December 2017 NCHV Newsletter

NCHV eNewsletter
December 2017
Thank You for Your Support in 2017
As 2017 comes to a close, NCHV would like to thank each of you for your support as we all work to end homelessness among veterans. Your efforts in your community are what drive success on the national level. Your participation in advocacy helps us in our efforts on Capitol Hill. Your participation in our webinars, Annual Conference, and other trainings helps increase collaboration and effectiveness across the homeless veteran assistance movement.
You are a part of a truly national coalition for homeless veterans, and we thank you for all you do for the veterans in your community.
Your support also helps us deliver these trainings, resources, and representation of your interests on the Hill. Many of which are free of charge, like this eNewsletter. To help us continue to improve our efforts to help you change the lives of the veterans you serve, make a tax-deductible donation to our #BootsOffTheStreet campaign.
Thank you again for your support, and we wish you a happy and successful 2018!
National GPD Office Hosting Calls on Recent NOFAs
Be sure to call in to better prepare your GPD applications
The Department of Veterans Affairs recently released two NOFAs for the Grant and Per Diem program:
The National GPD Program Office hosted a series of calls to review the NOFAs that recently published. Below are the dates and topics covered on each call. Click the links to hear a recording of each call. 
Hill Watch: Funding Process Delayed Again
Series of CRs pushes deadline into January
On Dec. 8, 2017 the stop-gap funding measure known as a continuing resolution (“CR”), passed by Congress a few months prior, was due to run out. This CR flat-funded the federal government for a few additional months past the end of the fiscal year. On Dec. 7, 2017 Congress passed another short-term CR to extend the deadline until Dec. 22, 2017. When this deadline approached, they passed another CR which will extend the funding for the government through until Jan. 19, 2018.
These CRs have all funded the government at a flat rate – meaning programs are operating on the same level as their budgets from last year allowed. For a final funding bill, those numbers may change. We already have a good picture of where the House and Senate will come down during negations on our core programs. Here are the proposed numbers in both houses of Congress, as compared to the numbers of the President’s budget request of several months ago:
FY 2017
President’s Request
House Proposed
Senate Proposed
Grant and Per Diem

$257m
$257m
$257m
$257m
Supportive Services for Veteran Families
$320m
$320m
$320m
$340m
HUD-VA Supportive Housing
$40m
(~5,500 vouchers)
$0
$0
$40m
(~5,500
vouchers)
Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program
$45m
$45m
$45m
$47.54m
NCHV supports the Senate proposed numbers in every case. The need for more HUD-VASH vouchers is seen in many of the communities you work in, especially when it comes to the creation of new affordable housing through project basing of these vouchers. The SSVF program is in need of an infusion of funds to the tune of $400m this year in order to prevent the expiration of the 2015 surge grants, but the additional funds seen in the Senate numbers will go a long way towards preventing that expiration in many communities. Likewise, the Senate numbers for HVRP are not perfect – NCHV supports, at the minimum, funding that program at its fully authorized level of $50 million.
This will come down to negotiations between the House and Senate. It is imperative that we all encourage Congress to accept the numbers proposed by the Senate committee. Though the current opinion in D.C. is that the final bill will be in January, NCHV cannot predict exactly when the final measure will be written, agreed to, or passed. It is therefore imperative that we are all calling our representatives now before it is too late.
Please also keep up the pressure on your representatives on the issue of the HUD-VASH case management funding. We have all received a promise from VA that HUD-VASH funding will continue to be spent only on HUD-VASH case management for FY 2018. Congressional pressure will ensure that this happens, and will ensure that homeless programs are not hurt going forward.
NCHV will be there to update you as these events unfold. Stay tuned to these pages, and to our eNewsletters and website, to make sure you are up to date on what is happening on the Hill.
VA Releases 2016 SSVF Annual Report
Overview including outcomes and impact of Supportive Services for Veteran Families program
The Department of Veterans Affairs has released the 2016 SSVF Annual Report. This report covers the fifth grant period for the program, including awards made in 2015 for the FY 2016 period (Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016). The report summarizes the results obtained by the 378 SSVF grantees funded for FY 2016.
The report uses data reported by grantees through local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and subsequently provided to VA via monthly uploads to the SSVF’s HMIS data repository. Additional information was obtained from grantee quarterly reports and from surveys of SSVF program participants.
Among the key findings in the report:
  • SSVF served 96,401 veterans in FY 2016 and 152,531 persons overall. Seventy (70) percent of SSVF veterans (67,953) participated in rapid re-housing services, 31 percent of veterans (29,794) participated in homelessness prevention services, and 1 percent of veterans (1,346) participated in both service types.
  • The average length of participation in SSVF among the 72,074 veterans who exited the program was less than four months (118 days). Of those, for veterans exiting from SSVF rapid re-housing assistance, the average length of participation was also about four months (125 days), where it was about three months (102 days) for those who exited SSVF homelessness prevention.
  • More than half (58 percent, or 55,793) of the 96,401 veteran participants in the SSVF program had a disabling condition. By comparison, 53 percent of veterans in shelters are disabled, indicating that SSVF is serving a complex population with high barriers to housing placement.
  • SSVF served the highest proportions of women veterans and veterans who served in Afghanistan or Iraq of all VA homeless initiatives in FY 2016. Thirteen percent (12,869) of SSVF veterans were women. Sixteen percent (15,848) of SSVF veterans participants served in Afghanistan or Iraq.
  • More than one in five (22 percent, or 34,154) of all SSVF participants served were dependent children. SSVF provided support to help keep veteran families together.
To read the full report, click here.
Funding Opportunities
SuperValu serves grocery customers through more than 3,400 owned, licensed, franchised and independently owned stores across the country, and believes in taking actions to protect the environmental, social, and economic interests of the people the company serves. SuperValu supports organizations providing comprehensive hunger relief programming or food banks seeking capacity-building operating funds. Their entire grant application process is online, and more information can be found on their website.
The TD Charitable Foundation focuses on the following areas of giving: affordable housing, education/financial literacy, and the environment. The Foundation makes grants to nonprofit organizations in TD Bank communities. Different markets have varying priorities and deadlines. For more information, click here.
Labels: