VA HUD-VASH voucher program
Just about every article or editorial or stat sheet i come across gives the same rough homeless veteran stats, slight increases or declines, and all have this one same underlying problem beneath each one. Veterans and veteran families become homeless as fast as they are housed. Time after time we see massive funding allocated to temporary housing, such as recent FEMA trailers, but time after time as fast as we house a collective of veterans, they are quickly back out on the street because you cannot solve the problem if you are not addressing and raising awareness to the various contributing factors that cause them to be homeless in the first place. This country is falling is heroes, and using band aids to gift wrap temporary solutions to much bigger problems.
It was under a national push, dating back to the Obama administration (according to the Department of Veteran Affairs) that homelessness among veterans decreased 46% across the country since 2019.
In Los Angeles, over 2,800 homeless veterans were housed last year, but their total numbers stayed flat. Which again is a direct result of the fact that veterans are becoming homeless as fast as they’re being housed. Veterans, as with other homeless people on the street, struggle to deal with housing housing vouchers being worth only so much, while affordable housing is constantly scarce. For many, landlords are hesitant to even accept these housing vouchers, because they claim these struggling individuals will be problem tenets. Add that to the fact that there is very little sympathy to these veterans having served their country in the military, and you can see a problem.
The VA has be drowning in problems and backlogs for quite some time, which creates additional problems for veterans on the streets or struggling to keep their homes, or to get access to the programs and referrals they need in a timely fashion. Additional suffering and hardships result from this slow paced and heavily burdened system, which includes the housing vouchers that veterans can receive. Several veterans that I have now spoken with, state that they weren't even aware that the vouchers even existed, much less how to obtain them. So what are these vouchers? According to their website, the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics. since 2008, HUD and VA have awarded HUD-VASH vouchers based on geographic need and public housing agency (PHA) administrative performance. The allocation process for HUD-VASH vouchers is a collaborative approach that relies on three sets of data: HUD’s point-in-time data submitted by Continuums of Care (CoCs), VAMC data on the number of contacts with homeless Veterans, and performance data from PHAs and VAMCs. After determining which areas of the country have the highest number of homeless Veterans, the VA Central Office identifies VA facilities in the corresponding communities. HUD then selects PHAs near to the identified VA facilities, taking into consideration the PHAs’ administrative performance, and sends the PHAs invitations to apply for the vouchers. There is at least one site in each of the 50 states, in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. I was lost halfway through reading that, and still somewhat am.
HUD has awarded funding for approximately 10,000 HUD-VASH vouchers each year in 2008-2010 and 2012-2015. Congress appropriated $50 million in 2011 to serve approximately 7,000 voucher families, $60 million in 2016 to serve approximately 8,000 families, and $40 million in both 2017 and 2018 to serve approximately 10,000 total families. In addition, HUD has held three competitions, in 2010, 2014, and 2015, to competitively award a total of over 2,600 project-based HUD-VASH vouchers. HUD has awarded over 97,500 HUD-VASH vouchers to public housing agencies since 2008. In addition, another $40 million was appropriated for new HUD-VASH vouchers for FY 2019 (overview article can be found here.) So lets break that down. In 2011, congress approved $60 million to be used to serve 8,000 families. In 2017-2019, congress approved $40 million to serve approximately 10,000 families. The number of families helped goes up, but the funding goes down, which means serious stretching to help the families.
On November 11, 2019, the LA Times posted an article that showed the following. "There are 4,900 veterans across the county living in housing on VASH vouchers, according to VA officials. But the L.A. County Development Authority (one of the housing agencies that administers the voucher program) says it has 600 unallocated VASH vouchers that are going begging. (That’s in addition to people who have vouchers in hand but can’t find housing.) They’re unallocated because it is up to the VA to decide which veterans get them, and the agency isn’t sending over referrals quickly enough, according to L.A. County Development Authority Deputy Executive Director Emilio Salas. He estimates they get five to eight referrals for vouchers a week." (Veterans Day 2019 homelessness).
Multiple sources over the years have already shown that the VA simply doesnt have enough case workers to be able to handle the housing for veterans, or for the mental health treatment or other services to help them stay housed. Without enough help or treatment, you create the perfect foundation of these same individuals not being to maintain enough stability to keep their housing. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System officials have said that the VA there has a personnel vacancy rate of 12.6%. The VA’s new director, Steven Braverman, says one of his primary goals is to hire more people. That would help.
The VA has had its own master plan to add an additional 1,200 units of housing to its West LA campus for homeless veterans. But as is always the case, it’s taken years to get that plan moving along. As of right now, only 54 units are open, with another 180 units that won’t be ready until the year after next. The plans looked and sounded great, but without the pace being picked up, the suffering and hardships continue, putting veterans at risk. Lets not forget, that there is a 100-bed bridge shelter for veterans that has been stalled out for the better part of a year due to asbestos found in pipes underground.
