Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)

SSVF National Webinar Series

Rapid Resolution Eligibility & Enrollment

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Audio Link

Webinar Format

• Webinar will last approximately 60 minutes

• Questions can be submitted to SSVF@va.gov

• Or send questions to your Regional Coordinator

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Webinar Goals

• To provide guidance on eligibility and enrollment for the Rapid Resolution intervention

• To provide guidance on HMIS and data entry for Rapid Resolution

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Agenda

• Brief Review of Rapid Resolution

• Rapid Resolution Eligibility

• Rapid Resolution Intervention Enrollment

• Rapid Resolution HMIS Entry

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Rapid Resolution Defined

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• Rapid Resolution is an intervention designed to prevent immediate entry into homelessness or immediately resolve a household’s homelessness once they enter shelter, transitional housing or an unsheltered situation

• RR includes both Diversion and Rapid Exit strategies with the aim of ensuring homelessness is avoided or as brief as possible when it does occur

• RR SHOULD be attempted with every Veteran with whom you interact regardless of their perceived barriers or vulnerability.

• RR and other diversion approaches are system-wide interventions that can be used for all populations, not just Veterans.

Benefits of Rapid Resolution

HOUSEHOLDS/CLIENT

• Immediate safe alternate housing arrangements

• Empowers people by focusing on strengths

• Helps households avoid the trauma of homelessness

• Helps with family reunification

• Can lead to faster housing connections even when situation can't be rapidly resolved

CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEM

• Reduces inflow into system and

increases rapid exits

• Reduces waitlists for permanent housing

• Helps the system to prioritize the most

intensive housing resources

• Alternative resolution to housing crisis when

most of communities lack affordable

housing resources

• Ensures those assisted with housing

resources have no alternatives

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Eligibility and Enrollment

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We want to hear their story…• As you are talking to the Veteran you will naturally want to know their income

to understand the resources they have available. You can accept this “self-declaration of income” as long as it is below 50% AMI as part of understanding their eligibility.

• Presumably, they have said they are a Veteran, as soon as you can verify their status in SQUARES, if that isn’t available you may rely on a Pending Verification of Veteran Status to problem-solve their situation with them.

• Part of the Rapid Resolution conversation is to understand their housing crisis, as you learn about this you will know their homeless status for enrollment.

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The Rapid Resolution Conversation

➢Your most important task in this first conversation is to learn whether they have any supports where they may be able to spend the night tonight.

➢ If you are able to rapidly resolve them then, if they need on-going support,

TOMORROW or when you next meet with them, you can finalize any eligibility

determination and enroll them in SSVF by going through your normal steps of eligibility

determination.

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Income

• Income eligibility is based on the income of the Veteran (and household members who are experiencing the housing crisis with them) who is being rapidly resolved

• If the Veteran (and their household members) is able to stay more than 90 days, and the Veteran wants to declare the others in the house part of her/his household you can review the full household income and the impact that will have on eligibility at 90 days if the Veteran continues to need support to stabilize housing.

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Veteran Status

• SQUARES offers detailed discharge status information, allowing instant determination of program eligibility and status of VHA enrollment.

• Users (homeless services organizations) submit identity attributes for individuals experiencing homelessness (name, DOB, SSN, gender), and SQUARES returns information regarding their Veteran status and eligibility for homeless programs.

• Programs such as SSVF and GPD that do not require VHA enrollment may use SQUARES as documentation for purposes of determining eligibility, much like a DD-214.

To review the features and watch a tutorial on how to use SQUARES. Please go to: www.va.gov/homeless/SQUARES

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Enrollment Guidance

Living Situation Enrollment

Nowhere to sleep tonight and not homeless last night Enroll in SSVF HP

Homeless in shelter or place not meant for human

habitation last night

Enroll in SSVF RRH

Somewhere to sleep tonight but must be out soon NOT ELIGIBLE for Rapid Resolution,

screen for Traditional HP

Coming out of Institution/NOT homeless before entering Screen for Traditional HP

Coming out of Institution/WAS homeless before entering

and in institution for LESS than 90 days

Enroll in SSVF RRH

Coming out of Institution/WAS homeless before entering

and in institution for MORE than 90 days

Screen for Traditional HP

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If the Veteran is Rapidly Resolved

DOCUMENTATION SERVICES ALLOWABLE

Conduct intake and full eligibility

determination after the Veteran is safely

settled into a temporary or permanent

housing situation

• Document your efforts to obtain full

documentation in the Case File

Supportive services are allowable

TFA is not allowable while pending

verification

After eligibility is documented and Veteran

is enrolled, provide follow-up services and

limited TFA as needed

Supportive services and TFA are allowable

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If the Veteran is NOT Rapidly Resolved

• If no alternative housing is identified in the Veteran’s network, then use the CoC’s process for referral for an immediate safe place to stay such as shelter, and for coordinated entry assessment.

