SSVF Program Update Friday April 10th, 2020

From: Supportive Services for Veteran Families
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2020 1:44 PM
Subject: SSVF Program Update Friday April 10th, 2020

Topics:

1.NEW: Additional SSVF Resources Available During COVID-19 Crisis
2.REGISTER NOW: Expansion of Emergency Housing Assistance & Distribution of New Funds
3.ATTACHMENT:  Updated List of Additional SSVF Resources Available During COVID-19 Crisis
4.REMINDER: SSVF COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions


NEW: Additional SSVF Resources Available During COVID-19 Crisis

The program office has offered a host of new flexibilities to help SSVF grantees provide critically needed support to Veterans.  These supports are summarized in the attached document.   We are excited to report that we can now offer additional funding to support these new flexibilities. The SSVF Program Office anticipates distributing approximately $200 million in new funding for FY 2020 to all grantees with recurring awards. This will boost all renewable grants by just over half. Although these funds will be distributed in the coming weeks, please use your existing grant funds to expand capacity now, knowing these additional funds are coming to you shortly.  The following limits have been waived:

•The overall 50 % budget cap on TFA is waived.
•The 40% limit on prevention TFA is waived.
•The $500 limit on emergency food assistance is waived.
•In states where a federal disaster has been declared: The cap on the number of months rental and utility assistance have been waived.

We must stress the urgent and immediate need to expand emergency housing capacity as the risks to homeless Veterans are significant. Please work with local hotels/motels to expand capacity so we can protect vulnerable homeless Veterans. A recent article authored by Dennis Culhane, Estimated Emergency and Observational/ Quarantine Capacity Need for the US Homeless Population Related to COVID-19 Exposure by County; Projected Hospitalizations, Intensive Care Units and Mortality, states:

•40% of homeless individuals will be infected at any given time at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis.
•There will be a 50% reduction in shelter capacity nationally, in order to create sufficient distance between individuals in these congregate settings.  This loss in shelter capacity must be countered by increased use of hotel/motel beds, or other temporary options.

REGISTER NOW:

The SSVF Program Office will host a Webinar to review the distribution of new funds and guidance on expanding emergency housing assistance on April 17 at 12:00, EST; please register for the webinar using the link: https://abtassociates.webex.com/abtassociates/onstage/g.php?MTID=ea9b2afb73e0a4000d62dcf9c730e6ca0
  

ATTACHMENT: SSVF COVID-19 Additional Resources

REMINDER: SSVF COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions

The SSVF Program Office has developed a Frequently Asked Questions document in response to the many grantee questions about COVID-19.   We encourage grantees to communicate questions to their Regional Coordinators so that we can update the FAQ document on an ongoing basis.  Questions from the 3/20/20 webinar have been added.

Available on SSVF Website at https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/


Thank you,

SSVF Program Office