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ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HOMELESS VETERANS to the Department of Veterans Affairs

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September 18, 2017 The Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans was convened for its second meeting of fiscal year (FY) 2017 at 8:00 am on September 13, 2017 through September 14, 2017 at 77 Northeastern Blvd, Nashua, NH. Mark Johnston, Committee Chairman opened the meeting. In accordance with the provisions of Public Law 92-463, the meeting was open to the public from 8:00 am to 11:40 am on September 13, 2017; from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on September 14, 2017. A session previously scheduled for 8:00 am to 11:00 am on September 15, 2017 was cancelled as the Committee was able to complete all required activities during the previous two days. In addition to being made available to the public in person, the meeting was made available to the public via open conference call. Signage was publicly posted in the lobby directing visitors to the meeting location. The meeting was closed to the public during tours of homeless services provider facilities at 45 High Street, Nashua, NH, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on September 13, 2017 to protect homeless Veteran patient privacy and confidentiality. Committee members present: Mark Johnston – Chair *Scott Carter –Ex-Officio, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Phillip Christensen – Ex-Officio, Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) (representing

Margarita Devlin) Steven Como – Member * Ivan Denton – Ex-Officio, Department of Labor (DoL) * Beverley Ebersold – Ex-Officio, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

(representing Matthew Doherty) Eric Grumdahl - Member Dottie Guy – Member Charles Hall – Member Elisha Harig-Blain - Member Peter Kelleher - Member Susan Lee, Ph.D, RN – Member Robert “Bobbie” Shriver, III – Member * Norm Suchar – Ex-Officio, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Leon Winston - Member Roger Woodworth – Member Committee Support Staff present Anthony Love, Senior Advisor and Director Community Engagement, Veterans Health

Administration (VHA), Homeless Programs Office (HPO), Designated Federal Officer (DFO)


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Charles Selby, VA, Senior Advisor and Communication and Engagement Coordinator, VHA HPO, Alternate DFO

Alexandra Logsdon, Presidential Management Fellow, VHA HPO, Committee Support Additional attendees present for a portion or all of the meeting (alphabetically by last name): Anthony Allman *Jessica Blue-Howells, VA, National Coordinator, Healthcare for Re-Entry Veterans Victoria Bogshaw Michael J. Bren Katherine Byrne Andrea Christoffers *Sean Clark, VA, National Coordinator, Veterans Justice Outreach, VHA Donna Curley, New Hampshire Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

Project Manager Sam Dahlberg Anthony DiLorenzo Jim Donchess, Mayor of Nashua, NH *Anne Dunn, VA, Acting Executive Director, VHA HPO Lisa Gravel Dr. Keith Harris, VA, Director, Clinical Operations, VHA HPO Doug Howard, Homeless Student Liaison for the Nashua School District Courtney Hunt Jessica Karwatske Ann Kelleher Russel Kilpatrick *John Kuhn, VA, Director, Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), VHA HPO Julie Lane Bob Mack, Director, City of Nashua Welfare Department Elisabeth Martin Dr. Alfred Montoya, Jr., VA, Acting Medical Center Director, Manchester, NH VA

Medical Center (VAMC) Jeffrey Moragne, VA, Director, Advisory Committee Management Office (ACMO) Robert Mottola, VA, Clinical Social Worker, Manchester VAMC * Dr. Thomas O’Toole, VA, Director, National Center on Homelessness Among

Veterans, VHA Homeless Programs Ana Pancine, Chair of the Greater Nashua Continuum of Care (CoC ) Albert Peel Miles Pendry, Greater Nashua CoC Data Committee and Information Technology (IT)

Director for Harbor Homes Vanessa Pinciaro Kristin Presley Mandy Reagan


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Emily Reisine, VA, Homeless Coordinator, Manchester VAMC Nicole Robbins *Adam Ruege, VA, VHA HPO Liaison * Jeff Quarles, VA, National Director, VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem

Programs Mary Tamposi Kevin Ward * Indicates participation via teleconference Note – Titles, when known are listed. Members of the public who attend are not required to provide titles when they sign in. For the record, it is noted that to avoid a conflict of interest, Committee members are required to absent themselves from the meeting when the Committee discusses applications from their respective institutions or in which a conflict of interest may occur. Members are asked to sign a statement to this effect. This does not apply to "en bloc" actions. There were no discussions during this gathering that required any members to absent themselves from the meeting. Wednesday September 13, 2017 (77 Northeastern Blvd, Nashua, NH): 08:00 am Meeting called to order by Mark Johnston, Chairman. 08:10 am Remarks by Anthony Love, Designated Federal Officer, on outcomes of

previous ACHV report and letters. Remarks by Peter Kelleher, President and CEO of the Partnership for Successful Living, facility host. Committee members made the following observations or comments for the record:

Eric Grumdhal commented that he would like the Committee to discuss racial equity, and suggested that more Federal guidance on coordinated entry and by-name lists would be beneficial. He asked if VA can provide data on racial equity in housing outcomes from its current data. Dr. Keith Harris agreed that this can be done and will be provided to the Committee at a later date.

Leon Winston observed that there is a lack of coordination between VA medical centers regarding Veteran homelessness, especially in regions where more than one medical center provides services and suggested that this should be an area of focus for a future meeting

Roger Woodworth suggested the Committee should focus on Community Veteran Engagement Boards (CVEBS).

Susan Lee observed that VA has not adequately focused on women’s health issues. Past studies of homeless demographics have showed women as only 10% of the homeless population, but that demographic is growing.


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Dottie Guy suggested that the Committee should look at effectiveness of stand-downs. She recently went to the Contra Costa county stand-down and met Veterans who had been through four previous stand-downs without successful housing outcomes.

08:30 am Discussion with Dr. Keith Harris, VA, Director, Clinical Operations -

updates on VA Homeless programs. He shared that the VHA HPO Executive Director position is still vacant, but expects a decision from the hiring official shortly. Finalist interviews have been completed. VA is working to right size the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program (GPD) – VA has the same number of beds as when there were an estimated 70,000 homeless Veterans despite the fact that the current estimated homeless Veteran population is 40,000. When the deadline to terminate grants under the previously published notice of funding availability for Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) approached, the new administration made a decision to continue grants for every agency that applied for one additional year. Dr. Harris observed that the need to right size remains and that HPO needs to have a detailed engagement with VA senior leadership. Mark Johnston noted that all the creative thinking many agencies did to right size and innovate are now on hold and this is a lost opportunity. Elisha Harig-Blaine commented that VA admits there were better opportunities for VA leadership to engage the public and asked what VA is doing now to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Dr. Harris shared that VA is planning detailed engagements with VA leaders. Past presentations focused on GPD only and, in retrospect, should have included the full spectrum of services. Briefings are scheduled. Elisha Harig-Blaine asked what is being done to ensure that Veteran homelessness remains a priority. The Committee observed that there is an opportunity to engage the administration by sending a letter addressing this subject. Steve Como asked if agencies that were extended must also start putting their beds into the new categories. Dr. Harris replied that no changes will be required. Dr. Harris shared that the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant awards should be published shortly. There will be a reduced number of grants (36 fewer) and a reduced amount of funding. Mark Johnston asked if agencies not funded have been notified. Dr. Harris replied that they have been notified informally. Mark Johnston asked if the reduction was based on performance and Dr. Harris stated that yes, the grants not funded were decided by performance. 320 grants will be made – roughly a 10% reduction. VA has made a change that allows VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) to seek exception from the previously published target goals for Housing and Urban Development – VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers to be targeted to 65% chronicle homeless Veterans. Eric Grumdahl and Elisha Harig-Blaine suggested that this guidance should be


