Veterans Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration Evaluation

Final Report

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development | Office of Policy Development and Research
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Veterans Homelessness Prevention 

Demonstration Evaluation

Final Report

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of Policy Development and Research

Washington, D.C.

Prepared by:

Mary Cunningham

Jennifer Biess

Dina Emam

Martha Burt

Urban Institute

November 2015
Acknowledgments

VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Acknowledgments 

This report was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Urban 

Institute is grateful to its funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. It is important 

to note that funders do not determine the Urban Institute’s research findings or the insights and 

recommendations of its experts.

The authors thank the service providers, Continuums of Care (CoCs), the U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) medical centers, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) partners that participated in 

the study.

• Service providers:

͹ The Salvation Army of Travis and Williamson Counties, Texas.

͹ Veterans Village of San Diego, St. Vincent de Paul Village, and Interfaith Community 

Services, California.

͹ Catholic Community Services of Western Washington and Washington State Department 

of Veterans Affairs.

͹ The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, Tampa Crossroads, and the Agency for 

Community Treatment Services, Florida. 

͹ Central New York Veterans Outreach Center and Transitional Living Services of Northern 

New York.

• CoCs:

͹ Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Texas.

͹ City of Waco Housing & Community Development, Texas.

͹ Texas Homelessness Network.

͹ San Diego Regional Continuum of Care Council, California. 

͹ San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless, California.

͹ Pierce County Community Connections, Washington.

͹ Washington State Department of Commerce.

͹ Seattle Human Services Department, Washington.

͹ Mohawk Valley Housing and Homeless Assistance Coalition, New York.

͹ Points North Continuum of Care, New York.

͹ Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative, Florida. 

͹ Homeless Coalition of Polk County, Florida.

͹ Mid Florida Homeless Coalition, Inc.
Acknowledgments 

VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

• VA medical centers:

͹ Central Texas Veterans Health Care System.

͹ James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Florida.

͹ Rome VA Medical Center, New York.

͹ Syracuse VA Medical Center, New York.

͹ VA Puget Sound Health Care System, American Lake Division, Washington.

͹ VA San Diego Healthcare System, California.

• DOL partners:

͹ Texas Veterans Commission.

͹ State of California Employment Development Department.

͹ Washington State Employment Security Department, Veterans Services.

͹ Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

͹ New York State Department of Labor, Veterans Services.

The authors also thank Ken Fenner of DOL and Robert Thompson of the VA. National Center on 

Homelessness Among Veterans staff Ann Elizabeth Montgomery, Riccardo Aiello, Vincent Kane, and 

Dennis Culhane provided essential data and help navigating the VA.

The authors express the deepest gratitude to the veterans who shared their stories with us.

The authors thank Urban Institute staff, including communication editors Elaine Eldridge and Elizabeth 

Forney, who provided editorial assistance, and Timothy Triplett, who provided technical assistance on 

statistical analysis.

Finally, the authors thank Elizabeth Rudd at HUD for her insight and guidance throughout the study.

The Urban Institute strives for the highest standards of integrity and quality in its research, analyses, and 

policy recommendations. Urban Institute scholars believe that independence, rigor, and transparency 

are essential to upholding those values. Funders do not determine research findings or influence 

scholars’ conclusions. As an organization, the Urban Institute does not take positions on issues. Urban 

Institute scholars and experts are independent and empowered to share their evidence-based views and 

recommendations shaped by research. 

The contents of this report are the views of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban 

Institute, its trustees, or its funders and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. 

Department of Housing and Urban Development or the U.S. government.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
Foreword

VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Foreword

This report documents the outcomes of Veterans served by the Veterans Homelessness Prevention 

Demonstration program (VHPD), one element of the Obama administration’s signature initiative to 

end Veteran homelessness. It describes the housing, employment, and health of Veterans before they 

entered VHPD and 6 months after leaving the program. It discusses the lessons learned through VHPD, 

strongly emphasizing how important it is to reach out to Veterans in ways that appeal to them (including 

peer-to-peer outreach and having Veterans on staff) and the benefits of bringing together housing 

assistance, case management, and employment services.

Implemented in 2011, the 3-year demonstration was intended to shed light on the potential to prevent 

or quickly end homelessness, coordinating the efforts and resources of the U.S. Department of Housing 

and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the U.S. Department 

of Labor (DOL) to serve those at risk in the growing population of newer (post-September 11, 2001) 

Veterans—a group that includes more women, parents, and members of the National Guard and 

Reserves than ever before. VHPD offered short-term financial assistance (including assistance for rent, 

utilities, and arrears), case management by VA social workers, and DOL employment services.

Congress funded the VHPD to include a program evaluation so that VHPD’s lessons could be shared. 

The evaluation’s Interim Report (Cunningham, 2013) describes implementation of the VHPD in its five 

sites. In contrast, the report you are now reading is about Veterans’ outcomes. Key findings include the 

following:

• Housing stability increased—at program entry, about 74 percent of clients were at risk 

of homelessness and 26 percent were homeless, but by program exit, 85 percent were 

stably housed.

• Employment increased—only 25 percent of VHPD clients were working at program entry, 

compared to 43 percent at the follow-up interview 6 months after leaving the VHPD.

• Income increased—average monthly income increased from $1,076 at program entry to $1,519 

at the follow-up interview, partly due to improved or increased access to VA benefits.

The VHPD evaluation also draws general lessons. Homeless and at-risk Veterans need providers and 

services that recognize their experiences as Veterans, including having peer-to-peer programs and 

Veterans on staff. They also benefit from the local-level coordination of HUD, VA, and DOL services, a 

feature of VHPD that was fostered by the Federal collaboration that took place from the beginning of 

planning through implementation of the VHPD. As one provider interviewed for this study explained, “It 

takes a community to serve a Veteran.”

v
Foreword

VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT vi

When launched, the VHPD filled a critical gap in services. By offering short-term assistance, it 

complemented more intensive programs like the VA Grant and Per Diem Program and HUD-VASH. Now 

the VA runs the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, which is designed to provide 

services similar to those offered by VHPD; for example, short-term assistance for Veterans and their 

families, including case management and financial assistance.

As of this writing, our focus is on literal homelessness but as the number of homeless Veterans 

decreases, our focus will turn toward prevention. The findings of the VHPD can inform these future 

prevention efforts. 

In closing, we remember President Barack Obama’s declaration that “Until we reach a day when not a 

single Veteran sleeps on our nation’s streets, our work remains unfinished.”

Julián Castro 

Secretary

U.S. Department of Housing and

Urban Development

Robert A. McDonald

Secretary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Thomas E. Perez

Secretary

U.S. Department of Labor
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Contents

vii

Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ xi

Chapter 1. Ending Homelessness Among Veterans ................................................................................1

Efforts To End Veteran Homelessness................................................................................................... 1

Progress in the Plan To End Homelessness........................................................................................... 3

Homeless Veterans’ Characteristics...................................................................................................... 4

Reasons for Homelessness................................................................................................................... 6

Conclusion............................................................................................................................................ 8

Chapter 2. Study Overview...................................................................................................................... 9

Study Research Questions.................................................................................................................... 9

Research Design ................................................................................................................................... 9

Data Collection ................................................................................................................................... 10

Chapter 3. Program Description and Implementation Challenges.......................................................17

VHPD Program.................................................................................................................................... 17

Program Costs .................................................................................................................................... 21

Implementation Challenges................................................................................................................ 22

Chapter 4. VHPD Households................................................................................................................ 25

Reaching Veteran Target Populations................................................................................................. 25

Profile of Veterans Served .................................................................................................................. 26

How VHPD Veterans Compared With Those Served Through HPRP ..................................................34

Chapter 5. Housing Stability .................................................................................................................. 37

Housing Status at Program Entry........................................................................................................ 37

History of Homelessness.................................................................................................................... 38

Housing Status at Program Exit ......................................................................................................... 40

Housing Situation at Follow-Up.......................................................................................................... 42

Use of Homeless Services After VHPD................................................................................................ 43

Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 45

Chapter 6. Income and Employment..................................................................................................... 47

Variations in Cost of Living by Site...................................................................................................... 47

Income Levels and Sources at Program Entry and Survey Baseline....................................................47

Employment Rates at Survey Baseline ............................................................................................... 51
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Contents

viii

Engagement in Education and Training Opportunities at Survey Baseline.........................................51

Change in Income and Sources of Income at Program Exit and Follow-Up Survey ............................52

Change in Employment at Follow-Up Survey .....................................................................................58

Engagement in Education and Training Opportunities at Follow-Up Survey ......................................60

Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 61

Chapter 7. Veteran Perspectives ........................................................................................................... 63

Reasons for Housing Instability and Homelessness............................................................................63

Finding VHPD...................................................................................................................................... 65

Experiences With VHPD Services, Effectiveness of Those Services, and Unaddressed Challenges....66

Prospects for the Future..................................................................................................................... 68

Chapter 8. Lessons Learned for Serving Veterans at Risk of Homelessness.........................................71

Identifying At-Risk Veterans................................................................................................................ 71

Serving Veterans Through Interagency Collaboration ........................................................................72

Ensuring Veteran Cultural Competency ............................................................................................. 72

Addressing Veterans’ Mental Health and Physical Health Needs.......................................................73

Overcoming Service-Related Employment Barriers ...........................................................................73

Accessing a Greater Array of Benefits ................................................................................................ 74

Changing Discharge Status To Obtain Services...................................................................................74

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 75

Appendix A. Definitions of Terms.......................................................................................................... 77

Appendix B. Qualitative Data Collection Methods...............................................................................83

Early Program Reconnaissance........................................................................................................... 83

Key Informant Interviews................................................................................................................... 85

Focus Groups With Program Participants...........................................................................................87

Appendix C. Round 1 Key Informant Interview Instrument .................................................................89

Appendix D. Round 2 Key Informant Interview Instrument.................................................................99

Appendix E. Focus Group Guide.......................................................................................................... 101

Appendix F. Baseline Survey Methods................................................................................................ 103

Appendix G. Baseline Survey Instrument ...........................................................................................105

Appendix H. Follow-Up Survey Methods............................................................................................139

Appendix I. Follow-Up Survey Instrument .........................................................................................141

Appendix J. Survey Data Cleaning and Survey Timing........................................................................171
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT ix

Contents

Appendix K. Administrative Data Elements........................................................................................181

Appendix L. Survey Weighting............................................................................................................. 183

Appendix M. Annual Performance Report Data Imputation Approach .............................................187

Appendix N. References ...................................................................................................................... 189
x VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xi

Executive Summary

Concerned about the increasing risk of homelessness among veterans returning from the recent 

wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in 2009 Congress authorized the Veterans Homelessness Prevention 

Demonstration (VHPD), a joint program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Part 

of the Obama Administration’s plan to end veteran homelessness by 2016, VHPD was one of the first 

homelessness prevention programs to exclusively serve homeless and at-risk veterans and their families.

VHPD provided short- to medium-term housing assistance (up to 18 months), including security 

deposits, rent, rental arrearages (up to 6 months back rent), moving cost assistance, and utilities; case 

management; and referrals to community-based services and supports. Service providers could also 

use VHPD funds for childcare, credit repair, and transportation expenses. In addition to providing these 

supports, VHPD intended to connect veterans to needed health services through the VA’s healthcare 

system and employment services through local workforce agencies, so the program could provide 

veterans with a more comprehensive set of supports and better prepare them to sustain housing on 

their own. 

HUD, in consultation with VA and DOL, selected the following five military bases and their surrounding 

communities to participate in VHPD: 

1. Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California (San Diego). 

2. Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (Central Texas). 

