force structure after
9/11.
These numerous deployments are one of the many reasons that
our servicemembers decide to make a transition from military
life to civilian life and these numerous deployments weigh
heavy on the veteran, which in turn manifests itself in many
different ways that contribute to the problem of veteran
homelessness in the United States.
Active duty veterans and their families as well as
transition veterans face significant housing challenges.
California has the largest number of veteran homelessness in
the United States, with 9,600 veterans homeless.
Homeless veterans in California represent, as we have heard
before, about 25 percent of the national homeless veteran
population.
Many veterans do not have stable housing after they
separate from the military. In many housing markets in
California, it is difficult if not impossible for military
families and even single servicemembers that might have once
enjoyed military housing or barracks to transition to the
civilian housing market.
Only 54 percent of pre-veterans and 35 percent of post-9/11
veterans line up housing after the military in the San
Francisco Bay area. Only 10 percent of pre-9/11 and 18 percent
of pre-9/11 veterans reported being homeless in Orange County.
Over 25 percent of military veterans reported that they
lacked housing in the past in Los Angeles, according to HUD.
One point five million veteran households suffered severe
housing costs in 2011 and it has only become worse.
According to Los Angeles housing, the HUD-VASH housing
vouchers have the lowest success rate amongst the housing
vouchers that authority issues.
Success is defined as placed in voucher recipient and
rental units. The success rate of L.A. Housing Authority for
non-veterans is 67 percent and the success rate for HUD-VASH
vouchers for veterans drops to 33.
This is unacceptable for our veterans and changes need to
be made to address the issue. San Diego County has one of the
highest population of veterans in the United States with an
estimated, as you said, Congressman, 235,000 veterans.
Most of the veterans choose to stay in San Diego County
after retiring from the military or transitioning from service
and many, such as myself, return to San Diego.
I personally retired from the United States Army in Texas
in 1996 but returned to my home here in San Diego.
Transitioning from the military to civilian life was very
difficult after a 20-year career in the military.
Although retired with a pension, I faced the difficulty of
translating my military skill sets to civilian world for job
possibilities and securing housing for myself and my family.
I was able to do so but many veterans today cannot. It was
a different time when I retired in 1996 to the present day
transition for servicemembers in San Diego County. It is
estimated there are approximately 1,400 homeless veterans in
the street in San Diego.
The question becomes is veteran homelessness possible in
states with the highest incident, i.e. California and
Washington State, especially since some of the areas have seen
an increase as we have in homelessness.
Answering the question is very complicated because many
variables factor into the question. One of the variables is the
HUD-VASH program combines the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, housing choice voucher, rental assistance for
homeless veterans and their families with case management and
clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans
Affairs at its medical centers in the community.
Here lies one of the problems of the program--eligibility.
As defined on the veteran's Web site--Veterans Affairs Web
site--veterans who are appropriate for this program, and it
should read any veteran, must be VA health care eligible
veterans. VA makes that determination.
Most healthy veterans and their families never apply for
the veterans benefits as part of their transition from the
military.
Others that have been wounded or injured during their
service often provide with veterans--are often provided with
veteran service officers to complete their benefits package as
they transition from the military.
Those servicemembers that never apply to the VA system are
not in the VA system. When they run into difficulties and
become homeless, the VA can't help them with the HUD vouchers
until they get into the system. Proposed--
Mr. Levin. You want to--you want to just wrap up?
Mr. Schillingburg. Okay. Yeah. Proposed solutions are
handoffs and, you know, we will talk about that. You had
questions before and we will get into those questions. But I
believe that there are solutions.
[The prepared statement of Matt Schillingburg appears in
the Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you for being here. Appreciate that.
I would now like to recognize Mr. Anglea for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF GREG ANGLEA
Mr. Anglea. Thank you, Congressman Levin, fellow Congress
people. Thank you for being here today. It is wonderful to have
you in our community and those of you who are from here.
My name is Greg Anglea. I am the CEO of Interfaith
Community Services. We are the largest provider of housing and
social services for people experiencing homelessness in North
County, including, unfortunately, hundreds of veterans
experiencing homelessness in North County.
We have heard a lot of really strong and practical
suggestions for what can be done to better help people overcome
homelessness and particularly veterans today.
I want to highlight one thing and then share some personal
stories as somebody doing this on the front lines.
Homelessness among veterans have decreased nearly 50
percent in less than a decade. That has been the cause of a
significant scaling of federally funded programs to address
homelessness.
If we choose to not continue to scale, we choose to not
continue to reduce the number of veterans experiencing
homelessness. It is very simple arithmetic. I think we need to
name that reality.
There are some changes in scope that can also help people
experiencing homelessness today and in the future. I detailed
some of these stories in my submitted testimony and I want to
share them today. Their names are changed to protect their
confidentiality but these are real people.
Jacob is a 39-year-old Marine Corps veteran who lost his
housing in February of this year because he has a disability he
suffered during his military service.
He has young children, he fell behind on his rent, and he
lost his housing. There was no homeless prevention funding
available that would have helped him through government funds
to stay housed at this time in February of this year.
All of the programs that are out there are staffed at the
government level or at the nonprofit level by individuals who
are there to run particular programs.
Jacob didn't know which program he was qualified for. He
didn't know where to go. Jacob had the fortune, though, of
eventually finding his way to somebody who was funded by
private philanthropy locally to say, you know what, these
programs are great but we need to fund people who will help any
veteran regardless of need.
So he came to Interfaith and met with a housing stability
case manager funded by the Midway Museum and by San Diego grant
makers. That person who was focused just on him as a veteran
connected him to his veteran--to a veteran's benefits
specialist who correctly upgraded his disability benefit to the
accurate 100 percent level that it should have been at.
That person helped him find an apartment that he can afford
and then helped find private donor dollars to help pay for the
move-in expenses. Jacob and his kids are now stably housed.
It highlights another issue--an extreme lack of homeless
prevention resources that we have. We have talked a lot about
helping people who are chronically homeless, who have been on
the streets a long time.
The best way to help those individuals is to prevent them
from becoming homeless in the first place. The supportive
services for veteran families grant has been a real game
changer in the last several years. But the amount of funds that
it provides--rental assistance dollars for homeless
prevention--is scant.
So when we had a veteran who I am going to call Clarissa,
who was referred to us by her HUD-VASH case manager because she
had a voucher but her landlord was not going to renew her
rent--renew her lease--she has four children. She is putting
herself through school. She has a disability. Her monthly
income is about $700.
When she was referred to us there were no homeless
prevention dollars to allow her to pay for the security deposit
that she needed to move into another apartment.
So we helped her find that apartment. We helped her with
private dollars to pay for that security deposit. She is stably
housed.
We need to significantly scale homeless prevention
resources and they need to be flexible and focused on veterans
regardless of their situation.
Kim mentioned it very well, too. The veteran grant per diem
program is a fantastic resource. But the funding level that it
provides is really only adequate for higher-functioning
veterans.
I detailed in my testimony a veteran who I call Bill, a 79-
year-old Navy veteran who was connected to our organization by
a distant relative who knew he had been wandering the streets
for decades.
Bill had disability benefits but had no meaningful
relationships in his life, suffered from paranoia, mood swings,
refused to engage with the VA on medical services, and simply
did not succeed in the level of care that $47 a day can
provide.
He is, sadly, one of a large wave of disabled senior
veterans. We need a higher level of support in particular for
senior disabled veterans.
I appreciate your time and look forward to answering your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Greg Anglea appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Anglea. Appreciate it very much.
I would now like to recognize Ms. Kohler for her opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF TAMERA KOHLER
Ms. Kohler. Thank you, Chairman, and distinguished members
of the committee.
My name is Tamera Kohler. I am the CEO of the Regional Task
Force on the Homeless. We are the HUD continuum of care for San
Diego County, the second largest county in the state of
California.
We have a large geographic area and a population that is
almost at 3.4 million with 240,000 veterans. We are one of the
largest continuum of cares across the Nation.
There are 400 continuum of cares that are designed to
promote this community-wide commitment as a goal to end
homelessness and collectively work with our partners to tailor
a local homeless crisis response system.
Veterans experience homelessness in every state. But over a
quarter reside in California. With these numbers in mind, the
Regional Task Force is uniquely positioned to offer some data
and insight into our veteran homelessness.
I am going to focus on just a couple areas: the risk factor
of affordable housing, which you have heard from a number of my
colleagues, and limited prevention resources that Greg so well
spoke to; also, our rapid increasing women veterans and our
aging homeless population.
With the housing costs rising faster than wages and the
burden of affordable rent looming larger for many of our
veterans, especially our young families and those that are aged
and are on fixed incomes, and in some cases this is an
insurmountable challenge.
According to Zillow's consumer housing trend report, in
2017 80 percent of renters moved because of an increase in
their monthly rent and we are seeing that across the board.
Increasingly, major metro areas are becoming out of reach
and this is becoming true even in areas where markets were
historically affordable.
For many, ending their homelessness is become more simply
about increased income and lower housing costs and it is
intense case management and services.
Increases in affordable housing--excuse me, increases in
rent, tight rental markets, and limited housing stock all
contribute to the difficulties we find in looking for adequate
and affordable housing to rehouse our homeless population.
Our HMIS data is showing that our national averages of
return to homelessness in San Diego are much higher. Our people
that we are housing are struggling to maintain the housing that
we have been able to achieve for them without any assistance,
moving forward.
Continuing options within the SSVF are transformational
with prevention and rapid resolution, and one of the most
recent developments in SSVF is a shallow subsidy. With 12
communities, San Diego being one of those, we are able to model
a shallow subsidy option for high-cost rent areas.
This targeted attention to housing affordability as a
primary factor contributing to homelessness and housing
instability makes this long-term modest subsidy a welcomed
option.
We know housing ends homelessness and that includes
preventing homelessness. Conditions that increase a veteran's
risk of experiencing homelessness are varied, and we have
talked about those.
But those episodes of homelessness could be rare and brief,
and we wouldn't even have to worry about them being non-
reoccurring if we would address them quickly with SSVF
prevention and rapid resolution funding.
Increasing this funding will also us to collect better data
so that we can really determine which risk factors are having
the most devastating effects on veterans, resulting in their
homelessness.
Our veteran population is aging and they are very likely
going to have increased complex age-related needs that pose
significant challenges on our system. It is not designed to
serve them.
Long-term health care issues and independent living options
will become greater challenges and housing options for our
homeless veterans are going to be limited. Our data in our HMIS
significantly show an increase in veterans over the age of 62
in two years--in 2017, one in five of our homeless veterans who
are over the age of 62.
In the first quarter of 2019, it is now one in four.
Twenty-six percent of our veterans in San Diego are over the
age of 62.
Additionally, during that same timeframe, 12 percent of
those served with SSVF so that is rapid rehousing, not a
permanent housing subsidy, were 12 percent. In 2019, it has
increased to 18 percent. We need those permanent housing
resources to really address these emerging challenges.
Twelve percent of our veterans--12 percent of the Nation's
veterans will be women in 2025. That means we will likely see
an increase of our veterans--women in the coming years.
Compared with nonveteran peers, women veterans report a
higher rate of child mistreatment, physical, emotional and
sexual abuse. Over a third of your enlisted women have a
history of childhood sexual abuse and many report, especially
those who are homeless, that they joined the military to escape
those family conditions.
Veteran women are twice as likely to experience
homelessness than our female homeless individuals. The
characteristics of veteran women that experience homelessness
are different from veteran men and we need to acknowledge that.
More than one-third have experienced a military sexual
trauma while in service and they have lower rates of substance
use and mental health issues, and we question if that is just
an under reporting. But that is what the data is telling us.
For veteran women, intimate partner violence is also a
challenge and highly associated and contributes to
homelessness.
Finally, veteran women experiencing homelessness are more
likely to be part of the family compared to veteran men. All
programs serving our women veterans need to have a sense of
urgency and a focus on safe housing options.
These services need to be assessed for and addressed in
experiencing trauma and housing instability at the same time.
As we know, VASH is the most successful coordinated effort to
address homelessness in the Nation.
This single dedicated resource to reduce the number of
homeless veterans by nearly 50 percent nationally has been
highly effective.
This is proof that dedicating resources does and will
reduce homelessness.
I just want to acknowledge these growing challenges and the
major challenge that we need to address includes all of our
best efforts, both collectively and individually.
We need to dig deeper. We need to understand our data. We
need to be informed and we need to ask more of our system
planning, not only as our funders but also as leaders as well.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Tamera Kohler appears in the
Appendix]
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Ms. Kohler. Thank you, everyone, for
your opening statement.
We are going to have time for one round of questions. So I
would just encourage everyone to keep your answers fairly brief
so we can get through as many questions as possible.
I would like to recognize myself, and I am glad we have so
many community organizations such as yourselves. Without you,
the Federal government cannot do this alone.
We desperately need your help and we need to make sure that
we are doing everything we can to empower you to continue the
great work that you are doing.
And I also really want to mirror the comments that you
made, Mr. Anglea, about preventing homelessness in the first
place.
It was said in the first panel the importance of
recognizing that we will save significant resources if we can
prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place as
opposed to dealing with homelessness once it occurs.
And I also appreciated your highlighting the need for
short-term crisis-based rental assistance. So I would like to
begin with you.
How do you see such a program working in a manner that is
agile enough to quickly get funds to those who need them
without sacrificing accountability over how the funds are
spent?
Mr. Anglea. Thank you for the question.
My organization set a goal two years ago to nearly double
the amount of people we were able to end and prevent
homelessness for and was able to surpass that goal primarily
through an enhancement of homeless prevention funding.
With funding now from the Regional Task Force, we are
working with dozens of partners including Veterans Village of
San Diego to scale that homeless prevention funding and partner
with our local 211 database to track the long-term impact of
those individuals including veterans who get that funding, to
be able to track not only are they housed--45 families who we
house through one of these programs a year ago are all still
housed--but are they reducing calls for service and need for
food, need for other types of services.
