VA Has Expanded GPD Program Capacity to Help Meet Homeless Veterans’ Needs, but Demand Still Exceeds Supply

Since fiscal year 2000, VA has quadrupled the number of available beds  and significantly increased the number of admissions of homeless veterans  to the GPD program in order to address some of the needs identified  through the its annual survey of homeless veterans. In fiscal year 2006, VA  estimated that on a given night, about 196,000 veterans were homeless and  an additional 11,100 transitional beds were needed to meet homeless  veterans’ needs. An increasing number of homeless women veterans and veterans with  dependents are in need of transitional housing according to VA officials  and GPD providers we visited. The grant documents must also specify how providers  will deliver services to meet the program’s three goals—residential  stability, increased skill level or income, and greater self-determination. The GPD providers we visited often collaborated with VA, local service  organizations, and other state and federal programs to offer the broad  array of services needed to help veterans achieve the three goals of the  GPD program. Despite GPD providers’ efforts to collaborate and leverage resources, GPD  providers and VA staff noted gaps in key services and resources,  particularly affordable permanent housing for veterans ready to leave the  GPD program. In response to our recommendation that VA take steps to ensure that its  policies are understood by the staff and providers with responsibility for  implementing them, VA took several steps in 2007 to improve  communications with VA liaisons and GPD providers, such as calling new  providers to explain policies and summarizing their regular quarterly  conference calls on a new Web site, along with new or updated manuals. VA Data Show Many Veterans Have Housing and Jobs on Leaving the Program and Plans Are Under Way for Follow-up

VA assesses performance in two ways—the outcomes for veterans at the  time they leave the program and the performance of individual GPD  providers. During 2006, over half of veterans obtained independent housing when  they left the GPD program, and another quarter were in transitional  housing programs, halfway houses, hospitals, nursing homes, or similar  forms of secured housing. Nearly one-third of veterans had jobs, mostly  on a full-time basis, when they left the GPD program. Significant percentages also demonstrated progress in handling alcohol,  drug, mental health, or medical problems and overcoming deficits in social  or vocational skills. We recommended that VA explore feasible and cost-effective ways to  obtain information on how veterans are faring after they leave the  program. While following up at  1 month is a step in the right direction, additional information at a later  point would yield a better indication of longer-term success.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs asked GAO to discuss its recent work on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program. GAO reported on this subject in September 2006, focusing on (1) VA's estimates of the number of homeless veterans and transitional housing beds, (2) the extent of collaboration involved in the provision of GPD and related services, and (3) VA's assessment of program performance.

What GAO Found

VA estimates that about 196,000 veterans nationwide were homeless on a given night in 2006, based on its annual survey, and that the number of transitional beds available through VA and other organizations was not sufficient to meet the needs of eligible veterans. The GPD program has quadrupled its capacity to provide transitional housing for homeless veterans since 2000, and additional growth is planned. As the GPD program continues to grow, VA and its providers are also grappling with how to accommodate the needs of the changing homeless veteran population that will include increasing numbers of women and veterans with dependents. The GPD providers we visited collaborated with VA, local service organizations, and other state and federal programs to offer a broad array of services designed to help veterans achieve the three goals of the GPD program--residential stability, increased skills or income, and greater self-determination. However, most GPD providers noted key service and communication gaps that included difficulties obtaining affordable permanent housing and knowing with certainty which veterans were eligible for the program, how long they could stay, and when exceptions were possible. VA data showed that many veterans leaving the GPD program were better off in several ways--over half had successfully arranged independent housing, nearly one-third had jobs, one-quarter were receiving benefits, and significant percentages showed progress with substance abuse, mental health or medical problems or demonstrated greater self-determination in other ways. Some information on how veterans fare after they leave the program was available from a onetime follow-up study of 520 program participants, but such data are not routinely collected. We recommended that VA take steps to ensure that GPD policies and procedures are consistently understood and to explore feasible means of obtaining information about the circumstances of veterans after they leave the GPD program. VA concurred and, following our review, has taken several steps to improve communications and to develop a process to track veterans' progress shortly after they leave the program. However following up at a later point might yield a better indication of success.