3. Fort Drum in Watertown, New York (Upstate Northern New York), 

4. Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington (Tacoma).

5. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida (Tampa). 

HUD allocated $10 million in demonstration funds ($2 million for each site) directly to the largest 

Continuums of Care (also called CoCs) in the geographic areas covered by the VHPD programs. VA also 

awarded $5 million to VA grantees to provide case management and outreach services to veterans 

served by VHPD. DOL did not receive specific VHPD funding but was directed to serve VHPD veterans 

through its existing veteran employment programs. The 3-year demonstration program operated from 

2011 to 2014. During that time, the program served 4,824 adults and children, including 2,023 veterans, 

in 1,976 households.1

1

 These numbers are derived from HUD Annual Performance Report (APR) data submitted by the grantees. Three 

APRs were not submitted: Tampa Year 2, Tacoma Year 3, and Upstate Northern New York Year 3. Because Tampa 

and Tacoma submitted all of their quarterly reports, the research team was able to approximate the number 

served for the missing year based on the quarterly reports. These numbers, however, do not include those served 

by Upstate Northern New York in Year 3, because the site also failed to submit 4 of 12 quarterly reports, making 

imputation impossible in this case. For more details on the imputation process, see appendix L.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xii

VHPD Evaluation

HUD contracted with Silber & Associates and the Urban Institute to evaluate VHPD. The evaluation 

examined the following research questions.

• Were the services provided through VHPD effective for veterans served?

• What happened to program participants after receiving VHPD program benefits? Did program 

participants avoid homelessness? Did they experience housing stability?

• Did program participants increase employment, earnings, and income (including VA pensions, 

other VA benefits, and other mainstream benefits)?

To answer these research questions, the research team enrolled 509 study participants from September 

2012 to October 2013. Team members collected information from program administrative data on 

the status of VHPD study participants when they entered the program (program entry) and exited the 

program (program exit). In addition, study participants responded to a baseline survey (N=424) shortly 

after entering the program and a follow-up survey (N=315) at least 6 months after exiting the program. 

With data collected from program reconnaissance, two waves of site visits, program administrative data, 

and data from baseline and follow-up surveys, this final report describes outcomes from VHPD. 

VHPD Target Populations

The VHPD program provided rapid re-housing and homelessness prevention services to veterans at risk 

of homelessness and veterans who were homeless for less than 90 days. The program targeted specific 

populations: recent veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom 

(OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND); female veterans; and veterans with children. Overall, VHPD 

programs successfully engaged those target populations.

• Across all the sites, more than one-half (55 percent) of all study participants served were 

veterans of OEF, OIF, or OND, more than three times the share of the overall veteran population 

(16 percent; Byrne et al., 2014). 

• Veterans with children also made up a substantial portion of those served under VHPD. 

Approximately 43 percent of VHPD study participants had children in their household. 

• VHPD was successful in targeting women veterans, with women constituting more than onefourth (27 percent) of VHPD study veterans, considerably more than their 8-percent share of the 

veteran population overall.

Characteristics of Military Experience

• Almost all VHPD veterans (96 percent) were former active-duty members in the Armed Forces 

of the United States, and about 4 percent of veterans served by VHPD were activated National 

Guard members and Reservists. 

• Approximately 41 percent of veterans had been exposed to combat, and, of those exposed, 56 

percent reported a high level of exposure to friendly and/or unfriendly fire and about one-half 

(48 percent) had been deployed to combat zones two or more times. VHPD veterans served for 

an average of 6 years before being discharged.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xiii

Demographic Characteristics

• About one-half (51 percent) of the veterans served by VHPD were White, and about 43 percent 

were African-American. About 10 percent identified as Hispanic, 3 percent identified as Alaska 

Native or Native American, and 2 percent identified as multiracial.

• Few VHPD veterans (about 5 percent) were very young—ages 18 to 24—at program enrollment, 

indicating they began and ended military service recently. The largest share (46 percent) of VHPD 

clients were between the ages of 25 and 40, 19 percent were between the ages of 41 and 50, 

and 28 percent were between the ages of 51 and 64. A very small share (3 percent) of clients 

were 65 years of age or older. 

• Roughly one-third (32 percent) of VHPD clients were married, and another one-third (31 

percent) were single and had never been married. The remaining one-third were either divorced 

(27 percent) or separated (9 percent). 

• Educational attainment among VHPD veterans was relatively high: almost all veterans (98 

percent) had at least a high school diploma or General Educational Development credential 

(commonly known as the GED®), and the majority (61 percent) had some college or an 

associate’s degree. A much smaller subset (10 percent) had a bachelor’s degree or higher. 

Housing Stability

• At program entry, about one in four (26 percent) veterans across all five sites were literally 

homeless.

• Overall, VHPD served more veterans who were at some level of homelessness risk, with most (72 

percent) being judged by providers to be imminently at risk of losing their housing or unstably 

housed.

Income Level and Employment Status

• Most adults (75 percent) served by VHPD were unemployed at the time of the baseline survey, 

15 percent had full-time employment, and 11 percent had part-time employment. 

• A large share (23 percent) of VHPD clients had no income at program entry. The others reported 

monthly incomes as follows: 27 percent reported between $1 and $999, 20 percent reported 

between $1,000 and $1,499, 16 percent reported between $1,500 and $1,999, and 14 percent 

reported $2,000 or more.

Physical and Mental Health Conditions

• On a scale of poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent, a substantial share (44 percent) of 

VHPD clients rated their health as poor or fair across all sites. This rate of poor or fair health is 

remarkably high, especially when compared with the general population in which fewer than 1 

in 10 people are in fair or poor health (Adams, Kirzinger, and Martinez, 2013).

• A substantial share (43 percent) of veterans reported being prevented from working because of 

a disability. Of those veterans, the majority (74 percent) said the disability was related to their 

military service. 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xiv

• A large subset of veterans reported serious mental health problems. Two-thirds of VHPD 

veterans indicated experiencing serious depression, anxiety, and/or tension. About 43 percent 

of VHPD veterans said they experienced symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (commonly 

known as PTSD), and 12 percent were dealing with the repercussions of a head injury or a 

traumatic brain injury (also known as a TBI). Further, about one-half (51 percent) reported 

“being easily startled, not being able to relax your guard,” and a similar share (46 percent) said 

they had “trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering.”

VHPD Services, Length of Stay, and Program Costs

At program entry, most (74 percent) of the veteran households were at risk of homelessness, and about 

26 percent were homeless. While in the program, the households received a mix of financial assistance 

and case management for varying lengths of participation. Median length of stay in the program 

was 84 days, but it ranged appreciably by site, from 39 days at one site to 146 days at another. Perhousehold HUD-funded costs varied significantly by site, ranging from $3,513 to $5,626. The amount of 

direct financial assistance per household also varied, ranging from $2,513 to $3,837. Site costs reflect 

differences in program design, including length of stay and intensity of services provided, local cost of 

living, and housing costs. 

VHPD Outcomes

VHPD aimed to help veterans and their families become stably housed and sustain that housing after 

VHPD assistance ended by increasing their income from employment or connecting them to the benefits 

for which they were eligible. As such, this evaluation focused on outcomes in three areas: (1) housing 

stability, (2) income, and (3) employment. 

Housing Stability

As households exited VHPD, program staff categorized their housing status into one of the following four 

categories defined by HUD:

1. Literally homeless: The individual or family lacked a fixed regular or adequate nighttime residence.

2. Imminently at risk of losing housing: The individual or family was currently housed but at imminent risk of losing housing and without subsequent options or the resources or support networks needed to remain in current housing or obtain other temporary or permanent housing

3. Unstably housed: The individual or family was currently housed but experiencing housing instability, with one or more other temporary housing options but lacking the resources or support 

networks to retain or obtain permanent housing.

4. Stably housed: The individual or family was not at risk of losing housing and did not meet the 

criteria for any of the previous housing categories. 

By analyzing program administrative data and the study follow-up survey, the research team found the 

following housing outcomes for VHPD veterans:
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xv

• At program exit the vast majority (95 percent) of VHPD veteran households were in housing (85 

percent were stably housed and 10 percent were unstably housed). 

• Only 5 percent of veteran households were either literally homeless or at imminent risk of losing 

housing when they exited VHPD. 

• At the time of the follow-up interviews, most of which occurred between 6 and 12 months 

after program exit, the majority (76 percent) of veteran households lived in their own homes or 

apartments. The second most common arrangement (18 percent) was for veterans to be staying 

with friends or family. A small percentage (6 percent) of veterans were homeless at follow-up. 

Across sites, 10.5 percent of those interviewed at follow-up reported experiencing homelessness 

at some point since their baseline interview (this includes those homeless at follow-up).

• Overall, very few veteran households returned to shelter or transitional housing within 180 days 

of their program exit: only six veterans total had a return to emergency shelter or transitional 

housing.

• At follow-up, most veterans reported being able to pay housing-related expenses. Of those 

paying rent, only about 24 percent were struggling to meet that obligation each month, and only 

13 percent of those paying utilities struggled to do so.

Overall, the program, which came for many veterans at a point of crisis, showed positive results in 

helping the VHPD clients get back on their feet. One veteran said, “I just want to say I was really down. I 

didn’t know what to do, and they gave me help. Basically, they saved me. They helped me with my rent, 

with my bills. They gave me information. Like [my veterans’ employment representative], he taught me 

how to get jobs.”

Income and Employment

To sustain stable housing requires a reliable and adequate income. Most of the veterans served by VHPD 

had obstacles to employment, including physical and mental health disabilities that prevented them 

from working. It was also difficult for young returning veterans, who lacked job search experience and 

often had gone straight from school into the military, to apply military skills to civilian employment. 

One VHPD participant said, “When you come out of the military, there’s acronyms and roles and titles 

that don’t exist in the civilian world. It was really difficult to try to take your [Noncommissioned Officer 

Evaluation Report] and turn it into a résumé.” 

In part, VHPD focused on increasing income through employment for those who could work and through 

connection to benefits for those who could not. By analyzing program administrative data and the study 

follow-up survey, the researchers found the following income and employment outcomes for VHPD veterans:

• Between program entry and exits, veterans increased their income by about $460: the mean 

household monthly income at program exit was $1,535 across all five sites, up from $1,076. 

Between program exit and the 6-month follow-up survey, mean income had declined slightly to 

$1,519, but it was up from $991 at baseline, and the mean difference was an increase of $525.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Executive Summary

xvi

• Between program entry and the follow-up survey, the veterans’ employment rate increased from 

25 to 43 percent. Further, at follow-up, a larger share of veterans reported income from a job and 

veterans pension payments, and a smaller share of veterans reported income from unemployment.

Conclusion

Overall, the results from VHPD are promising. After leaving the program, veterans had low rates of 

return to homeless shelters in their community, high rates of housing stability, and increased rates of 

employment and income, although a subset of those living on their own still struggled to pay rent, and 

many were living with friends or family. Because of the lack of a comparison group, the researchers 

cannot say what would have happened absent the VHPD program, so they cannot fully attribute the 

results, but the evaluation suggests that VHPD was helpful to veterans who participated. 