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public. It is not currently, but Dr. Harris agreed that discussion on posting guidance publicly is worthwhile. Elisha Hair-Blaine recalled previous discussions on sharing guidance. The Committee suggested that USICH should be the central location for public guidance. Dr. Harris shared that VA has reduced the number of breakthrough initiatives – homelessness is no longer on any list of priorities. Mark Johnston asked if the removal is because VA wants to refine its focus or if VA views the effort as successful. Dr. Harris answered that the VA Executive leadership’s focus is on fixing non-performing programs; Homeless Programs generally are working well and don’t require additional focus. VAMCs have been asked in an exercise how they could redirect five percent of their funding to suicide prevention. A general trend in replies was that VAMCs could redirect homelessness funds. The Committee found this concerning and wanted to know how VA could prevent cuts to homeless funding. Dr. Harris offered that the Committee charter allows them to make suggestions to the SECVA. Bobbie Shriver asked for clarification – essentially the medical centers have been asked to find ways to support suicide prevention. The general reply was to divert homeless funds. Mr. Shriver suggested that it would be better to have Congress make an additional appropriation for suicide instead of reducing homeless funding. Mr. Shriver suggested the Committee make this one of their recommendations. Mr. Shriver asked what the proposed budget and staffing for suicide prevention is. Dr. Harris offered to find the target budget information. VA is working on rolling out 6000 licenses for VirtuePro to enable VA homeless staff to securely share information with community partners. Elisha Harig-Blaine asked if VA has data on increased housing rates in areas that are sharing data and Eric Grumdahl asked if there are use cases and guidance. Dr. Harris shared that VA does not yet have data, but there are extensive use cases and guidance. Mark Johnston asked how strongly VA is encouraging data sharing. Dr. Harris stated that VA is strongly encouraging data sharing by VAMCs. Leon Winston observed that Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) managers incur cost in implementing new data and asked if VA can share the cost. VA is working on ambitious guidance to VAMCs to more actively engage in coordinated entry. The guidance requires participation and will include funding for staff in centers that require additional staff to implement this change. Guidance is in the approval phase. It is a major change in how VA works with community programs. Mark Johnston asked how VA will interact with communities that use Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT). Dr. Harris stated that VA has looked at whether VA should adopt a universal assessment tool. Data shows that Veterans are best served by requiring data sharing, while allowing for local variation in systems used. Eric Grumdahl suggested there is a need for guidance on coordinated


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assessment and by-name lists that distinguishes that a priority list that is just a list of names is not as effective and desirable as a list that allows for on-going management on the path to housing. Dr. Harris shared that HUD is expected to release the Point-In-Time (PIT) Count. Leon Winston suggested that there is data that indicates possible false positives for Veterans in the count. Dr. Harris observed that there are some fundamental challenges with using the PIT count as a major indicator. Many communities correlate having a higher number with receiving more resources. Eric Grumdahl asked if VA has a better approach to developing an estimate. VA’s Acting Deputy Secretary has suggested we use communities that have a by-name list and compare the data to the PIT to establish data to evaluate effectiveness of various estimates of the homeless population.

09:30 am Discussion with Katherine Byrne and Mandy Reagan of Harbor Homes on

local Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) activities, successes and challenges. Mayor Jim Donchess joined the meeting. Peter Kelleher shared that one of the more effective programs implemented by the mayor is the Firehouse Program to reduce opiates. Eric Grumdahl asked if when VA confirms a community has accomplished an end whether this has the unintended consequence of reducing the community’s focus on ending Veteran homelessness or if the announcement can be leveraged as a means of increasing focus. The mayor replied that in his community they have not reduced focus and are committed to maintaining zero. The community, in partnership with Harbor Homes, is actually at functional zero for both homeless and chronic homelessness. The success in ending Veteran homelessness is being used as an example of success in one population that can be extended to other populations. Elisha Harig-Blaine observed that the community’s success in ending Veteran homelessness and extending the methods to other populations is admirable, and asked how supportive the council is. The mayor replied that council is supportive of city goals, and that re-zoning efforts have allowed the community to partner and utilize abandoned properties to be remodeled and repurposed to support homeless programs.

Katherine Byrne shared that one of the key tools that has allowed effective

engagement is a 24-hour e-mail and phone service that links homeless to the coordinated entry system. One method that increased their success was to make very specific asks to other agencies and Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) – e.g. don’t ask “Can you support this effort,” but rather ask for specific assistance on a date, location and activity with specific details yields more effective partnership. Roger Woodworth asked about PIT Count. Answer: 2017 PIT zero unsheltered, and 55 in


