Supportive Services for Veteran Families SSVF Webinar

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• published: 05 Nov 2014
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On October 10, 2014, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the $93 million in available funds for providing services under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program. The Texas Balance of State Continuum of Care (TX BoS CoC) is one of 28 priority CoCs: “VA has designed this 3-year effort to provide a surge of resources in communities with the highest need. These 28 locations have been selected based on factors that include levels of Veteran homelessness and current unmet service needs.” The BoS CoC currently has three SSVF-funded projects operating in these agencies: 1. Community Healthcore/Sabine Valley Center in Longview 2. Families in Crisis, Inc., in Killeen 3. West Central Texas Regional Foundation in Abilene This memo provides information about applying for SSVF funds. It is our hope that other communities in the BoS will apply for, and receive, funding to serve veteran families. SSVF Program Information The SSVF Program awards grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who can provide supportive services to very low-income Veteran families living in, or transitioning to, permanent housing. The goal of the program is “to quickly resolve the housing crisis faced by homeless and at-risk Veteran families by employing a Housing First approach.” Grantees may provide outreach, case management, and assistance with obtaining benefits, including: • VA benefits • Health care services • Daily living services • Payments to certain third parties to help families obtain or maintain permanent housing • Personal financial planning services • Transportation services • Fiduciary and payee services • Legal services • Child care services • Housing counseling services Homeless Veteran Data Since 2012 homelessness overall in Texas has dropped by 17%, but Veteran homelessness has dropped by 40%. This large reduction is primarily a result of more than 4,000 housing vouchers through HUD-VASH and the support provided through the 14 SSVF programs statewide. Without this support, the change in the number of Veterans in homeless situations would not be a 40% reduction but rather a 40% increase. In the TX BoS CoC, the 2014 Point-in-Time Count showed 1, 178 Veterans in homeless situations. That equals 14% of all people counted and represents a 20.5% decrease in homeless Veterans, compared to the 2012 PIT Count. Even more progress can be made with more resources, like SSVF. Impact of SSVF According to the SSVF FY2013 Annual Report, available at http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVFUniversity/SSVF_Annual_Report_FY_2013.pdf: In the first two years of operation, SSVF has had a dramatic impact. During this time almost 100,000 Veterans and their family members (97,979 people in total) received direct assistance from SSVF and 85 percent of those exiting SSVF had permanent housing.  In the first year, 86 percent (16,204) of program participants who exited the program, including 86 percent of Veterans who exited, had a successful permanent housing outcome, at an average cost of $2,810 per household.  Results in the second year were comparable with 84 percent (41,104) of program participants and 82 percent of Veterans in permanent housing at exit, but with a lower average cost per household of $2,480, a cost reduction of 12% on average per household. This reduction in cost is largely driven by lower service costs and greater efficiencies achieved by renewal grantees in FY 2013. (page 5) Applying for SSVF In order to apply, complete the fillable application form, budget form, and eligibility screening form on the SSVF Webpage at http://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp. • Eligible entities are private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives. • Application and training materials are posted on http://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp. • Applications are due December 5, 2014, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The TX BoS CoC will support your organization in applying for these funds. SSVF Webinar Texas Homeless Network (THN), as the lead agency of the TX BoS CoC, will present a webinar about the SSVF Program on Wednesday, November 5th, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Central Time. Tamara Wright, the Southwest Regional Coordinator for SSVF, will speak about SSVF in light of the recent Notification of Funding Availability (NOFA), due December 5th.