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Project CHALENG Home / Other Resources / Project CHALENG Partnering with Local Communities Nationwide to Serve Homeless VeteransThe CHALENG ProcessIn 1994, the VA launched Project CHALENG (Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups) for Veterans, an innovative program designed to enhance the continuum of care for homeless Veterans provided by the local VA and its surrounding community service agencies. The guiding principle behind Project CHALENG is that no single agency can provide the full spectrum of services required to help homeless Veterans become productive members of society. Project CHALENG enhances coordinated services by bringing the VA together with community agencies and other federal, state, and local governments who provide services to the homeless to raise awareness of homeless Veterans' needs and to plan to meet those needs. The legislation guiding this initiative is contained in Public Laws 102-405, 103-446 and 105-114. The specific legislative requirements relating to Project CHALENG are that local medical center and regional office directors:
The Annual Project CHALENG Report and Individual Site ProfilesEach year Project CHALENG publishes a report summarizing the results of annual surveys of both local VA staff and community participants (local government, service providers, formerly and currently homeless Veterans). These surveys ask for current perceptions of homeless Veterans' needs, the degree of VA/community cooperation and collaboration in serving homeless Veterans, and progress on local homeless Veterans program initiatives. The most recent CHALENG report for FY 2010 (The Seventeenth Annual Progress Report on Public Law 105-114: Services for Homeless Veterans Assessment and Coordination) is available below. The Report includes both VISN (Veterans Integrated Service Network) and Facility data. Also now available are individual site profiles (see below after Report Appendix Tables). These reports incorporate CHALENG and VA NEPEC (Northeast Program Evaluation Center ) data into a summary profile for each of the participating VA service sites for easy reference. Each profile includes: (1) a ranking of site homeless Veteran needs compared to national VA rankings, (2) partnership ratings of VA efforts in collaborating with community agencies, and 3) FY 2011 site action plan. When the Grant and Per Diem application and/or HUD Continuum of Care/Plan to End Homelessness processes are active, applicants needing to address local needs of homeless Veterans may want to consult their local CHALENG POC (listed in Appendix 7) and include local data generated from the individual site profiles VA's Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) processes and reports the data from the annual CHALENG survey. For More Information on CHALENGTo find the nearest CHALENG coordinator near you (see Appendix 8). For more information, please contact Catherine Abshire, National CHALENG Coordinator at (202) 461-1561; email Catherine.Abshire@va.gov. You may also contact John Nakashima, CHALENG program analyst, at (310) 478-3711 ext. 41946; email at John.Nakashima@va.gov. TO DOWNLOAD PDF FORMAT:To open files in the PDF format you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. If you do not already have a copy of Acrobat Reader on your computer you may download and install a FREE version from their website. The 2010 CHALENG report:
Guide to Appendices: Appendix 1: 2010 CHALENG Needs Score by VA Facility – Homeless Veterans' Assessment Consumer assessments of local Veteran met-unmet needs across 42 need areas - e.g. food, housing (emergency, transitional, permanent), hygiene, family counseling, etc. Appendix 2: 2010 CHALENG Needs Score by VA Facility – VA and Community Representatives' Assessment Provider assessments of local Veteran met-unmet needs across 42 need areas - e.g. food, housing (emergency, transitional, permanent), hygiene, family counseling, etc.). Appendix 3: 2010 CHALENG Needs Score by Network - Combined Consumers' and Provider Assessment VISN-level assessments of local Veteran met-unmet needs across 42 need areas - e.g. food, housing (emergency, transitional, permanent), hygiene, family counseling, etc. Appendix 4: 2010 CHALENG Integration and Implementation Scores by VA Facility - Community Representatives' Assessment Local community agency perception of specific activities associated with partnering with local VA, and level of homeless Veteran access to VA services Appendix 5: VA-Community Initiatives for Homeless Veterans: FY 2009 Action Plan Status Appendix 6: Best Practice Examples from FY 2010 Highlights local efforts that utilize innovative strategies to address unmet needs of homeless Veterans. Appendix 7: VISN/Facility CHALENG Points of Contact Appendix 8: CHALENG Consumer and Participant Survey Forms These are the survey forms completed by homeless Veteran consumers and VA and community participants. Data from these survey forms are compiled and reported in the CHALENG Report. Individual Site Profiles:
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