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transitional housing. Current by-name list is 64. Roger Woodworth asked how they engage rural. Answer: all four SSVFs do outreach in the rural areas. There is a daily report from HMIS that allows the providers to go to the shelter and engage quickly and they use targeted outreach for rural areas. Eric Grumdahl asked if proximity to other states is causing mobility to or from the continuum. Answer: the continuum does actively engage with other continuums to ensure continuous service to the Veterans, and ensures that entries into the continuum are welcomed and engaged. The program actively works with other states for lateral communication, sharing forms and joint training to ensure that there is effective communication and partners. Mark Johnston asked how the local CoC is able to work with communities over which they have no control. Answer: simply engaging and asking other providers to share data and coordinating permanent housing placement. Warm handoff is key to ensuring effective coordination between CoCs. Peter Kelleher commented that coordinated intake is a challenge to develop. Their first success was to develop a single phone number for services; the number is staffed by five different agencies. Memorandums of Agreement were an effective tool in getting partner agencies to call the single point of entry whenever Veterans enter the Continuum. Daily HMIS report is an effective tool. Dottie Guy asked if there is a trend for Veterans migrating to NH – is it financial or ease of access? Answer: there is a trend of Veterans moving from Vermont to New Hampshire. Anecdotally the reason is lack of access to jobs and services, e.g. shortage of GPD beds in Vermont. Many Veterans who move to New Hampshire have stated they like the rural environment. Dottie Guy asked about the relationship to law enforcement. Answer: there is ongoing engagement with law enforcement, and the CoC has effectively engaged law enforcement, and messaging the importance of treatment and decriminalization. Law enforcement officers are provided laminated contact cards with contact info for various resources, including SSVF. Charlie Selby asked what software program is used for their innovative shared Graphic Information System (GIS). Answer: Z-maps. It’s an online tool that can be used by all agencies.

10:30 am Break 11:00 am Discussion with Anne Dunn, Acting Executive Director, VHA HPO on

emerging changes to VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program. Mark Johnston asked if the new NOFA allows for per diem or transition in place (TIP). Is TIP included in GDP? Answer: yes, it is a GPD-funded program. Mark Johnston asked what percentage of GPD is scattered site. Answer: very small. Ms. Dunne will get a specific answer. Steve Como commented that in the past there has been no funding for capital acquisitions - will there be capital funding in the


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future? Answer: no capital funding. The NOFA asks providers to make the changes without capital. Leon Winston asked about the recently authorized after-care program – how close is VA to implementation? Will it be available to only existing providers or new applicants? Ms. Dunne will find an answer. Dr. Harris commented that VA is still in the process of writing the guidance. Mark Johnston asked what the best interventions are based on VA research. Anne Dunn replied the decision to go with the models we used was based on research. If you look at outcomes for GPD, they were historically good. Intent of changes was to make GPD more current and responsive to community needs.

11:25 am Lunch and Travel to 45 High Street GPD facilities. 01:00 pm Tour of 45 High Street GPD facility. Hospital to Home briefing by Lisa

Gravel and Vanessa Pinciaro of Harbor Homes. 02:55 pm Open discussion about 45 High Street GPD successes and barriers.

Committee is curious about software used to count for time between various providers. Answer is that they use 25 different systems. This is a challenge for staff and information technology support. Susan Lee asked about the prevalence of hepatitis–C (HEP-C) among Harbor Homes patients. Peter Kelleher replied that they have a large number of patients with HEP-C, and would like to see more resources. Cost for HEP-C treatment is $80,000 per patient. They have been able to completely cure five patients so far. Peter Kelleher hopes to focus on opiate crisis over the next few years. Eric Grumdahl commented that he is impressed by how the local programs have been focused on homelessness as a health care competency and asked if this has created opportunities not previously accessible. Peter Kelleher replied that several years ago at a planning meeting they realized they were effectively a federally qualified health care system (FQHC), and wondered why they approached homelessness as housing. Approaching homelessness as a healthcare issue and becoming FQHC certified opened a number of new doors. Benefits –include they don’t have to pay malpractice insurance; they have access to medical practitioners who have large student debt and are able to liquidate by serving an underserved population. Ally Logsdon asked about pro-bono legal services. Peter Kelleher answered that they have a number of partners who provide onsite pro-bono and they are also pursuing a FQHC grant for legal services. Dottie Guy asked how women are treated in the facility. Harbor Homes staff answered that they try to treat all Veterans the same, regardless of gender, with the exception of Veterans fleeing domestic violence or who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST), for whom they try to make sure the treatment plan is tailored to their needs. Dottie Guy stated that a number of programs throughout the