In addition to understanding if homelessness prevention programs are effective, this study examined the 

question Is serving veterans and their families different from serving nonveterans? The study reveals that 

veterans’ needs, in many ways, are similar to those of nonveterans who are at risk of homelessness: they 

need short-term help paying for housing and some mix of supportive services. The VHPD evaluation also 

highlights ways veterans are different. VHPD used different outreach strategies than homeless service 

programs, and service providers highlighted that veterans have greater physical and mental health needs 

and different employment assistance needs. At the same time, compared with nonveterans, veterans 

have more benefits available to them through the VA. Finally, it is very important for service providers 

to have veteran “cultural competency”—that is, to have staff who are familiar with how members of 

the military experience civilian life. Veterans are accustomed to being part of a team. In the military, 

they relied on their team members; now, outside the military, they naturally turn to other veterans for 

support. A service provider can build the cultural competency to communicate effectively with veterans 

by hiring veteran caseworkers and providing opportunities for peer-to-peer support. These efforts are 

critical to meeting the needs of veterans at risk of homelessness. 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1. Ending Homelessness Among Veterans

The Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD), a five-site pilot of a homelessness 

prevention and rapid re-housing program, operated from 2011 to 2014. As one component of the 

Obama Administration’s plan to end veteran homelessness by 2016, VHPD was innovative both in whom 

it served and how it intended to serve them. It was one of the first homelessness prevention programs to 

target veterans, and it was among the first homelessness programs of any type to target post–September 

11, 2001 (post-9/11) veterans. In addition to its focus on recent veterans, the program also targeted 

women veterans and paid special attention to the homelessness risk of members of the National Guard 

and Reserve (see appendix A for definitions of these terms and others used in this report). The program 

was designed as a collaboration among the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 

the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to provide a 

comprehensive suite of services, including housing assistance, health care, and employment services, to 

put veterans on paths for long-term housing sustainability. 

Efforts To End Veteran Homelessness

President Obama made ending homelessness among veterans a national priority, noting his 

administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for veterans sleeping on the street or in a shelter.2 His 

administration established Opening Doors, a plan that set the target of ending homelessness among 

veterans by 2016 (USICH, 2013a). One key component of the Opening Doors plan was increasing 

programs specific to homeless veterans. To accomplish this, Congress initiated and expanded several 

programs that target veterans across different federal agencies, including the HUD-Veterans Affairs 

Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, 

and the Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program, in addition to VHPD.

The HUD-VASH program combines VA services, including case management and clinical care, with HUD 

housing choice vouchers for rental assistance. Since 2008, the first year vouchers were awarded, HUDVASH has awarded nearly 70,000 vouchers to jurisdictions across the country to help house homeless 

veterans (HUD, n.d.). Its federal appropriation for case management has increased over the length 

of the program, reaching $321 million in 2015 (USICH, 2015). A rigorous evaluation of HUD-VASH 

found that the program improves housing stability for veterans compared with standard care and case 

management-only models (Rosenheck et al., 2003).

SSVF funds local nonprofits to provide supportive services and limited financial assistance to low-income 

veterans and their families as they try to access permanent housing. For fiscal year (FY) 2012 and FY 

2013 combined, SSVF served nearly 100,000 individuals, including nearly 60,000 veterans, and its federal 

appropriation expanded from $60 million in FY 2011 to $300 million in FY 2013 (Byrne et al., 2014; 

USICH, 2013b). Results from SSVF show great promise: only a small share of veterans became homeless 

2 https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/08/07/president-obama-signs-bill-give-va-resources-it-needs
2 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 1 

after exiting SSVF. Single veterans and veterans who received rapid re-housing services (those who were 

homeless at entry) were more likely to become homeless after exiting SSVF than those who received 

prevention services (Byrne et al., 2014). To be specific, within the first year after exiting the program, 

7 percent of veterans in families receiving prevention services and 9 percent of veterans in families 

receiving rapid re-housing services became homeless, as compared with 10 percent of single veterans 

receiving SSVF prevention services and 16 percent of single veterans receiving SSVF rapid re-housing 

services. Within 2 years after exiting the program, the shares of veterans experiencing homelessness 

increased to 11 percent of veterans in families receiving prevention services, 16 percent of veterans in 

families receiving rapid re-housing services, 18 percent of single veterans receiving prevention services, 

and 27 percent of single veterans receiving rapid re-housing services (Byrne et al., 2014). 

In 2010, the Obama Administration reauthorized the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program, 

which aimed to help homeless veterans gain meaningful employment and connections to mainstream 

benefits and opportunities for education and also to foster a more effective service system for homeless 

veterans. Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program grantees provided veterans with job placement 

services, career counseling, job-training programs and workshops, education and literacy workshops, 

and resume-writing assistance within the context of a “client-centered case-management approach” that 

also focused on linking veterans to the other services and supports for which they are eligible (USICH, 

n.d.). Although VHPD programs more commonly worked with employment staff funded through other 

veterans employment programs, such as the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program and Local Veterans’ 

Employment Representatives program, more than one-half of the Homeless Veteran Reintegration 

Program grantees also operated SSVF programs, providing an avenue for veterans eligible for both 

programs to receive both employment and housing supports (Shaheen, Lacourte-Klein, and Rio, 2013).

Amid support for these other veterans homelessness programs, Congress launched VHPD in 2009 to test 

the efficacy of homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programs that target veterans. According 

to HUD, “the purpose of VHPD is to explore ways for the Federal Government to offer early intervention 

homelessness prevention, primarily to veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” (HUD, 2009). 

The demonstration was innovative because it was designed to be a collaborative effort of three federal 

agencies (HUD, VA, and DOL) that aimed to provide veterans who were either already experiencing shortterm homelessness or at risk of homelessness with the housing, healthcare, and employment supports 

needed to help them sustain their housing in the long term. HUD received $10 million to conduct the 

demonstration, the VA received $5 million to provide case management and supportive services, and DOL 

helped veterans access employment and job-training programs through its existing veterans employment 

specialists located in One-Stop Career Centers, but without additional staff or resources. The program 

was also one of the first homelessness prevention programs to target veterans and among the first 

homelessness programs of any type to target veterans serving in the post-9/11 era. 

In addition to establishing and expanding housing and homeless programs that target veterans, the 

Obama Administration in 2014 increased its efforts to eradicate homelessness by launching the 25 Cities 

Campaign. The 25 Cities Campaign is a collaboration among the VA, HUD, and the U.S. Interagency Council 

on Homelessness to provide support and technical assistance to cities with many veterans experiencing 

chronic homelessness. Coinciding with the 25 Cities Campaign, in June 2014, Michelle Obama announced 

the Mayors’ Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, which is a national challenge to mayors to end 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 3

Chapter 1

veteran homelessness within their cities. By the end of July 2014, 182 local leaders had signed on to the 

challenge and pledged to end veteran homelessness within their cities by the end of 2015. 

In 2009, the VA launched the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, which supports the 

implementation of Opening Doors. The center is tasked with examining the prevalence of veteran 

homelessness, determining best practices for serving homeless veterans, and examining ways to take 

these practices to scale. Its work involves four main strategic activities: (1) policy analysis, (2) model 

development and implementation, (3) education and dissemination, and (4) research and methodology. 

These activities enable the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans to produce more reliable 

estimates of the prevalence of veteran homelessness, identify predictors of homelessness among 

veterans, and create an evidence base for interventions targeted toward this population.

Progress in the Plan To End Homelessness

HUD’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress monitors trends in veteran homelessness 

over time. HUD’s 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress: Part I, released in October 

2014 (HUD, 2014a), provides data from the 2014 point-in-time count conducted in January 2014 and 

historical data from previous point-in-time counts. Point-in-time counts revealed that on a single night 

in January 2014, approximately 49,933 veterans were homeless (figure 1.1). Despite about 245,000 to 

285,000 active-duty service members separating from the military each year between 2009 and 2013, 

the number of homeless veterans has declined steadily in recent years from a high of 74,770 veterans in 

2010, which represents a 33-percent decline between 2010 and 2014 (HUD, 2014a).

Figure 1.1

Total Number of Military Separations and Homeless Veterans in the United States, 2009–2014

Sources: Number of homeless veterans from point-in-time count data (HUD, 2014b); number of returning veterans data from 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Policy and Planning (Special tabulations produced at the request of the Urban 

Institute for this report)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

Number of veterans

Military separations Homeless veterans
4 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 1 

HUD also reports on homeless service use by using Homeless Management Information System data 

from a nationally representative sample of Continuums of Care for each fiscal year. The most recent 

data available at the time of reporting were for FY 2013 (October 1, 2012, to September 30, 2013; 

HUD, 2014b). According to HUD’s analysis, 139,857 veterans received emergency shelter or transitional 

housing services in FY 2013. This number represents a slight increase from 2012, when 137,995 veterans 

stayed in shelter or transitional housing, but the number is still much less than the 149,635 veterans 

served by these programs in 2009, the first year for which data are available (HUD, 2014b). Further, HUD 

found that four of the five states involved in VHPD had the largest populations of homeless veterans 

nationwide: California, with 12,096 homeless veterans; Florida, with 4,552; Texas with 2,718; and New 

York, with 2,542 (HUD, 2014a).

Homeless Veterans’ Characteristics

Veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population: although they make up only 8 percent of the 

total U.S. population, they comprised about 11 percent of all homeless adults counted in the January 

2014 point-in-time counts (HUD, 2014a). According to data for FY 2013, veterans made up 12.7 percent 

of the adult homeless population (HUD, 2014b). 

Although HUD does not report data on the demographic characteristics of homeless veterans and 

other subgroups of homeless people based on the point-in-time counts that include the unsheltered 

population, it does publish these characteristics for the sheltered population by using annualized data. 

As is true for the overall homeless population, African-Americans and Latinos are overrepresented 

among the sheltered homeless veteran population: in FY 2013, about 39 percent of homeless veterans 

were African-American compared with 11 percent of all veterans, and about 7 percent of homeless 

veterans were Hispanic compared with 5 percent of all veterans (HUD, 2014b). Among those using 

shelters or transitional housing, veterans were also more likely than the nonveteran homeless population 

to be single individuals: in the 2009-to-2013 period, the share of homeless veterans who were single 

ranged from 97.4 to 97.9 percent, but, in 2013, single individuals accounted for only 64 percent of 

homeless nonveterans (HUD, 2014b).

The majority (54.3 percent) of sheltered homeless veterans were older than age 50 in 2013—old enough 

that many are still likely to be struggling with the devastating and enduring effects of serving in Vietnam. 

The share of homeless veterans older than age 50 has been shifting slowly upward, from 47.1 percent of 

the sheltered population in 2009 to a high of 54.5 percent in 2012, a pattern that suggests that alreadyhomeless veterans are getting older (HUD, 2013). In 2013, more than one-third (36.1 percent) of the 

sheltered homeless veteran population was between the ages of 31 and 50, and only 9.6 percent of 

the homeless veterans were young (between the ages of 18 and 30). Although young veterans made 

up a small portion of the overall sheltered homeless veteran population, they are overrepresented in 

comparison with their share (5.6 percent) of the general veteran population (HUD, 2014b). 

The number of women in the military has increased substantially during the past decade. The National 

Center on Homelessness Among Veterans more recently reported that, in FY 2013, 10 percent of 

veterans were women (Byrne et al., 2014). HUD annualized Annual Homeless Assessment Report data 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 5

Chapter 1

show that, despite declines in the overall homeless veteran population, the number of homeless women 

veterans is growing: 1,891 more women veterans received emergency shelter or transitional housing 

services in 2013 than in 2012 (HUD, 2014b). Further, women are growing as a share of the sheltered 

population: in 2009, women made up 7.5 percent of sheltered homeless veterans, and, by 2013, they 

comprised 9 percent of the population (HUD, 2014b). Women represent a growing subpopulation of 

homeless veterans, with unique obstacles and barriers to stable housing.