So we have the mechanisms in place to track the long-term
outcomes of these interventions as well as a control against,
unfortunately, those who do not receive the interventions. We
just need the resources to actually provide the assistance.
Mr. Levin. Thank you for that. In a related question that
is really open to any of you, what data could we--could the
Federal government provide or collect to better identify
veterans who are at risk of homelessness but are not yet
homeless?
Ms. Mitchell. Mr. Chairman, in my mind, I think we need to
do a better job at identifying servicemembers before they exit
the military that have been identified as having the start of
mental health and addiction issues.
I know for myself in the Navy, I served with sailors that
were quite often angry. We knew that they would go out drinking
all night, and in talking with some of the veterans at VVSD
these issues started when they were in the military and I think
we need to work on the culture and enable commanders to enable
their servicemembers to say it is okay to step forward.
If I sprain my ankle, immediately I am sent to sick call.
But if I have a mental health issue, no one wants to say
anything like that. We need to make it okay to send folks and
be agreeable to go to--and talk with someone.
Mr. Levin. Thank you. So destigmatizing mental health.
Mr. Stark, I wanted to turn to you. You mentioned that
public and private partners in our region use the San Diego
united platform to coordinate services for homeless veterans
while aggregating data in realtime.
How does this system account for traditionally under
counted veterans such as those living in cars or with family or
friends?
Mr. Stark. Well, Mr. Chairman, one of the things that was
coordinated with the Courage to Call program, which is a Mental
Health Services Act-funded program here in the county, which
is--has mental health workers from MHS, peer outreach with
VVSD--Veterans Village of San Diego--and 211 navigators who are
peers and veterans working, shared experience is one of the
keys to reaching veterans.
And when we--when we use this information we have with the
SSVF funding been able to work with the providers of SSVF
funding to come up with an initial application that is
coordinated across all of them. And so when they are referred
out it becomes a more rapid intake and a more rapid use of that
SSVF funding.
If I have just a moment, though, I do want to comment on
Tamera and Greg's comment about the aging veterans. It has long
been known that the veteran community is the leading edge of
what you might see in the community elsewhere with homeless
veterans, with substance use, mental health, living on the
street, poor hygiene.
You are going to--we are going to find as a Nation that
that is the leading edge of an aging veteran population and
that could be telling us a lot about what we need to do. That
groups of folks are not--are not on the radar right now.
Mr. Levin. In the interests of time, I have more questions
for everybody but we will do it offline.
And I would like to turn to the Ranking Member for five
minutes.
Mr. Bilirakis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To follow up on that, I understand that Los Angeles--the
city of Los Angeles banned people from homeless or people
sleeping in cars, and then also I understand the city of San
Diego did the same thing recently.
Correct me if I am wrong, but if it is true, what is the
rationale behind it? Are these people identified, particularly
in this case, veterans, so that we can help them get shelter?
And so does somebody want to respond to that? I would
appreciate it.
Mr. Anglea. In North County, if I could--in North County,
we have funding another provider does for a safe parking
program because there are--there are a hidden homeless
population who are living in their cars.
And if we aren't able to help them, they will no longer
have cars and they will fall farther into homelessness. No
local jurisdiction has accepted the request to be able to house
that safe parking program. It is a shocking example of NIMBY-
ism that needs to stop.
Mr. Bilirakis. Is it true that both the San Diego and Los
Angeles have banned people sleeping in cars? Is that the case?
Is that--
Mr. Stark. So there are local parking ordinances, 72 hours
of a vehicle being parked in the same place. You have pressures
of call for service from the community that this car has been
here.
So these are some local constraints that are happening and
there is no safe place to be and you have to constantly be on
the move. Eventually, a homeless veteran is not going to have
the gas money to move their car, or have a flat.
It looks like an abandoned vehicle, and so I think that
kind of lends to it as well. And there are people that will let
someone park off the street on their residence because there
are humane people and good will people in this county. But then
that further distances them from care.
Mr. Peters. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Bilirakis. Yes.
Mr. Peters. Just to answer your question, the city of San
Diego has been embroiled in a discussion about how to use
parking lots it has around, you know, various locations to
allow people to sleep.
That has not been finalized. But I don't--I don't believe
that there is such a ban in place in the city of San Diego.
Mr. Bilirakis. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for clarifying
that. I appreciate it.
Ms. Kim, I look forward to visiting Veterans Village for
the second time this afternoon. I think it is a model for the
entire Nation.
Ms. Mitchell. Yes, sir.
Mr. Bilirakis. I really--I love the concept.
You talked about mental health and the fact that we are not
screening enough maybe while our veterans are active military
personnel or in DoD.
What about--what is your opinion on mandatory screening
prior to veterans--prior to veterans being--leaving the service
and become veterans?
And, you know, obviously, confidential but if you screen
everyone you can identify and then it is, obviously, their
decision as to whether they want treatment or not. What is your
opinion? I know it is controversial but we got to face it.
Yes?
Ms. Mitchell. Yes, sir. I mean, obviously, it is
controversial and a lot of it is self-identification. A lot of
folks--a lot of servicemembers don't want to admit that they
may have depression or anxiety or any type of mental health
challenge, and they don't want the stigma attached to that.
But I think in the long run it will help. It will help
folks get on the right path to seeking services. I think it
also starts at the top where commanders need to ensure, and
senior enlisted need to ensure and push down to the lower
ranks, that it is okay to ask for help. And it is okay to talk
about it.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yeah, that is true, no question, and we have
made some progress, generally, nationwide. But what about
mandatory screening? Screening everyone, and then releasing the
information to the individual confidentially? I think that
would be helpful. What do you think? Anybody else?
Mr. Schillingburg. I think that is one of the big issues
here is the transition process.
So in the transition process when they are leaving the
service they should be assigned a veteran service officer to
start them out with their benefits whether they have been
wounded, et cetera, but to get them into the system.
And it should be pretty easy also because you have got a
DoD personnel system with their medical records that has all
their medical history that can be transitioned over into the VA
system.
There could be a handoff technically so that they could be
in the system and be able to receive those benefits if
something comes up, you know, later on down the road.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yeah.
Mr. Schillingburg. There is nothing like that right now.
And so, you know, being able to support a transition program
with a veteran service officer, then those guys that are
veteran service officers can identify those, you know, mental
illnesses or, you know, come up with the challenges because we
see that.
Mr. Bilirakis. Based on what is in the record.
Mr. Schillingburg. Correct.
Mr. Bilirakis. Yeah. Okay. I know I have to yield back.
Thank you.
Mr. Levin. Thank you. Thank you, Ranking Member Bilirakis.
I would now like to recognize Chairman Takano for five
minutes.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Chairman Levin.
Ms. Mitchell, about how many project-based HUD-VASH
vouchers do you administer?
Ms. Mitchell. I will have to get that--the exact number.
Mr. Takano. I mean, just a ballpark. I mean, is it 20, 30,
50, 100?
Ms. Mitchell. I am not sure of the exact number, sir.
Mr. Takano. You are not sure. You are not sure.
But my--so help us understand. The HUD-VASH voucher
project--the project voucher--it is not only--it is not only--
the voucher not only is a revenue stream to help the project,
you know, survive financially or to be viable financially, but
that voucher also comes with what you say are the supportive
services from the VA.
And you are saying that organizations like yours have
trouble getting those counselors and getting that--getting
that--those wraparound services that are supposed to come to
the VA to actually come out and provide those services. So that
is what your testimony is, you said?
Ms. Mitchell. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Mr. Takano. I have heard this from other providers as well.
And you say there is--you propose two solutions. Can you
elaborate more about what--I mean, I want to give you some time
to talk about what those two solutions might be.
Ms. Mitchell. Well, the two solutions with regards to the
legislation is--
Mr. Takano. I mean I have heard other people say why don't
you just allow us to hire our own people; we could hire them
for less than the VA.
I would have some pushback from some of the folks at the VA
who think that, you know, they ought to have those positions.
But do you have some thoughts about this, how we tackle this
problem of--I am coming from the--go ahead.
Ms. Mitchell. Oh, sir--well, I think it is one of those
things--situations where it is in the best interest of our
homeless veteran and their family.
If they need services right away and the VA case manager is
unable to get out there, the service provider who is charged
with taking care of that individual should be able to have
someone that can go out and do it--but for, like, myself at
VVSD and some of the other CAVSA members, we have to provide
some of that case management out of our own pocket if the VA
field folks', the case managers, aren't able to go out there.
Mr. Takano. Here is where I wish I had the VA still at the
table because I would like to be able to have a back and forth
about why are we having an issue with case workers getting out
to--you know, to--
Commander, you have something to say about--
Mr. Schillingburg. Well, the American Legion we are about a
half a block from the community resource center in Encinitas
and what we have been doing is working with the community
resource center to identify the veterans to get them into the
VA system.
But at the same time, the veterans are being able to
resource the resource center for food, for shelter, and other
things. And this is one of the reasons why we all come together
as a community, not just as veterans, but to help, you know,
everyone.
So the community resource center has been able to help them
out and in the transition it is getting them to the VA system
so that they can get the HUD-VASH vouchers.
Mr. Takano. Well, go ahead, Mr. Anglea.
Mr. Anglea. The VA released a funding opportunity this
year, an addendum to their grant per diem program--a case
management opportunity for funding to just support veterans
like we have talked about today who maybe already have HUD-VASH
or have exited GPD programs.
To my knowledge, not a single provider applied for that
funding locally. The reason that we did not is that the funding
was not adequate. It didn't provide enough funding to pay for
the social worker to do the work.
It didn't provide enough funding for them to do the mileage
to go out and meet with people. It didn't have any money to
actually help them keep somebody housed.
There is more to say about it but it is an example of a
really well-intentioned program that just wasn't adequately
resourced and was too restrictive.
Mr. Takano. This is very important feedback because I have
heard this complaint more than once and from different
providers--that the wraparound services--the social worker, the
case worker--they are not getting out to places where these--
the HUD-VASH vouchers, that is the way it is supposed to work.
HUD provides the money for the housing. The VA provides the
support--the wraparound support.
I am troubled that there seems to be some disconnect there.
I yield back.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to recognize Representative Peters for five
minutes.
Mr. Peters. Thank you. Again, thanks to all the witnesses
for making yourselves available.
I want to ask Ms. Kohler, I am aware that you have a
coordinated entry system. Can you walk us through the process
by which veterans are handled in that system and let me know if
you have any recommendations to improve referrals with your
community partners and with your agencies?
Ms. Kohler. Thank you.
We are responsible for a coordinated entry system, which is
more than just a referral to housing. It is coordinating anyone
experiencing homelessness through a homeless system.
But specific to the veteran's experience, we work very,
very closely with the VA in two areas of funding so in the VASH
voucher funding and in the SSVF, so the rapid rehousing.
We make referrals directly to them of any eligible
veterans. Fortunately for San Diego, at least from the numbers
we are seeing, we have enough resources to be able to refer
anybody who an assessment is done that is identified as a
veteran.
The reason I bring that up is part of the identification is
one of the bigger challenges for veterans. Veterans don't
always self-identify as being appropriately eligible.
Many times they will think that they are ineligible for
things or not even identify themselves as a veteran when they
are seeking homeless services.
But if someone identifies as a veteran, we collect specific
information in the assessment. Some interesting data for you.
We have about 700 veterans on a by name list currently that are
referred to--
Mr. Peters. On a what list?
Ms. Kohler. Our by name list. We use a by name list in the
coordinated entry, which is a way that we take everyone who is
assessed and we organize them by vulnerability, by eligibility.
So in San Diego, we have 700 veterans on that list. In that
list, over a third of those veterans which we believed would be
eligible for VASH look like they are not because of
dishonorable discharge, of different eligibility, and it
creates a significant challenge in the sense that that is the
most eligible appropriate resource to end their homelessness
and we are not able to really associate them with that benefit.
The veterans with those referrals it is up to the Veterans
Administration team to then determine who will get the next
voucher. It is done with a client focus on where case
management is. It is done in coordination of where a veteran
may be seeking services or where they should be best stably
housed.
But they then make the connection between the homeless
veteran and the housing authority, and all of the paperwork and
all of that is done directly from the VA and our housing
authorities.
We are fortunate to have enough resources so that we refer
everybody over. But it is taking far too long, and as
Supervisor Fletcher mentioned, we have a significant amount of
veterans with vouchers that cannot lease up.
And so--and when they can't lease up that voucher is not
eligible for someone else either. So that is a resource that is
held in limbo until they can actually find a location to rent,
which really speaks to the bias and stigma around a homeless
population in general. Even with the care around veterans we
are not housing them at the rate we should.
Mr. Peters. Well, I think it speaks to the importance of
dealing with this other than honorable issue--
Ms. Kohler. Yeah.
Mr. Peters [continued].--and, you know, thanks to the
Committee for supporting our bill.
I also wanted to call attention to the Fair Housing
Improvement Act, which I introduced, that bans discrimination
based on the source of income and vet status.
You know, I think that is part of the problem. I think
maybe a larger problem is the general housing costs that we
have here. But I think that that is an element of it.
I want to do a--I am going to yield to Mr. Takano in a
second just for some more questions. But I did want to thank
Mr. Schillingburg for the ideas on the hand off and also for
bringing some District 52 expertise and leadership to Mr.
Levin's district. I will yield to Mr. Takano.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Schillingburg. I am also working with Assembly District
Tasha Horvath on her Veterans Committee, and one of the bills
that is winding its way through California is S.B. 222, which
will make it against the law to discriminate on anyone with
that HUD voucher.
Mr. Peters. I will yield the remainder of my time to Mr.
Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you.
Mr. Anglea, how much more money would it have taken for you
to be encouraged to apply for the grant you were mentioned--
referenced earlier? How short was it?
