Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

This article assesses the extent and predictors of homelessness among veterans (both veterans in families with children and single adults veterans) exiting the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, which is a nationwide homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programgeared primarily toward those experiencing crisis homelessness.Among rapid re-housing participants, 16%and 26%of single adult veterans experienced an episode of homelessness at 1 and 2 years post-SSVF exit; the comparable figures at those follow-up times for veterans in familieswere 9.4%and 15.5%, respectively. Relatively fewer single adult veterans and veterans in families receiving homelessness prevention services experienced an episode of homelessness at 1 …

Objectives. Veterans are overrepresented within the homeless population compared with their non-veteran counterparts, particularly when controlling for poverty. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) aims to prevent new episodes of homelessness by targeting households at greatest risk; however, there are no instruments that systematically assess veterans’ risk of homelessness. We developed and tested a brief screening instrument to identify imminent risk of homelessness among veterans accessing VA health care.

Methods. The study team developed initial assessment items, conducted cognitiveinterviews with veterans experiencing homelessness, refined pilot items based on veterans’ and experts’ feedback and results of psychometric analyses, and assigned …

The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program represents a crucial component of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) plan to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans. Operationalized in Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, SSVF is the first and only VA program that provides services to Veterans and their families. SSVF is a community-based, competitive grant program that rapidly re-houses homeless Veteran families and prevents homelessness for those at imminent risk due to a housing crisis. The program focuses on achieving housing stability through a short-term, customized intervention using a time limited case management approach. Services include financial assistance …

Existing research suggests that Veterans experiencing homelessness make disproportionate and costly use of acute health, mental health and substance abuse treatment services, but that placement in programs like the US Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) can result in substantial reductions in the utilization of these services and associated costs. Several studies have demonstrated that, for certain high need individuals and Veterans, cost savings resulting from the reduction in these acute care services subsequent to placement in permanent supportive housing (PSH) can substantially or completely offset the cost of providing PSH and may even result in …