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country don’t have enough visibility of women Veterans and they’re often not seen as Veterans. The staff replied that in this program, they try to make sure all Veterans are treated the same. Bobbie Shriver shared that in his experience, many providers in Los Angeles have failed to deliver services for women and that providers “talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.” Susan Lee commented that alternate services are sometimes needed – that some Veterans need women’s programs. Bobbie Shriver stated that there are some clinics that have women’s only entrances and observed that it would be useful to study how effective these are. Peter Kelleher asked if the rate of homeless reduction is the same among genders. VA will try to find data. An extensive discussion on how to reduce overhead, the complexity of grant processes and how teaming can be a successful approach followed. Ally Logsdon asked about the level of training and suggested that initial training for staff in the spectrum of services could be an area where more effective engagement with Veterans could be achieved. Harbor Homes staff generally agreed that this type of training makes it possible to address which program is best for the client. The ability to understand other programs enables more client centric responses. The Committee agreed that efforts to instill this type of culture are a best practice that should be widely adopted. Mark Johnston asked how to encourage this type of behavior.

Modeling is powerful. At the Federal level, a demonstration project can be used to show how effective this method can be.

Legislative changes to allow for joint applications would be beneficial.

Non-legislative rule change implemented by agencies within their authority could be used.

The Committee agreed that success should be measured by Veteran successful outcome as opposed to programmatic placements.

05:00 pm Committee adjourned for the day. Thursday September 13, 2017 (77 Northeastern Blvd, Nashua, NH) 08:00 am Meeting called to order by Mark Johnston, Chairman. Open discussion on

yesterday’s activities and today’s agenda. 08:15 am Manchester, NH VA Medical Center (VAMC) presentation followed by

question and answer session with Dr. Alfred Montoya, Jr., Acting Medical Center Director. Dottie Guy asked about whether or not there is a standard workflow. Answer: Director makes his cell available, and has educated the staff to make referrals, generally speaking they try to have a no wrong door approach. The Homeless walk in clinic is located at the VAMC, open daily. Eric Grumdahl observed that one of the keys to success in the NH CoC has been understanding voice of the Veteran –


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how is the voice of the Veteran included in VAMC reform. Answer: town hall in the first month. Dr. Montoya shared that he found it difficult and disturbing to hear some of the challenges Veterans faced, but it is illustrative of what reform is needed. Feedback from Veterans and other constituents is used to adjust the action plan. Outreach is focused on stand downs and mini-stand downs. Elisha Hair-Blaine asked about specific homeless funding – what percentage are general and specific purpose. Answer: Two of 25 positions are funded by the medical center, the other 23 are funded by special purpose funds. Bobbie Shriver asked how many staff are able to be hired with $5 million in additional funding. Discussion on staffing follows.

08:45 am Discussion/recap of prior day’s events. 09:30 am Panel discussion with members from the Manchester, NH VAMC and local

Continuum of Care (CoC). Panel members: Bob Mack – Director, City of Nashua Welfare Dep’t; Miles Pendry – Greater Nashua CoC Data Committee and IT Director for Harbor Homes; Donna Curley – HMIS project manager; Ana Pancine – Chair of the Greater Nashua CoC; Doug Howard –Homeless Student Liaison for the Nashua School District (Doug also works with the Greater Nashua COC Coordinated Entry system); Emily Reisine, Homeless Coordinator, Manchester VA Medical Center; Robert Mottola, Manchester VA Medical Center. Phillip Christensen, VBA, asked how effectively linked the CoC is to the VBA regional offices responsible for outreach. Answer: the CoC is linked to the VHA VAMC, but agrees that linkage to VBA would be a good idea.

