Ending Veterans Homelessness
Lincoln Ends Veterans’ Homelessness
October 4, 2018 – The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) announced that the City of Lincoln has ended homelessness among Veterans. The federal designation is the result of a network of community partnerships committed to providing Veterans with the supports and resources needed to move quickly from homelessness into a permanent home. The collaborative efforts have been led by the Lincoln Homeless Coalition and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“Congratulations to Mayor Beutler, and all the partners in Lincoln, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that Veterans have a safe and stable place to call home,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “Today, the City of Lincoln, and the entire state of Nebraska, add to our proof that ending homelessness is possible, not just for Veterans, but for everyone.”
In 2015, the Lincoln Homeless Coalition developed a “Veterans By-Name List” focused on all Veterans experiencing homelessness in the city. Weekly reviews of the list by a Coordinated Entry team comprised of partners from outreach, supportive services, emergency, and permanent housing programs facilitate the development of housing plans based on each Veteran’s preferences and situation. Other community partners provide Veterans with the resources they need to remain stably housed once they move into permanent housing.
Lee Heflebower, Director of Housing for Region V Systems, spoke of the broad array of partnerships which led to the accomplishment. “The drive to end Veterans’ homelessness been a collaborative effort by a diverse team of caring, dedicated community members. This federal designation is a significant accomplishment for the Lincoln Homeless Coalition, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and all partners who worked diligently to reach this goal. Most importantly, we have been able to provide meaningful assistance to people who have sacrificed for our country.”
The USICH designation confirmed that Lincoln has met strict criteria defined by the federal government and implemented a system to make veteran homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. Data analysis to track the required benchmarks was managed by the Center on Children, Families, and the Law (CCFL) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Jeff Chambers, Project Director at CCFL, led the data collection process and will continue to monitor progress of the system. The results indicated achievement of the goal was attributable to the collective impact of several factors:
* Implementation of citywide Coordinated Entry system and Veterans By-Name List
* Enhanced early identification and assessment of Veterans
* Adoption of a “Housing First” approach to moving Veterans into housing without barriers to entry
* Increase in Permanent Housing capacity including HUD VASH vouchers
* Increase in Supportive Services to Veterans Families (SSVF) and rapid re-housing capacity
* Expanded cross-sector collaborations
“The targeted approach that we have developed has been successful in addressing Veterans’ homelessness,” said Chambers. “It doesn’t mean that there will never be another Veteran who becomes homeless in our community. Rather, it indicates that we have the resources and infrastructure in place to quickly connect them to housing and supportive services and reduce the likelihood that they will experience homelessness again.”
The Homeless Coalition has implemented similar strategies to address homelessness for non-Veterans in Lincoln with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness for all.