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The report provides findings from the implementation study for the Evaluation of the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), which relied on data from (1) a survey of all program year 2020 HVRP grantees, (2) semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders from eight deliberately selected grantees and their community partners, and (3) in-depth interviews with veterans who received services from one of those eight grantees. Data collection began in October 2020, seven months after the March 2020 start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ended in September 2021; thus, feedback reflected the experiences of grantees, partners, and veterans amidst the challenges of this time. In addition, instead of visiting each of the eight selected grantees and their communities in person, the study team conducted site visits and in-depth interviews virtually because of the pandemic.

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Research Questions

• Eligibility and enrollment. How did HVRP grantees identify and enroll eligible veterans for their programs, and how did they determine eligibility? What were the eligibility requirements and screening methods? To what extent did the grantees screen for program readiness or other characteristics? What types of assessment tools did the HVRP grantees use, and for what purpose? What were the characteristics of HVRP participants? How and when were HVRP participants enrolled in a program at the American Job Center and entered in the state data system?
• Program services and partnerships. What were the key components of HVRP, and what role did partnerships play in HVRP? What services and supports were provided, whether directly by the grantees or through referral services? What were the primary functions and activities related to case management? How were systems and partnerships developed and maintained? What was the role of HVRP services in these systems and partnerships? How strong were these partnerships?
• Other community services. Without HVRP, what was usual care? In other words, what services would participants have received in the absence of HVRP? What did usual care look like for homeless veterans? What types and intensity of services did HVRP add to this usual care?

Key Takeaways

• On average, grantee survey respondents reported having eight strong partners per grantee to address HVRP participants’ needs for employment and supportive services.
• For employment-related services, grantees reported the strongest partnerships with Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) staff.
• For homelessness services and housing providers, grantees commonly reported partnerships with programs that provided veterans with temporary housing assistance.
• HVRP participants reported receiving a variety of Veterans Affairs (VA) services, such as permanent housing, employment, and health care.
• Two temporary housing assistance programs the VA administers—Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD)—were especially important referral sources for HVRP.
• Grantees reported screening veterans for work readiness.
• Barriers to employment, such as mental health and substance abuse challenges, prevented veterans from enrolling in HVRP.
• Site visit grantees highlighted the importance of hiring case managers who could relate to veterans and provide participants with a positive experience.
• According to the grantee survey respondents, the most common referrals from HVRP were for substance abuse (95 percent) or mental health (93 percent) services. Other common referrals were for emergency or preventative health care (88 percent), permanent housing (85 percent), child care challenges (85 percent), and transitional housing, emergency shelter, or rapid re-housing (84 percent).
• According to the grantee survey respondents, the most common types of employment-related services HVRP grantees provided were job search assistance (97 percent), tools or specific work clothing (96 percent), job placement (95 percent), and work readiness or basic skills training (91 percent).
• Consistent with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requirement that HVRP participants co-enroll in an American Job Center (AJC) program (U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) 2016a), over 90 percent of grantee survey respondents reported that at least some of their participants received employment and training services at the AJC.
• According to grantee survey respondents and site visit grantees, the DOL requirement that HVRP participants co-enroll at the AJC was most often met through JVSG services, particularly through the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) specialist.
• The site visits revealed two general models for providing complementary employment services to HVRP participants; grantee agencies relied on either (1) the AJC or (2) their own in-house services.
• The majority of grantee survey respondents (58 percent) listed employers as a strong HVRP partner.
• According to grantee survey respondents, site visit informants, and interviewed participants, HVRP helped veterans get hired quickly.

Citation

Batko, S., Hu, M., Oneto, A., Rosenberg, L., Rogin, A., Williams, A., Rosen, E., Inanc, H. (2022). Mathematica. Supporting the Employment of Veterans Experiencing Homelessness: A Report on the Evaluation of the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.