Supportive Services for Veteran Families SSVF Program Legal

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program Legal Services and the SSVF Program March 10, 2015

SSVF Overview • The SSVF Program was established by Section 604 of the Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 (38 U. S. C. 2044) • Part of VA’s Strategic Plan to End Homelessness by 2015 • Purpose is to provide grants to private non-profit organizations who will coordinate or provide supportive services to very low-income Veteran families who are residing in or transitioning to permanent housing • Eligible supportive services under the SSVF Program include case management, outreach, assistance in obtaining VA benefits, and assistance in obtaining and coordinating the provision of “other public benefits” including legal services. 2

Legal Services and SSVF • 4 of the top 10 unmet needs of homeless Veterans involve legal assistance: eviction/foreclosure prevention; child support issues; outstanding warrants/fines; and restoring a driver’s license (VA’s 2012 CHALENG report) • Legal services still being fine tuned as a service area under SSVF • Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and SSVF Regulations (38 CFR 62) recently updated to reflect the growing need for legal services 3

Eligible Legal Services • Eligible legal services – SSVF Grantees may assist a participant with issues that interfere with the participant’s ability to obtain or retain permanent housing or supportive services (38 CFR 62. 33(g), effective March 26, 2015) • Legal Issues include those that affect employability and financial security (lack of a driver’s license, VA benefits claim) • Ineligible legal services – Court adjudicated judgments or fines (38 CFR 62. 38, effective March 26, 2015) – Discharge Upgrades 4

How to Provide SSVF Legal Services • SSVF Legal Services can be provided directly by the Grantee (38 CFR 62. 33) or indirectly via referral. – In-house staff – Contract (flat fee/fee for service) – Referral • Remember that if referred out for legal services, Veterans may receive assistance with issues that are considered ineligible under SSVF. This is ok as long as SSVF dollars are only used for services permissible under program regulation. • Best Practices for SSVF Providers – Providers should be knowledgeable about the impact of legal needs on a low-income Veteran family’s ability to retain or attain permanent housing – Providers should learn how to identify and address Veteran’s legal needs early and quickly – Providers are encouraged to allocate at least 5% of their grant award for legal services – Providers should fund trainings and case consultations for caseworkers in order to ramp up their knowledge on legal issues – Legal referrals should be compensated on a flat fee basis 5

Additional Resources • http: //statesidelegal. org/ • www. bass 4 vets. org • Questions / Feedback: – Tricia Donelan at Tricia. Donelan@va. gov 6

Additional Questions? SSVF Program Office Email: ssvf@va. gov Website: www. va. gov/HOMELESS/ssvfuniversity. asp Thank You! 7