1. Ending Veteran Homelessness
Barbara Gilbert
Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center

2. Ending Veteran Homelessness
Six Strategic Pillars
Outreach/Education
Treatment
Prevention
Housing/Supportive Services
Income/ Employment/ Benefits
Community Partnerships

3. Reduction in Veteran Homelessness
1996 – an estimated 23% of all homeless were Veterans
2009 AHAR estimates 75,609 homeless Veterans on a single night ( 12% of all homeless are veterans

4. Special Populations – Homeless Veterans
FY ‘06 to date, 150 Women identified as homeless (3.9% of homeless Veteran population
Highest percentage Women Veterans(4.7%) in FY ’10
FY ‘06 to date, 153 OEF/OIF Veterans identified as homeless (3/9% of homeless Veteran population
FYTD, 78 Veterans (6.4%) identified as homeless

5. Perception of Unmet Needs Among Homeless
Non-Veteran Consumer
(7 domains)
Long-term housing
Mental health
Dental
Medical
Financial support
Job assistance
Substance abuse
(Rosenheck & Lam, 1997)

6. Perception of Unmet Needs
Veteran Consumer (From 42 possible needs)
Welfare payments
Child care
Legal assistance for child support issues
Family reconciliation assistance
Guardianship (financial)
Legal assistance for outstanding warrants/fines
SSI/SSD process
Credit Counseling
Job Training
Legal assistance to help restore a driver’s license
Kuhn & Nakashima, 2010

7. Consumer-Provider Differ on Needs
Consumers
Welfare payments
Child care
Legal assistance for child support issues
Family reconciliation assistance
Guardianship (financial)
Legal assistance for outstanding warrants/fines
SSI/SSD process
Credit Counseling
Job Training
Legal assistance to help restore a driver’s license

8. Consumer – Provider Differ on Needs
Providers
Child care
Legal assistance for child support issues
Legal assistance for outstanding warrants/fines
Family reconciliation assistance
Legal assistance to help restore a driver’s license
Credit counseling
Long-term, permanent housing
Dental care
Help managing money
Guardianship (financial)

9. 2010 VA CHALENG Report
Significant Changes in Consumer Perception of Unmet Needs between 2009 and 2010:
All of the top ten most pressing unmet needs as a family, legal, or financial concern, ahead of permanent, transitional, and emergency housing.
New to top 10 in 2010 rankings:
Credit Counseling (#8)
Legal assistance to help restore a driver’s license (#10).
Family reconciliation up from 8th to 4th highest unmet need .
Dental care high unmet need for ineligible populations.
Long-term permanent housing dropped out of the top 10, was 3rd in 2009.

10. VA Homeless Programs & Initiatives
National Call Center for Homeless Veterans –
Grant and Per Diem Program
HUD-VASH
Homeless Veteran Dental Initiative
Healthcare for Homeless Veterans (HCHV)

11. VA Homeless Programs and Initiatives
VA Assistance to Stand Downs
 Compensated Work Therapy
Homeless Veteran Supported Employment Program
 CHALENG
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV) Program
Supportive Services to Veterans Families

12. Milwaukee’s Successes
Grant and Per Diem – 140 transitional housing beds 15 beds for women and women/children)
Contract Transitional Housing – Daily Avg. of 6 veterans
HUD/VASH – 215 vouchers; to date, 172 veterans removed from homelessness

13. Milwaukee’s Successes
National Call Center – 108 hotline calls
Stand Down – 3 events each year
Dental Care – In FY 2010, 231 veterans received care
Contract Transitional Housing – 44 veterans removed from streets/shelters

14. Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups
CHALENG – 394 Veteran participants in 2010
Help finding a job one of the top unmet needs
Long-term, permanent housing and emergency shelter also top unmet needs

15. Housing and Urban Development/VA Supportive Housing
The HUD-VASH Program is a collaborative program between HUD and VA.
265 vouchers allocated
Serving Brown, Outagamie, Fond du Lac; Racine, Waukesha, Milwaukee and Racine Counties
Clinical Care Management and Housing Choice Vouchers
Homelessness, as defined by McKinney-Vento

16. HUD/VASH HUD definition of homelessness:
“"homeless individual or homeless person" includes- an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and
an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is -
a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

17. HUD/VASH
The HUD-VASH Program is a collaborative program between HUD and VA.
Who can be served:
Veterans and their families - A Veteran is, for the purpose of HUD-VASH, a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable and is eligible for VA health care.

18. HUD/VASH
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV). The HCV program is the Federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.
HUD-VASH Clinical Care Management. Care management is the provision of services by VA clinical staff to homeless Veterans and includes all activities to provide appropriate treatment and maintain Veterans in HUD- approved stable housing

19. HUD/VASH Since 2008 344 veterans have been screened
272 provided clinical care management

20. Target Populations Served by HUD/VASH
10.73% - Veterans w/families
6.22% - OEF/OIF
8.55 – living in shelters
6.07 – living in streets or vehicles
2.02% - imminent eviction
30.88% - other veterans, including women
19 women veterans have received HUD/VASH care management

21. Helpful Resources and Sites

22. Thank You!! Barbara Gilbert, LCSW Program Manager
Mental Health Division
Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center
5000 West National Avenue
Milwaukee, WI
(414)