Homeless veterans in Pennsylvania

PA
332 funded beds
2,691 reported homeless veterans

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Update on Homeless Veterans Legislation
Last month I reported on legislation proposed by Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-08) to assist homeless veterans. Two of Murphy's provisions were folded into HR 2874, which has passed the House. According to the press release sent out by his office:
The first provision from Murphy’s bill would make permanent a program to identify service members on active duty who are at risk of becoming homeless. The second provision from Murphy’s bill calls on the Veterans Administration to take steps to make their homeless vets programs more accommodating for an increasing number of female veterans. It is estimated that there are over 3,300 homeless veterans in Pennsylvania and at least 550 in the greater Philadelphia area alone. Over the last three years, as many as 1,300 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have participated in homeless outreach programs by the VA or in their own communities.
http://aboveavgjane.blogspot.com/2007/07/update-on-homeless-veterans-legislation.html



Locate a Community-Based Organization
Enter the state – or city and state – to find community-based homeless veteran service providers nationwide. Listing includes address and contact information.


Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania

HVRP Reconnects Veterans to Regional Workforce


In 1982, a group of Vietnam War veterans started the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program (VVLP) to address emerging needs of veterans in Southwest Pennsylvania. This grassroots effort has grown into a 23-employee, $2.2 million dollar organization, mostly funded through grants from government and nonprofit entities. The primary focus of their work is to help veterans achieve self-sufficiency through employment, housing and support services.

Among the agencies funding VVLP is the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Through its Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP), homeless veterans who are frequently unable to access traditional employment services receive vital assistance to reenter the workforce.

There are many reasons homeless veterans are unable to access traditional employment programs. These can include disabling conditions, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), HIV-AIDS, and problems associated with substance abuse. Many homeless veterans also have complicated legal issues with which they need assistance. Helping this population requires intensive assessment, case management and counseling services not found in most traditional veteran employment programs.

VVLP was awarded a $151,869 grant in FY2003 that focuses on a job placement and retention program for more than 300 homeless veterans – including National Guard and reservists who have served on active duty other than training – who are unemployed or underemployed. These individuals possess marketable skills; however, other factors that include addiction, mental health challenges and legal problems, prohibit them from returning to full employment. Participants in the program must have a "other than dishonorable discharge" status and provide proof of their veteran status. VVLP receives another grant of $291,918 that provides longer-term training for clients who lack marketable skills. VVLP provides specialized services for homeless veterans who are female and those who are leaving incarceration. These programs help homeless veterans and their families reenter the mainstream of society.

VVLP is the single largest provider of housing for homeless veterans in the Greater Pittsburgh area. The organization provides housing and supportive services, including utility assistance and other basic needs. VVLP administers five U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and two Allegheny County grants to provide transitional and permanent housing for 115 veterans and their family members in 84 apartment units. Clients include individual veterans, both male and female, as well as those with custody of their children.

Financial support for VVLP is also provided by:

Allegheny County Department of Human Services
Pennsylvania Department of Labor
Allegheny County Department of Economic Development
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of Veteran Affairs
United Way of Allegheny County
Corporations, foundations and private donors
Executive Director Ron Zola credits a collaborative spirit among several organizations with creating a continuum of care for homeless clients. This continuum includes outreach, assessment, enrollment, training, job placement and follow-up services, housing, transportation, health care and other supportive services. Access to these services improves the potential for job permanency and self-sufficiency. At least 17 programs support the continuum, including soup kitchens, welfare agencies, shelters, hospitals, food pantries, the VA, DOL Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER).

Several youth service agencies, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Clubs, assist the children of homeless veterans, many of whom are also homeless, with needs assessment and children's programs. This multi-agency, regional collaboration is the result of several years of constructive and follow-up communication among several homeless service providers in Southwest Pennsylvania.

VVLP has instituted a fathering initiative that teaches homeless veterans parenting skills and provides opportunities for them to reconnect with their children. Establishing renewed bonds with their children helps veterans reclaim their full sense of self respect and encourages them in their effort to return to more stable lives. The fathering program currently serves 37 parents who have custody of their children.

The regional, multi-agency partnership approach by VVLP to serving homeless veterans and their families has become a model for the HVRP program. After awarding HVRP grants, DOL asks all grantees to designate their most innovative approach to providing job training and placement assistance to homeless veterans, and requires grantees to maintain and utilize links with other service providers in the community. DOL also requires grantees to show how their programs are unique and worthy of replication in other areas. DOL-VETS provides technical assistance continuously throughout the grant period, and monitors these programs quarterly with at least one site visit in the third quarter. Reports on the success of the VVLP program must demonstrate timely programmatic success by the third quarter of each grant year to qualify for grant renewal. The VVLP program has exceeded virtually all of its job placement program goals.

VVLP HVRP Program Outcomes – 2003:

Goal Actual % of Goal
Total Assessments* 438 451 103%
Employment Placements 170 179 105%
Total Program Enrollments** 320 327 102%
Vocational Training 220 234 106%
Housing Placements 258

* All clients are assessed, but some are enrolled in other programs.
** The total number of veterans enrolled in program.

What makes the collaboration between VVLP and the community unique, according to Zola, is the complementary way the agencies work to support each other while minimizing duplication of services. He cites Operation Safety Net, a street outreach program administered by Pittsburgh Mercy Hospital, as a group that locates potential clients. This allows VVLP to focus more closely on the activities it performs best, namely job placement, transitional and permanent housing placement and case management.

Other agencies, such as Goodwill, provide his client with job training. This collaboration succeeds, he explains, without a memorandum of understanding, relying on provider familiarity, communication, and a desire among all partners to help clients succeed.

Other key contributors to the success of the VVLP program include:

Department of Labor-Veterans' Employment and Training Service
VA Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veteran Employment Representatives (LVER). DOL-VETS pays for these State Workforce Agency employees who can be out-stationed at various locations, including HVRP grantee sites and Department of Veterans Affairs facilities
The VA healthcare system
Outreach at Stand Downs
Accurate and timely administrative and financial systems and reports, which are required to receive continued funding

For more information on VVLP, see http://www.vvlp.org/index.htm.
For more information on HVRP see: http://www.dol.gov/vets/grants/ new_hvrp_grants.htm.