• SSVF intake and enrollment for RRH may not happen at this time unless it is part of the CoC process for Veterans.

• If the Veteran is assessed as needing RRH assistance to access permanent housing and is referred to grantee conducting the Rapid Resolution conversation than RRH intake and enrollment would happen at that time.

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Returning for HP after RR Intervention Exit

• A Veteran (and any household members) who was rapidly resolved and enrolled in SSVF and then was exited. If they have another housing crisis they may be screened for HP assistance with a lower HP threshold score.

• Grantees will need to determine the lower HP threshold score for Veterans returning after receiving Rapid Resolution services and being exited from SSVF. This RR HP score will need to be reported to the Program Office.

SSVF Regional Meeting January 201916

Scenarios

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Scenario 1

Sam comes to see you saying that she has been staying with friends for the last couple of months but they asked her to leave because they had a baby. The last 2 nights she has been staying in a hotel but she no longer has enough money to pay. She feels she has no other place to go.

1. You attempt to mediate with the friends to learn what it was that made them ask her to leave. It turns out that returning to the friends is not an option.

2. She tells you she has a brother who lives about 20 miles away, she stayed with him about 9 months ago. You call the brother and he agrees she can be rapidly resolved there next week.

3. She has no place to go tonight so you help her contact the woman’s shelter.

4. The next day you enroll her in SSVF and help her plan to go to her brother’s next week.

What program do you enroll her in and what service will you provide?

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Scenario 2

George has been staying with many different friends since he lost his job 5 months ago. He feels that he has no more options since this morning, his grandmother told him to leave. She was “done with him”.

1. Through your rapid resolution conversation, George agrees to have you talk to his grandmother and she agrees that if he will agree to work with your program to try to find another job, she will take him back in.

2. The next day you enroll him in SSVF.

What program do you enroll him in and what service will you provide?

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HMIS and Data

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Rapid Resolution Data Entry(through September 30th)

1. SSVF households receiving the Rapid Resolution intervention should be enrolled into either SSVF RRH or SSVF HP based on their living situation when they come to you.

2. Within HMIS, Rapid Resolution participants must be identified by adding a service under “V2 Services Provided” using the following format:

✓ Select the “Other (non-TFA) Supportive Service”

✓ Enter “RR” into the text box to indicate a Rapid Resolution recipient. Only enter ‘RR’, not Rapid Resolution or some other abbreviation or it will not be counted.

✓ Only enter the “Other” service in HMIS for the Head of Household. No need to enter multiple Rapid Resolution services for other household members.

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Returning Home Data Entry(through September 30th)

1. SSVF Households receiving Returning Home assistance should enroll households into RRH or HP based on their living situation at entry

2. Within HMIS, Returning Home clients must be identified by adding a service under V2 Services Provided using the following format:

✓ Select the “Other (non-TFA) Supportive Service

✓ Enter “Returning Home-D” into the text box for Returning Home services provided by the departing community. Only enter this service for the Head of Household.

Or:

✓ Enter “Returning Home-A” into the text box for Returning Home services provided by the arriving community. Only enter this service for the Head of Household.

NOTE: If a household is both a Returning Home and a Rapid Resolution household, two distinct “V2 Other (non-TFA) Supportive Services activities should be entered into their program record.

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Exiting Veterans from Rapid Resolution

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Rapid Resolution is a Permanent Housing

Outcome

• IF the person you have assisted remains with the family and/or friends they were rapidly resolved to, THIS IS A POSITIVE OUTCOME…

o At 90 days, exit them in HMIS as “Permanently Housed with Family or Friends”

o Even if there is no lease, but the situation appears to be stable.

• IF you are unable to rapidly resolve them and you make a warm hand off to a shelter…your CoC’s coordinated entry process should engage them as appropriate, you may serve the Veteran with RRH.

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Rapid Resolution: Example Outcomes

Permanently

back with

family or

friends

Temporarily

diverted as

they seek

new

housing

Relocating

permanently

to safe place

in another

community

with

supports

Able to Rapidly Resolve

Follow up and services as needed to support PH needs

Unable to Rapidly Resolve

Ongoing RR,

Referral to

Shelter and

Coordinated

Entry

Assessment

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Thank you!

Don’t forget, your Regional Coordinator is here to answer your

questions.

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