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Veteran Homelessness

Honora Mayfield, VSO MSVA

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Training Objectives

Define Homelessness using HUD’s definition

Overview of HUD-VASH Program to assist with housing needs

Review of housing programs available beyond VHA/VAMC

How to provide referral to housing program

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First Let’s Get on the Same Page.

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Defining a Homelessness By HUD’s Standards

Literally Homeless	Individuals and families who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, a place not meant for human habitation. List includes people and families sleeping in shelters and on the streets
Chronically Homeless	People who have experienced homelessness for at least a year — or repeatedly , 4 or more episodes over a 36 month period Must be struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability
Doubled-Up	Means living with relatives or friends, due to economic hardship for a limited amount of time , or series of moves in a short amount of time
Other Federally Recognized Categories	Living in day-to-day paid housing, at risk, fleeing domestic violence, youth & young adults

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Navigating the maze of homelessness

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Housing Program Overview

OUTFLOW

HUD-VASH Program - Veteran The nation’s largest supported permanent housing initiative combines: HUD Housing Choice Vouchers VA case management services that promote and maintain recovery and housing stability.

Eligibility- Must meet HUD definition, income requirements, agree to case management services, meet veteran status criteria, and not be a registered sex offender. VHA staff completes assessment and determines housing placement.

“Housing First” Approach offers permanent housing with treatment & supportive services to homeless individuals. Focuses on finding the individual a home first, and then addressing any mental health or substance use issues.

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Public Housing Authority and Housing Process

Identify Veteran

Coordination of Services

Assessed by VAMC

Case Management & Eligibility met

Referred to Housing Prgm

Creating Sustainability Goals

Rental Space

HUD VASH, SSVF, GPD, CoC funded

PHA issues voucher

Housing Placement

Moving from actively Homeless to housed

VAMC & PHA Partnership

Program Model Implementation

JM Next, let’s look at that same scenario, but using the streamlined approach.

The same program entries and exits are recorded in HMIS.

Person enters through ES[Click]

They are connected with CE [Click]

They exit ES to streets [Click]

The are referred to a housing program [Click]

They are accepted to a housing program [Click]

They move into permanent housing, and are exited from CE [Click]

They remain in that program until their services are concluded. [Click]

In this case, since the only program enrollment I am looking at is CE,

I don’t have to have quite as sophisticated reporting logic to see when a person should count as inflow/outflow

and when they should be captured as Actively Homeless

I might need to pay extra attention to how I am pulling

an accurate “Date of Identification”/INFLOW [Click] if a person could enter the system prior to CES.

But, since I am looking at one program type,

maybe I can build in a business rule that people can only have one CE program enrollment open at a time

that gets opened when someone enters or re-enters the system.

The OUTFLOW or Housing Placement point is the CE Program Exit [Click]

To figure out when a person is Actively Homeless, I would use the time in between the program start and end. [Click]

My goal with this is not to say that casting the net wide is wrong,

But rather to surface the implications of both.

One issue under the surface here is that a streamlined approach also means that

the process to capture everyone experiencing homelessness through your CES is paramount.

Put another way - if I’m not confident that everyone in my community that should be on the BNL comes through CE,

I’m looking more towards a process solution to resolve this.

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Understanding the approach

Housing First programs share core elements:

A focus on helping individuals access and sustain permanent rental housing as quickly as

possible without time limits;

Providing services to promote housing stability and individual well-being on an

as-needed basis; and

A standard lease agreement to housing – as opposed to mandated services compliance

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It is a journey...

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Reaching Functional Zero

How Veteran Homelessness was eliminated on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

The Gulf Coast region of Mississippi was the first community to reach functional zero for veteran homelessness. The community shows it is possible to not only end veteran homelessness, but to protect zero.

The Gulf Coast region of Mississippi has shown it is possible to create a future where veteran homelessness does not have to be inevitable or inescapable, and never a way of life. Their improvements coalesced to increase the speed of housing local veterans who had experienced homelessness: at one point, they had reduced the time it took from identifying a new veteran to placing him or her in housing to just 14 days.

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Who is who?

CENTRAL MS-500 CONTINUUM OF CARE�(Hinds, Rankin, Copiah, Warren, and Madison Counties; City of Jackson)

Mr. Timothy D. Collins, Executive Director�Mississippi Housing Partnership�1217 N. West St.�Jackson, MS 39202�(601) 969-1895

Mr. Melvin Stamps, CoC Director

Central Mississippi Continuum-of-Care

1217 N. West St.

Jackson, MS 39202

(601) 969-1895

Mississippi Regional Housing Authority

2845 South Frontage Road P.O. Box 1051�Columbus, MS 39701

(662) 327-4121

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Reflection/Discussion.

General comments or questions?

Do you face any challenges/barriers ? If so, what are they?

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THANK YOU!