On May 20, 2010, A Special Joint Hearing before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies, was called, and the various governmental entities and agencies were given the opportunity to present their various points, evidence, and stance on the issue of zero funding in 2011 for the HUD-VASH program. Statistics were provided, various Senators spoke…and in the end, the zero funding of the HUD-VASH program was overturned. In 2011, the HUD-VASH program received $50 million, equating to 7,500 vouchers. Every year since 2011, the funding has been resumed at $75 million and the program has been able to issue 10,000 new vouchers each year ("Housing our heroes: an examination of the progress in ending
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According to the HUD-VASH Resource Guide for Permanent Housing and Clinical Care (2004), “the primary goal of HUD-VASH Case Management is to help eligible Veterans, and their dependents when applicable, obtain and maintain permanent housing.” The case manager begins by completing the Housing Assessment form with the eligible veteran and as this is being completed the case manager is also bearing in mind prospective service opportunities, available resources, and conceivable challenges to housing stability. The result of this process is the Housing Stabilization Plan followed by the case manager guiding the veteran through the administrative process. Throughout the process, prior to receiving the housing voucher and after the veteran is housed, the case manager regularly meets with the veteran to evaluate the process, check in with the veteran, work with the veteran to establish goals, and connect the veteran with supportive services (such as medical, retraining, education, transportation, counseling…any service the veteran needs or requires) and in general be there for the veteran.
The following two figures are included to visually provide a better understanding of the structure of the HUD-VASH program (Figure 2) and the HUD-VASH Theory of Change (Figure 3).
Presented in Figure 2 …show more content…
A brief overview of two of those research studies is included in the following section of this paper.
The first study, Housing Chronically Homeless Veterans: Evaluating the Efficacy of a Housing First Approach to HUD‐VASH, published March 21, 2013, in the Journal of Community Psychology, set forth to determine the efficacy of the Housing First Approach which is a key operating component in the HUD-VASH program. The study evaluated several parameters of a group of homeless veterans who were housed using the Housing First approach and compared the results to a group of homeless veterans who were housed only after completing treatment. Overall findings indicated that the veterans who were housed using the Housing First approach moved into their own place, on average, around day 35 (about a month), whereas those in the treatment first group were not able to move into their own place, on average, until around day 223 (that is more than seven months). Not only were the Housing First tenants housed much faster but they had a significantly higher housing retention rates and a significant decline in Emergency room visits when compared to the treatment first
According to the HUD-VASH Resource Guide for Permanent Housing and Clinical Care (2004), “the primary goal of HUD-VASH Case Management is to help eligible Veterans, and their dependents when applicable, obtain and maintain permanent housing.” The case manager begins by completing the Housing Assessment form with the eligible veteran and as this is being completed the case manager is also bearing in mind prospective service opportunities, available resources, and conceivable challenges to housing stability. The result of this process is the Housing Stabilization Plan followed by the case manager guiding the veteran through the administrative process. Throughout the process, prior to receiving the housing voucher and after the veteran is housed, the case manager regularly meets with the veteran to evaluate the process, check in with the veteran, work with the veteran to establish goals, and connect the veteran with supportive services (such as medical, retraining, education, transportation, counseling…any service the veteran needs or requires) and in general be there for the veteran.
The following two figures are included to visually provide a better understanding of the structure of the HUD-VASH program (Figure 2) and the HUD-VASH Theory of Change (Figure 3).
Presented in Figure 2 …show more content…
A brief overview of two of those research studies is included in the following section of this paper.
The first study, Housing Chronically Homeless Veterans: Evaluating the Efficacy of a Housing First Approach to HUD‐VASH, published March 21, 2013, in the Journal of Community Psychology, set forth to determine the efficacy of the Housing First Approach which is a key operating component in the HUD-VASH program. The study evaluated several parameters of a group of homeless veterans who were housed using the Housing First approach and compared the results to a group of homeless veterans who were housed only after completing treatment. Overall findings indicated that the veterans who were housed using the Housing First approach moved into their own place, on average, around day 35 (about a month), whereas those in the treatment first group were not able to move into their own place, on average, until around day 223 (that is more than seven months). Not only were the Housing First tenants housed much faster but they had a significantly higher housing retention rates and a significant decline in Emergency room visits when compared to the treatment first