Although the Department of Defense was still in the process of integrating women fully into frontline combat positions at the time of this report, women were exposed to combat-related situations in 

the recent wars in the Middle East, including defending military bases against attacks from insurgents 

(Patten and Parker, 2011). Further, women are also more likely to experience military sexual trauma 

(MST), which the Veterans Health Administration describes as “severe or threatening forms of sexual 

harassment and sexual assault sustained in military service” (Kimerling et al., 2007: 2160). According to 

VA administrative records, a substantial share of women veterans (22 percent, or nearly 30,000 patients) 

who completed an MST screening reported experiencing MST (Kimerling et al., 2007: 2160).3 The study 

found that reports of MST were correlated with mental health issues, including posttraumatic stress 

disorder (PTSD), some of which have been found to increase homelessness risk (Metraux et al., 2013).

Veterans tend to experience homelessness for slightly longer periods than nonveterans (100,000 Homes, 

2011). Some evidence suggests that homeless veterans may face more challenges in finding affordable 

housing than their nonveteran counterparts. HUD’s affordable housing programs, for example, serve 

a smaller share of eligible veterans (11 percent) than eligible nonveterans (19 percent), although the 

reasons for this discrepancy are unclear (GAO, 2007). Veterans are also more likely than nonveterans to 

have PTSD, mental health conditions related to traumatic brain injury, and substance abuse issues that 

require special attention (USICH, 2010). These factors contribute to high rates of incarceration among 

veterans; according to the most recent survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2004 about 140,000 

veterans accounted for 10 percent of state and federal inmates (Noonan and Mumola, 2007). These 

statistics are notable not only for their large numbers but also because people leaving prison are at high 

risk for homelessness (Elbogen et al., 2013).

Reports show that a small number of veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), 

Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), or Operation New Dawn (OND) are trickling into homeless shelters across 

the country. In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, the VA identified 12,700 OEF/

OIF/OND veterans as homeless (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, n.d.). 

Returning veterans face a host of challenges, including reentering life with friends and family and 

finding employment (Institute of Medicine, 2010). According to a Pew Research Center survey of 1,842 

veterans, 44 percent of veterans who served after 9/11 say that reentry was difficult (Morin, 2011). The 

3

 This study, reported in the American Journal of Public Health, examined administrative records collected by the 

Veterans Health Administration, which has a universal screening program for MST. The authors found that 70 

percent of Veterans Health Administration patients were screened for MST.
6 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 1 

VA faces severe shortages in mental healthcare professionals and long backlogs for accessing disability 

benefits, leaving many veterans vulnerable (Institute of Medicine, 2010). According to the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, veterans also experience higher rates of unemployment: about 12 percent for veterans 

who served in the military after 9/11 compared with about 8 percent for nonveterans (DOL, 2013). It is 

not surprising, then, that, as research suggests, veterans are at greater risk of homelessness than their 

civilian counterparts. 

Reasons for Homelessness

Many factors that affect the general population’s risk of homelessness also affect veterans; in addition, 

veterans have some unique experiences that may increase their risks for homelessness. Understanding 

causes and risk factors for homelessness among veterans is important for developing identification 

strategies and homelessness prevention programs. 

Structural factors, such as the loss of affordable housing, rising unemployment, unprecedented numbers 

of foreclosures, and an erosion of the safety net, contribute to homelessness among veterans and the 

general population alike. In addition, a single event (for example, health problem, job loss, rent burden, 

eviction) may often precipitate homelessness. Although veteran renters were somewhat more likely 

to have cost burden than nonveteran renters, a subgroup—approximately one-half million low-income 

veteran renters—had severe housing cost burden in 2005 (Cunningham, Henry, and Lyons, 2007; GAO, 

2007). With no room for basic necessities in their monthly budget, let alone unexpected expenses 

because of job loss or troubles related to physical or mental health problems, households paying a large 

share of income for rent are at risk of becoming homeless. Individual risk factors, including poverty, 

mental and physical health, substance use, and incarceration, are associated with greater risk of 

homelessness (Burt, 2001).

For programs providing homelessness prevention services, such as VHPD, the ability to predict who 

is most likely to become homeless is critically important for targeting services to those veterans most 

in need. A review of the research literature (Burt, 2001; Burt et al., 1999; Shinn and Baumohl, 1999; 

Shinn et al., 2013) suggests narrowing down the pool to veterans with one or more of the following risk 

factors:

• Living in overcrowded units.

• Excessive housing cost burden (more than 50 percent of income).

• Recent loss of income or unemployment.

• Young households, pregnant, or with children under age 5.

• Recent homelessness.

• Health problems or chronic illness.

• Traumatic life event.

Even among veterans with these risk factors, however, some will become homeless and some will not. 

Predicting homelessness is extremely difficult. As Shinn and colleagues wrote, “attempts to identify 

individuals at risk are inefficient, targeting many people who will not become homeless for each person 

who will” (Shinn, Baumohl, and Hopper, 2001: 95). 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 7

Chapter 1

Despite these challenges, recent research focused specifically on the veteran population has made 

strides in identifying the characteristics of veterans at risk of homelessness. Some studies find that 

military service alone does not increase risk for homelessness (Mares and Rosenheck, 2004), but a more 

recent study by Metraux et al. (2013), which used VA administrative data on 310,685 veterans who 

separated from the military between July 1, 2005, and September 30, 2006, found that serving in OEF/

OIF increased homelessness risk after military separation. The study looked at risk factors separately 

for different subgroups: men who served in OEF/OIF, women who served in OEF/OIF, men who did not 

serve in OEF/OIF, and women who did not serve in OEF/OIF. The researchers calculated 5-year adjusted 

homeless incidence rates for veterans who served in OEF/OIF to be about 5 percent (4.8 percent for 

women and 4.9 percent for men); the same rates for non-OEF/OIF veterans were slightly lower at around 

4 percent (4.1 percent for women and 3.7 percent for men). They found that for all four groups, low pay 

grade in the military and younger age (ages 25 to 34) were significant risk factors for homelessness after 

separation. Among OEF/OIF veterans only, being diagnosed with PTSD at discharge was a significant risk 

factor for homelessness, increasing homelessness risk by a modest amount. Further, serving in OEF/OIF 

was a significant risk factor for homelessness, increasing risk by 34 percent. The study found that gender 

did not affect homelessness risk. 

Another study (Elbogen et al., 2013) showed that money mismanagement—defined as writing bad 

checks, forging checks, falling victim to a money scam, or going over one’s credit limit—also significantly 

increased the odds of being homeless after separating from the military, controlling for other factors. 

Studies using data from the VA’s homelessness screening clinical reminder, which screens all veterans 

accessing healthcare services through the Veterans Health Administration for homelessness and risk of 

homelessness, found that women had higher rates of homelessness and risk for homelessness than men 

and that veterans living in nonrural areas had higher rates of homelessness and risk for homelessness 

than those living in rural areas (Montgomery, 2014). Information gathered upon rescreening veterans 

who previously indicated homelessness or risk of homelessness showed that most veterans were able 

to resolve their homelessness quickly. Those who remained homeless for longer periods typically fell 

into four categories: (1) older veterans with mental health issues, (2) older veterans with physical health 

issues, (3) older veterans with a mix of mental and physical health issues who were not receiving VA 

service-connected disability payments, and (4) younger veterans making the transition from military 

service to the civilian workforce (Fargo et al., 2014). 

Recent research has identified risk factors for subsequent homelessness among veterans served by SSVF 

after they leave the program. Byrne (2014) found that having a prior history of homelessness increased 

risk of subsequent homelessness among single veterans, and Byrne et al. (2014) created models for four 

subpopulations of veterans who participated in SSVF: (1) veterans living alone (singles) who were housed 

at entry and received homelessness prevention services, (2) singles who were homeless at program 

entry and received rapid re-housing services, (3) veterans living as part of a household (families) who 

received prevention services, and (4) veterans in families who received rapid re-housing services. They 

found that having received VA homeless services before the veteran’s involvement with SSVF (indicating 

a prior history of homelessness) increased the veteran’s risk of becoming homeless after leaving SSVF 

services for three of the four subgroups: singles who received prevention services, singles who received 
8 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 1 

rapid re-housing services, and families who received prevention services. Veterans who exited to HUDVASH or other permanent housing destinations, which included unsubsidized rental housing and other 

subsidized housing situations, had a lower risk of becoming homeless after exit (Byrne, 2014). Among 

single veterans, men were at greater risk for homelessness than women, but no gender differences were 

indicated for veterans in families (Byrne et al. 2014). Income at program entry did not affect post-SSVF 

homelessness risk (Byrne, 2014). 

Conclusion

Efforts to end homelessness among veterans are working, at the federal level and in communities around 

the country. Homelessness among veterans is decreasing; however, even if homeless service providers 

across the country helped every currently homeless veteran find housing, homelessness for this group 

would not end. New episodes of homelessness would occur. The recurrent nature of the problem and 

new entrants into homelessness are why preventing homelessness is critical to ending homelessness 

among veterans. VHPD was one of the first homelessness prevention programs to target veterans, and 

it was among the first homeless assistance programs of any type to target post-9/11 veterans. The 

researchers know that the number of OEF/OIF/OND veterans and women veterans grew significantly 

because of the country’s involvement in Middle East conflicts. The data also indicate that homelessness 

among these populations is increasing as well. The VHPD evaluation helps to fill in some of the research 

gaps on the pathways to homelessness and identifying risk factors, including barriers to employment, 

that leave these veterans vulnerable. The evaluation also provides insight into how to best identify 

veterans for prevention services and what types of services should be provided to be effective.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 9

Chapter 2

Chapter 2. Study Overview

The Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) was among the first homelessness 

prevention and rapid re-housing programs to specifically target veterans. Many gaps exist in what is 

known about promoting housing stability and sustainability among homeless or at-risk veterans. This 

chapter highlights how the VHPD evaluation contributes to closing gaps in that knowledge by providing 

the research questions and study methodology. 

Study Research Questions

This study asks the following research questions. 

• Implementation questions:

͹ What are effective ways to identify and reach veterans who are at risk for homelessness 

or experiencing short-term homelessness? Are there important differences between 

subgroups of veterans, in particular women, families, and veterans of conflicts 

in Afghanistan and Iraq? How do these methods differ from those used to reach 

nonveterans?

͹ What barriers exist to providing homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing 

services to veterans, and, among them, to women, families, and veterans of conflicts 

in Afghanistan and Iraq? Are these barriers different from those faced when serving 

nonveterans?

͹ How well did the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the U.S. Department of Labor, 

and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) work together in 

each site?

• Program effectiveness questions:

͹ Were the services provided through VHPD effective for veterans served?

͹ What happened to program participants after receiving VHPD program benefits? Did 

program participants avoid homelessness? Did they experience housing stability?

͹ Did program participants increase employment, earnings, and income (including 

veterans pensions, other VA benefits, and other mainstream benefits)?

Research Design

To answer these questions, the research team adopted a mixed-methods research approach that 

included several data collection activities for the process study and outcomes evaluation. To answer the 

implementation questions presented in the previous section, the research team conducted a program 

reconnaissance, conducted interviews with key informants involved in program design and service 

delivery, and completed focus groups with veterans. Findings on implementation are described in the 

evaluation interim report (Cunningham et al., 2013). While the process study focused on questions 

regarding program design and implementation, the outcomes component answered the question of 

whether VHPD prevents homelessness among veterans and helps veterans increase income so they can 
10 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 2 

sustain housing over time. To be specific, the researchers examined (1) housing stability (for example, 

housing status at program exit, returns to homelessness within 6 months, and housing stability at 6 

months) and (2) employment and income (for example, employment and income at program exit, 

employment and income at follow-up). They collected Homeless Management Information System 

(HMIS) and VA administrative data and completed baseline and follow-up surveys to measure these 

outcomes.

