VA Report: Program for Homeless Veterans and Families Served More than 100,000








June 24, 2014    
ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro


Spotlight On...
VA Report: Program for Homeless Veterans and Families Served More than 100,000


The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released an annual report for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program that lauds the effectiveness of the program and details its achievements. Calling SSVF "the first and only VA program that provides services to veterans and their families," the report notes that during the program's first two years it served nearly 100,000 veterans and their family members, and 85 percent of those exiting the program had permanent housing. VA claims in the report that the SSFV program, which is based on the Housing First model, has demonstrated that "high-impact, successful interventions can help low-income Veteran families avoid or exit homelessness and regain housing stability."





Senate Consideration of T-HUD Bill Stalls
Last Thursday, June 19, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pulled a 'minibus' package, which included the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) spending bill, from consideration on the Senate floor due to controversy around the Environmental Protection Agency's new carbon emissions regulations.
The package, which also included the Commerce, Justice, and Science and Agriculture bills, will remain stalled until the Senate can reach agreement on procedural technicalities such as which amendments can be offered and at what vote thresholds (51 or 60) they can be adopted. It is unlikely that the T-HUD bill will be considered on the Senate floor until after the Senate returns from its Fourth of July recess.
Senate Committee to Hold Hearing on HUD Secretary Nomination
On Tuesday, June 17, the Full Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs met in an open session to conduct a hearing on the nominations of Julian Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, to be the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Ms. Laura Wertheimer, of Washington, DC, to be inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Committee is expected to vote on these nominations on Wednesday, June 25, at 10 a.m. ET.
Congressional Homelessness Caucus Holds Briefing on Youth Homelessness
On Tuesday, June 17, the Congressional Homelessness Caucus, along with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Ark.), held a briefing titled "Voices of Youth." During the briefing, homeless and formerly homeless youth shared their experiences and shed light on the factors, such as parental neglect or abuse, which led to their homelessness.
The Alliance's comments on VA's proposed rule, submitted on June 23, largely praise the proposed rule, which aligns the definitions, data collection, and reporting requirements for rapid re-housing programs with HUD, which will ultimately lead to an SSVF program that is well integrated with the Continuum of Care.
The Alliance's comments on ACF's proposed regulations, submitted on June 13, strongly encouraged ACF to promote RHYA programs' coordination with other systems of care by joining local Continuums of Care and including youth in local Point-in-Time (PIT) counts, among others.



On Monday, June 30, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan will provide the welcome address for an event in Washington, DC, highlighting the unique challenges that face lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth experiencing homelessness. The panel will include speakers from HUD's Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS), DC Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), the True Colors Fund, and Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE). The event will take place at 451 7th Street, SW, Brooke-Mondale Auditorium from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET.



In the News: 100,000 People Now Have Homes
By naehblog
Four years ago, the 100,000 Homes Campaign set the goal of housing 100,000 of the most vulnerable homeless people in the U.S. In this post, we look at what the Campaign is, and what the achievement of its ambitious goal means.
Housing Move-in and Rental Assistance: A Rapid Re-Housing Core Component
By Stuart Campbell This post is the third in a series of posts looking at the core components of rapid re-housing. In this one, we cover housing move-in and rental assistance, which plays a key role in moving a household out of homelessness and into housing.

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