DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness
SUMMARY:
This item provides a briefing and update to the Housing Committee on the status of the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In January 2015, Mayor R. Ivy Taylor kicked-off the local Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness. The City of San Antonio is one of over 681 cities nationwide who have signed on to the challenge to end veteran homelessness. The White House announced the Joining Forces initiative, supported by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and the National League of Cities. The initiative challenges cities to end veteran homelessness to ensure that: no veterans are sleeping on streets; every veteran has access to permanent housing; and that communities have capacity to improve housing stability for veterans that become homeless or are at - risk of becoming homeless. Cities, such as, Houston and New Orleans have declared Functional Zero by permanently housing homeless veterans who would accept housing.
The City redirected resources to support this initiative and in February 2015 the City’s Human Services Department convened a working group of local homeless and veteran providers. The group meets bi-weekly to collaboratively triage homeless veterans and coordinate case management. The Homeless Veteran Collaborative set an initial goal of housing 849 homeless veterans by December 2015. This goal was developed utilizing data collected from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and trend analysis of new veterans entering the system.
Major partners in the Homeless Veteran Community Collaborative include: South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless (SARAH), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA), Housing Authority of Bexar County (HABC), American GI Forum (AGIF), Family Endeavors, Haven for Hope, Center for Health Care Services (CHCS), SAMMinistries, The Salvation Army, AACOG, TRLA, and Workforce Solutions Alamo.
ISSUE:
The City’s Human Services Department and partner non-profit providers have permanently housed 605 veterans and continue to provide case management services to these veterans to ensure they are able to maintain stable housing. Key strategies employed to ensure effective placement, include coordination between providers, reprioritizing resources to support the initiative, implementation of a Navigator support system, and identification of permanent affordable housing units.
Homeless Veteran Collaborative members are employing a variety of strategies to resolve barriers to placing the hardest to serve veterans. These barriers include lack of available housing stock, criminal history, credit requirements, sex offender status, history of broken leases, and lack of sufficient monthly income. The City’s Human Services Department anticipates reaching our initial goal of housing 849 veterans by December 2015 and reaching Functional Zero by March 2016. The Homeless Veteran Collaborative will continue partnership efforts through the collaborative to ensure a system is in place to declare Functional Zero by March 2016.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is for briefing purposes only.