Metro Denver Forum of
Strategic Partnerships to End
Veteran Homelessness
Welcome
Welcome
“Only a crisis- actual or perceivedproduces real change.
When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken
depend on the ideas that are lying around.
That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop
alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive
and available until the politically impossible
becomes the politically inevitable.”
- Milton Friedman
Objectives:
 Share vulnerability index survey results
 Highlight recent housing successes
 Hear from veterans about their experiences
 Promote networking & information sharing
 Identify regional priorities to effectively end
veteran homelessness
Agenda
 Ending veteran homelessness by 2015? – Gary Sanford
 Vulnerability Index Data overview – Katie Symons
 Panel of Rapid Re-Housing partners – 100 Days Committee
 Panel of veterans
 Breakout session with focus groups in areas of Housing,
Benefits, Supportive Services, Employment, Health Care,
Outreach
 Presentation of regional priorities – Group facilitators
 Next steps & Closing remarks
Ending Veteran Homelessness
by 2015 in seven county area?
GARY SANFORD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
METRO DENVER HOMELESS INITIATIVE
National Efforts
Vision
“President Obama and I
are personally
committed to ending
homelessness among
Veterans within the next
five years”
– Secretary Shinseki
Accomplished
by
•Building Capacity
•Creating Solutions
Goals
• Increase number/variety of housing
options including permanent, transitional,
contracted, community-operated, and VA
operated
• Provide more supportive services through
partnerships to prevent homelessness,
improve employability, and increase
independent living for veterans.
• Improve access to VA and community based
mental health, substance abuse, and
supportive services.
National Homeless Veteran Numbers
Denver-Metro Homeless Veteran Numbers
Point In Time
The 2011 survey indicated that 11.7% of
respondents (603) were homeless
veterans
The 2012 survey indicated that 12.9% of
respondents (710) were homeless
veterans
GOAL
END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS BY 2015
VA Benefits
VASH
Homeless
vouchers
Management
Information
System
100 Days
Committee
Grant per
Diem
programs
Veteran
Trust Fund
SOAR
VASH
vouchers
REGIONAL RESOURCES
Veteran Stand downs
United Veterans Committee
Coordinated
Entry
Veteran
Service
Organizations
NonProfit
agencies
Colorado
Board of
Veteran
Affairs
Community
Resource and
Referral
Center
Local
initiatives
County
Veteran
Service
Officers
Supportive
Services for
Veterans and
Families
grantees
Work Force
Centers
VA Health Care
Ft. Lyon
GOAL- END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS BY 2015
 Opening Doors – Federal Goal
 Pathways Home Colorado – State Goal
 Regional priorities?
 Voice of those in need
 Insight from those engaged in addressing needs
 Alignment to create efficiencies and collaboration
 Leverage additional resources with collective voice
Vulnerability Index Overview
KATIE SYMONS
CONSULTANT
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
SEVEN COUNTY
VULNERABILTY INDEX
SURVEY OF VETERANS
THREE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN (327)
VETERANS SURVEYED
RESULTS ARE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF
THOSE SURVEYED AND DOES NOT REPRESENT
THE ENTIRE HOMELESS VETERAN POPULATION
IN THE SEVEN COUNTY AREA.
THE VI IS FOCUSED ON PEOPLE, NOT ONLY
NUMBERS.
SURVEY ANSWERS ARE SELF REPORTED
Risk Factors for Vulnerability
More than 6 months homeless AND at least one of the
following criteria:
-End Stage Renal Disease
-History of Cold Weather Injuries
-Liver Disease or Cirrhosis
-HIV+/AIDS
-Over 60 years old
-3 or more emergency room visits in prior 3 months
-3 or more ER or hospitalizations in prior year
-Tri-morbid (mental illness + abusing substances +
chronic medical condition)
 Having one of these conditions will give an individual a rating; the
more conditions an individual has, the higher their rating (1-8)
Vulnerability Index Interview Questions
 Veteran Status
 Discharge,
benefits, etc.