Mr. Anglea. Yeah. If I recall correctly, it was a $225,000
grant over two years and an additional 10 to 20 percent, and
also just the flexibility to be able to move funding across
line items. It was very restrictive.
Mr. Takano. Real quick. For prevention--for homelessness
prevention, how much--how much money are we talking about do
you think we need? Can you quantify it?
Mr. Anglea. Yeah. It costs us about $1,000 to prevent
homelessness for most people. It costs us more than $10,000 per
household.
Mr. Takano. A thousand bucks. So a thousand bucks per
household--
Mr. Anglea. Per household. Yeah.
Mr. Takano [continued].--per household would be effective
prevention.
All right. I wish we had more time, but thank you for that.
Thanks.
Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr.--thank you, Chairman Levin.
I appreciate that generosity.
So let us talk about that a little more. I mean, how many
people--how many people do you think we could prevent
homelessness--$4,000? I mean, per household. How many
households are we talking about?
Mr. Anglea. I believe hundreds of households. I mean, we
prevented homelessness this last year at my organization alone
for 450 individuals. That is about 130 households.
Mr. Takano. Uh-huh.
Mr. Anglea. And, again, an average of $1,000 each and that
is only the capacity we had. The amount of requests we received
are far greater.
That number will be greater this year through the study I
mentioned and we will have the data to show the long-term
impact. But it is a significant number, sir.
Mr. Takano. I hope you will stay in touch with our
Committee so we can get that study from you, and it seems--it
seems apparent, I mean, evident to me that it is going to cost
us far less to prevent it than to deal with the consequences of
actually having it happen. So thank you.
I yield back. Oh, go ahead.
Ms. Kohler. I would also add, when we talk about prevention
and high-rent districts, the cost that it takes to rehouse
somebody is almost $10,000 compared to the $1,000 to prevent
it.
So when we have such a tight market and it is so expensive,
it is even more important that we focus on that prevention. It
is money well saved and money well spent.
Mr. Takano. Great. Thank you.
Mr. Levin. I want to thank everyone for being here. I want
to thank everyone in the audience as well and we can now bring
this hearing to a close.
I think we have all learned a lot that will inform our work
when we go back to Washington. I have had no greater honor in
my first eight months of service than to be the Chairman of
this Subcommittee where we have the chance to give back in a
small way to the veterans who have given so much in service of
our country.
I am grateful to my friend, the Ranking member, for
carrying forward the work of this Subcommittee in a true spirit
of bipartisanship.
I am grateful to the Chairman of the Full committee, Mr.
Takano, for his outstanding leadership, and I am thankful to my
friend, Mr. Peters, for continuing to lead on veterans issues.
We need all of you to continue the work, to work together
to help us get in this region, in San Diego and really
throughout the United States, to an effective rate of zero
veteran homelessness.
And I think we have learned today just how complex and
challenging an issue this is but one that we are absolutely
committed to address.
And as long as I have the opportunity to serve as a Member
of Congress this will be a top priority of mine and I think a
top priority of my colleagues as well.
So thank you all very much. We appreciate your time. All
members will have five legislative days to revise and extend
their remarks and include additional materials.
I want to thank the great staff as well--my great district
director, Francine Busby, back there and Andy Ortega--everyone
on the House Veterans Affairs Committee staff who made this
happen--Faith from our district--from our D.C. office as well--
have just done an outstanding job.
I want to thank everybody for watching this as it was live
streamed. This is actually on YouTube and on social media. So I
hope a lot of people were able to watch across the country and
learn as we have here today in Oceanside.
Without objection, the Subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:30 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Prepared Statement of Dr. Robert Smith
Good afternoon, Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today on the topic of Veteran homelessness, the
challenges faced by homeless women Veterans, and the risk factors and
unique challenges faced by all homeless Veterans with respect to
nutrition, employment, and criminal justice.
VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) is committed to improving
Veteran outcomes and providing Veterans access to comprehensive
homeless programs, services, and resources. We also provide Veterans,
including those who are at-risk of or experiencing homelessness, with a
full spectrum of services designed to meet their unique needs. VASDHS
is committed to ending homelessness among Veterans. Our focus is
threefold:
Conducting coordinated outreach to proactively seek out
Veterans in need of assistance;
Connecting homeless and at-risk Veterans with housing
solutions, health care, community employment services, and other
required supports; and
Collaborating with Federal, state, and local agencies;
employers; housing providers; faith-based and community non-profit
organizations; and others to expand employment and affordable housing
options for Veterans exiting homelessness.
Introduction
VASDHS is accredited by The Joint Commission and serves Veterans
throughout San Diego and Imperial Valley Counties. VASDHS is in La
Jolla, California with community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC)
located in Chula Vista, Escondido, Imperial Valley, Mission Valley,
Oceanside, Sorrento Valley, and the Rio VA Clinic in San Diego. The
number of Veterans in San Diego and Imperial Valley Counties is
estimated to be 247,074. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, VASDHS treated
84,712 Veterans. The total number of outpatient visits for FY 2018 was
983,451, which included 109,498 at the Oceanside Clinic. We provide
medical, surgical, mental health, geriatric, spinal cord injury, and
advanced rehabilitation services.
Policy Issues Related to Veterans Homelessness (Risk Factors)
According to the 2019 Point in Time (PIT) Count conducted in
January, the San Diego region reported a total of 8,102 homeless
individuals, of which 1,068 (13 percent) identify as Veterans. Veteran
status and character of discharge are not verified during the Count. Of
those who identify as Veterans, 644 were sheltered and 424 were
unsheltered. The total number of homeless Veterans in the region
decreased by 18 percent since the 2018 PIT count, and the unsheltered
numbers decreased from the previous year by 35 percent. Since 2011, the
region's overall number of homeless Veterans has decreased by 35
percent. In the 2019 PIT Count, the City of Oceanside had a count of
483 homeless individuals. Because the PIT Count does not break down
Veteran status by City, the exact count of Veterans in Oceanside on the
night of the Count is not known. However, utilizing the overall
percentage of Veterans in the region, it can be estimated that
approximately 63 homeless Veterans were in Oceanside on the night of
the Count.
VA's Homeless Veteran programs comprise the largest integrated
network of homeless treatment and assistance services in the Nation. As
a component of this network, VASDHS strives to provide a continuum of
service-from outreach to permanent housing-to our homeless Veteran
population. VASDHS partners with the local community to offer a wide
array of special programs and initiatives designed to help homeless
Veterans live as self-sufficiently and independently as possible.
Over the past 5 years, VA and its partners have made a concerted
effort to collaborate at the Federal level to ensure strategic use of
resources to end Veteran homelessness. Coordinated entry systems (CES)
are one outcome of this coordinated effort. CESs represent the
systematic approach that is needed at the community level to ensure
that resources are being utilized in the most effective way possible
and that every Veteran in that community is offered the resources he or
she needs to end their homelessness. All homeless Veterans in a given
community are impacted by the coordinated entry system, given that its
framework is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal
of ending homelessness and utilizing community-wide resources
(including VA resources) in the most efficient way possible for those
Veterans who are in most need. This includes the prioritization of
resources for those Veterans experiencing chronic, literal street
homelessness.
The VASDHS Health Care for Homeless Veteran (HCHV) Program fully
participates in the regional CES which has been recognized by Community
Solutions in 2017 as a ``national example.''
VASDHS HCHV is designed to provide services to homeless Veterans
and assist them in obtaining health care benefits within VASDHS or
other local community programs if they are ineligible for VHA services.
A priority of VASDHS HCHV is to break the cycle of homelessness using
community resources, including permanent supportive housing programs;
transitional housing programs; prevention and diversion programs;
rapid-rehousing programs; substance use treatment programs; medical and
mental health services; employment services; and/or case management.
Sub-populations served range from those who are newly homeless and can
self-resolve, to those who need temporary housing with short-term
intensive services, to those that have severe mental health and/or
substance use disorders and require ongoing supportive services to
maintain permanent housing.
VASDHS HCHV manages a wide array of Homeless Veteran programs
including those focused on:
1. Conducting coordinated outreach to seek out Veterans in need of
assistance.
VASDHS HCHV has Outreach Social Workers that provide
services at VA facility-based clinics, including La Jolla and
Oceanside; at the regional Veteran emergency shelter/tent; or at
various locations. The Outreach staff additionally go into the field
alongside community partners, such as the San Diego Police Department's
Homeless Outreach Team and the Oceanside Police Department's Homeless
Outreach Team. The Outreach team responds to calls from the National
Call Center for Homeless Veterans and responds to hospital-based
consults submitted by VASDHS providers that are working with homeless
Veterans in any of our locations.
VASDHS Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) staff provide
outreach services in local jails to justice-involved Veterans. These
outreach efforts are offered alongside staff from the Veterans Benefits
Administration to ensure a full range of resources. Individualized
services are offered, with an effort to assist in discharge planning to
prevent homelessness upon release. VJO Specialists staff local and
Federal Veterans Treatment Courts with an effort to support justice-
involved Veterans engaged in treatment services.
VASDHS is the co-founder of Stand Down, the homeless
Veteran outreach and engagement event that started in San Diego 31
years ago in collaboration with Veterans Village of San Diego, a local
community partner, and has since grown into a national program,
replicated by other sites throughout the Nation.
2. Connecting homeless and at-risk Veterans with housing solutions,
health care, community employment services, and other required
supports. VASDHS HCHV offers a variety of services to homeless Veterans
and/or Veterans at risk for homelessness.
These programs include: Department of Housing and Urban
Development-VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH), offering
permanent supportive housing; Sponsor-Based permanent housing programs;
Grant and Per Diem (GPD), offering transitional housing and program
services; Contracted Residential Services Programs (CRS), offering
specialty transitional housing and program services such as
Recuperative Care and Safe Haven; Outreach, providing street-based and
clinic-based outreach services, as well as responding to the National
Homeless Call Center and VASDHS' hospital-based consults; Homeless -
Patient Aligned Care Team, offering primary care services to homeless
Veterans; and VJO and Veterans Treatment Court programs. VASDHS HCHV
additionally collaborates with adjunct programs, such as the VA-funded
Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, to ensure
Veterans' accessibility to prevention, diversion, and rapid rehousing
programs.
VHSDHS HCHV participates in the S.A.V.E. program, a
partnership between HCHV and VASDHS' Suicide Prevention Program,
whereby homeless program staff provide suicide prevention training to
community partners and first responders.
HCHV Homeless Veterans Community Employment Services
(HVCES) program connects Veterans to local employers and assists
Veterans through individual and group services to access competitive
employment opportunities. HCHV staff refer/link Veterans to the VA's
Compensated Work Therapy Program and Vocational Rehabilitation and
Employment Programs. HVCES staff also refer/link Veterans to the
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Programs, a Department of Labor-funded
program offered by local grantees.
3. Collaborating with Federal, state, and local agencies;
employers; housing providers; faith-based and community nonprofits; and
others to expand employment and affordable housing options for Veterans
exiting homelessness. VASDHS collaborates with numerous Federal, state,
and local partners to end homelessness among Veterans and has developed
well-established partnerships with many different faith-based and non-
profit programs.
Permanent supportive housing: VASDHS HCHV program
collaborates with HUD, San Diego Housing Commission, County of San
Diego Public Housing Authority, City of Oceanside Public Housing
Authority, and various Project-Based housing organizations contracted
to offer HUD-VASH units, such as Trestle Development, Hyder & Company,
Affirmed Housing, and Solari Enterprises.
Permanent housing programs: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with
San Diego Housing Commission, Alpha Square, and local SSVF programs,
including, Interfaith Community Services (ICS), Veterans Villages of
San Diego (VVSD), Volunteers of America (VOA), Southwest VOA, People
Assisting the Homeless (PATH), and Veterans Community Services (VCS).
Transitional Housing programs: VASDHS HCHV collaborates
with St. Vincent de Paul/Father Joe's Villages (SVdP), ICS, VVSD of San
Diego, VOA, Southwest VOA, and PATH.
CRS Programs: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with SVdP and ICS.
VJO: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with San Diego County
Sheriff's Department, Vista Detention Center, San Diego Superior Court
- Veterans Treatment Court, Federal Military Diversion Court, Federal
Veterans Treatment Court.
Outreach: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with San Diego Day
Center, Family Health Centers of San Diego, San Diego Police Department
Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), Oceanside Police Department HOT, City of
Chula Vista Police Department's HOT, SVdP, ICS, VVSD, Southwest VOA,
Veterans Community Services, Alpha Project, McAlister Institute, Union
of Pan Asian Communities, National Alliance for Mental Illness, PATH,
County of San Diego Health and Human Services, Downtown San Diego
Partnership, and The Salvation Army.
Stand Down: VASDHS is the co-founder of Stand Down,
alongside VVSD.
Coordinated Entry System: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with
the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, which is the local Continuum
of Care Council. VASHDS is an active Board Member of the region's
Continuum of Care Council.
Other non-profit organizations providing goods and
services: VASDHS HCHV collaborates with the Elks Club, AmVets, and the
Veterans Service Organizations.
In addition, VASDHS HCHV has actively participated in past local
community initiatives such as the Mayor of San Diego's 1,000 Veterans
program and Project 25, as well as nationwide efforts, such as Built
for Zero and the 25 Cities Initiative.
These community partners have been strong partners in our efforts
and we appreciate their contributions to our Veterans' health and
welfare. VASDHS has worked with our community partners for more than 25
years. Ending Veteran homelessness depends heavily upon collaborative,
joint efforts from community agencies and local governments.
Homeless Women Veterans
According to the 2019 PIT Count, the San Diego region has 83
homeless women that identify as Veterans, of which 48 are sheltered and
35 are unsheltered. VASDHS HCHV offers services to women Veterans in
the GPD programs, located at Interfaith Community Services in Oceanside
and VVSD in the City of San Diego. VVSD additionally receives special
needs funding for two of their VA-grant programs to serve women
Veterans and women Veterans with families. The local Veterans Emergency
Shelter, privately funded and operated by VVSD, offers emergency
shelter beds to women Veterans. VASDHS HCHV staff have established
relationships with the VVSD shelter program staff and are able to
assist with referrals for women Veterans when beds are available.