One of the biggest challenges to understanding program effects in nonexperimental designs such as 

the VHPD evaluation is selection bias. To understand the true impact of VHPD on program participants, 

it would have been necessary to create a counterfactual that answered this question: All things equal, 

what would have happened without the VHPD intervention? Creating such a counterfactual would have 

required selecting samples of one or more groups that did not receive VHPD but that looked similar to 

the group of program participants who did receive services. The researchers explored the feasibility of 

constructing a comparison group of similar veterans and identified a comparison group that was not 

served by VHPD but was served by VA homeless services. After creating the comparison group, however, 

it was not possible to access the outcomes data needed to make comparisons. As a result, the evaluation 

does not include a comparison group, which limits the findings (this limitation is described in more 

detail in the section “Comparison Group Strategy”). In addition to answering questions of effectiveness, 

the research team wanted to compare characteristics of veterans served by VHPD to characteristics of 

veterans and nonveterans served by other homeless service programs, specifically the Homelessness 

Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP). As described in the following Data Collection 

section, the researchers collected data on participants served through the HPRP program to make these 

comparisons.

Data Collection

Congress directed HUD to conduct an evaluation of program outcomes. HUD contracted with Silber 

& Associates and the Urban Institute to describe program models at each of the five VHPD programs, 

evaluate VHPD’s efficacy in preventing homelessness among veterans, and provide policymakers with 

greatly needed knowledge on how to design effective prevention programs. The evaluation began in 

September 2011. The challenge for the VHPD outcomes evaluation was to compensate for the fact that 

the VHPD programs had been serving veteran households for more than a year before the evaluation 

team had Office of Management and Budget clearance. It would have been ideal to begin recruiting 

households for the study at the moment the VHPD programs began their recruitment; however, that was 

not possible given the study start date.

Recruitment for study participants occurred between September 12, 2012, and October 7, 2013. 

All study participants for whom signed informed consent forms were received were contacted to 

complete the baseline survey as soon as possible after program enrollment. All baseline interviews were 

completed by December 31, 2013. Study participants were contacted for the follow-up survey starting 

from the date 6 months after they exited the VHPD program as reported to the research team by local 

VHPD program staff. All follow-up interviews were completed by October 31, 2014. During this time, the 

research team also conducted two waves of site visits to the five programs. The first wave of visits was 

completed between April and May 2012, during which time the researchers conducted key informant 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 11

Chapter 2

interviews with program staff and community stakeholders. The second wave of visits was completed 

between July and November 2013, during which time they conducted key informant interviews with staff 

and focus groups with program participants. 

Process Study Data Collection

For the process study, the research team conducted initial program reconnaissance, key informant 

interviews with program staff and other stakeholders, focus groups with veterans who received VHPD 

services, and a review of program documents. Interviews and focus groups were conducted during 

site visits to each program. Members of the research team visited each VHPD program twice: once 

about 1 year after implementation began and again about 6 months before the program ended. 

Process study findings based on program reconnaissance, document review, and the key informant 

interviews conducted during the first site visit were summarized in the VHPD evaluation’s interim report 

(Cunningham et al., 2013). 

Program Reconnaissance

Beginning in the fall of 2011, the research team conducted a series of telephone calls with VHPD 

grantees, VA medical centers (VAMCs) working with VHPD, and Continuum of Care (CoC) and HMIS 

administrators. The team collected information on each site’s VHPD program, including what types of 

data the grantees collected and entered into HMIS, and the written consent and data-sharing protocols 

the sites currently had in place. Team members also ascertained the capacities and preferences of HMIS 

systems for providing some or all of the data they would need to answer the study’s research questions 

and the best approach for gaining permission to use the HMIS data for their purposes. Appendix B 

contains the reconnaissance call protocol.

Key Informant Interviews

The research team conducted semistructured interviews with program staff and other knowledgeable 

stakeholders during site visits conducted in April and May 2012 and the summer of 2013. The team 

interviewed the following types of respondents at each VHPD site:

• VHPD grantee staff (agency director; program director; direct line workers doing intake, 

assessment, housing search, placement, stabilization, and ongoing case management; and data 

and management information people).

• VAMC staff (VHPD director, director of all VA homeless assistance, VHPD caseworkers, and 

clinical staff, as appropriate).

• CoC representatives (convener, HMIS administrator, and others, as appropriate).

• One-Stop Career Centers and workforce development staff (director and staff working directly 

with VHPD households).

• Other stakeholders suggested or recommended by local informants. 

The research team used a field discussion guide to gather information relevant to all the process 

research questions (see appendix C). Before any site visits occurred, all staff conducting visits 

participated in field staff training that reviewed the goals and questions outlined in the interview guides 

and onsite protocols.
12 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 2 

During the second site visit, team members reinterviewed key program staff to identify ways the 

program had changed, challenges the program had faced, ways those challenges were or were not 

overcome, program successes, and recommendations for how the program could be improved. Again, 

all researchers used the same interview protocol during the interviews to ensure that the same types 

of information were gathered in each interview and in each site. The interview protocol for the second 

round is in appendix D. 

Focus Groups

During the second site visit to each program, the research team conducted at least one focus group 

with VHPD program participants. When possible, team members conducted two focus groups and held 

homogeneous groups of certain VHPD target populations, including (1) veterans who cared for minor 

children, (2) single adults, (3) female veterans, and (4) Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi 

Freedom veterans. Researchers recruited focus group participants by phone from the group of veterans 

who had agreed to participate in the study. For more details, see appendix B. 

Conducting focus groups enabled the research team to collect perspectives directly from veterans 

about the housing barriers they faced and the efficacy of VHPD in helping them to overcome those 

barriers. Focus group questions were open ended, allowing for more complicated answers and personal 

narratives. The focus groups concentrated on (1) participants’ own reasons for their housing instability 

and pathways to VHPD; (2) participants’ own experiences with VHPD, the services they received, and 

the effectiveness of those services (that is, what they thought did and did not help them); and (3) 

participants’ prospects for the future. Within these three topics, the researchers developed a focus 

group discussion guide (see appendix E) that included probes to keep the conversations going, made 

certain they covered relevant aspects of each topic, and discussed challenges specific to each of the 

identified subgroups. 

Focus groups were held at VHPD program offices and lasted no more than 2 hours. Participants received 

an incentive of $50 as a thank you for their participation. Focus groups were audio recorded and 

transcribed.

Document Review

During the program reconnaissance and site visit activities, the research team collected examples of 

forms and other documents that the programs used to administer the VHPD program. Examples of 

documents collected include program screening forms, intake and assessment forms, program service 

plans, and budgeting worksheets. The research team used this information in addition to interview notes 

from the first round of site visits to understand program operations and procedures. 

Outcomes Study Data Collection

Baseline And Follow-Up Surveys

The research team conducted baseline and follow-up telephone interviews with VHPD participants who 

had consented to participate in the study. VHPD program staff at each of the five sites began recruiting 

veterans to participate in the outcomes evaluation (that is, to complete the baseline and follow-up 

telephone surveys) in mid-September 2012. The study recruitment continued until October 7, 2013. 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 13

Chapter 2

Veterans were contacted within a few weeks of agreeing to participate in the study to complete the 

baseline survey, and again 6 months after they exited the program to complete the follow-up survey. 

The baseline survey data collection period ended on December 31, 2013, and the follow-up survey data 

collection period ended on October 31, 2014. 

The surveys cover the major areas on which VHPD interventions were expected to have an impact or 

that were important baseline characteristics for understanding veterans’ situations at intake and how 

those situations might affect their experience with and outcomes from VHPD. The team specifically 

asked about— 

• Housing status, including nature of current housing, housing stability (for example, number of 

recent moves), housing costs, brief homeless history.

• Veteran’s status, including active duty, period served, stationed in a war zone, ever exposed to 

combat, exposed to friendly or unfriendly fire, multiple tours of duty, challenges since leaving 

the military, impact of military on housing situation.

• Household composition.

• Income level, sources, and noncash benefits for head of household and all other adults.

• Employment, including current and brief history; completed education and any current or recent 

education, including training and certifications.

• Presence of mental health issues, use of VA healthcare services, and health insurance.

Interviews were about 30 minutes in duration. Participating veterans were paid $30 for their time for 

each interview. The baseline interview was conducted as soon as possible after program enrollment, 

and the follow-up interview was conducted 6 months after the veteran exited the VHPD program. More 

details on the baseline survey methods are in appendix F, and the survey instrument is in appendix G. 

More information on the follow-up survey methods is in appendix H, and the instrument is in appendix I. 

More information on the survey data cleaning and survey timing is in appendix J. 

The research team recruited 509 veterans into the study, of whom 424 completed the baseline survey, 

a response rate of 83 percent. Of those who completed the baseline survey, 315 also completed the 

follow-up survey, a response rate of 74 percent (table 2.1).4 Although the research team’s goal was to 

recruit 100 veterans from each site, the program enrollment pace at the five sites varied. Some sites 

(Central Texas, San Diego, and Tampa) were able to recruit more than 100 participants, but other sites 

(Tacoma and Upstate Northern New York) recruited fewer veterans. 

4

 An analysis of nonresponders for those veterans who did not consent to be in the study and for those who did not 

complete a follow-up interview is included in appendix L.
14 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 2 

Table 2.1

Survey Response Statistics

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Number of study participants 509 129 128 84 100 68

Baseline survey

Interviews completed (N) 424 113 100 70 89 52

Response rate (%) 83.3 87.6 78.1 83.3 89.0 76.5

Follow-up survey

Interviews completed (N) 315 85 75 49 63 43

Response rate (%) 74.3 75.2 75.0 70.0 70.8 82.7

Administrative Data

The research team also collected administrative data from the HMIS of local CoCs and the VA’s Homeless 

Registry. Administrative data from the local CoCs and the National Center on Homelessness Among 

Veterans were gathered in the summer and fall of 2014. These data were used to supplement the 

data collected in the surveys, provide information on homelessness after VHPD program exit, create 

comparison groups, and conduct nonresponse analysis. The types of administrative data the researchers 

collected from HMIS and the VA are described in the following sections. The full list of indicators is in 

appendix K. 

HMIS Data

VHPD program data entered into HMIS for VHPD study participants. The research team collected 

identified HMIS universal and program-specific data elements from each lead VHPD CoC and attached 

the data to the survey data files. Team members obtained consent to collect identified HMIS data from 

study participants in the consent form veterans signed to enroll in the study. The team specifically 

collected the following indicators: race, ethnicity, gender, age, veteran status, presence of children in 

the individual’s household, disabling condition, physical disability, developmental disability, chronic 

health condition, HIV/AIDS, mental health, substance abuse, income at VHPD entry, income at VHPD exit, 

housing status at VHPD entry, housing status at VHPD exit, HPRP program entry date, HPRP program exit 

date, VHPD program entry date, VHPD program exit date, and any emergency shelter and transitional 

housing entry and exit dates.

VHPD program data entered into HMIS for VHPD program participants who did not participate in the 

study. The researchers collected deidentified data from all five lead CoCs for veterans who did not 

participate in the VHPD evaluation in order to conduct nonresponse analysis. They collected the same 

indicators they collected for the study participants listed in the previous paragraph. 

Shelter and transitional housing use data entered into HMIS for VHPD study participants. The team also 

collected emergency shelter and transitional housing entry and exit dates for VHPD study participants 

from CoCs that were with the VHPD program catchment area but were not the lead CoC—the one to 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 15

Chapter 2

which the VHPD program submitted its program data. Team members provided these CoCs with a list of 

names and birthdates for study participants so they could find these veterans in their HMIS and identify 

their homeless service use from August 28, 2012, to July 31, 2014, an activity for which the researchers 

got consent from the study participants. 