 Demographics
 Health Risk Indicators
 Institutional Usage (prison, jail, shelter,
foster care)
 Employment, Income, and Education
 Youth Risk Involvement
 Family Risk Involvement
Medical Vulnerability
 157 out of 327 Veterans are medically
vulnerable
 48% have at least one risk indicator
Vulnerability Score
# of Veterans
1=
79
2=
46
3=
22
4=
7
5=
1
6=
2
Vulnerability Index Risk Indicators
Risk Indicator
# of Veterans
Tri-Morbid
84
3x or more to ER in last 3 months
38
3X or more in hospital in last year
18
> 60 years
69
Liver Disease
36
Kidney Disease
14
History of Cold Weather Injury
24
HIV+/AIDS
2
Discharge Status
# of Responses
249
40
24
2
4
8
Age
Youngest Veteran
Oldest Veteran
25 years old
77 years old
Youth (25 & Under)
3 Vets
Seniors Age 55+
159 Vets
Seniors Age 65+
27 Vets
Gender
Transgender,
2
Declined to
State, 3
Female,
36
Male, 286
Benefits
350
300
250
11
111
22
65
90
84
55
200
96
150
100
154
204
220
206
140
50
64
108
0
Has Vet
Card
Connected
to VA Med
Center
Yes
Dental
No
Medical
Care
Unknown
Mental
Health
Mental Health &
Substance Abuse
 163 Vets reported receiving some form of mental
health treatment

47 reported being held against their will
 190 Vets reported using substances
 143 Vets reported receiving some form of substance abuse
treatment
 128 Vets are Dually Diagnosed
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Alcohol
Asked to Leave
Bad Credit
Benefits Problems
Disability
DV
Drugs
Eviction
Foreclosure
Illness
Jail
Legal Problems
Loss of Job
Medical Expenses
Mental Illness
Moved to Find Work
Pets
Relationship…
Rent
Risk Factors
System Involvement
300
250
200
Yes
No
Unknown
150
100
50
0
Jail
Prison
Foster Care
Where Interviews were Conducted
Locations
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Resides in Which County
250
200
150
100
50
0
Lived Prior to Becoming
Homeless (by County)
Adams
5%
Arapahoe
10%
Boulder
5%
Broomfield
2%
Somewhere
else
38%
Denver
33%
Jefferson
5%
Douglas
2%
What We Are Doing
MANY OF THESE COMMUNITIES ARE TAKING
THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE DATA
ADDRESSING GAPS IN SERVICES TO MEET
THE NEEDS OF THE MOST VULNERABLE
100 Days committee
PANEL PRESENTATION
Panel of Rapid
Re-Housing Partners
100 DAYS COMMITTEE PANEL
CAROLYN JUAREZ – VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
SUSAN NINER – COLORADO DIVISION OF HOUSING
LORETTA OWENS – DENVER HOUSING AUTHORITY
HEATHER POWERS – VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
KEVIN RALEIGH – CO COALITION FOR THE
HOMELESS
SCOTT STRONG - VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
SAGE SANTANGELO – METRO DENVER HOMELESS
INITIATIVE
Local efforts
Goals
Vision
All Coloradans
have a place to
call home
Accomplished
by
•Building Capacity
•Creating Solutions
• “Increase voucher
utilization for 2008-2012
HUD-VASH vouchers in
the next 100 Days, with
100% voucher issuance
and 95% of vouchers
leased” -100 Days Group
• Create housing and
accessible services for
homeless veterans
• Increase retention
Denver Metro 100 Day team
 Team leaders:
Carolyn Juarez, HUD-VASH Supervisor Denver VAMC
 Heather Powers, HUD-VASH Supervisor Denver VAMC
 Team members:













Scott Strong- VAMC
Jennifer Daly- VAMC
Linda Barringer – Family Tree
Rebecca Mayer- Metro Denver Homeless Initiative
Brenda Mascarenas – Adams County Housing Authority
Toni Manjarrez- Denver Housing Authority
Loretta Owens- Denver Housing Authority
Katherine Helgerson- Division Of Housing
Amanda Guthrie – Boulder County Housing Authority
Sage Santangelo – Governors Office
Heather Beck- Colorado Coalition for the Homeless/DSOC
Kevin Raleigh- CCH/Denver Street Outreach Collaborative
Goal vs Results
 Goal at Launch: House 100 chronically homeless veterans in 100
days, 25 identified from the VI study
 Baseline: In the 100 days previous to 10/8/12 the Denver Metro HUD-
VASH program housed 66 Chronically Homeless Veterans
 Results @ Day 100:


80 Chronically Homeless Veterans Housed
22 identified through the VI study

18 Additional VI veterans working with case managers, 17 of
which have vouchers
Baseline vs Results
10085-
0Referral to HUDVASH Admission
Admission to HUDVASH to Voucher Issue
33.4 days
56.2 days
10-
20.9
25-
39 days
40-
49.5 days
55-
86.7 days
DAYS
70-
Voucher Issuance
to Lease Up
Our Successes in the Denver Metro
 Fifteen veterans were accepted into the VASH
program at the 2012 Denver Stand Down
 The “100 Veterans in 100 Days” group created to
help speed up the VASH voucher issuance process
has housed 84 veterans as of January 31st, 23 of
whom were identified through the VI
 A better relationship was forged between Housing
authorities and the VA with continued partnership
and goal setting
How We Improved Collaboration
“The collaboration has been
amazing.”