VASDHS HCHV collaborates with the Women Veterans Program at VASDHS,
which offers resources to women Veterans, as well as connects them to
specialty care for medical and mental health services. VASDHS recently
implemented an Intimate Partner Violence program and VASDHS HCHV has
assigned homeless program staff for this area of specialty to be
trained this fall.
VA has made significant progress serving women Veterans in recent
years, but homelessness among women Veterans remains an important
concern and focus. Women Veterans can face many challenges when
returning to civilian life, including raising children on their own and
dealing with the psychological after effects of events such as military
sexual trauma, employment, and housing barriers. Local Communities
across the Nation are continuing to align resources to address these
unique challenges. VA Women's Health services programs are engaged with
to support a systematic and coordinated approach to care:
Women Veteran Program Managers (WVPM) are located at
every VA Medical Center (VAMC). WVPMs help coordinate all the services
that women Veterans may need. Services include primary care, pregnancy
care, psychiatric care and sexual trauma counseling, inpatient medical/
surgical care, programs for homeless women Veterans, and quality of
care issues.
Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is the term used by VA to
refer to sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment
experienced during military service. Homeless women Veterans who use VA
health care have higher rates of experiencing MST compared to all women
Veterans who use VA health care. MST-related health care for physical
and mental health conditions is available free of charge at every VA
facility for eligible persons. There is MST Coordinators at every VAMC
who can connect Veterans who have experienced MST to VA health care
programs and services.
Mental Illness
Secretary Wilkie recognizes homeless Veterans are a high-risk
population for suicide and has made suicide prevention one of his top
priorities.
VA's National Center on Homelessness among Veterans published
research in 2018 (https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/nchav/research/HERS6--
Suicide.asp) that found homelessness is associated with an increased
rate of all-cause mortality and of suicide in Veterans. A study by John
McCarthy highlighted at the VA Homeless Evidence and Research Synthesis
Roundtable Proceedings in 2018 found that the suicide rate among
Veterans with homelessness in the past year was 81.0 per 100,000 as
compared to Veterans without recent history of homelessness with a rate
of 35.8 suicides per 100,000.
Because suicide prevention is one of the Secretary's top
priorities, VA Homeless Programs are required to collaborate with
Suicide Prevention programs using the S.A.V.E. program to cross-train
homeless program staff on suicide prevention programs and to enable
homeless program staff to train community providers and first
responders on suicide and suicide prevention. Additionally, this team
meets regularly to review high-risk Veterans identified by the Recovery
Engagement and Coordination for Health program to discuss and develop
appropriate treatment plans to address risk factors. VASDHS HCHV has
staff from the CES program, the VJO program, and Outreach program that
meet with the Suicide Prevention Coordinator monthly. Staff involved in
this effort have provided formal training to local GPD Providers as
well as other Veteran community partners and first responders.
Affordable Housing
VA continues to promote the establishment of affordable and
permanent supportive housing and works with all partners to encourage
efforts aimed at financing and developing additional housing stock to
address the market factors. VASDHS's Homeless Program is working with
San Diego Housing Commission to open project-based housing units for
the HUD-VASH program. The first project came online in the Spring of
2019, and two additional programs will be opening this fall. VASDHS's
Homeless Program is currently in talks with two prospective community
partners about the possibility of converting tenant-based vouchers to
project-based vouchers to create more available units in the region. In
addition, VA and HUD have awarded the San Diego Housing Commission and
County of San Diego Public Housing Authority 100 project-based vouchers
to create dedicated units subsidized by these HUD-VASH vouchers.
Criminal Justice History
Studies of Veterans receiving VA homeless services have shown that
65% have a history of incarceration in prison or jail. Criminal justice
histories create barriers-in addition to those noted above-to permanent
housing, employment, education, and other resources, further limiting
VA's ability to help homeless Veterans access these resources. This
limitation is particularly acute for Veterans with histories of sexual
offenses, for whom barriers to critical resources imposed by Federal,
state, and local authorities pervade most areas of life. VA serves
Veterans with criminal justice histories in its own programs (e.g.,
HUD-VASH) and facilitates Veterans' access to legal services, which may
offer opportunities for record expungement, however, access barriers
for those with criminal justice histories continue to limit the ability
of many Veterans to take advantage of non-VA resources.
Employment
The lack of employment opportunities and services that mitigate
barriers to employment will adversely impact housing stability and
community integration for formerly homeless Veterans. Without enough
income, transitioning homeless Veterans will not be able to exit
homelessness into permanent housing successfully. As mentioned above,
VA's HVCES staff work closely with community partners and VA Medical
Facilities to ensure that a range of employment services are accessible
to Veterans who have experienced homelessness.
VA continues to support Vocational Development Specialists who are
embedded in homeless program teams and serve as Employment Specialists
and Community Employment Coordinators. In addition, HVCES program staff
ensure that Veterans who have experienced homelessness, including
chronically homeless Veterans, have access to a range of employment
services that complement existing medical center-based employment
services and are a bridge to employment opportunities and resources in
the local community.
In April 2018, the HVCES program set a national goal of
reaching 10,000 unique instances of employment (each episode of
employment gained by a Veteran) between April 1, 2018, and March 31,
2019.
As of April 1, 2019, there were over 21,000 unique
instances of employment, more than double the employment goal for
Veterans engaged in or who exited from VHA Homeless programs or
Services.
Data Sharing
Due to the transient nature of this population, a loss of access to
Veteran health care information may also lead to inaccurate master by-
name lists of Veterans experiencing homelessness in local communities
and local resource planning as a result. Improving data sharing
processes between VA and communities will ensure that Veterans
experiencing homelessness have access to available services and
resources. The risk of not improving data sharing processes will impact
community's ability to successfully assess needs of homeless Veterans
and match services to meet those needs.
Reducing Veteran Homelessness
Reducing the number of Veterans who become homeless continues to be
a vital step towards VA's goal of ending homelessness among Veterans.
VA is working to improve predictive strategies and deploying evidence-
based practices designed to identify and prevent homelessness. VA has
begun a national rollout of the Rapid Resolution Initiative which
expands on a pilot program begun in FY 2018 to reunify Veterans with
family members or friends as an alternative to shelter entry. SSVF is
supporting mediation training by conducting free train-the-trainer
programs for grantees around the country supported by an SSVF technical
assistance grant. The train-the-trainer approach literally trains
grantee staff to become trainers, so they can educate other staff in
their agency and the broader community on these mediation techniques.
VA Community Entry Specialists have also been invited to these
trainings so VAMC staff are able to join this collaborative effort. In
addition, SSVF has provided grantees with additional funding so they
can support education for their staff on these techniques. Using
mediation training and modest financial incentives through the SSVF
program, VA is working with HUD, the U.S. Interagency Council on
Homelessness, and other Federal agencies to create policies and train
community-based staff to support implementation of this model. VASDHS
SSVF providers have been working with VASDHS HCHV to implement the
Rapid Resolution program locally in FY 2020.
In addition, VASDHS HCHV uses results from the Community
Homelessness Assessment, Local Education, and Networking Groups for
Veterans (Project CHALENG) to identify unmet needs and encourage new
partnership development to meet those needs. Over the years, CHALENG
has helped build thousands of relationships between VA and community
agencies so they can better serve homeless Veterans locally. Data from
the survey on Veterans' unmet needs have assisted VA in evaluating
programs for their scale, scope, improvement, and effectiveness to
prevent and end homelessness for our Nation's Veterans.
Unique Challenges
Nutrition, the Criminal Justice System, Health Care, and Employment
Significant progress has been made in preventing and ending Veteran
homelessness. The number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in the
United States has declined by nearly half since 2010, as more than
700,000 Veterans and their family members have been permanently housed
or prevented from becoming homeless. Although significant progress has
been made, homeless and at-risk Veterans are faced with many
challenges. VA has taken the following actions to address these
challenges.
Nutrition
In 2018, VA partnered with Feeding America with a shared goal and
commitment to Veterans who require immediate hunger assistance in
support of ending Veteran food insecurity. Through this partnership, VA
and Feeding America have worked together to support participating
Feeding America network food banks and VA medical facilities, through
the development of pop-up food pantries at 18 VAMCs. Through these
pantries, more than 600,000 meals have been served to more than 30,000
Veterans and their family members who were experiencing food
insecurities or those at risk of experiencing food insecurity. This
partnership is growing as more VAMCs set up pantries through this
partnership.
VJO
VA serves justice-involved Veterans through two dedicated national
programs, both prevention-oriented components of VA's Homeless
programs: Health Care for Reentry Veterans (HCRV) and VJO. Known
collectively as the Veterans Justice Programs, HCRV and VJO facilitate
access to needed VA health care and other services for Veterans at all
stages of the criminal justice process, from initial contact with law
enforcement through community reentry following incarceration.
Part of the continuum of services offered by VASDHS HCHV is the VJO
program. This program provides resources, referrals, and case
management services by VJO Specialists to Veterans with a variety of
justice-involved needs, ranging from those participating in Treatment
Court to those who are incarcerated, those that may be on probation/
parole, and for those in need of homeless court advocacy.
VJO Specialists are assigned to provide case management services to
Veterans involved in the following VTC: San Diego's Superior Court
Veterans Treatment Court, Federal Military Diversion Court, and Federal
Veterans Treatment Court.
The VJO program works closely with the Sheriff Department in the
Vista Detention Center's Veterans Module to offer information,
resources, and participates in discharge planning for incarcerated
Veterans to ensure that Veterans are linked to programs to address
issues related to housing, substance use, medical care, mental health,
and employment programs prior to their release. Specifically, many
Veterans are linked by the VJO Specialists to VA-funded GPD programs,
the VASDHS Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program as part of their
probation/parole. A VJO Specialist provides case management services
after release from the Veterans Module to ensure greater success and to
help reduce recidivism. This program has won several awards for
excellence and has since been replicated by other Sheriff Departments
nationally.
Expanding Access
H.R. 2398 would amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 and
title 38, United States Code (U.S.C.), to include those who are
ineligible for other VA Homeless programs authorized by 38 U.S.C. 2011,
2012, 2013, 2044, and 2061. As VA expressed in a letter to the
Subcommittee on May 31, 2019, VA supports the expansion of eligibility
in section 1(b) of the bill, although we note that the amendments made
by section 1(a) of the bill are unnecessary because there is no
eligibility issue on the HUD authorization side. This legislation is
designed to match HUD-VASH eligibility criteria to that of the GPD and
SSVF programs. Although VA supports this proposed legislation as it
will allow additional vulnerable chronically homeless Veterans to
receive much-needed HUD-VASH vouchers and case management, we note that
in expanding eligibility, VA and HUD will need to coordinate to ensure
responsible program implementation in order to maintain continued
quality of care and success of the HUD-VASH program.
VA also supports H.R. 716 if amended, as the bill is similar to a
legislative proposal in VA's FY 2020 budget request. VA testified on
this bill at a July 19, 2019, Subcommittee hearing.
Conclusion
VA, VASDHS, and the Oceanside Clinic, are committed to providing
the high-quality care our Veterans have earned and deserve. We continue
to improve access and services to meet the needs of Veterans. We
support all efforts to increase Homeless Veteran HUD-VASH
prioritization eligibility. We appreciate the opportunity to appear
before you today and the resources Congress provides VA to care for
Veterans.
Prepared Statement of R. Hunter Kurtz
Introduction
Good morning Chairman Takano, Chairman Levin, Ranking Member
Bilirakis, and Congressman Peters. Thank you for this important
opportunity to discuss the efforts of the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD), its Office of Public and Indian Housing
(PIH), 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.
I am honored to serve as HUD's Assistant Secretary for Public and
Indian Housing. The HUD-VASH program, which is administered by PIH,
works to provide homes to veterans who are homeless, or who are at risk
of homelessness. HUD staff, local housing authorities, Continuum of
Care, and local Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs) work in tandem
to provide homes and services to homeless veterans. I can attest that
this program has been successful in providing a home-not just a house-
to our nation's veterans.
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. This strategy combines short-
term financial assistance and supportive services to help the formerly
homeless stabilize in their housing, increase their employment and
income, and connect to community supports. HUD also supports emergency
shelter, transitional housing, and many other types of assistance
dedicated to ending homelessness.
In 2017, the last year for which data is available, 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.
HUD-Veterans' Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)
As I stated previously, the HUD-VASH program is administered by
HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing. HUD-VASH is dedicated to
housing homeless veterans. HUD-VASH has been successful in its approach
to addressing veteran homelessness byproviding long-term housing
assistance to the most vulnerable veterans experiencing homelessness.
It combines housing choice voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless
veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs. VA provides these services for
participating veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-
based outreach clinics.
In the HUD-VASH program, the local VAMC case managers screen and
determine veteran eligibility for the program. 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 Housing Choice
Voucher 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. PHAs must also ensure that veterans are income
eligible.
To date, Congress has appropriated $755 million in HUD-VASH
funding. HUD-VASH vouchers are renewed based on actual leasing, as with
the HCV program generally. When a household leaves the program, their
voucher is reissued to another eligible household.
Every year since 2008, HUD and VA have collaboratively awarded new
HUD-VASH vouchers based on a community's eligible veteran population
and administrative capacity. A total of 97,576 HUD-VASH vouchers have
been awarded to PHAs to date. There have been additional PHAs added to
each allocation. There is at least one PHA administering HUD-VASH is
each of the 50 states, in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and
Guam. 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. PBVs 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.
According to VA data, 76,992 HUD-VASH vouchers were under lease. An
additional 4,693 had been issued but were not yet leased. This equates
to a total of 81,685 HUD-VASH vouchers ``in use.'' An additional 1,371
had been referred, but were not yet issued. Over 174000 veterans have
moved into housing with a HUD-VASH voucher since 2008.