HMIS data for a comparison group of HPRP participants. To determine how veterans experiencing 

short-term homelessness or risk for homelessness differed from nonveterans, the researchers collected 

deidentified data on all HPRP participants from the lead VHPD CoC. They specifically collected the 

following indicators: race, ethnicity, gender, age, veteran status, presence of children in the individual’s 

household, disabling condition, physical disability, developmental disability, chronic health condition, 

HIV/AIDS, mental health, substance abuse, income at VHPD entry, income at VHPD exit, housing status 

at VHPD entry, housing status at VHPD exit, HPRP program entry date, HPRP program exit date, VHPD 

program entry date, VHPD program exit date, and any emergency shelter and transitional housing 

entry and exit dates. The research team used these data to compare characteristics of veterans and 

nonveterans served by HPRP.

VA Data

VA Homeless Registry, VA Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System, and other VA 

homeless data for a comparison group of veterans who did not receive VHPD. To create a comparison 

group of veterans who would have been eligible for VHPD services but did not receive them, the 

research team collected data on veterans served by the VHPD VAMCs who were short-term homeless or 

unstably housed before the start of the VHPD program. The research design called for comparing returns 

to homelessness in HMIS and VA homeless services. The researchers were successful in creating a 

comparison group with these data, but they had some challenges with outcomes data, which made this 

comparison unusable. These data challenges and limitations are outlined in the next section.

Comparison Group Strategy

To understand the impact of the VHPD intervention, the research team needed to know what would have 

happened in the absence of the intervention. Because a randomized control trial was not possible in this 

case, the researchers instead attempted to create a comparison group by using VA administrative data 

to answer this question.5 With the assistance of the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, 

they pulled demographic and VA homeless service use data from the VA Homeless Registry on veterans 

who completed a Health Care for Homeless Veterans intake form between March 1, 2010, and February 

29, 2011, and who were either at risk of homelessness or homeless for a short time (less than 6 months) 

and from the VAMC service areas for the five VHPD sites. They then used propensity score matching to 

weight each observation so that in the aggregate the VA group resembled the VHPD study participant 

group as closely as possible (see appendix L for a complete description of this process). The team had 

5

 A randomized control trial is a design in which study participants are randomly assigned to either the treatment 

condition (in this case, receiving VHPD assistance) or the control condition (in this case, receiving no VHPD 

assistance). Because the groups are assigned randomly, this design is intended to rule out the possibility that 

differences between the groups are driving the differences in outcomes and to provide a truer test of the effect of 

the intervention. The research team was unable to implement a randomized control trial design for this evaluation 

because the sites were not expected to enroll and did not enroll a large enough number of veterans during the 

time period when the research team was able to recruit veterans for the study (September 12, 2012, to October 7, 

2013) to have a sufficient number of veterans in the treatment and control groups.
16 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 2 

planned to compare the number of nights spent in homeless services between the VA administrative data 

comparison group and the VHPD study participant group to determine how effective the VHPD program 

was at helping participants avoid using homeless services, a measure of maintained housing stability. 

Although the research team was able to create a comparison group with similar baseline characteristics 

to its study participant group, the team determined that, for several reasons, the comparison of 

homeless service use outcomes between the groups was not helpful in understanding the effect of the 

VHPD intervention. First, the homeless services researchers were examining differed between the study 

participants and the comparison group. For the study participants, they were only able to obtain data on 

the use of homeless services that are entered into the HMIS system of the lead VHPD CoC’s service area, 

and, for the comparison group, they were only able to obtain data on the homeless services used from 

the VA. They were unable to obtain data on the use of a consistent set of homeless services for the two 

groups because of informed consent issues.6

Second, the data on the VA comparison group provided outcomes such as the number of nights spent in 

VA homeless service programs within 24 months of the Health Care for Homeless Veterans intake date. 

The outcomes period for the VHPD study participant group was within 6 months of program exit. The 

different timeframes made the data noncomparable.

Third, the comparison group was intended to measure the effectiveness of the VHPD intervention 

by approximating what would have happened in the absence of the intervention. Of the weighted 

comparison group, however, 62 percent were referred to a VA homelessness program at intake. Although 

the researchers do not know what share of those people were admitted into services in response to 

that referral, this percentage of referrals suggests that a share of the VA comparison group did receive 

a homeless service intervention, muddling the comparison with VHPD. For all these reasons, these 

comparisons cannot inform this evaluation.

In the absence of a control group of veterans who were similarly situated but did not receive any 

intervention, the research team cannot fully attribute the results presented in this report to VHPD. 

6

 The research team did not ask for consent to obtain identified data from the VA for the study participants because 

researchers were advised that doing so would deter veterans from agreeing to participate in the study. Team 

members never came in contact with the members of the VA comparison group because it was pulled from an 

earlier time period, so they never had an opportunity to ask their consent to get their HMIS data.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 17

Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Program Description and Implementation 

Challenges

This chapter describes the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) program at each 

site and provides information on the types of assistance provided to participants and how long they 

stayed in the program. It also briefly summarizes some of the implementation challenges and lessons 

that were highlighted in the interim report (Cunningham et al., 2013).

VHPD Program

VHPD was designed to target veterans who were homeless or at risk for homelessness, with a special 

emphasis on the following subpopulations: recent veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq under 

Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), or Operation New Dawn (OND); 

female veterans; and veterans with children. Overall, the program served 4,824 adults and children, 

including 2,023 veterans, in 1,976 households.7 VHPD provided short- or medium-term housing 

assistance (up to 18 months), including security deposits, rent, rental arrearages (up to 6 months back 

rent), moving cost assistance, and utilities, and also case management and referrals to communitybased services and supports. Service providers could use VHPD funds for childcare, credit repair, and 

transportation expenses. VHPD sites were required to spend 65 percent of their grant on housing 

assistance, but beyond that requirement, they had discretion to develop program activities that reflected 

local need. VHPD grantees and their subgrantees provided a range of financial, case management, and 

housing location services to homeless households and those at risk of homelessness.

Grantees had discretion in targeting veterans most in need of homelessness prevention and rapid 

re-housing. Eligibility criteria set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 

included veteran status, eligibility for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, and 

income requirements (household at or below 50 percent of Area Median Income [AMI]). The eligible 

groups were veterans and veterans with families at risk of homelessness or experiencing short-term 

homelessness (less than 90 days). Veterans from all periods of service (for example, Vietnam, Persian 

Gulf) were eligible, but, as noted in the previous paragraph, HUD encouraged focused outreach to OEF/

OIF/OND veterans. National Guard members and those who served in the Reserve and served on active 

duty for 2 years or more were also eligible for the program. HUD required that grantees check to see 

that all enrollees would have become homeless “but for this assistance” and that they could sustain the 

cost of housing after the program ended. The household also had to meet at least one of the following 

“instability criteria”: 

7 These numbers are derived from HUD Annual Performance Report (APR) data submitted by the grantees. Three 

APRs were not submitted: Tampa Year 2, Tacoma Year 3, and Upstate Northern New York Year 3. Because Tampa 

and Tacoma submitted all of their quarterly reports, the research team was able to approximate the number 

served for the missing year based on the quarterly reports. These numbers, however, do not include those served 

by Upstate Northern New York in Year 3, because the site also failed to submit 4 of 12 quarterly reports, making 

imputation impossible in this case. For more details on the imputation process, see appendix M.
18 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 3

• Short-term homelessness (homeless for less than 90 days). 

• Rental arrearages (at least 1 month behind in rent). 

• Pending eviction in 2 weeks.

• Institutional discharge (within 2 weeks from an institution where the person had been a resident 

for more than 180 days; for example, prison, mental health institution, or hospital). 

• Condemned housing. 

• One month of utility arrears. 

• Housing cost burden greater than 50 percent of household income. 

• Sudden loss of significant income (defined as greater than 25-percent decrease in income). 

• Recent traumatic life event (for example, divorce, death of a spouse, or health crisis) that 

prevented the household from meeting financial obligations. 

• Imminent unemployment. 

• Mental health or substance use issue (treatment by time in housing encouraged). 

Program Timeline

The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-8, signed into law on March 11, 2009) 

authorized funding for VHPD (HUD, 2009). HUD issued the program notice to the selected Continuums of 

Care (CoCs) in July 2010, and the CoCs accepted the program by August 2010 and submitted a business 

plan by October 2010. HUD signed the grant agreements by November 2010. The VHPD programs began 

enrolling clients in March, April, or May of 2011 (Cunningham et al., 2013), and the VHPD program 

officially ended on January 31, 2014. 

VHPD Sites

HUD, in consultation with VA and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), selected five military bases 

and their surrounding communities to participate in VHPD: Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California 

(San Diego); Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (Central Texas); Fort Drum in Watertown, New York (Upstate 

Northern New York); Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington (Tacoma); and MacDill Air 

Force Base in Tampa, Florida (Tampa). HUD demonstration funds were allocated directly to the largest 

CoCs in the geographic areas covered by the VHPD programs: the City and County of San Diego; Austin, 

Travis County; Utica and Rome, Oneida County; Tacoma and Lakewood, Pierce County; and Tampa, 

Hillsborough County. 

These five sites were selected based on the following criteria: (1) the number of homeless veterans in 

the geographic area, (2) the number of unique returned OEF/OIF/OND veterans who accessed health 

care through the VA between FY 2002 and the first quarter of FY 2009, (3) the number of homeless 

veterans reported through the VA’s CHALENG report, (4) the range and diversity of military represented 

in the selected sites (for example, all branches, including the National Guard and Reserve), (5) access to 

and availability of VA health care, (6) overall geographic distribution, and (7) capacity of the community 

to carry out the demonstration project (Cunningham et al., 2013). 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 19

Chapter 3

HUD awarded each grantee $2 million for a period of 3 years; grants went to homeless assistance 

programs in designated CoCs or to the CoC itself to deliver housing and supportive services in 

collaboration with VA medical centers (VAMCs) and DOL One-Stop Career Centers (One-Stops). The 

following sections provide brief descriptions of each selected VHPD grantee program. More detailed 

information on the VHPD sites is available in the VHPD interim report (Cunningham et al., 2013). Table 

3.1 shows several key program characteristics for the five sites.

Central Texas—Fort Hood

The Austin, Travis County CoC selected the Salvation Army to run the program, which served as the VHPD 

grantee for Central Texas and received HUD’s $2 million directly; the program had no subgrantees. One 

of the Salvation Army’s VA partners was the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, the local agency 

for the VA, located in Killeen. The program also involved another VA partner—the Killeen Heights Vet 

Center, which did some outreach for VHPD and other programs serving veterans. The program’s DOL 

partner in Central Texas was the Texas Veterans Commission, which oversees the work of veteran-specific 

employment specialists for disabled and other veterans. Each of the three key partners (the Salvation 

Army, the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, and the Texas Veterans Commission) dedicated 

staff to work together to operate the VHPD program. The three partners worked together to develop a 

service plan for each veteran, and the veteran was required to meet regularly (that is, weekly from the 

beginning of the veteran’s program involvement) with his or her case manager from each agency. 

The VHPD service area in Central Texas was large and included Bell, Coryell, McLennan, Travis, and 

Williamson Counties. The Salvation Army VHPD staff were based in Austin and at the VA VHPD office in 

Harker Heights; the Austin-based Salvation Army case manager primarily served program participants 

in Travis and Williamson Counties, and the Harker Heights–based case manager primarily served 

participants residing in Bell, Coryell, and McLennan Counties. 

