Dalton explains DHS veteran identification and shelter placement
Dalton describes how DHS identifies veterans at intake, verifies status, places single men at BAVR, offers women veterans two ICL shelters with set-aside beds, and prioritizes families with children near schools.
I would like to start with an explanation of how we identify and serve veterans in the DHS homelessness system.
Every person who comes to DHS intake is asked whether they served in the U.S.
Military.
When someone identifies as a veteran, DHS conducts a verification utilizing the
Veterans Affairs Square system.
When a veteran is placed, where a veteran is placed depends on whether they identify as a single adult man, a single adult woman, part of an adult family, or part of a family with children.
For single adult men who report as self-reported veteran status, they are offered a bed at Board and Area Veterans Residence, BAVR.
If BAVR has no bed available or if they prefer a different setting, they are offered another DHS shelter.
At BAVR, the site's operator, the Institute for Community Living, or ICL, completes intake, including screenings for physical health, mental health, substance use, and disability needs.
Until October 1 of this year, ICL ran two programs in the same building at BAVR.
A VA-funded program that's partly funded and overseen by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs through its Grant and Per Diem, or GPD, program, and a DHS veterans program funded and overseen by DHS for everyone else at the site.
Every veteran DHS referred to BAVR was assessed for the GPD program.
The VA decided eligibility using its own criteria, including military discharge status, eligibility,
for VA health care and willingness to follow program rules.
Veterans the VA accepted joined the GPD program.
Veterans the VA found ineligible or who chose not to take part were placed in the DHS program.