HUD will be awarding approximately 5,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers with
the additional $40 million in HUD-VASH funding that was appropriated in
FY2019. HUD is working with VA and the U.S. Interagency Council on
Homelessness (USICH) to determine the processes and priorities for this
award.
HUD did not request new HUD-VASH vouchers in FY 2020 because, based
on an analysis conducted jointly by HUD and the VA, the turnover of
these existing HUD-VASH vouchers and the FY 2019 appropriation of $40
million is enough to meet the demand of current referrals of VA
eligible veterans who are experiencing homelessness and require the
intensive services and support of a HUD-VASH voucher.
To fulfill our shared commitment to ending veteran homelessness, it
is important to remember that HUD must serve all veterans experiencing
homelessness, including those not eligible for VA services. To achieve
this, HUD has been working with select communities and their local VA
and CoC-funded local supportive service providers to create 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 other-than-dishonorable discharges who do not
qualify for VA healthcare. This flexibility also helps communities
better maximize the utilization of their HUDVASH resources.
Congress has provided HUD flexible authority to design the HUD-VASH
program in ways that would best serve veterans experiencing
homelessness. 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. HUD is also exploring options to ensure maximum utilization
of these vouchers to ensure the highest number of homeless veterans are
being served across the country. Because HUD-VASH is a joint program
between HUD and the VA, both Departments are working collaboratively on
this reallocation effort to ensure that existing HUD-VASH resources are
being used as efficiently and effectively as possible to serve the
maximum number of eligible veterans across the country. Therefore, HUD
and VA are focusing on changes to maximize effectiveness in the
allocation of new vouchers and supporting PHAs in their efforts to
improve utilization, as opposed to the recapture and reallocation of
existing vouchers.
Recapture and Reallocation of HUD-VASH Vouchers
In March of this year, HUD submitted a report to Congress on the
recapture and reallocation of HUD-VASH vouchers in response to the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141). Congress directed
the department to use existing authority to recapture HUD-VASH vouchers
from PHAs that voluntarily declare they no longer have a need for-or
have mismanaged-their allotted vouchers.
Because HUD-VASH is a joint program between HUD and the VA, both
departments are working collaboratively and view this reallocation
effort as part of a broader mission to ensure all existing HUD-VASH
resources are being used as efficiently and effectively as possible to
serve the maximum number of veterans across the country. In general,
the goals of the reallocation process is to ensure that all current and
future HUD-VASH resources are being used to the maximum benefit of
veterans. HUD and VA will continue to report on the process and actions
taken.
At this time, HUD has not recaptured and reallocated HUD-VASH
vouchers. There has been no PHAs or VAMCs that have voluntarily
declared that they no longer have a need for HUD-VASH, nor has HUD or
VA determined that any PHAs has mismanaged its allotted vouchers. HUD
reviews HUD-VASH utilization rates when new data is available each
month and addresses any PHASs with low utilization.
However, HUD has established a process for transferring HUD-VASH
vouchers between mutually agreeing PHASs within a single VAMC catchment
area to address utilization issues while still addressing the need at
the VAMC level. Additionally, the departments collaborated to create
HUD-VASH Continuum to serve VA-ineligible veterans through a non-VA
provider when there are HUD-VASH vouchers available.
Currently, HUD is focused primarily on changes to the allocation of
new vouchers to maximize effectiveness. For example, the department has
utilization threshold criteria to only award additional HUD-VASH
vouchers to communities effectively using their existing HUD-VASH
resources.
Tribal HUD-VASH
The Tribal HUD-VASH demonstration 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) and Congress
has continued its support in subsequent years by enacting funds for
renewal grants and modest expansion. In all, 26 Indian tribes or
tribally designated housing entities (TDHE) currently participate in
the program. These recipients were initially awarded grants totaling
$5.9 million based on their level of need and administrative capacity.
HUD provided a first round of renewal funding to these recipients in
2018 and expects to do so again in 2019. HUD will also award additional
funding to expand the program using funds provided in the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2017.
Implementation of the program is overseen by HUD's Office of Native
American Programs (ONAP) within PIH, and VA is responsible for
providing case management services and referring eligible veterans for
housing assistance. As of July 31, 2019, approximately 600 veterans
have received case management services, and of those, over 345 veterans
are also currently being housed under the Tribal HUD-VASH program. The
program is producing tangible results, housing homeless or at risk of
becoming homeless Native American veterans and their families who were
camping out, living in places not meant for human habitation, living in
severely inadequate units - without running water, heat or electricity-
or in overcrowded living conditions.
The President's Budget for FY 2020 requests authority to set aside
up to $4 million of Tenant Based Rental Assistance funds for necessary
renewal funding for the Tribal HUD-VASH program. While HUD believes
there is sufficient carryover funding appropriated in previous years to
provide renewal grants, this authority will allow the Department to
ensure that all veterans remain stably housed in the event that renewal
funding needs are higher than anticipated.
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 jointly
create standards for evaluating whether communities have ended veteran
homelessness. Since 2014, more than 880 elected officials, including
mayors, city and county officials, and governors have set a goal of
ending veteran homelessness in their communities. As of August 9, 2019,
77 communities and 3 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 homeless person 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
Because the ability of any community to end 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
homeless assistance funds, 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 successes of other communities. Both
initiatives were designed with the explicit goal of helping communities
end veteran homelessness.
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 its 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 project based vouchers, 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 assist veterans in their
housing search.
HUD continues to help communities with targeted assistance. The
Department has launched a technical assistance initiative focused on
helping communities with high numbers of unsheltered people
experiencing homelessness, including high numbers of unsheltered
veterans. The initiative focuses 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 challenges unique to veterans living in rural areas, such as
access to transportation.
Results
Each year, communities across the country conduct point in time
counts of people experiencing homelessness. The count, held annually in
January, 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. While we work to reduce homelessness across all
populations, we have made real progress on reducing veteran
homelessness. Based on the 2018 count, veteran homelessness decreased
by 5.4 percent between 2017 and 2018 bringing the overall decline in
veteran homeless to 49 percent (a decrease of 36,209 veterans) since
2010. This kind of reduction is historic, and HUD-VASH has been a
primary reason for this progress.
A robust body of evidence shows that the combination of housing
vouchers, permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and other
targeted interventions can indeed end homelessness. 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.
Conclusion
A great deal of progress has been made in the way HUD works with
other agencies to address veteran homelessness. The HUD-VASH program
continues to be a model for interagency collaboration and one of the
best tools for ending veteran homelessness. Nonetheless, HUD 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 discuss HUD's efforts to
end veteran homelessness.
Prepared Statement of Ginny Puddefoot
Good morning.
My name is Ginny Puddefoot and I am the Executive Officer of the
Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. The Council is under the
California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency and is
chaired by Alexis Podesta, Secretary of the Agency.
The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) is
represented on the Council by Undersecretary Russell Atterberry, who
was, until January 2019, the Vice Chair of the Council.
Before I get started, I'd like to give you some facts and figures
about homelessness, and veterans' homelessness, in California.
California has 12 percent of the nation's population but 25 percent
of the nation's homelessness.
We have the largest number of veterans of any state. That's about
8.5 percent of the nation's veterans, but we have about 28 percent of
the nation's homeless veterans.
The homeless point-in-time count occurred early this year. While
the final numbers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) won't be coming out until the fall, the vast majority
of local reporting agencies are reporting increases in their homeless
populations.
However, we have been seeing progress in reducing veterans'
homelessness. In January, Los Angeles County reported an overall
increase of 12 percent in the total number of homeless but reported a
slight drop in the number of homeless veterans.
And I know we're in San Diego County, but I want to acknowledge our
neighbor Riverside County to the north. Riverside County is the first
county in California to reach ``functional zero'' when it comes to the
number of homeless veterans there. That means that homelessness among
veterans in Riverside County is rare, brief, and non-recurring, and no
veteran is forced to live on the street.
There is still a lot of work to do in addressing homelessness in
general, and veterans' homelessness specifically.
Some of that work is underway.
In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 41, which created
the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program, and provided
$600 million to fund it.
It provides new affordable housing for veterans and their families,
with an emphasis on developing housing for veterans who are homeless or
at risk of homelessness.
It places a priority on projects that combine housing and
supportive services, and encourages and fosters innovative financing.
The funding is administered by CalVet and the California Department
of Housing and Community Development, in close consultation with the
California Housing Finance Agency.
To date, 17 projects comprising 546 units have been completed and
are currently occupied by veterans. Another 47 projects comprising
1,772 units are in the pipeline.
Last year, voters passed another ballot measure, Proposition 1, the
Housing Programs and Veterans' Loans Bond.
Proposition 1 authorized $4 billion in bonds, including $1 billion
for the CalVet home loan program.
They also approved Proposition 2, which allows revenue from 2004's
Proposition 63 to be utilized for housing programs.
Specifically, this will fund the No Place Like Home program, which
provides funding for development of permanent supportive housing for
people who are in need of mental health services and who are
experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of
chronic homelessness.
The process for getting that money out the door is underway.
More immediately, in 2018, $500 million was appropriated to
establish the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), to give flexible
block grants to the state's 11 largest cities and 43 Continuums of
Care.
HEAP was designed to provide short-term help until larger programs
come online.
HEAP money was to help local jurisdictions address their immediate
challenges while allowing them optimal flexibility in determining how
to spend it. The idea was that local communities know their
homelessness issues best and should be the ones to decide how to spend
money to address them.
HEAP came into being on July 1, 2018 - the start of the state's
fiscal year - and by the end of 2018, all $500 million had been awarded
to all 11 cities and 43 continuums of care, with all distributions
completed by March of 2019.
In other words, the state moved very fast to both create a program
and get the funding out to local jurisdictions.
The budget that took effect on July 1 of THIS year includes another
$650 million in one-time block grant funding through a new program -
the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program.
It, too, is bridge funding to help local jurisdictions until
additional funding is available.
This money will go to California's 13 largest cities, to Continuums
of Care, and to California's 58 counties. They can use it for expansion
of emergency shelters and navigation centers, rapid-rehousing,
permanent supporting housing, and other such efforts.
To get the money, the local jurisdictions must show how they will
collaborate around a regional plan to address homelessness.
Earlier, I mentioned Riverside County and how it has achieved
``functional zero'' in terms of veterans' homelessness.
One of the ways they did that was through the use of real-time
data, which they used to come up with evidence-based solutions for
veterans' homelessness.
That's an approach California will use.
The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council is developing a
State Strategic Action Plan to Address Homelessness to focus on how to
prioritize its resources to efficiently and effectively address
homelessness.
It will provide guidance on evidence-based actions that can be
taken to quickly and significantly reduce the number of individuals and
families experiencing homelessness, and reduce the duration and number
of episodes of homelessness that people experience.
The work of creating that plan is underway. We have issued a
request for white papers to get input and recommendations from experts,
advocates and other stakeholders. We received 42 white papers which are
currently under review.
This fall, we will have a list of recommended actions and best
practices and will reach out to key players to solicit their help and
input. By the end of the year, we will convene focus groups and
meetings with stakeholders and begin drafting the plan.
By spring of next year, we hope to have a final plan to present to
the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council for their approval so
that we can begin implementing the actions contained in the plan.
As you can see, we have a lot of irons in the fire and I'm
optimistic that all of these efforts will make a serious dent in
homelessness in general and veterans' homelessness specifically.
I am gratified that more attention is being paid to homelessness in
recent years and that we are seeing the resources to make a positive
impact on the problem.
Thank you.
Prepared Statement of Ronald J. Stark, MBA
Summary:
My testimony with respect to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity entitled ``Housing our Heroes:
Addressing the Homeless Veterans Crisis'' is given in my role and
capacity as the San Diego Veterans Coalition President of the Board,
though it is certainly informed by observations in my several other
roles listed on my curriculum vitae.
The number of homeless veterans using the annual ``Point in Time''
method seems to always be met with challenges of being under reported,
over reported, a subjective measure, using an unreliable method co
counting veterans on the streets early in the morning, and it use self-
reports to interviewers with minor incentives.
It seems that with current technologies, we could develop and
implement more sophisticated methods to have a more real-time estimate
of the number and condition of our veterans who are homeless.
The SDVC has supported and promoted safeguarded, cross-sector data
sharing that provides a much more reliable estimate to use to determine
how much funding and programming is required, and where.
In SD County we have been using the SD United platform backbone
system (powered by 2-1-1 SD) to screen, partially enroll, refer, and
intake veterans into services.
This platform can provide a reliable number of how many veterans
use a particular service and collect valuable demographic information
to direct policy.
SD United is capable of being interoperable with a larger Community
Information Exchange nationally that includes input from public health,
the VA, community-based providers, and private practices. I can compare
profiles and aggregated report of how many veterans are homeless, and
their services requests and usage, unmet needs, demographics, and
geographic location.
Anecdotally, we hear there are veterans, especially female
veterans, are functionally homeless going from one friend or family
member to another, sleeping in their cars parked off street at a
friend's, relative's, or a compassionate community member's residence,
a business parking area, and other creative resourceful means.
An expanded Community Information Exchange would go a long way
accurately determine how many veterans are homeless and using such
means to survive.
We have come a long way in terms of programs and systems for
veteran who homelessness, and successfully intervened and halted the
trend, but there is one group of homeless veterans who are in desperate
need of an immediate system change.
It has been widely reported that individuals with mental illness,
substance use disorder, and homeless age much faster than their peers
in the general population because of a variety of contributing factors;
unsanitary living environments, poor hygiene, inability to self-manage
and navigate healthcare, transportation, etc.
I have directly observed this in San Diego County in my work over
the years as Logistics Coordinator and Site Supervisor of the San Diego
Stand Down for Homeless Veterans and Their Families.
I am convinced that because homeless veterans age at a more rapid
rate, and they are the leading of a growing general population of aging
veterans.
At Stand Down for the past several years I have seen more and
homeless veterans using canes, walkers, wheel chairs, assisted by a
caregiver, and in need of geriatric medical services for foot and
extremity care, and more extreme care for infections, and other
cognitive ills associated with aging.
Many/most of these veterans leave stand down and return to the
streets because they do not meet the criteria for current programs.
These are incredibly poignant situations and some will die on the
streets if we do not change the criteria to align with their needs and
cognitive capacity.
I urge the Nation to act quickly to come alongside of these aging
homeless veterans.
Prepared Statement of Kimberly Mitchell
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member: Thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today to provide testimony about the housing needs of
veterans.
I am Kim Mitchell, President and CEO of Veterans Village of San
Diego. We are a not for profit housing provider here in San Diego and
we serve more than 2,000 military veterans each year. I also serve on
the Board of Directors of the California Association of Veteran Service
Agencies, CAVSA, and offer my testimony on behalf of both VVSD and
CAVSA today.
I want to begin by acknowledging the many men and women in the
audience today who have served our country in uniform. Thank you for
your service.
Mr. Chairman, I am reassured by the title of today's hearing:
veteran homelessness is a crisis. It is one that touches both rural and
urban parts of our country, and one that requires immediate resources
and attention if we are ever going to get ahead of it.
Today, in San Diego, we are finally catching our breath. The last
two years have been difficult, as a devastating outbreak of hepatitis
plagued homeless communities across the region. In response, VVSD and
our partners stood up an emergency shelter to provide safe, clean
living conditions for an additional 200 veterans that were on the
street and susceptible to this potentially deadly virus. We had to act
fast, but I believe our response not only helped rebuild livelihoods,
it also saved lives.
As the immediate threat from hepatitis subsides, now is a perfect
time for reflection. In my mind, the most important question is ``what
can we do to prevent this from happening again?'' Improvements can be
made across the board, but because of the work we do at VVSD, I can
offer some concrete recommendations about what the VA can do to help.
First, we need to expand the VA's Grant Per Diem program (GPD) by
increasing the rates at which providers are reimbursed.
GPD is the first line of defense against veteran homelessness and
is widely regarded as a successful, short term program that helps at-
risk veterans get back on their feet. The program works, and VVSD and
my fellow CAVSA members strongly support the goals and structure of the
program as it operates today.
It is worth noting, however, that the significant structural and
regulatory changes to GPD three years ago made it more challenging to
administer. VVSD and CAVSA commend the VA for improving the
effectiveness of this important program, but note that the changes
added significant costs to grantees. As such, we ask that Congress or
VA increase reimbursement rates by at least 25%. This modest increase
will result in community partners like VVSD being more able and willing
to expand the number of beds they offer, especially to individuals
participating in the ``Bridge'' and ``Clinical'' tracks.
Second, we need to better leverage project-based HUD-VASH vouchers
by contracting out supportive services to the qualified veteran housing
providers that receive these vouchers.
As administrators of HUD-VASH project-based grants, VVSD and CAVSA
members bear the burden of the VA failing to maintain its 25:1 ratio of
case managers to program participants. In our facilities, we see that
VA case management staff often fail to even show up to provide our
tenants with the mental health, job training and social services
support they need. As a result, we end up funding this support out of
our own pockets. As non-profits, this is hard to do. It is also
especially frustrating given the fact that Congress has consistently
funded these positions! It's just that the VA can't seem to get the
staff into the field.
There are two solutions to this problem:
Congress could enact legislation that awards the
recipient of a project-based HUD-VASH housing voucher with the
commensurate funding to administer the services associated with that
voucher. Or;
The VA and HUD Secretaries-which have virtually unlimited
authority to waive law and regulation to improve the administration of
HUD-VASH-could issue a directive to accomplish the same goal.
Either way, the routine failure of the VA to provide the casework
associated with HUD-VASH is a significant drag on the effectiveness of
the program and must be remedied without delay.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, this concludes my oral remarks. I
want to again thank you for shining a light on this important issue,
and working to improve the effectiveness of VA's Homeless Housing
programs. I am happy to answer any questions the Committee may have.
Prepared Statement of Matt Schillingburg
THE PROBLEM:
Less than 1% of the population of the United States ever volunteer
to ``Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States of
America against ALL enemies foreign and domestic.'' In doing so,
service members become a special part of our nation that are willing to
sacrifice their own lives to preserve the freedoms that so many
American enjoy on a daily basis.
Over 2 million servicemen and women have been deployed over 3
million times since 9/11 in support of the Global War on Terror
(Department of Defense [DoD], 2012). These troops have included Active
Duty, Reserve, and National Guard personnel, with Reserve and National
Guard personnel being utilized as a part of the operational force
structure after 9/11. These numerous deployments are one of the many
reasons that our service members decide to make the transition from
military life to civilian life and these numerous deployments weigh
heavy on the veteran, which in turn manifests itself in many different
ways that contribute to the problem of veteran homelessness in the
United States.
Active Duty Veterans and their families, as well as transitioned
veterans face significant housing challenges. California has the
largest number of veterans' homelessness in the United States with
9,600 veterans homeless. Homeless veterans in California represent 24%
of the National Homeless Veteran Population.
Many Veterans do not have stable housing after they separate from
the Military, and many housing markets in California, it is difficult,
if not impossible, for Military families and even single service
members that might have once enjoyed Military Housing or barracks, to
transition to the civilian housing market.
Only 54 % of pre-9/11 veterans and 35% of post 9/11
veterans lined up housing after the military in the San Francisco Area;
Only 10% of pre-9/11 veterans and 18% of pre-9/11
veterans reported being homeless in Orange County;
Over a 25% of military veterans reported that they lacked
housing in the past 2 years in Los Angeles according to HUD.
1.5 million veteran households suffered severe housing costs in
2011 and it has only become worse.
According to Los Angeles Housing Authority, HUD-VASH housing
vouchers have the lowest success rate among the housing vouchers that
the Authority issues.
``Success'' is defined as placing the voucher recipient in a rental
unit. The success rate for the Los Angeles Housing Authority's for non-
veteran housing is 67%. The success rate for HUD-VASH vouchers for
veterans drops to 33%.
This is unacceptable for our veterans and changes need to be made
to address the issue.
San Diego County has one of the highest population of veterans in
the United States and with an estimated 250,000 Veterans. Most of those
Veterans choose to stay in San Diego County after retiring from the
military or transitioning from the service and many such as myself
return to their roots here, in San Diego.
I personally retired from the United States Army in Texas in 1996
but returned to my home, here in San Diego. Transitioning from the
military to civilian life was very difficult after a 20-year career in
the military. Although, retired with a pension, I was faced with the
difficulty of translating my military skill-set to the civilian world
for job possibilities and securing housing for myself and my family. I
was able to do so but so many veterans today cannot.
It was a different time from when I retired in 1996 to present day
transitions for service members in San Diego County.
It is estimated that there are approximately 1,400 homeless
veterans on the streets of San Diego.
The question becomes, ``Is ending Veteran homelessness possible in
states with the highest incidence (e.g., California and Washington),
especially since some areas have seen an increase in homelessness?
Answering that question is very complicated because many variables
factor into that question.
One of the variables is the ``HUD-VASH Program that combines the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Housing Choice
Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless veterans and their
families with case management and clinical services provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at its medical centers and in the
community.''
Here lies one of the problems with the program, ``Eligibility'' as
defined on the Veterans Affairs Website; ``Veterans who are appropriate
for this program (should read, ``Any Veteran'') must be VA health care
eligible Veterans.'' VA makes that determination.
Most healthy veterans and their and their families never apply for
their veteran benefits as part of their transition from the military.
Others that have been wounded or injured during the service often are
provided with a Veterans Service Officer to complete their benefits
package as they transition from the military.
Those service members that never apply to the VA are not in the VA
system. When they run into difficulties and when they become homeless,
the VA can't help them with HUD-VASH.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:
There needs to be a ``Hand Off'' between the Military
Personal System to the VA Medical System to prevent this from happening
so the service member is in the VA System and able to deal with any
difficulties, such as veteran homelessness.
There also needs to be a program that is part of the
service members transition process when they leave the service, a
Veteran Service Officer should be assigned to the service member to aid
that veteran in insuring that his or her information is in the VA
System.
``Success'' needs to be to help prevent and preempt veteran's
homelessness and that means providing a smooth transition with all
available resources for the transitioning veterans and their families
and also a safety net of available resources when life takes a wrong
turn for that veteran.
Other variables are the job market, the housing market (to include
available low-income housing), and mental health issues including PTSD.
All these variables factor into answering the veteran's homelessness
issue.
Prepared Statement of Greg Anglea
Introduction
Increased Federal funding to address Veteran homelessness is
working. Since 2010 the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness on
a single night in the US has decreased nearly 50% from 74,000 to 37,800
in 2018. That's the good news. The bad news is that 37,800 men and
women who sacrificed to protect our country are now struggling in
homelessness. They answered the call to service, yet their country is
now failing to help them in their time of crisis. This is unacceptable.
As a nation, we must do better.
In order to do better we should take two actions:
1)Increase funding for Veterans housing programs which are working
but currently at capacity
2)Fix just a few gaps in the current system by preventing more
Veterans from becoming homeless, more efficiently connecting Veterans
to existing housing programs, and strengthening support for disabled
senior Veterans experiencing homelessness
Build Upon Proven Success, Overcome Current Gaps
Between 2010 to 2017, Federal funding to address Veteran
homelessness increased from $713M to $1.65B. This increase went almost
entirely toward housing-focused Veteran programs:
VA Grant & Per-Diem Program: Transitional Housing
VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families: Rapid
rehousing rental assistant to end or prevent homelessness
HUD-VA Supportive Housing (VASH): Permanent housing
voucher with supportive services for disabled Veterans
Put simply, if we want to help end homelessness for Veterans today,
and prevent more from becoming homeless tomorrow, we must increase
funding for Veteran housing programs. Locally here in San Diego we have
at least 1,100 Veterans experiencing homelessness. Most would benefit
from these housing programs were they not at full capacity, and
therefore inaccessible.
Increased funding since 2010 has expanded the scope and scale of
housing and supportive services for Veterans at risk of homelessness.
While we must continue to scale with increased funding, we also must
modify scope to address critical gaps in services. I will use the
remainder of my time to identify these gaps and propose reasonable
solutions.
1. Veteran-Focused Services
The programs I've described are usually very effective for the
Veterans who qualify and can access. But if you're homeless, how do you
know where to go, who to talk to, and what you qualify for? The VA and
HUD contract with local service providers to provide housing programs
and services, which usually have very particular criteria. Those
providers, including my own organization, are paid to fulfill the terms
of particular programs. For example, social workers within a VA Grant &
Per Diem Transitional Housing Program are funded to help Veterans who
can qualify for that particular program. There is scant Federal funding
for programs designed to help any Veteran in need.
Locally we have private philanthropists who have pooled resources
to pilot a program to meet this need, funding a Veterans Housing
Stability Case Manager who can serve all Veterans in need. Let me share
the impact of this person-centered model:
Jacob* (name changed to maintain confidentiality), a 39-year-old
Marine Corps Veteran, was referred to Interfaith Community Services by
the Veterans Association of North County. On a limited income from
disability benefits, due to injuries sustained during military service,
Jacob had exhausted his personal savings. As a result of his
disabilities, Jacob was also unable to work to increase his income, he
fell behind on the rent, and in February 2019 was evicted. His
disabilities so significant he was unable to move himself and his
belongings. Jacob and his children were now homeless.
Jacob's Veterans Housing Stability Case Manager connected him with
a VA Benefits representative who was able to increase his service-
connected disability benefits to 100 percent. This same Housing
Stability Case Manager helped Jacob find an apartment he could afford.
Through another program within Interfaith, Jacob was able to obtain
financial assistance to pay for the required move-in costs. Jacob and
his children were able to end their homelessness within three months of
working with the Housing Stability Case Manager for Veterans.
Through the Grant & Per Diem program, the VA released a funding
opportunity this year for what they called a ``Case Management
Program'', which appeared aimed at meeting this void of Veteran-focused
services. Unfortunately the design was too restrictive and the funding
too minimal to cover the expenses of the services. Locally, despite the
significant number of Veterans in San Diego experiencing homelessness
on any given night, no local provider that I'm aware of even applied
for this new VA Case Management Program grant; evidence of its
inadequate level of funding.
We need more Veteran-focused, not program-focused, professionals
available to help any Veteran in their time of need. This will fill a
critical service gap and increase the efficiency of existing Veteran
programs by increasing ease of access.
2. Need for Flexible Funding to Prevent Homelessness
The launch of the VA Supportive Services for Veteran Families
(SSVF) in 2012 prioritized Veterans currently experiencing
homelessness. Only a very small percentage of funding available to
prevent homelessness for those at imminent risk of eviction. Locally,
we see those homeless prevention dollars expended so quickly, they are
rarely available when needed. Last year my organization was awarded a
Federal grant to provide small amounts of rental assistance to prevent
families from becoming homeless. It was supposed to be a 12-month
grant. We were able to prevent homelessness for 41 families. I share
this to demonstrate the dire need for flexible homeless prevention
dollars, because that 12-month grant was allocated in just 10 days.
Prevention works too. All 41 of those families are still housed.
Please increase short-term, crisis-based rental assistance to
prevent homelessness for Veterans and their families. At my
organization we can usually prevent homelessness for less than $1,000
per household. Once that same family becomes homeless it will cost more
than $10,000 to effectively get them back into housing.