10:45 am Break 11:00 am Update on the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

by Beverley Ebersold, Director of National Initiatives, U.S. Interagency council on Homelessness. USICH continues to support the Mayor’s Challenge and is working ways to sustain the effort. There are forthcoming communications on progress. USCIH continues to get requests for certification. USICH is working on guidelines for sustainability – making sure communities can sustain and what sustainability looks like. They are developing a checklist and have posted case studies. Leon Winston asked about USICH’s ability to continue providing technical assistance (TA.) USICH will follow up offline with details on additional TA to support work with communities. Leon shared how San Francisco is trying to look at a regional approach as they have three VAMCs and can’t control inflow and need to coordinate transient flow. He asked if USICH is looking at regional approaches. Beverly Ebersold replied that USICH has observed while performing the review process of


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communities who request certification, that a number of communities are indeed using a regional approach. This is an emerging effort that USICH is working on better understanding and determining how it can best be addressed. Mark Johnston asked about what is the best vehicle for sharing guidance? Is USICH able to continue being the point of focus for guidance? Answer: USICH is eager to continue being the main distribution hub for guidance, and that VirtuePro is the preferred vehicle. Mark Johnston asked about staffing levels. Answer: staffing is smaller, but they’re in process of hiring a regional coordinator for the west coast. USICH hopes to bring on additional staff in the future. They are currently a lean team of 15 - normally they are staffed at 20 or 21. Bobby Shriver asked for information on the West Coast Coordinator position. Beverly Ebersol will send the info to Ally Logsdon who will share it with the Committee. Several Committee members comment that if VA does not participate in USICH at the Secretarial level, that will send a message to the community that VA has backed off its commitment, and will fail to support efforts to sustain gains. This is a matter of grave concern by the Committee. The Committee highly encourages VA to engage the Council at the Secretarial level. This is a possible recommendation for the report.

11:30 am Department of Labor (DoL) homeless programs update by Ivan Denton

Director, Office of National Programs, DoL. DoL has addressed the areas affected by hurricanes and other weather events, and has decided to increase the funding available to support stand downs to $50,000 per event in those areas and have extended the Federal register notice. Dottie Guy asked what the success measures for Stand Down are. Answer: DoL requests an after-action review that states what supplies were needed and what supplies were delivered. Goal is to match the request. Dottie Guy asked how DoL measures effective use of funding and how it’s tracked. Answer: an after action report details how funding was used. Eric Grumdahl observed that there is variability in outcomes across providers. He shared that previously their local stand down did not previously have a positive effort to ensure connection to housing or services. Recently they’ve changed to adopt more of the Operation Reveille model. Mr. Denton is amenable to updating standards and agreed to do a review. Elisha Harig-Blaine asked Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans' Employment Representatives (LVER) can participate in CoC meetings. Answer: they are able to, but as Elisha Hairg-Blaine noted, there is anecdotal evidence at the field level suggesting there is confusion as to whether or not they can attend. Elisha Harig-Blaine suggests that providing guidance encouraging them to attend and ensure positive linkage to the link to the CoC and SSVF providers. He commented that across the board, “…bluntly, there is a lack of connection


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between a number of programs -- HUD-VASH, SSVF, DVOP and LVER. Many DoL field staff don’t understand they have the ability to attend CoC meetings.” Ivan Denton agreed that this is non-optimal and will direct his staff to ensure clear guidance and a focus on connecting the various programs.

12:00 pm Lunch 01:30 pm Update on Veterans Justice Programs by Jessica Blue-Howells, VA,

National Coordinator, Healthcare for Re-Entry Veterans. VA has provided more funding for direct outreach to Veterans involved with the courts – 15 more positions in the field. Leon Winston asked how many jails have specialized programs. Answer: 83, large successful growth. San Francisco is seen as a particularly effective program. Eric Grumdahl asked if there are any opportunities to encourage interagency cooperation. Jessica Blue-Howells shared that most of the agencies that hold Veterans in custody are not Federal but rather local and county, and there is an opportunity to expand efforts with local and county.