To recap, the VA system as whole is backlogged, poorly staffed, and clearly has budgeting issues. We have much needed housing vouchers, simply not being referred in a timely manner, and the lack of case managers fails to maintain the medical, mental health, and various other support and treatment services contributes to the homeless crisis in a grand way. And that, my friends, is just on the homeless and voucher side of the problem. Because one of the biggest contributors to homelessness, besides substance abuse and mental health, is the fact that there are no safety net programs available for veterans and veteran families , who fall upon job loss, reduced income, medical emergencies, accidents, etc and need the banks or lenders of their homes, to work with them to avoid being added to the homeless stats.
So what is the eligibility for the VA voucher program? Here's what I found! Veterans who are appropriate for this program must be VA health care eligible Veterans. VA eligibility makes this determination. Veterans must also meet the definition of homelessness defined in The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act as amended by S. 896 The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act HUD-VASH prioritizes the chronically homeless.
According to the VA website, found here: https://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash_eligibility.asp
"Veterans who are appropriate candidates for this program demonstrate the most need or vulnerability and must need case management services in order to obtain and sustain independent community housing. HUD-VASH targets the chronically homeless Veteran who is the most vulnerable and often has severe mental or physical health problems and/or substance use disorders, with frequent emergency room visits, multiple treatment attempts, and limited access to other social supports. However, other Veterans who are homeless with diminished functional capacity and resultant need for case management are also eligible for the program."
One of the key components of this program is the VA’s case management services. These services were designed to assist Veterans in obtaining and sustaining permanent housing and engage in needed treatment and other supportive services that improve Veterans’ quality of life and end their homelessness. The heart of the program is of course, case management, and is a requirement for participation in the HUD-VASH voucher program.
It is the VA that determines the clinical eligibility for the program, while it is the public housing authority (PHA) that determines if the Veteran participant meets HUD’s regulations for this program. The PHA determines eligibility based on income limits. In addition, the PHA will determine if any member of the household is required to maintain Lifetime Sexual Offender Registry status, which are not eligible to participate in this program.
HUD-VASH provides permanent supportive housing for eligible homeless Veterans who are single or eligible homeless Veterans with families. It is a program developed for the homeless Veteran, so of course, eligible Veteran families must include the Veteran.
Because HUD-VASH provides for Veterans who may have medical, mental health and/or substance use disorders, eligible Veterans must be able to complete activities of daily living and live independently in the community with case management and supportive services.
To apply for HUD-VASH, contact your local VA Homeless Program. Veterans can contact the HUD-VASH program directly, or obtain a referral from a case manager in another VA program, from a community program, or other referral sources.
It was under a national push, dating back to the Obama administration (according to the Department of Veteran Affairs) that homelessness among veterans decreased 46% across the country since 2019.
In Los Angeles, over 2,800 homeless veterans were housed last year, but their total numbers stayed flat. Which again is a direct result of the fact that veterans are becoming homeless as fast as they’re being housed. Veterans, as with other homeless people on the street, struggle to deal with housing housing vouchers being worth only so much, while affordable housing is constantly scarce. For many, landlords are hesitant to even accept these housing vouchers, because they claim these struggling individuals will be problem tenets. Add that to the fact that there is very little sympathy to these veterans having served their country in the military, and you can see a problem.
The VA has be drowning in problems and backlogs for quite some time, which creates additional problems for veterans on the streets or struggling to keep their homes, or to get access to the programs and referrals they need in a timely fashion. Additional suffering and hardships result from this slow paced and heavily burdened system, which includes the housing vouchers that veterans can receive. Several veterans that I have now spoken with, state that they weren't even aware that the vouchers even existed, much less how to obtain them. So what are these vouchers? According to their website, the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics. since 2008, HUD and VA have awarded HUD-VASH vouchers based on geographic need and public housing agency (PHA) administrative performance. The allocation process for HUD-VASH vouchers is a collaborative approach that relies on three sets of data: HUD’s point-in-time data submitted by Continuums of Care (CoCs), VAMC data on the number of contacts with homeless Veterans, and performance data from PHAs and VAMCs. After determining which areas of the country have the highest number of homeless Veterans, the VA Central Office identifies VA facilities in the corresponding communities. HUD then selects PHAs near to the identified VA facilities, taking into consideration the PHAs’ administrative performance, and sends the PHAs invitations to apply for the vouchers. There is at least one site in each of the 50 states, in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. I was lost halfway through reading that, and still somewhat am.