Clarissa* (name changed to maintain confidentiality), a 37-year-old
Navy Veteran and single mother of four children ranging in age from one
to 14 years old, was referred to Interfaith by her Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing Case Manager and 2-1-1 San Diego. Clarissa and her
children were living in a rental property in Chula Vista when her
landlord informed her that her lease would not be renewed. At this
time, Clarissa was attending classes to obtain her Associate's degree,
and receiving supportive housing services through the HUD-VASH. Given
her status as a student, Clarissa's income was limited to $738/month
from child support, and she was receiving food assistance through
CalFresh. As such, Clarissa did not have extra money available to save
for a rental deposit for a new home and moving costs, she and her
family were facing an imminent return to homelessness on June 1, 2019
if she were unable to secure the funds needed for a rental deposit. In
addition, Clarissa faced significant challenges with finding and
obtaining approval for another rental property, as her credit had
suffered significantly due to circumstances that occurred during
previous periods of homelessness.
With assistance from Interfaith, Clarissa was able to obtain
approval to move into a three bedroom, two bath home in Chula Vista,
which required a deposit of $2,350. Interfaith was able to help
Clarissa with the deposit, using flexible rental assistance funding to
prevent her and her children from becoming homeless. Her HUD/VASH
voucher will provide ongoing support until her income increases and she
can be self-sufficient, giving her time to stabilize herself and her
family.
More flexible funding is needed to prevent Veteran mom's like
Clarissa from becoming homeless. Even Veterans connected with existing
federally funded housing programs are at-risk of falling back into
homelessness. Focused homeless prevention funds are a wise investment,
much more efficient than waiting until a Veteran or Veteran family
becomes homeless. Prevention also avoids the traumas often experienced
during homelessness.
3. Enhanced Care for Aging and Disabled Veterans Experiencing
Homelessness
Individuals experiencing homelessness tend to `age faster,'' they
have a shorter life expectancy, more physical health problems and often
present far older than their chronological age. As a result many are
disabled/unable to work before they reach retirement age and become
eligible for Social Security. There is a serious need for services for
the aging/senior population. For years my organization met this need
with VA Grant & Per Diem (GPD) level of supportive services, we worked
primarily with very disabled, senior Veterans. Hundreds of Veterans
graduated from this program into permanent housing of their own, most
often utilizing the HUD-VA Supportive Housing program. However the VA
Grant & Per Diem reimbursement rate of $47.36 per Veteran per day is
simply insufficient to cover the costs to meet the needs of these
senior, disabled Veterans. The program I've described was closed in
2017. VA GPD funding for transitional housing works very well for
higher functioning Veterans. A stepped-up level of funding and care is
needed for disabled, senior Veterans experiencing homelessness.
Between April 2017 and October 2018 Interfaith Community Services
worked with a 79 year-old disabled Navy Veteran (Bill*). Bill had come
into our program after being brought in by a distant family member who
said that the Veteran was homeless and needed a place to live. Bill
struggled with cognitive functioning and short-term memory issues. He
had difficulties remember dates of appointments, keeping track of his
medications, and managing his money. Bill had no significant
relationships in his life, and was vulnerable to predators who
pretended to be his ``friend'' in order to gain access to his service-
connected disability benefits. Even with multiple interventions,
education, and intensive supports from his case management team and the
VA, Bill continued to be defrauded out of his financial benefits by
scam artists. Bill also suffered from paranoia and mood swings, but
refused to complete a neurological assessment through the VA, and would
not follow through with supports to help protect his money, let alone
follow up with Primary Care. Bill required a higher level of care, but
there was nothing available in the community that would meet his needs.
Due to his increasing paranoia Bill eventually left the program and
returned to homelessness.
A higher level of care could have helped Bill. $47.36 per day will
not cut it.
The VA does fund a limited number of higher level Recuperative Care
programs, for Veterans who are ready to discharge from local hospitals
but do not have a home to recuperate in. My organization provides 16
VA-funded Recuperative Care beds in Escondido. In 2018 we helped 88
Veterans with Recuperative Care. 78% stabilized the physical or mental
health condition they were initially hospitalized for and graduated to
stable housing. Recuperative Care programs work and they should be
expanded.
For the growing senior Veteran homeless population, a step-up model
is also needed, an option that can provide a higher level of care for
people like John, bot whom do not need hospital-level Recuperative
Care.
4. Modify HUD Definition of Homelessness
Under the HUD definition of homelessness, Veterans residing in an
institutional setting for more than 90 days are no longer considered
homeless, and therefore ineligible for homeless programs, including
SSVF.
Example: Veteran Mark was homeless and has substance abuse history.
He is placed in the San Diego Aspire Center 90 day intensive treatment
program. Once discharged from that program, Jon is no longer eligible
to receive rapid rehousing services and is forced back on the streets.
Please modify the definition so as not to limit Veterans from
receiving needed services after just 90 days in treatment in an
institutional setting.
Conclusion
To summarize:
Increased funding from 2010 - 2017 reduced Veteran
homelessness nearly 50%
The Transitional Housing, Rental Assistance, and
Permanent Supportive Housing programs funded through that increase are
working, though many who qualify do not receive help because the scale
of these programs must be increased
We must also modify in scope how we address and prevent
homelessness.
Many, like Jacob, simply did not qualify in their time of
crisis. In his case he was helped through privately-funded resources.
Many though are not so fortunate. More veteran-focused services and
flexible, homeless prevention funds are critically needed, like those
that helped Clarissa.
In other cases, like that of Bill, the available programs
simply don't meet the need. A level of care greater that the current
Grant & Per Diem Transitional Housing rate of $47.36 per day is needed
to care for disabled, senior Veterans at risk of and experiencing
homelessness.
For this with the most severe health needs, additional
Recuperative Care is needed.
Thank you for your time today, for inviting me to share our
experiences and expertise helping Veterans and Veteran families
overcome homelessness. I look forward to and offer anything that
Interfaith Community Services or myself can do to help this committee
in your work.
Prepared Statement of Tamara Kohler
Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and distinguished members
of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic
Opportunities
Introduction
My name is Tamera Kohler, I am the Chief Executive Officer of the
Regional Task Force in the Homeless (RTFH) for the San Diego area. On
behalf of our Board of Directors and members, I thank you for the
opportunity to share our views with you this morning. The Regional Task
Force on the Homeless is the Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Continuum of Care (CoC) for the San Diego County, the second-largest
county in the State of California. We have a large geographic area and
population, for context the population in San Diego County is nearly
3.4 Million, a population larger than 22 of the states in the nation.
We are one of over 400+ CoC across this nation designed to promote
a 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.
We work collectively with our funding partners, such as the
Veterans Administration (VA) to tailor a local homeless crisis response
system through data-driven planning, purposeful collaboration, targeted
aligned resources and coordination of efforts while providing guidance
and technical assistance around proven evidence-based practices and
emerging promising practices to effectively and efficiently use
resources to address and alleviate homelessness. This includes all
efforts undertaken with local, state and federally funded agencies,
faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations, health
organizations, and others. These programs provide outreach, prevention,
diversion, emergency shelter, transitional housing, short term rental
assistance, housing subsidies and supportive housing along with food,
health services, employment services, connection to social services,
legal aid and case management support for thousands of homeless in our
region, both sheltered and unsheltered, those at-risk, and formerly
homeless each year.
I appreciate the opportunity to focus on Veteran homelessness in
this statement.
What we know about homelessness Nationally:
In 2017, over 550,000 people are experiencing homelessness on any
given night, with 40,056 veterans and 35% unsheltered.
What we know about homelessness in California:
In 2017, over 134,000 people are experiencing homelessness on any
given night, with 11,472 veterans and 68% unsheltered.
Veterans experience homelessness in every state but nearly one-
third reside in just two states, California (24.5%) and Florida (7.4%),
according to 2017 PIT estimates.
With these numbers in mind, I will focus my statement and testimony
on two areas - risks factors of veteran homelessness and two highly
vulnerable veteran subpopulations- female veterans and elderly
veterans.
Focus: Veterans risks factors for homelessness
Housing affordability:
With rents rising much faster than wages, the burden of affording
rent is looming larger and larger for many veterans, especially those
that are aging and on fixed incomes, and, in, some cases becoming
insurmountable.
According to the Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2017,
79 percent of renters who moved in the last 12 months experienced an
increase in their monthly rent before moving to a new place. And over
half (57 percent) said that hike was a factor in pushing them out the
door and into another rental. Only 21 percent of renter households
didn't report experiencing a rent increase.
Nearly a third (30 percent) of households nationwide, representing
roughly 73 million adults, report they're struggling or just getting by
financially. Most extremely low-income Americans spend greater than 50%
percent of their income on rent. Increasingly, major metro areas are
becoming out of reach for those who aren't earning more than minimum
wage, and this is becoming increasingly true even in markets that have
historically been more affordable. This is especially difficult on
those on fixed incomes.
As an example, according to the National Low Income Housing
Coalition, San Diegans need an income of nearly $30 an hour to afford a
1 bedroom unit at 30% of their income.
In our regions Point-in-Time count survey the question was asked,
what do you need to end your homelessness? 60% stated a rental subsidy
or financial assistance. Increases in rent, tight rental markets and
limited housing stock all contribute to the difficulty finding adequate
and affordable housing and our HMIS data shows higher than the national
average returns to homelessness after housing assistance due to
unaffordable rent without assistance.
Limited resources for Prevention and Rapid Resolution:
Housing ends homelessness. This includes preventing homelessness by
maintaining current housing. Conditions that increase veterans' risks
for experiencing housing instability and homelessness include poverty,
unemployment, and economic hardships, trauma, mental health conditions
(including but not limited to PTSD), substance use disorders, family or
relationship conflicts, disruptions in connections to social support
networks, social isolation, and incarceration. These episodes of
homelessness can be rare, brief and non-recurring if we can address
them quickly with flexible resources within Prevention and Rapid
Resolution SSVF funding. We need more information to help understand
which Veterans and their families are most at-risk of experiencing
homelessness. Is it a combination of risk factors? This information
will help to tailor prevention strategies.
Increasing resources for targeted prevention and rapid resolution
efforts are needed, especially in areas of high rent costs, for our
highly vulnerable veteran households and those on fixed incomes. This
funding needs to be more flexible, client choice focused and include
financial assistance, case management, and safety net system
coordination among the services. Increasing the funding will allow us
to collect better data to help determine which Veterans risk factors
are having the most devastating effects that result in homelessness.
Focus: 2 rapidly increasing vulnerable homeless veteran subpopulations,
and those at risk of homelessness:
Aging population:
Older Veterans are expected to be a majority of the population of
Veterans who experience or are at risk of homelessness in the coming
years. As members of this group get older, they are likely to have
increasingly complex and age-related needs. Among participants in the
VA's transitional housing programs, a significantly greater proportion
of Veterans age 55 or older have serious medical problems, compared to
younger Veterans, making them especially vulnerable to experiencing
negative consequences related to homelessness.
Homeless veterans are not just aging their needs are vastly
different than younger veterans. With the greater numbers of Elderly,
Homeless Veteran come significantly different challenges than our
system has been designed to serve. Long term healthcare issues and
independent living options will become greater challenges and housing
options more limited. Attention to this emerging urgent need is needed
by both the VA and HUD CoC Homeless system.
Data from the RTFH Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
for the San Diego CoC shows significant increases in our population
over the age of 62 in just 2 years. In the 1st quarter of 2017, 1 in 5
or 20% of veterans were 62 or older, 2 years later in the 1st quarter
of 2019, 1 in 4 or 26% of veterans are now 62 or older.
Additionally, during this same time frame in 2017, 12% of those
served with SSVF Rapid rehousing were 62 or older, in 2019 it has
increased to 18%. We need more permanent housing resources and options
for elderly homeless veterans who are currently being served by short
term SSVF.
Female Veterans:
Women make up more than 15% of all active-duty members of the armed
forces and are expected to be about 12% of the nation's Veterans by
2025. With this increase, there will likely be an increasing number of
women Veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the
coming years. Compared with their non-Veteran peers, women Veterans
report higher rates of childhood maltreatment: physical, emotional,
sexual abuse - 1/3 enlisted women have a history of childhood sexual
abuse. Women Veterans generally-and homeless women Veterans,
specifically-have reported joining the military to escape family
violence or other pre-military adversity.
Veteran women are more than twice as likely as non-Veteran women to
experience homelessness.
The characteristics of Veteran women who experience homelessness
are different from Veteran men. More than one-third of Veteran women
who experience homelessness have experienced military sexual trauma
(MST), and they have lower rates of substance abuse and mental health
problems than Veteran men who experience homelessness.
For Veteran women, and women in the general population, intimate
partner violence (IPV) is also associated with and contributes to
homelessness and housing instability. Women Veterans face an elevated
risk of experiencing IPV, compared to women who have not served in the
military, and women patients are screened for recent IPV when they
receive outpatient care at VA medical facilities. One study of VA
health records found that nearly one in four (24%) women who screened
positive for IPV within the past year were also experiencing
homelessness or housing instability, compared to one in ten (10%) women
who screened negative for IPV. When adjusting for age and race, women
who screened positive for past-year IPV were nearly three times as
likely to be experiencing homelessness or housing instability, compared
to other women Veterans.
Finally, Veteran women experiencing homelessness are more likely to
be a part of a family with children, compared to Veteran men. Focused
attention to Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing for Female veteran
households with a sense of urgency and focus safe housing options are
imperative. These services need to assess for and address experiences
of trauma and housing instability together and ensure access to mental
healthcare, especially related to MST, IPV, and PTSD.
Focus: Building on Success
VASH, GPD & SSVF:
Without question one of the most impactful and successful
coordinated efforts to address homelessness has been the partnership
between HUD and VA in the VASH voucher programs. This single dedicated
resource has reduced the numbers of veterans significantly with nearly
a 50% reduction along with the introduction of the SSVF programs to
rapidly rehousing and prevent homelessness for veteran families.
Updates to the GDP programs have been beneficial in allowing for
bridge housing within its programming. The VA can allow for facility
upgrades to meet the safety and security needs of women veterans,
veterans with chronic mental health issues, and aging and disabled
veterans - all rapidly growing populations. GPD programs need to
capitalize on expertise in outreach, case management, and landlord
engagement to make homelessness brief and non-recurring.
