Full access
Government News
Published Online: 18 June 2004

VA Provides Largest, Integrated Network for Homeless Veterans

Publication: Psychiatric News
Volume 39, Number 12
https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.39.12.0390012a
Frances Murphy, M.D., M.P.H., deputy undersecretary for health policy coordination at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), testified before a congressional committee in March 2000 that the VA is “the only federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to homeless persons.... [Its] major homeless programs constitute the largest integrated network of homeless assistance programs in the country.” These are among its programs:
•
Health Care for Homeless Veterans, which provides outreach, physical and psychiatric examinations, treatment, and case management to veterans with psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. Veterans can receive residential treatment in community-based treatment facilities.
•
Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans Program, which provides psychiatric and other medical care to veterans in residential settings at VA medical centers. Staff also provide vocational counseling and postdischarge supportive services.
•
HUD-VA Supported Housing Program, a joint program between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the VA in which HUD provides vouchers for use by “harder-to-serve” homeless veterans in the private housing market, and the VA provides outreach, clinical care, and case-management services.
•
Grant and Per Diem Program, which offers funds to community-based organizations for construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities that can provide supportive transitional housing and for operational costs.
•
Stand Downs, which are run by local organizations and offer homeless veterans one to three days in which they can obtain food, shelter, clothing, benefits certification, and referral to other kinds of services.
•
Veterans Industries, in which disadvantaged, at-risk, and homeless veterans live in supervised group homes while working for pay in VA-supported positions in the public and private sectors.
•
Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education, and Networking Groups, in which VA staff work with other federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofit organizations to assess the needs of homeless veterans and develop plans to meet them;
Taken as a whole, the VA's programs are designed to provide a continuum of care for homeless veterans. That care includes outreach and clinical assessment, rehabilitation in community-based contracted residential treatment, and case management that supports independent living.
Through the Northeast Program Evaluation Center, the VA conducts the country's most extensive and long-standing program of monitoring and evaluating data concerning homeless individuals and the programs that serve them, according to Murphy.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric News
Psychiatric News
Volume 39 • Number 12 • June 18, 2004
Pages: 12

History

Published online: 18 June 2004
Published in print: June 18, 2004

Authors

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share

×

As described within the American Psychiatric Association (APA)'s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences. Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.