From: SSVF

Sent: Friday, March 09, 2018 8:34 AM

To: SSVF

Subject: SSVF Program Update Friday March 2, 2018

Topics:

1. NEW: Federal Financial Review (FFR) FSR Compliance Check Added to SSVF Uniform Monitoring Packet, Effective March 5, 2018

2. Veteran Status: Update on Eligibility

3. NEW: Guidance on SSVF HMIS Data Entry and HUD’s Definition of Veteran

4. REGISTER NOW: SSVF National Webinar on March 8, 2018 at 2PM Eastern

5. Annual Renewal and New Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) Waiver Submissions

Federal Financial Review (FFR) FSR Compliance Check Added to SSVF Uniform Monitoring Packet, Effective March 5, 2018

Please be advised that a new monitoring question has been added to the UMP Section G. Financial Management and Cost Allowability. SSVF monitors will ask grantees to verify the timely submission of the prior fiscal year’s FFR Financial Summary Report (FSR) and to provide proof of submission within the HHS Payment Management System. Proof of submission may include a printed screen shot of the FFR FSR report from HHS or a visual verification of the FFR FSR status while logged into the HHS Payment Management System during the onsite review. Specifically, the UMP asks, "Has the Grantee submitted the prior FY Federal Financial Review (FFR) Financial Summary Report (FSR) on time, per the HHS Payment Management System?" As a reminder, completing the electronic FFR FSR submission provided by the HHS Payment Management System is a requirement of SSVF grant closeout. FSRs must be completed and submitted within the HHS system within 45 days of the Project End Date. The SSVF Program Office recommends that grantees access their HHS PMS account to verify that all FFR FSR reports have been submitted, including reports from prior fiscal years. Any outstanding reports should be submitted within the HHS PMS as soon as possible.

Veteran Status: Update on Eligibility

The SSVF Program has updated guidance on Veteran Status and eligibility for the SSVF Program. SSVF now permits enrollment of Veterans who only had service time in Basic Training. Therefore, full time active duty (guard and reserve are still not eligible) Veterans who were discharged from the military while in basic training meet service requirements to be considered for SSVF, if they meet all other eligibility criteria. Due to the complexity in the definition of active military service, it is important to have a strong level of communication with your local VA Medical Center to verify if a potential participant has active military service and to verify their type of discharge.

Over the coming weeks, we will update all relevant documents on the SSVF website and provide an addendum to the October 2017 Program Guide. The definition of a Veteran now reads:

Veteran: A person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, regardless of length of service, and who was discharged or released there from, excluding any one who received a dishonorable discharge or was discharged or dismissed by reason of a General court-martial (PL 114-315; 38 USC § 2002(b)).

Please update your SSVF Policy and Procedures Manuals and any other outreach materials. If you have questions, please contact your Regional Coordinator.

Guidance on SSVF HMIS Data Entry and HUD’s Definition of Veteran

HUD’s current definition of Veteran excludes those individuals who attended training but were discharged before reporting to a duty station. Currently, HUD and VA are reviewing this definition. However, effective immediately, it is expected that SSVF grantees will serve this group of Veterans if they are otherwise eligible for services. We recognize that certain circumstances can arise where program eligibility and data collection requirements in HMIS do not always perfectly align. At this time, however, data entry in HMIS should comport with the instructions provided in the HMIS data standards. The "3.7 Veteran Status" for clients served under this expanded SSVF program eligibility criteria (where SSVF projects can serve clients who only had service time in Basic Training) should be entered with a "3.7 Veteran Status" of "No" in HMIS, as stated in the HMIS Data Manual. However, documentation of the client's eligibility for the project should be retained on file for the client for monitoring purposes, and this guidance can be included as backup to explain the apparent discrepancy between the client file and the HMIS record.

SSVF National Webinar on March 8, 2018 at 2PM Eastern

Date: Thursday March 8, 2018

Time: 2:00 pm to 3:30pm Eastern

Title: Participant Satisfaction Survey Grantee Best Practices & Homelessness Prevention Resource Allocation and Targeting

This webinar will cover emerging best practices used by SSVF grantees to ensure that as many Veterans as possible complete the SSVF Participant Satisfaction Survey. Use of these practices will assist grantees in getting as much client feedback as possible. The SSVF Participant Satisfaction Survey registration is a required component to comply with SSVF regulations. The SSVF Program Office has identified several "high performing" grantees that have Participant Satisfaction Survey completion rates over 35%! These "high performers" will share the keys to their success.

The webinar will also review Homelessness Prevention Resource Allocation and Targeting. As part of the Grant Resolution, grantees were asked to submit their Homelessness Prevention Targeting Screening Score and how each grantee derived their score. The SSVF Program Office will provide an overview of responses; review strategies for identifying the correct resources to be allocated to Homelessness Prevention after the Rapid Re-Housing need is met; and using the Threshold Score to target Veteran households most difficult to rehouse, specific to their community assessed needs and local resources.

Annual Renewal and New Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) Waivers

Applying for a waiver is a community-based decision, established as part of the Community Planning process. All SSVF grantees within the specific community must contribute to the waiver request process, even if they are not seeking a waiver for their individual grant award. Waiver decisions will be based on individual SSVF grant programs. For example, if a SSVF grantee within a CoC applying for a waiver only attributes 10% of their SSVF grant funds to that community, that grantee may not be approved for a waiver to their program, while each of the other grantees in that CoC (who allocate much larger portions of their grant to that CoC) may receive a waiver. RRH waiver requests require justification indicating that the RRH demand can still be met and must demonstrate support from the CoC. Our shared goal is to end and maintain an end to Veteran homelessness. Lowering the minimum amount of TFA required to be used for RRH households does not support this goal in your community. It is important that grantees continue to address all sources of Veteran homelessness in the community, including long-stay transitional housing programs, before using homeless prevention resources.

ANNUAL RENEWALS: For grantees that were operating one or more awards with an approved RRH waiver in FY17, the SSVF Program Office is requesting that each agency re-apply for the RRH waiver for FY18, in order to ensure that there is strategic allocation of resources applied to the community that supports the use of such a waiver. Please complete the RRH Waiver Request requirement in the SSVF online grants management system (GIFTS) by April 2, 2018. If you have any questions, please contact your Regional Coordinator.

NEW WAIVERS: The SSVF Program Office will be accepting new RRH Waiver Requests from grantees. Although the RRH Waiver is a rolling submission, the end date for FY2018 submissions will be July 28th 2018. The designated Point of Contact will submit the completed NEW packet to the SSVF Regional Coordinator via email. Do not submit via the GIFTS portal.

The RRH Waiver Request form may be found on the SSVF website at:

https://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf/?page=/official_guide/reporting_and_monitoring_requirements

As you complete the request, please review the Companion Guide and Instructional Webinar available at the following links. https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVF_Companion_Guide_to_RRH_Waiver_FY18.pdf

https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVF_Rapid_ReHousing_Waiver_InstructionalWebinar_withAudio.pdf

Thank you,

SSVF Program Office

NOTE: If you are receiving this email in error, please disregard. We request your patience as the SSVF Program Office continues to address system issues with the grants management database.