San Diego—Camp Pendleton

The San Diego Regional Continuum of Care Council, the local CoC, was the grantee and recipient of 

HUD’s $2 million for this program. The CoC named the Veterans Village of San Diego to act as the VHPD 

grantee on its behalf; Veterans Village of San Diego in turn regranted funds to two local nonprofit 

organizations, Interfaith Community Services and St. Vincent DePaul Village, to provide the program’s 

direct services as subgrantees. The VA partners included staff at the San Diego VAMC and the San 

Diego Vet Center. The DOL partner was the regional office of the California Employment Development 

Department. Although the program’s case management component was initially less intensive and 

mostly involved referrals to other programs, midway through implementation, San Diego began doing 

more intensive case management.

The VHPD program served all of San Diego County, which includes the City of San Diego—a very large 

urban center that includes seven military bases, many of which contributed participants in VHPD. For 

purposes of VHPD program administration, the service area was divided into northern and southern 

halves, with Interfaith Community Services serving veterans in the northern part and St. Vincent DePaul 

Village serving those in the southern part of the area. 
20 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 3

Tacoma—Joint Base Lewis-Mcchord

The CoC for Tacoma and Lakewood, Pierce County selected a community agency, Catholic Community 

Services of Western Washington, to serve as grantee and receive HUD’s $2 million directly. The 

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs was a subgrantee to Catholic Community Services , 

assisting with outreach and facilitating interactions with the state offices that handle discharge status 

and disability ratings. The American Lake Medical Center, located close to Tacoma, was the VAMC 

affiliated with the program. The DOL partner in Tacoma was the Washington State Employment Security 

Department, which oversees and supervises the specialized employment staff at the various One-Stops 

in the VHPD catchment area whose job is to facilitate veteran employment. Tacoma’s VHPD program 

served veterans living in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Thurston Counties. 

Tampa—Macdill Air Force Base

The Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, the local CoC, was the grantee and recipient of HUD’s 

$2 million for this program. The grantee invited all interested community-based organizations to apply 

for VHPD funds and worked with two subgrantees, Tampa Crossroads and the Agency for Community 

Treatment Services. The VA partners included the James A. Haley VAMC and the Tampa Vet Center. The 

DOL partners were the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance in Hillsborough County, Polk Works in Polk County, 

and Career Central in Pasco and Hernando Counties. 

The VHPD service area included Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Polk Counties. Tampa Crossroads 

served veterans in Hillsborough County, including Tampa, and the Agency for Community Treatment 

Services served veterans in Hernando, Pasco, and Polk Counties. 

Upstate Northern New York—Fort Drum

The Central New York Veterans Outreach Center was the grantee and recipient of HUD’s $2 million in 

funds for the VHPD program. Because the catchment area is extensive, covering six counties, the grantee 

sought a partner to serve the northern three counties, including the one where Fort Drum is located. 

Transitional Living Services of Northern New York was chosen as the subgrantee. VA partners included 

the Donald J. Mitchell VA Outpatient Clinic in Rome, the Syracuse VAMC, and the Watertown Vet Center. 

DOL partners included the New York State Department of Labor in Albany, the Utica Workforce Solutions 

One-Stop Center in Utica, and The Work Place in Watertown.

This site covered Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida Counties at the southern end of the catchment area 

and Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties at the northern end. Upstate Northern New York is the 

only VHPD site classified by HUD as rural.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 21

Chapter 3

Table 3.1 

Key Program Characteristics

Site Rapid Re-housing (%) Prevention (%) Median Length of Stay (days)

Central Texas 20.2 79.8 95

San Diego 18.2 81.8 39

Tacoma 28.1 71.9 94

Tampa 31.0 69.0 146

Upstate Northern New York 39.9 60.1 55

Note: Percentages for rapid re-housing and prevention are calculated for data on study participants (all veterans) that have been 

weighted to be reflective of all veterans who enrolled during the study recruitment period (see appendix L for a discussion of 

the weighting). 

Source: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Homeless Management Information System weighted administrative data

Program Costs

Understanding how much a program costs is important information for policymakers to evaluate as they 

are considering the benefits of an intervention. HUD-funded program costs per household for VHPD ranged 

significantly by site, ranging from $3,513 in San Diego to $5,626 in Tacoma. This cost includes everything 

but program administrative costs. HUD also tracked the amount of financial assistance provided to each 

household; these costs also ranged by site, from $2,513 in San Diego to $3,837 in Tacoma (table 3.2).

Table 3.2

VHPD Assistance Funds Disbursed

Site Average Amount of Funds 

Disbursed per Person Served 

($)

Average Amount of Grant 

Funds Disbursed per 

Household Served ($)

Average Amount of Financial 

Assistance Provided to Each 

Household Served ($)

Central Texas 1,589.11 4,269.37 3,098.70

San Diego 1,579.12 3,513.24 2,512.86

Tacoma 2,165.59 5,626.43 3,836.65

Tampa 1,759.03 4,770.91 3,686.15

VHPD = Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration.

Notes: Calculations for Tacoma and Tampa are based on total numbers of people and households served that involved missing 

data imputation. Data for Upstate Northern New York are not included because the issues with missing data could not be resolved 

through imputation. See appendix M for more details. Amount of funds disbursed includes grant funds spent on financial assistance, 

supportive services, and data collection and evaluation. Financial assistance includes rental assistance payments, rental application 

fees, payments of arrearages, security deposits, utility deposits and payments, and moving cost assistance. Supportive services include 

costs for case management, outreach and engagement, housing search and placement, credit repair, childcare, and transportation. 

Data collection and evaluation costs include those for software and user license fees, Homeless Management Information System 

training and staffing, data collection and entry, and costs to lease or purchase computer equipment. 

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development financial and performance report data
Chapter 3

22 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Implementation Challenges

As part of the data collection effort, the research team conducted qualitative interviews with key 

stakeholders at each site to try to identify lessons learned, implementation challenges to service 

provision, and best practices in VHPD. It was apparent that each program faced its own unique set of 

barriers, but certain obstacles were common across the five programs. 

Identifying Homeless and At-Risk Veterans

VHPD was meant to serve a specific population: veterans with household incomes at or below 50 percent 

of the AMI who were either at imminent risk of becoming homeless or who had already been homeless 

for a short time (90 days or less). Programs were also supposed to target veterans who had served in the 

recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, women veterans, and veterans with children. To identify these 

veterans, the five VHPD sites engaged in several outreach activities to ensure that local agencies that 

would likely encounter these veterans would know about the program and be able to make referrals. 

Before launching the VHPD program locally, sites used public announcements or meetings to inform 

the community about the program. Outreach workers for the program engaged with staff across their 

local VA systems who might encounter homeless veterans or veterans facing homelessness. They also 

participated in transition-assistance events at local military bases held for service members separating 

from the military and informed other non-VA homeless service programs about VHPD, who was eligible, 

and what the program provided. Outreach workers also adapted their strategies to better reach target 

populations, including reaching out to local universities and community colleges to reach OEF/OIF/OND 

veterans who were continuing their education under GI Bill benefits. 

In addition to finding the VHPD program through these program-specific outreach efforts, veterans 

found VHPD through existing hotlines and word of mouth. Program participants and staff noted that 

veterans were directed to the VHPD program after calling the VA’s National Call Center for Homeless 

Veterans (1–877–4AIDVET) or general purpose hotlines, such as 211 and Courage to Call. Some veterans 

noted, however, that they found VHPD only as part of a time-consuming and complicated assistance 

search. As the program became more established, veterans and staff noted the importance of word 

of mouth in informing the veteran community about the VHPD program (see chapter 7 for more on 

veterans’ perspectives on finding the program). Word of mouth was a particularly important strategy for 

reaching veterans who did not already engage with the VA or other service providers. Taken together, 

these strategies seemed to be successful at reaching target population veterans, as evidenced by the 

relatively high share of women and OEF/OIF/OND veterans among those served by VHPD compared with 

their shares of the overall veteran population (see chapter 4). 

Deciding Who To Serve: Balancing Eligibility Criteria and Target Populations

VHPD was intended to serve veterans who had been homeless for a short time or were at imminent 

risk of homelessness. VHPD programs served far more prevention cases (those in which the household 

was not homeless at program entry but was at risk of homelessness) than rapid re-housing cases (those 

in which the household was homeless at program entry). In part, this distribution of cases served was 

due to local program staff interpreting HUD regulations to mean there was a strict cut-off for VHPD 

eligibility. Program staff thought the regulations said that all veterans who were homeless for longer 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 23

Chapter 3

than 90 days were ineligible for the program. Midway through implementation, at a convening of VHPD 

local program and federal staff, HUD indicated that this was not in fact a strict rule, but that there was 

flexibility with regard to this criterion. Only one site (San Diego), however, noted serving veterans who 

did not meet the 90-day “rule” during the second site visit, so this guideline did in fact act as an eligibility 

rule in most cases, regardless of HUD’s intention. As a consequence, the perceived 90-day rule limited 

the programs from serving veterans who were currently homeless for longer than 90 days and who may 

have benefited from rapid re-housing. Program staff noted this assumed rule limited the pool of veterans 

eligible for rapid re-housing assistance and would have liked more flexibility to define short-term 

homelessness in other ways, although they did not make specific suggestions for alternative definitions. 

Because the programs focused more on prevention services, program staff had to make critical decisions 

for eligibility around how to define imminent risk and how to weigh that risk against other HUD eligibility 

guidelines. HUD set out two guidelines for the program: first, that the household would be homeless 

“but for” the assistance provided by VHPD (practitioners referred to this guideline as the “but for” rule) 

and, second, that, although the household currently faced a housing crisis, the household would likely 

be able to maintain its housing after receiving assistance from the program (the sustainability criterion). 

In addition to weighing these two criteria, programs were also trying to target the VHPD priority 

populations (that is, OEF/OIF/OND veterans, women veterans, and veterans with children). 

Program staff noted it was difficult to juggle these competing factors. This difficulty was partially because 

of a lack of clear guidance from HUD on how to operationalize the four housing status categories 

(literally homeless, at imminent risk, unstably housed, and stably housed) to enable program staff to 

more clearly understand who should be served with prevention resources. Although HUD provided 

definitions of these terms (see the Definitions of Terms in appendix A for the HUD definitions), program 

staff found applying these definitions to families’ actual housing situations to be a subjective process. 

Further, program staff encountered trade-offs between the “but for” and sustainability criteria: often a 

veteran with a more acute housing crisis would be less likely to be self-sufficient after assistance and vice 

versa. To deal with this problem, programs chose which criterion they would emphasize. Most programs 

leaned more heavily on the “but for” rule, but San Diego, citing high housing costs, decided to place 

more emphasis on the sustainability criterion. Staff also noted they often had to decide between serving 

a veteran with more acute needs who was not a member of a target population group and serving a 

target population veteran with less severe issues. 

Building Strong Partnerships

Because VHPD was intended to be a collaborative effort—not just among the three federal agencies but 

also among local arms of those agencies—collaboration and strong partnerships were critical to program 

success. Relationships between some partners were strengthened throughout the course of program 

operations, but other relationships, as described briefly in the following paragraphs and in more detail in 

the interim report (Cunningham et al., 2013), were less successful. 

In particular, program staff in most sites credited the VHPD program with helping improve relationships 

between the HUD grantees and subgrantee homeless service agencies and the VA. By working more 

closely with the VA, the homeless service agencies were better able to link veterans with the health 
Chapter 3

services they needed and provide more comprehensive supports to maintain housing stability. Site staff 

also commented that they engaged with other community providers across their CoCs through the VHPD 

program, which could help foster more collaboration beyond this project. Program staff noted these 

improved relationships as a key success of the VHPD program. 

