Supportive Housing for Homeless Veterans

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Supportive Housing for Homeless Veterans

• Kelly W. KentSenior Program ManagerCorporation
  for Supportive Housing
  
• National Coalition for Homeless VeteransMay 8,
  2008www.csh.org

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The Corporation for Supportive Housing

• CSH helps communities create permanent housing
  with services to prevent and end homelessness.

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CSH Products and Services

• Project-Specific Financing and Expertise to help
  create supportive housing
  
• Capacity Building to strengthen and expand the
  supportive housing industry
  
• Public Policy Reform to build an efficient
  system for producing and financing supportive
  housing

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Where We Work

• National offices in New York and Oakland.
• Local offices in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New
  York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois,
  Minnesota, California, Indiana, Washington D.C.
  and Texas.
• Targeted initiatives in Kentucky, Maine, Oregon,
  and Washington.
  
• CSHs national teams assist supportive housing
  practitioners across the U.S.

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Supportive Housing is for People Who

• Are chronically homeless
• Cycle through institutional and emergency systems
  and are at risk of long-term homelessness
  
• Are being discharged from institutions and
  systems of care
  
• Without housing, cannot access and make effective
  use of treatment and supportive services

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Housing Services

• HOUSING
• PERMANENT Not time limited, not transitional
• AFFORDABLE For people coming out of
  homelessness and
  
• INDEPENDENT Tenant holds lease with normal
  rights and responsibilities.
  
• SERVICES
• FLEXIBLE Designed to be responsive to tenants
  needs
  
• VOLUNTARY Participation is not a condition of
  tenancy and
  
• INDEPENDENT Focus of services is on maintaining
  housing stability.
  

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Homeless Veterans

• Nearly 200,000 Veterans are homeless on any given
  night and nearly twice this many are estimated to
  be homeless over the course of a year
  
• Veterans account for nearly 1/3 of men who are
  homeless
  
• Veterans are twice as likely to meet the
  definition of chronic homelessness
  
• 45 suffer from mental illness
• 50 have substance abuse problems
• 67 served 3 or more years
• 33 were stationed in a war zone
• 25 have used VA services
• 89 received an honorable discharge
• A study by Charles Hoge et al found that 19 of
  soldiers who served in Iraq screened positive for
  a potential mental health disorder, including
  PTSD

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Increasing Veterans Access to Supportive Housing

• Veterans Lens
• Military discharge status- good paper
• Stand-downs
• Veteran-specific resources are available, but
  limited
  
• Homeless Services and Housing Lens
• Veterans may already be accessing
  homeless/housing services
  
• Outreach- identifying veterans at non-veteran
  focus service points increasing provider
  cultural competency relative to armed services
  
• Focus has been on transitional housing, not
  permanent, for veterans mostly due to funding
  source restrictions
  

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Models of Supportive Housing Development
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Supportive Housing Types

• Buildings developed / rehabilitated
• as special needs housing
• Rent-subsidized apartments
• Mixed-income buildings
• Long-term set asides
• Single-family homes
• Master-leased buildings or units

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Models for Supportive Housing Traditional
Development

• Creates a permanent asset to the community
• Involves acquisition and construction and the
  full compliment of development activities,
  including finding capital funding.
  
• Can take 2-3 years (or more) to develop
• Involves establishing on-going funding sources
  and providers for operating and services

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Alternatives to Direct Development

• Master Leasing
• Scattered-Site
• Turn-key development

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Models for Supportive Housing Accessing
Existing Housing

• Sometimes referred to as Housing First
• Also might be referred to as Scattered Site
  Housing
  
• Integrates residents into the community
• Can retrofit existing affordable housing and
  add services in a single site
  
• Once secure rental subsidy, can move very
  quickly
  
• Involves establishing ongoing funding sources and
  providers for operating and services

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Scattered Site One Example

• Using existing apartments in the community
• Provider does not own units but might master
  lease
  
• No rehabilitation or construction involved take
  apartments as is
  
• Owner of apartments typically private landlords
  who own large and small apartment buildings or
  2-4 family houses
  

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Veterans Specific Funding Sources
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Veterans Administration

• HUD-VASH
• Partnership between HUD and the VA
• Veterans who are homeless and mentally ill and/or
  those with substance abuse disorders
  
• Combines special set aside of HUD housing choice
  vouchers with community-oriented outreach,
  clinical care and case management
  
• 10,000 Vouchers allocated in 2008
• Potentially an additional 10,000 vouchers to be
  released in 2009.
  
• VA Supported Housing Program
• VA services for homeless Veterans focused on
  getting them housed and retaining housing
  

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Permanent Supportive Housing Projects For
Homeless Veterans

• Sample Case Studies

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Veterans Academy at the Presidio

• 100 SRO units for homeless vets located in 2
  adjacent buildings on the former Presidio Army
  base which has been converted into a national
  park
• Location in national park created unique
  challenge of having to go to federal court if
  they need to evict a tenant tripled legal fees
  
• Capital Bonds
• Operating Project Based Section 8
• Services HUD McKinney Vento SHP Permanent
  Housing for People with Disabilities

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Volunteers of America - Florida

• 25 scattered site units in Broward County for
  homeless veterans with co-occurring diagnoses of
  severe and persistent mental illness and
  substance use disorders
• Operating and Services are funded through the HUD
  McKinney SHP permanent housing for people with
  disabilities program.
  
• Fort Lauderdale/Broward County has a Veterans
  Affairs clinic that refers tenants to this
  project and provides services to them once they
  are housed

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Chronic Homelessness Collaborative Initiative

• In 2003 the HUD, VA and HHS launched a 35
  million initiative to provide permanent
  supportive housing and supportive services to
  people who are chronically homeless
• Eleven cities received grants to create these new
  permanent supportive housing projects
  
• An average of 25 of the units serve homeless
  veterans
  

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• Manteno Housing Program for Disabled Vets

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Manteno Project

• Permanent Supportive Housing project created by
  the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs
  
• 14 units for Veterans who are homeless and
  disabled
  
• Converted a former transitional housing facility
  to permanent supportive housing
  
• The building is located on state land adjacent to
  the Manteno Veterans Home

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Project Financing

• Capital
• Illinois Housing Development Authority Trust
  Fund
  
• HUD McKinney SHP
• Federal Home Loan Bank
• Operating
• HUD McKinney SHP Permanent Housing for People
  with Disabilities
  
• Services
• U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Per Diem
• Access to services at the Manteno Veterans Home

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Replicable Model

• This is the first time a State Department of
  Veterans Affairs has used their Federal VA per
  diem in this manner
  
• Way that States can address the need of homeless
  Veterans
  
• Way that States can use existing resource to
  create new housing opportunities in a more
  appropriate residential setting

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• Questions?
• Kelly W. Kent
• kelly.kent_at_csh.org
• www.csh.org