The continued options within SSVF are transformational with Rapid
Resolution and the most recent opportunity with SSVF shallow subsides.
In which 12 communities, one of which is San Diego, will model the
shallow subsidy option for high-cost rent areas. This focused attention
to housing affordability as a primary factor contributing to
homelessness and housing instability makes this longer-term modest
subsidy is a welcomed option.
Focus: Data-driven decisions
Despite these areas of success we are missing critical information
on the characteristics and needs of Veterans who experience unsheltered
homelessness to better tailor and target strategies and resources. We
need greater data collected by outreach on the unsheltered population.
We need to better understand the risk factors for returns to
homelessness among Veterans being served by the HUD-VASH and SSVF
programs and more data on the numbers of Veterans experiencing
homelessness who have dishonorable discharges or are otherwise not
eligible for VHA health care services.
Conclusion
Thank you to the committee for holding your field hearing here in
Southern California on the Veterans homeless crisis. Nowhere is the
struggled more real as those experiencing homelessness tonight are more
likely to be unsheltered than sheltered or housed. We must acknowledge
there are continuing and growing serious issues and major challenges in
this work and it will take our best efforts, collectively and
individually to dig deeper, to stretch our understanding, and test our
assumptions, and be bold in our determination and decisions. We must
not be afraid to act, to learn, analysis and coordinate at the system
level not only as individual programs or funding sources but as leaders
too. We need to be nimble and act with urgency to address local
homeless issues and scale up proven practices that the data show are
effective. We must fully utilize all of the resources we have as
efficiently and as collaboratively as possible. We ask this committee
to continue to fully fund the VA homeless and housing programs and work
to increase these dedicated resources to serve veterans so their
homelessness may be rare, brief and nonrecurring. We need to return
dignity to our citizens, and remove the demoralizing effects
homelessness has on communities that struggle to meet the needs of its
most vulnerable citizens and Veterans.
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
Chairmen Takano and Levin, Ranking Members Roe and Bilirakis, and
distinguished Members of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity:
On behalf of our Board of Directors and Members across the country,
thank you for the opportunity to share the views of the National
Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) with you. 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 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.
Since June of 2014, 77 communities and three states have achieved
the Federal benchmarks and criteria for ending veteran homelessness.
This is an important proof point highlighting that ending veteran
homelessness nationwide is in fact, an achievable goal. We have seen
the annual point-in-time (PTT) count of veterans experiencing
homelessness decrease by nearly 50 percent since 2009, largely a
testament to the dedication and hard work of local service providers,
community partners, and Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) staff.
While in the abstract this is progress toward the goal of ending
veteran homelessness, in real tangible terms, it is life changing for
the thousands of veterans who are now stably housed.
However; this progress is challenging to maintain, requiring a
dedication to surpassing the status quo, and we can not afford to rest
on our laurels. With 37,878 veterans experiencing homelessness on a
given night according to the latest PTT count, we still have much work
to do across the nation. From NCHV's perspective, even a single
homeless veteran is one too many. The need is paramount that we double
down on our efforts to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and
nonrecurring, for veterans and all Americans.
For communities and their providers, this means looking at
community-level data to not only identify acuity but to 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 to attain housing stability. This also requires
partnering with other providers to create housing-first-oriented
systems that incorporate a variety of housing interventions, including
appropriately-sized transitional housing options in communities where
these facilities fill gaps in services or where the housing crisis is
so extreme that permanent housing placement takes longer than it
should. We 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 indeed sustainable. The
needs of veterans must come first, thus it is NCHV's position that
Housing First should never mean housing only. Tt is also NCHV's view
that shelter and services alone can not solve this problem. Deep
investments in affordable housing must be paired with solid
implementation of housing-first oriented systems and housing-first
interventions in order to see true success.
Congress must ensure that the key programs that serve veterans
experiencing homelessness are sufficiently funded, not only because it
is the right thing to do for those that have served, but because
Congress has taken the issue on as the first step in reducing overall
homelessness across the nation. At NCHV, we do not advocate for the
unqualified growth of resources for the sake of expanding programs.
NCHV recommends the following authorizing and appropriations levels for
the key programs below:
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program: $100 million
Grant and Per Diem: $300 million
Supportive Services for Veteran Families: $400 million
HUD-VASH: $40 million for new vouchers
HUD-VASH
Homelessness is a multifaceted and complex problem that differs for
each veteran experiencing it, thus interagency collaboration is needed
to address these issues. One great example of interagency collaboration
is the Supportive Housing or HUD-VASH program, which has allowed VA to
focus resources more efficiently by pairing VA-funded case management
with a HUD- funded Section 8 voucher for the most vulnerable veterans.
Congress has been very generous with the creation of new HUD-VASH
vouchers since 2008. NCHV applauds the foresight entailed by this
consideration, and thanks Congress for these vouchers on behalf of the
tens of thousands of veterans who have been and are currently being
housed.
Yet, the simple fact remains that there is still much unmet need
across the country. A recent survey of NCHV members indicated that 86%
of our respondent communities still had an unmet need for permanent
supportive housing and had a wait-list of veterans for HUD-VASH. As
such, NCHV is calling for an increased investment in the effective HUD-
VASH program to address the entire homeless veteran population by
simply covering the wait lists as intended. While Vouchers have been
effective, the continued messaging to communities regarding the ability
to project-base these vouchers is a crucial consideration. The
affordable housing crisis in the US is widespread. Tt is most acute in
urban areas, particularly, in the areas of the country with the highest
concentration of homeless veterans: California, New York, and Florida.
Tn certain areas of the country with extremely low rental housing
vacancy rates, the ability to locate housing is the single biggest
barrier to housing veterans. For many communities experiencing this
crisis, the only way to find affordable housing in which to place
formerly homeless veterans is to create it. Vouchers must be
distributed to areas with the most acute needs and housing authorities
should consider project-basing more frequently, particularly in low-
vacancy, high-cost markets.
NCHV additionally recommends a change to how HUD-VASH case
management is funded and delivered. Other VAMCs have case managers who
focus solely on the clinical aspects of case management, such as mental
health care and medication management, at the expense of case
management that focuses on basic tenets of housing stability.
Successful case management in permanent supportive housing must address
both clinical and housing stability aspects to adequately support the
client, and in too many instances, veterans are not able to access that
standard of care, leaving affordable housing providers responsible for
filling that gap. NCHV appreciates that Congress has generously created
additional vouchers to support tens of thousands of veterans in
affordable housing, however; complications in appropriating case
management funds to pair with these vouchers results in delayed
implementation on account of a broken appropriations process. We ask
that VA funding pertaining to HUD-VASH case management be re-designated
as Mandatory Spending to reflect the importance bestowed upon it.
Keeping case management in the discretionary spending column hamstrings
the cross departmental importance of its function, limiting the
efficiency and effectiveness of case managers, the programs they
administer, as well as negatively impacting the veterans that require
their services when funding levels are insufficient or called into
question in any one of the multiple Federal departments funding bills
or processes.
``OTH''
Veterans who received an ``Other Than Honorable'' type of discharge
from military service are in practice ruled ineligible for VA health or
other benefits. This is true even though many studies in recent years
have shown that a large portion of ``Other Than Honorable'' (or,
``OTH'') discharges are the result of service members behavioral
changes from repeat deployments or unaddressed Post Traumatic Stress
(PTS). The Department of Defense has acknowledged PTS as a vector to
OTH discharges, and has directed review boards for discharge status
upgrades to take it into account. NCHV in the 114th Congress was proud
to champion legislation that ended a two- decades-long regulatory issue
which was preventing OTH veterans from receiving VA homeless services
such as the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program or
the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program. The reason for our support of
that bill, now enacted as PL 114-315, was simple: despite a single-
digit percentage of America's veterans receiving OTH discharges, they
are disproportionately represented, making up 15% of the homeless
veteran population nation-wide. Tn some urban locales the percentage of
OTH veterans among the homelessness population can rise to nearly 30%.
NCHV strongly supports Representative Scott Peters' recently introduced
legislation that will expand HUD-VASH eligibility to veterans with
``Other Than Honorable'' discharges, cited as the ``Veteran Housing
Opportunities and Unemployment Support Extension (Veteran HOUSE) Act f
2019''. We have committed as a nation to ending veteran homelessness -
these men and women are veterans, and we must not leave them behind.
Grant and Per Diem Program
The Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD) plays a key role in providing
transitional housing and making recovery-oriented services available
for those veterans who indicate they would benefit from them. NCHV has
supported the GPD reboot, as it generated several types of program
models service providers can implement in order to adjust their
operations more harmoniously into a housing-first oriented system of
care for homeless veterans. As grantees have shifted to utilizing these
models, we have heard consistently that challenges have cropped up, due
to the expense of hiring higher level clinical staff with the
appropriate credentials to operate certain higher-intensity models such
as clinical treatment, hospital to home, clinical, and low demand. NCHV
humbly suggests that Congress modify the law such that providers
operating these models are eligible to receive 125% of the state home
per diem amount. There is precedent for amending the per diem payment
structure to accommodate the augmented needs of the Special Needs Grant
population, and the higher costs of operating GPD Transition-in-Place
beds, thus NCHV urges Congress to take swift action to make similar
changes to ensure providers can afford to continue operating these
models.
Training and Technical Assistance
As with any major change in a large Federal program, sufficient
training of grantees is required to ensure the most optimal outcomes
for veterans. We urge you in Congress to amend 38 USC 2064(a) to
expressly authorize VA to provide technical assistance to grantees on
issues related to operating their grants, national best practices, and
working collaboratively with key partners. We also respectfully request
that the expired authorization of appropriations language in 38 USC
2064(b) be modified to include $2,000,000 in perpetuity for the
training of GPD grantees and contractors through the HCHV program.
Data Collection
Data is a key component of an effective community-based response to
veteran homelessness. HUD has mandated that grantees utilize a homeless
information management system (HMTS) to coordinate local efforts to
serve people experiencing homelessness and to collect client-level data
on individuals experiencing and at-risk of homelessness, the services
and housing interventions they utilized, and the services and housing
interventions available in their communities. Data completeness
improves a community's ability to coordinate services, and identify and
plan for impending trends in inflow. The SSVF program has mandated its
use for its grantees, and providers have been able to incorporate that
into their annual budgets. The GPD program has not yet mandated its
grantees to do so and many do not. The per diem payment structure does
not allow for those who may be receiving the maximum per diem payment
per bed, to do so without decreasing the standard of service to
veterans in their programs. We merely ask that the Committees consider
a legislative change to authorize an appropriation for a reimbursement
of reasonable HMTS user fees for GPD grantees who are otherwise unable
to access HMTS through their SSVF, Continuum of Care, or other local
grants received. The improvement in data quality will improve community
responses to veteran homelessness which in turn will enhance outcomes
and efficiencies.
Successful Program Transitions and Adaptability
Providers in several communities that have made tremendous progress
in ending veteran homelessness have raised concerns to NCHV regarding
barriers to changing their programs that arise from receiving a GPD
Capital Grant in the past. There are certain communities where the
population of veterans experiencing homelessness has decreased such
that there are significant vacancies in local GPD programs. NCHV has
heard from several providers in this situation, who are interested in
transitioning away from operating a GPD grant and into operating
permanent supportive housing, or affordable housing. They have been
told that in order to fulfil both VA real property recapture
requirements and the real property disposition requirements of the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), they would need to pay the
government a percentage of the current market value of their property
to fulfil the requirements of their grants, many of which date back to
the early 1990s. Obviously, real property can appreciate in value
dramatically over the course of several decades and in some cases these
payments are prohibitively expensive for nonprofit service providers.
Tt is the view of NCHV that no grantee should face a financial penalty
for their success in achieving housing stability in their communities.
Further, grantees shouldn't be required to embark on a capital campaign
to pay the government in order to adjust their operations to meet their
community's most pressing need. We request that Congress promulgate
legislation to waive both VA real property recapture requirements and
OMB real property disposition requirements for grantees who would like
to leave the GPD program under certain circumstances. These would
include, but not be limited to, making a long-term commitment to
utilizing the property for which the grant was received to serve
homeless or at risk individuals, especially veterans, by offering
affordable permanent housing, permanent supportive housing, or other
services to address housing instability.
Suicide Prevention
There is a correlation between homelessness and multiple factors
currently being addressed by Congress including 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.
Opioid Epidemic
Further, there is significant overlap between the populations of
veterans experiencing homelessness and opioid use disorders. VA's own
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.
In Summation
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony for the
record and for your continued interest in ending veteran homelessness.
Tt 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 stably housed.
Bills Supported by NCHV
H.R.95 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Homeless Veteran Families Act
H.R.716 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Homeless Veterans Legal
Services Act
H.R.3749 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Legal Services for Homeless
Veterans Act
S.980 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Homeless Veterans Prevention Act
of 2019
H.R.2223 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Helping Homeless Veterans Act
of 2019
H.R.2224 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Homeless Veterans with
Children Reintegration Act
H.R.2398 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) To amend the United States
Housing Act of 1937 and title 38, United States Code, to expand
eligibility for the HUD-VASH program
S.767 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Housing for Homeless Students
Act of 2019
H.R.2399 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Homes for Our Heroes Act of
2019
S.2061 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Veteran Housing Opportunities
and Unemployment Support Extension Act of 2019
H.R.165 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Tmproving Access to Homes for
Heroes Act of 2019
H.R.2924 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Housing for Women Veterans
Act
H.R.1856 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Ending Homelessness Act of
2019
H.R.3272 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Services for Ending Long-Term
Homelessness Act
S.923 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Fighting Homelessness Through
Services and Housing Act
H.R.1978 - 116th Congress (2019-2020) Fighting Homelessness Through
Services and Housing Act
[all]