This weekly update is targeted towards the SSVF
Grantees and shared with valuable partners for
awareness.
June 9,
2023
NEW: The
FY2023 VA Data Guide Published
NEW: Shared
Housing Module in the Housing Skills Practice Center
NEW: HUD-VASH
and SSVF Collaboration Memo
REQUEST: Success
Stories for SSVF Website and Annual Report
REGISTER: SSVF
Data Office Hours June 16, 2023, 12:00PM EST
REMINDER: Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA) Maximums Removed
REMINDER:
Required Legal Service Provision
NEW: 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
NEW: Shared Housing
Module in the Housing Skills Practice Center
The Housing Skills
Practice Center is pleased to announce that a module on Shared Housing is now available
for review. This module provides interactive ways to learn about Shared
Housing, providing information on why SSVF programs should consider adding
shared housing to their intervention toolbox, the benefits of shared housing,
and what to consider regarding leases, landlords, and roommate matching.
The module is aligned with the SSVF Shared Housing Toolkit and offers a
different way to think through the implementation of Shared Housing in your
program.
NEW:
HUD-VASH and SSVF Collaboration Memo
The Office of the
Assistant Under Secretary for Operations has released a new Secretary
memorandum titled, “Housing and Urban Development – Veterans Affairs Supportive
Housing and Supportive Services for Veteran Families Collaboration.”
Please share this memo widely with your teams.
The memo is directly
linked here,
or can be found on the SSVF website under Supportive Services > Coordination
and Planning.
REQUEST: Success
Stories for SSVF Website and Annual Report
The
SSVF Program Office is seeking success stories to publish on our website and in
the SSVF Annual Report, which is shared with Congress and other
stakeholders. Submissions should be 2-3 paragraphs long and show the
Veteran’s journey from homelessness to stability.
When submitting, please
provide the following information:
·
Grant ID and location
·
Completed ROIs: http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/Success_Story_General_ROI_Form_10-5345.pdf and http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/Success_Story_Media_ROI_Form_10-3203.pdf
·
Assistance type (HP or
RRH)
·
Overview of key
services
·
Household composition
(single adult, family, etc.)
Optional: If the
Veteran is comfortable with it, you may also include a photo of the Veteran as
well as their gender, ethnicity, and military branch.
Please submit success
stories directly to your Regional Coordinator.
REGISTER: SSVF Data
Office Hours June 16, 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: Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA) Maximums Removed
The SSVF Program Office would like to remind
grantees, there is NOT a cap on the amount of Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA). Grantees may spend
more than 50% of their award on TFA when necessary, to address the needs of
Veterans experiencing homelessness in their service area.
REMINDER: Required
Legal Service Provision
As part of SSVF Program
Office’s ongoing support to end Veteran homelessness it is important to remind
grantees about providing allowable legal services within their entire services
area. SSVF grantee provision of Legal services are now a permanent
service option available to Veteran households nationwide.
The demand for legal
services has been a persistent theme in the Community Homelessness Assessment,
Local Education and Networking Groups (CHALENG) participant survey over several
years. The 2021 CHALENG survey found, seven of the top ten unmet needs reported
by homeless Veterans are legal issues. These top ten cited legal needs
disproportionately impact Women, and Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, Native Americans,
Pacific Islanders, Latinx populations.
Furthermore, In October
2020, the SSVF Program Office implemented an internal Legal Services Survey of
Grantees. The survey revealed only 26% (65) Grantees reported providing direct
legal services via contract or in-house counsel. The report also indicated that
a major reason for not providing direct legal services was lack of SSVF grant
funds.
The SSVF expansion of
legal services with the ARPA funding contributes to a solution. This is an
opportunity to bridge the justice gap and directly improve housing stability
for SSVF participants.