Characteristics and Service Use of Rural Homeless Veterans Stephen Metraux, PhD & Dorota Szymkowiak, PhD National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans US Department of Veterans Affairs

Trends in VHA Homeless Programs Use Rural Vets consistently constitute 12-13% of all homeless users of VHA Homeless Programs (or 13-14% of homeless users for whom urban/rural status is known)

Methods Sample Measures FY 2013-2016 Homeless Veterans using VHA Homeless Programs USDA Rural-Urban Commuting Area designations for zips 241,848 Veterans 179,245 urban 30,919 rural/highly rural 31,684 unknown Demographics Homeless programs use Healthcare use Diagnoses “Migration” across VAMCs Cohort includes only Veterans homeless at time of HOMES assessment or entry into SSVF, not all Homeless Programs users

Demographics Characteristic Rural (N=30,919) Non-rural (N=179,245) Female 9.5% 10.0% Race/ethnicity Hispanic 6.1% 10.1% Non-Hispanic black 20.3% 43.0% Non-Hispanic white 69.0% 43.9% Other 4.6% 3.0% Age 18-34 19.2% 15.7% 35-44 14.4% 12.6% 45-54 24.4% 26.7% 55-64 32.0% 35.4% 65+ 9.7% Ns are actually different for each demographic characteristic because of missing data

Healthcare Service Rural (N=29,865) Non-rural (N=169,793) Inpatient 16.7% Medical 7.9% 9.0% Mental health 6.7% 5.8% Substance use 5.1% 4.7% Emergency Department 34.5% 41.2% Outpatient Primary care 76.2% 77.0% Specialty medical 71.2% 73.0% 65.6% 59.6% 28.4% 26.6% Service use based on services used 0-365 days after entry into cohort (first HOMES assessment or SSVF entry in FY2013-2016) Includes only Vets enrolled in VHA

Diagnoses Diagnoses based on services used 0-365 days before entry into cohort (first HOMES assessment or SSVF entry in FY2013-2016)

Homeless Programs Programs Rural (N=30,919) Non-rural (N=179,245) Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) 76.4% 83.3% Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) 34.6% 41.5% Transitional/short-term housing 46.4% 54.7% Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV) 11.7% 8.7% Contracted Emergency Residential Services (CERS) 17.1% 19.1% Grant and Per Diem (GPD) 28.6% 40.5% HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) 55.3% 62.5% Case management only 33.8% 30.5% Housing 21.5% 32.0% Services for justice-involved Veterans (HCRV, VJO) 20.4% 17.8% Homeless services use based on services used FY2013-FY2016, may span multiple episodes of homelessness/homeless service use

Service Use – Veteran Origin and Service Location Rural & non-rural Vets using Homeless Programs services at facilities designated as rural & non-rural per USDA RUCA codes Based on services used 0-365 days after entry into cohort (first HOMES assessment or SSVF entry in FY2013-2016) <100% because: (1) Cohort includes Vets completing HOMES assessment but not engaging in services and (2) No agency-level rural/non-rural designations are available for SSVF providers

Total Homeless Veterans Mobility across VAMCs among Homeless Veterans Total Homeless Veterans % Non-migratory 10 Most Populated Cities 17,632 62.8% 10 Least Populated Cities 2,566 46.9%

Next Steps Standardize measures of “rural” as apply to VA and homelessness How are homeless veterans from rural areas different than their non-rural counterparts? Do urban-based homeless services adequately address needs of rural homelessness?