02:00 pm Discussion with Norm Suchar, Director, Office of Special Needs

Assistance Programs (SNAPS) on Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. Mr. Suchar affirms that HUD remains committed to ending homelessness and that the new Administration is extremely engaged in ending homelessness. HUD is working on tools to assist CoCs to assess effectiveness of Housing First. HUD has observed an increase in unsheltered homeless (including Veterans) in many communities. The increase appears to be directly related to increased housing costs and low vacancy rates. HUD recognizes that there is a lack of capacity for comprehensive homeless work in rural areas. There are some excellent rural providers but due to systemic infrastructure shortages, there are challenges. HUD plans additional focused efforts to increase capacity, data and performance in rural areas. Leon Winston noted that collaboration has been effective, and suggested that perhaps there could be points associated with teaming efforts on CoC grant applications. Norm Suchar asked that Leon send additional details and agrees to consider this as a possibility. Mark Johnston asked about continued focus on Housing First, and a lengthy discussion of continued support follows. The Committee again stressed the importance of Secretarial level involvement with USICH, and asked Norm Suchar to encourage Secretary Carson to be personally involved in USICH matters.

02:45 pm Break


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03:00 pm Committee deliberations on possible recommendations for annual report and discussion of interagency sub-committees. The following are agreed to: Possible content of a letter to Secretary Shulkin–

1. Encourage protective language for homeless funding, and not place at homeless funds at risk in order to divert funding to efforts to prevent suicide.

2. Acknowledge appreciation for posting the Executive Director position, but stress the Committee believes VA needs to provide a clear consistent voice on the importance of continuing to support ending Veteran homelessness.

Possible recommendations:

1. VA needs to more effectively share guidance, such as the recent

HUD-VASH chronic homelessness coordination. 2. Establish standards or request a review related to the effectiveness

of stand downs. Dottie Guy will discuss further with DoL. 3. Fosters collaboration between programs to reduce overhead and

encourages pooling resources with additional points for scoring applications based on teaming. Agencies will play ball together if the rules of the game if the rules encourage this.

4. VA coordinate programs regionally. 5. The Committee comments that if VA does not participate in USICH

at the Secretarial level, this will send a message to the community that VA has backed off its commitment, and fails to support efforts to sustain gains.

Future agenda item: The Committee desires an update from CVEBs for the next meeting. VOTES: 1. Unanimous, that there shall be established sub-committees that

will report to the Committee on their findings during the meeting in April 2018:

Racial equity. Eric Grumdahl and Dottie Guy.

Geriatrics. Leon Winston.

2. Unanimous, that the ACHV will coordinate with the following VA Advisory committees, with the intent that a member or members of the receptive committees will reciprocally attend each other’s meetings, and form sub-Committees to explore joint recommendations, which would be reported by letter and/or be included in the respective committee reports:


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Advisory Committee on Geriatrics. Leon Winston.

Advisory Committee of Women Veterans. Dottie Guy and Susan Lee.

3. Unanimous, that the next dates of Committee meetings will be:

Washington, DC. April 11-12, 2018

San Francisco, CA. September 26-28, 2018

05:15 pm Committee adjourned. SUMMARY OF REQUESTS:

Eric Grumdahl asked if VA can provide data on racial equity in housing outcomes from its current data. Dr. Harris agreed that this can be done and will be provided to the Committee at a later date.

Eric Grumdahl asked about system wide vacancies – Dr. Harris agreed to provide follow-up data.

Mark Johnston asked what percentage of GPD is scattered site. Answer: very small. Ms. Dunne will get a specific answer.

Bobbie Shriver asks what the proposed budget and staffing for suicide is. Dr. Harris offers to find the target budget information.

Leon Winston asked about the recently authorized after-care program – how close is VA to implementation? Will it be available to only existing providers or new applicants? Ms. Dunne will find an answer. Dr. Harris commented that VA is still in the process of writing the guidance. Peter

Peter Kelleher asked if the rate of homeless reduction is the same among genders. VA will try to find data.

Leon Winston asked about USICH’s ability to continue providing technical assistance (TA.) USICH will follow up offline with details on additional TA to support work with communities.

Bobby Shriver asked for information on the West Coast Coordinator position. Beverly Ebersol will send the info to ally Logsdon who will share it with the Committee.

Homeless Programs Office agrees to review housing outcomes ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:15 pm on September 14, 2017. I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the foregoing minutes are accurate

and complete.


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___________________________________ Mark Johnston Chairman Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans These minutes will be formally considered by the Council at its next meeting, and any corrections or notations will be incorporated in the minutes of that meeting.

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