11/28/2011

Boot Camp Aimed at Reducing Housing Placement Time for Homeless Veterans

In August, CSH joined with the 100K Homes Campaign to convene a Housing Placement Boot Camp in New York City. The all-day event, hosted by Robin Hood, was an intensive process focused on dramatically reducing the time it takes to move homeless Veterans into housing using a VASH voucher in New York City.  With multiple large agencies involved and a myriad of eligibility criteria,  the timeline has averaged 7-9 months.  However, as a result of the Boot Camp, this is rapidly changing.

CSH wants to spotlight the work of our New York City partners in this effort: the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), Department of Homeless Service (DHS), Human Resources Administration (HRA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and our local VAs -- NY Harbor (Manhattan) and James J. Peters VA Medical Center (Bronx).  CSH is managing the ongoing Action Plan for this team and facilitating ongoing team meetings.  Each of these agencies left the Boot Camp with a promise to take immediate action to improve the process -- and all of them delivered.

At our team meeting on November 7th, we were able to confirm that changes implemented by NYCHA, DHS, HRA, and the VA have already shaved at least two months off of the timeline.  Some of these steps are highlighted in a new resource co-authored by CSH’s Erin Healy (Associate Director, NY): "Top Nine Things You Can Do to Move Veterans Into Housing Faster."  More improvements are underway and we are confident that this timeline will continue to shrink -- the team is fueled by the conviction that our Veterans deserve better.

The United States Interagency Council recently featured the New York City and Los Angeles Boot Camps in its newsletter: Learn more about the Housing Placement Boot Camp.

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