HUD has awarded funding for approximately 10,000 HUD-VASH vouchers each year in 2008-2010 and 2012-2015. Congress appropriated $50 million in 2011 to serve approximately 7,000 voucher families, $60 million in 2016 to serve approximately 8,000 families, and $40 million in both 2017 and 2018 to serve approximately 10,000 total families. In addition, HUD has held three competitions, in 2010, 2014, and 2015, to competitively award a total of over 2,600 project-based HUD-VASH vouchers. HUD has awarded over 97,500 HUD-VASH vouchers to public housing agencies since 2008. In addition, another $40 million was appropriated for new HUD-VASH vouchers for FY 2019 (overview article can be found here.) So lets break that down. In 2011, congress approved $60 million to be used to serve 8,000 families. In 2017-2019, congress approved $40 million to serve approximately 10,000 families. The number of families helped goes up, but the funding goes down, which means serious stretching to help the families.
On November 11, 2019, the LA Times posted an article that showed the following. "There are 4,900 veterans across the county living in housing on VASH vouchers, according to VA officials. But the L.A. County Development Authority (one of the housing agencies that administers the voucher program) says it has 600 unallocated VASH vouchers that are going begging. (That’s in addition to people who have vouchers in hand but can’t find housing.) They’re unallocated because it is up to the VA to decide which veterans get them, and the agency isn’t sending over referrals quickly enough, according to L.A. County Development Authority Deputy Executive Director Emilio Salas. He estimates they get five to eight referrals for vouchers a week." (Veterans Day 2019 homelessness).
Multiple sources over the years have already shown that the VA simply doesnt have enough case workers to be able to handle the housing for veterans, or for the mental health treatment or other services to help them stay housed. Without enough help or treatment, you create the perfect foundation of these same individuals not being to maintain enough stability to keep their housing. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System officials have said that the VA there has a personnel vacancy rate of 12.6%. The VA’s new director, Steven Braverman, says one of his primary goals is to hire more people. That would help.
The VA has had its own master plan to add an additional 1,200 units of housing to its West LA campus for homeless veterans. But as is always the case, it’s taken years to get that plan moving along. As of right now, only 54 units are open, with another 180 units that won’t be ready until the year after next. The plans looked and sounded great, but without the pace being picked up, the suffering and hardships continue, putting veterans at risk. Lets not forget, that there is a 100-bed bridge shelter for veterans that has been stalled out for the better part of a year due to asbestos found in pipes underground.
To recap, the VA system as whole is backlogged, poorly staffed, and clearly has budgeting issues. We have much needed housing vouchers, simply not being referred in a timely manner, and the lack of case managers fails to maintain the medical, mental health, and various other support and treatment services contributes to the homeless crisis in a grand way. And that, my friends, is just on the homeless and voucher side of the problem. Because one of the biggest contributors to homelessness, besides substance abuse and mental health, is the fact that there are no safety net programs available for veterans and veteran families , who fall upon job loss, reduced income, medical emergencies, accidents, etc and need the banks or lenders of their homes, to work with them to avoid being added to the homeless stats.
So what is the eligibility for the VA voucher program? Here's what I found! Veterans who are appropriate for this program must be VA health care eligible Veterans. VA eligibility makes this determination. Veterans must also meet the definition of homelessness defined in The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act as amended by S. 896 The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act HUD-VASH prioritizes the chronically homeless.
According to the VA website, found here: https://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash_eligibility.asp
"Veterans who are appropriate candidates for this program demonstrate the most need or vulnerability and must need case management services in order to obtain and sustain independent community housing. HUD-VASH targets the chronically homeless Veteran who is the most vulnerable and often has severe mental or physical health problems and/or substance use disorders, with frequent emergency room visits, multiple treatment attempts, and limited access to other social supports. However, other Veterans who are homeless with diminished functional capacity and resultant need for case management are also eligible for the program."
One of the key components of this program is the VA’s case management services. These services were designed to assist Veterans in obtaining and sustaining permanent housing and engage in needed treatment and other supportive services that improve Veterans’ quality of life and end their homelessness. The heart of the program is of course, case management, and is a requirement for participation in the HUD-VASH voucher program.
It is the VA that determines the clinical eligibility for the program, while it is the public housing authority (PHA) that determines if the Veteran participant meets HUD’s regulations for this program. The PHA determines eligibility based on income limits. In addition, the PHA will determine if any member of the household is required to maintain Lifetime Sexual Offender Registry status, which are not eligible to participate in this program.
HUD-VASH provides permanent supportive housing for eligible homeless Veterans who are single or eligible homeless Veterans with families. It is a program developed for the homeless Veteran, so of course, eligible Veteran families must include the Veteran.
Because HUD-VASH provides for Veterans who may have medical, mental health and/or substance use disorders, eligible Veterans must be able to complete activities of daily living and live independently in the community with case management and supportive services.
To apply for HUD-VASH, contact your local VA Homeless Program. Veterans can contact the HUD-VASH program directly, or obtain a referral from a case manager in another VA program, from a community program, or other referral sources.
Comments
Post a Comment