“The One Stop, in our opinion, was hugely
successful. 9 veterans were seen this
morning by the VA HUD-VASH team with
Division Of Housing very kindly providing
space and handling copying and application
screening. 9 veterans attended the briefings
with Division of Housing and Denver
Housing Authority this afternoon and left
with housing vouchers in hand.”
“What a great
example of what can
be accomplished
when we all come
together!”
Kintsukuroi (n.) (v. phr.) – “to repair
with gold”; the art of repairing pottery
with gold or silver lacquer and
understanding that the piece is more
beautiful for having been broken.
Improving Client Experience
Veteran who went through the process in 30
days
“I had no idea the
stand down would
lead to this… I met
all these great
people along the
way who were so
eager to help…
This is the real
deal, this is
amazing!”
“I am amazed at
how everything
went. I am in an
apartment and I
am running a bible
study class.”
“I am so excited to
have a kitchen.
You don’t
understand, when
you are living on
the street, you
never get a hot
meal.”
“I love it- it’s
beautiful. 3
bedrooms and
fully furnished, its
such a blessing”
VI veteran who had been residing for
3 years under a loading dock
Areas for Improvement
 Continue work at landlord recruitment
 Get ALL communities in the seven-county Denver
Metro region involved
 Establish deeper partnerships with services and
organizations that are involved in retention of
housing homeless veterans
 Create VASH as “cool” process with good reputation
amongst homeless veterans
PANEL OF VETERANS
FOCUS GROUPS
TASK: IDENTIFY REGIONAL PRIORITIES
IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS
1. HOUSING
2. BENEFITS
3. SUPPORTIVE SERVICES
4. EMPLOYMENT
5. HEALTH CARE
6. OUTREACH
Focus Group Process
1.
Discuss priorities in topic areas that will
contribute to ending veteran homelessness in
seven county area by 2015
2. Brainstorm ideas and place on flip chart
3. Vote on top priorities
4. Rotate after 15 minutes to next group
Focus Group Facilitators
1.
Housing - Susan Niner (DOH) & Heather Powers (VA)
2. Benefits - John Valvano (VA) & Rebecca Sawyer Smith
(VBA)
3. Supportive Services - Dee Drake (Rocky Mountain
Human Services)
4. Employment - Nancy Rider (Bayaud Enterprises)
5. Health Care - Cheryl Martin (VA)
6. Outreach - Missy Mish (VA)
Presentation of Priorities
1.
HOUSING
2.
BENEFITS
3.
SUPPORTIVE SERVICES- DEE DRAKE
4.
EMPLOYMENT
-
NANCY RIDER
5.
HEALTH CARE
-
CHERYL MARTIN
6.
OUTREACH
SMITH
SUSAN NINER & HEATHER POWERS
-
JOHN VALVANO & REBECCA SAWYER
- MISSY MISH
Next Steps
• COMPLETE EVALUATION –
•
Identify interest in assisting with regional efforts
• DEVELOP DOCUMENT SUMMARIZING FORUM
• DISTRIBUTE TO ATTENDEES
• MEET WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS IN REGION
• PRODUCE DOCUMENT WHICH IDENTIFIES REGIONAL
PRIORITIES
Special thank you!
Jeannie Ritter
Veterans
Small Group Facilitators