This weekly update is targeted towards the SSVF
Grantees and shared with valuable partners for
awareness.
July
21, 2023
ANNOUNCEMENT: VA 2023 Permanent Housing Conference – Call for Presenters!
DUE: Supplemental NOFA Communities Monthly Report Due in UDPaaS July 31, 2023
REMINDER: SSVF Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA)
REMINDER: The FY2023 VA Data Guide Published
REMINDER: SSVF
Data Office Hours July 21, 2023, 12:00PM EST
REMINDER: Legal
Services Assessment
REMINDER:
Outreach Activities
ANNOUNCEMENT: DEADLINE TODAY! VA
2023 Permanent Housing Conference – Call for Presenters!
The SSVF Program
Office, in partnership with the VA Homeless Program Office and national
HUD-VASH office, is excited to bring together practitioners from across the
country for the 2023 VA Permanent Housing Conference – One Team Approach:
Collaborating to End Homelessness Among Veterans. The tentative dates
for these conferences include:
·
West Coast
November 14-15, 2023
·
East Coast
December 5-6, 2023
For 2023, VA
is committed to highlighting innovative practices happening in the field and to
giving SSVF Grantees and their partners more opportunity to share their
successes in effectively serving Veterans experiencing or at-risk of
homelessness locally. With
that, we are asking Grantees to share with us your innovative practices related
to the topics of the conference so we can feature local highlights, panels, and
presentations throughout the two-day event. This year’s conference is organized
around lessons learned in pursuing VA’s 2023 Housing Goals.
We are
requesting Grantees review the attached outline of topic areas for possible
presentation topics. Attached
to this email is a general description of the topic areas we are planning to
include at the conference. In addition, if you or your community are doing
innovative work in ending Veteran homelessness that does NOT fit into the
topics below, we welcome ideas for other topics or highlights to be added to
the conference.
If your organization
is interested in presenting your local practices or innovations related to any
of the topics in the attached document or other practices that are working well
locally, please submit an abstract with a brief summary
of your presentation or panel ideas using the following link. If you are submitting for multiple topics, you will need to fill
out the survey once for each presentation idea being submitted: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SB93C9H
Presentation
proposals are due by 5pm PST on Friday July 21, 2023
Thank you
in advance for your interest in contributing to the expertise offered at this
important event. We hope to hear from many of you soon!
DUE: Supplemental NOFA Communities Monthly Report Due in UDPaaS July 31, 2023
All grant recipients of
the FY22 Supplemental NOFA funds are required to complete a monthly report
activity in UDPaaS. The June data report is due July
31, 2023, and should include any data from June 1, 2023, through June 30,
2023. If you have any questions regarding this report, please reach out to your
Regional Coordinator for assistance.
REMINDER: SSVF
Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA)
The SSVF Program Office
would like to remind grantees of the updated Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA)
guidance post Stafford Act. As of May 12, 2023, the updated Emergency
Housing Assistance Verification form (https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/EHA_Verification.docx)
must be completed for any Veteran household receiving this support.
Additionally, EHA is limited to one instance, up to 60 days, in a 2-year
period. As noted in previous National webinars (Webinar Library (va.gov))
and the End of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Stafford Act Incident
Period FAQ,
grantees will use May 12, 2023, as day-one of the allowable 60-day
episode. EHA past the 60-day limit in a 2-year period is considered an
unallowable expense and SSVF grantees should be planning to leverage additional
community resources to ensure Veterans are housed.
REMINDER: The
FY2023 VA Data Guide Published
The SSVF Program Office
in coordination with our technical assistance providers have updated the VA
Data Guide with fiscal year 2023 guidance. This document can be found
under the HMIS/Data Reporting section of the SSVF website at: https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/SSVF_VA_Data_Guide.pdf
TODAY: SSVF Data Office
Hours July 21, 2023, 12:00PM EST
The SSVF Program Office
continues to host monthly SSVF Data Office Hours for SSVF Grantees and their
community partners. Our technical assistance partners with Abt Associates will continue to provide “deep dive”
education and conduct live Q & A about SSVF data requirements. These
Office Hours are a great opportunity for SSVF grantees to grow their data entry
and data quality skills and improve local
processes.
Please register using
the following link: Webinar Registration - Zoom
After
registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about
joining the webinar.
REMINDER: Legal
Services Assessment
The SSVF Program Office
would like to remind grantees of the requirement to provide legal assessment
Veteran households enrolled in services. As part of legal services
expansion, all grantees must screen Veteran households for legal needs.
Grantees should develop a process for this (how and when screenings will take place, who will complete it, next steps) It is a
best practice to develop this assessment collaboratively with your legal
services provider. The assessment and processes should be reassessed
throughout service provision and/or annually.
Further information
about the expansion of legal services can be found on our website at: Legal_Services_FAQ.pdf (va.gov).
REMINDER: Outreach
Activities
The SSVF Program Office
would like to remind grantees to utilize guidance and best practices for
engaging with homeless Veterans. Grantees should be conducting
screenings and evaluating Veterans for program eligibility. It is the
expectation that SSVF grantees can screen and enroll eligible Veteran
households on the same day they request services. It is important that grantees
are able to screen, assess, and assist the Veteran
family as they are likely in crisis. Delays that occur between the first
outreach encounter and service delivery can result in missed opportunities to
mitigate the crisis or the Veteran may no longer be easily located.
Note: Veteran status and income eligibility must be established prior to the
provision of Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA). For more information
please review Section VI., subsection B regarding outreach, found at: SSVF_Program_Guide.pdf (va.gov)