Developing relationships with the local DOL-funded One-Stop Career Centers was more difficult. Part of 

the challenge in engaging the local employment services providers could have been because DOL did 

not receive any funding for VHPD implementation. Therefore, local agencies had to add VHPD clients 

onto the caseloads of existing veterans’ employment staff, which included Disabled Veterans’ Outreach 

Program staff and Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives staff. Further, key informants noted 

that DOL staff were more accustomed to serving clients who present as “job ready,” and they were 

described as either ill equipped or unwilling to serve the VHPD clients with greater needs. The exception 

was Central Texas, which included the local employment agencies in VHPD from the beginning of the 

planning period and was the only site to truly integrate the DOL arm into its team. The importance of 

this partnership was underscored by participating veterans. Veterans who received employment services 

said they valued that assistance, and those who did not said they wished they could have received such 

services (see chapter 7 for more detail). 

Large Service Areas

The VHPD sites were selected intentionally to include one rural site, which is a key reason why Upstate 

Northern New York was chosen. Although Upstate Northern New York was the only site explicitly 

classified as rural, the service areas for all the programs were large, and program staff in all the sites 

reported challenges related to the size of their service areas. San Diego, which served only one large 

county, was able to overcome this challenge by enlisting one subgrantee located in the northern part 

of the county to serve veterans in that area and another subgrantee located in the southern part of the 

county to serve veterans in the southern area. 

The other four sites all included rural counties and consistently noted challenges reaching veterans and 

facilitating their access to services because of remoteness and transportation issues. Some veterans lived 

in rural areas that were far from the offices of VHPD service providers, other community-based services, 

and employment opportunities. These significant distances affected their ability to engage with services 

and take advantage of employment opportunities. Further, some areas, particularly in the Tacoma 

program’s service area, were insular and difficult to reach because of geographic barriers such as Mount 

Rainier, large forests, and the Olympic Peninsula. 

Program staff observed that clients in rural areas often did not have their own vehicles or had a vehicle 

in disrepair they could not afford to fix, and they noted particular challenges serving these clients. 

When clients did not have their own transportation, case managers often had to travel long distances, 

sometimes 3 or more hours round trip, to meet with clients. In addition to driving to their own meetings 

with the client, case managers also noted they spent time driving clients to other appointments with the 

VA and DOL because the client had no other means to get there. These hours devoted to transportation 

significantly increased the time allocated per case and limited the number of veterans the programs 

were able to serve. To help overcome these challenges, program staff noted they would have liked more 

resources to assist clients with transportation-related issues.

24 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 25

Chapter 4

Chapter 4. VHPD Households

This chapter describes the households that participated in the Veterans Homelessness Prevention 

Demonstration (VHPD) and provides data on study participants by target population, military experience, 

and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Reaching Veteran Target Populations

The VHPD program was designed to provide rapid re-housing and homelessness prevention services 

to at-risk veterans at five sites across the country. This program was also designed to target specific 

populations, including recent veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi 

Freedom (OIF), or Operation New Dawn (OND), and also female veterans and veterans with children. The 

research team used VHPD survey and administrative data to answer two important questions: Was VHPD 

successful in reaching the target populations? Who were the veterans served by the VHPD program? 

Overall, VHPD successfully reached the target populations it was intended to serve. Across the five sites, 

more than one-half (55 percent) of veterans served in either OEF, OIF, or OND. In the veteran population 

at large, only about 16 percent of veterans have served in these conflicts, which indicates the VHPD 

programs successfully targeted these recent veterans (Byrne et al., 2014). In targeting veterans from 

recent wars, VHPD was intended to serve younger veterans. Of all veterans served through VHPD, 22 

percent were between the ages of 18 and 30, and 5 percent were very young (ages 18 to 24). Veterans 

with children also made up a substantial portion of those served under VHPD. Approximately 43 percent 

of veterans had children in their household. The program also successfully engaged women veterans. 

About 27 percent of veterans across sites were women, much higher than their 10 percent share in the 

overall veteran population. 

Although all sites engaged veterans in the target population groups, Central Texas was best able to reach 

the targeted groups. It served the highest share of women veterans (40 percent), OEF/OIF/OND veterans 

(74 percent), and veterans with children (58 percent). The share of women veterans in the other sites 

ranged from 10 percent in Upstate Northern New York to 30 percent in Tampa, and the share of OEF/

OIF/OND veterans ranged from 43 percent in San Diego to 58 percent in Tacoma. Central Texas served 

the second highest share of young veterans at 30 percent, behind Upstate Northern New York at 36 

percent. Some of Central Texas’s success, however, could be due to the large number of veterans from 

recent conflicts being discharged from its local military base, Fort Hood (Cunningham et al., 2013). Table 

4.1 shows target populations of veterans by site.
26 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 4

Table 4.1

VHPD Study Veterans by Target Populations by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central 

Texas

San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern New 

York

Women veterans

Number 135 48 32 17 33 6

Percent of study veterans 26.7 39.9 22.6 21.3 30.4 10.3

OEF/OIF/OND veterans

Number 240 82 47 38 46 27

Percent of study veterans 55.1 74.0 43.1 57.5 46.3 53.8

Young veterans (ages 18 to 30)

Number 110 36 22 16 15 22

Percent of study veterans 21.7 30.0 15.6 19.5 14.1 35.5

Veterans with children in household

Number 222 70 43 40 53 16

Percent of study veterans 43.8 57.8 30.7 50.7 50.0 26.1

OEF = Operation Enduring Freedom. OIF = Operation Iraqi Freedom. OND = Operation New Dawn. VHPD = Veterans Homelessness 

Prevention Demonstration.

Notes: Gender, age, and presence of children in the household came from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) 

(N = 509), and whether the veteran served in OEF, OIF, or OND came from the baseline survey (N = 424).

Sources: Weighted VHPD baseline survey; HMIS administrative data

Profile of Veterans Served

This section provides a detailed description of VHPD veterans, looking at demographic characteristics, 

income levels and employment status, deployments and combat exposure, and presence of physical and 

mental health conditions.

Characteristics of Military Experience

Across sites, 96 percent of the veterans served by VHPD served on active duty, ranging from 91 percent 

in Tampa to 99 percent in Tacoma. About 4 percent served in the National Guard or Reserve only, which 

mirrors their share in the general veteran population (National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 

2011). Tampa had the highest share of National Guard members and Reservists, at 8 percent, and the other 

four sites’ shares ranged from 2 percent (San Diego, Tacoma, and Upstate Northern New York) to 4 percent 

(Central Texas). Table 4.2 shows characteristics of VHPD participants’ military experience.

Veterans across sites served for an average term of about 6 years on active duty and a median term of 4 

years on active duty. This finding was fairly consistent across sites. A military service term typically ranges 

from 2 to 6 years, so this finding indicates that most of the veterans served only one term (U.S. Army, n.d.). 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 27

Chapter 4

Further, about 40 percent of VHPD participants across sites reported serving in combat. This share 

ranged from about 32 percent in San Diego and Tampa to 56 percent in Central Texas. Of those veterans 

reporting exposure to combat, nearly one-half (48 percent) deployed to serve in combat multiple times. 

Although Central Texas, San Diego, and Upstate Northern New York had a similar share of veterans who 

experienced multiple deployments, Tacoma served a larger share (58 percent) of veterans with multiple 

deployments, and Tampa served a smaller share (39 percent). Further, of those veterans who were 

exposed to combat, the vast majority (97 percent) were exposed to friendly or unfriendly fire, and 56 

percent said they were exposed to “a lot” of it. 

One feature of VHPD of particular note was the relationship between discharge status and program 

eligibility. Everyone served by VHPD had to be eligible for VA health services, which meant their 

discharge status had to be honorable or general. Bad conduct discharges and dishonorable discharges 

limit a veteran’s access to VA services, and, without qualifying for VA health services, the veteran was 

not eligible for VHPD services. This issue was noted particularly at the Upstate Northern New York site, 

where case managers claimed they had to turn away veterans from VHPD because they did not meet the 

discharge standards. Other sites also mentioned this problem. Among VHPD veterans, 82 percent had 

honorable discharges, and 17 percent had some form of general discharge. 

Table 4.2

Characteristics of Military Experience

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by type 

of active duty status

No 0.6 0.0 0.8 0.0 1.5 0.0

Yes, active duty in the 

National Guard or 

Reserve only

3.8 4.1 2.4 1.5 7.7 1.9

Yes, active duty in the 

Armed Forces of the 

United States in the past, 

but not now

95.6 95.9 96.8 98.5 90.8 98.1

Mean years on active duty 5.8 6.1 5.7 6.5 5.2 5.3

Median years on active 

duty

4.0 5.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 4.0

Percent exposed to combat 40.5 56.5 31.9 39.4 31.9 42.4

Percent of veterans 

exposed to combat by 

whether they were exposed 

to unfriendly or friendly fire

No 3.0 0.0 8.7 4.3 0.0 5.0

(continued)
28 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 4

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Yes, a little 40.9 35.0 36.5 23.5 58.0 60.6

Yes, a lot 56.1 65.0 54.9 72.3 42.0 34.4

Percent of veterans 

exposed to combat by 

number of deployments to 

serve in combat

0 to 1 51.7 51.6 50.8 42.1 61.1 51.7

2 or more 48.3 48.4 49.3 57.9 38.9 48.3

Percent of veterans by selfreported discharge status

Honorable discharge 82.3 80.3 87.7 85.8 79.8 75.6

General discharge, under 

honorable conditions

16.6 16.8 11.5 14.2 19.4 24.4

Note: Categories for discharge status do not add to 100 percent in the cross-site total, Central Texas, San Diego, and Tampa 

columns because a small number of veterans self-reported other discharge statuses that could not have been correct, because 

those discharge statuses would have made the veteran ineligible for VHPD. 

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey data (N = 424)

Demographic Characteristics

A slight majority of veterans across sites identified as White (51 percent), and a slightly smaller share 

of veterans identified as Black (43 percent). The remaining 6 percent of veterans identified as either 

American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or multiracial. This pattern 

differed from the veteran population overall: according to 2011–13 American Community Survey 

estimates, about 84 percent of all veterans in the United States identified as White and 11 percent 

identified as Black. The racial makeup, however, differed by site. Veterans in Upstate Northern New 

York more predominantly identified as White (81 percent), but, in Central Texas, 61 percent of veterans 

identified as Black. These differences roughly reflect the demographic composition of the service areas 

(Cunningham et al., 2013). The majority of veterans across sites and within each site identified as nonHispanic. Across sites, 90 percent identified as non-Hispanic; this share ranged from 87 percent in Tampa 

and San Diego to 94 percent in Central Texas. The researchers found the small proportion of Hispanics in 

Central Texas to be surprising. According to the 2010 decennial census, 28 percent of the population in 

the Central Texas service area identified as Hispanic or Latino. The researchers posit that the small share 

of Hispanic or Latino veterans in Central Texas (6 percent) is due to differences in the ethnic backgrounds 

of those discharging from Fort Hood and the area’s population in general (Cunningham et al., 2013). 

Table 4.3 lists demographic characteristics by site.

Table 4.2

Characteristics of Military Experience (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 29

Chapter 4

Table 4.3

Demographic Characteristics by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by race

Alaska Native or American Indian 2.8 0.0 5.7 3.5 2.3 1.5

Asian 0.9 0.0 1.9 2.4 0.0 0.0

Black or African-American 42.6 60.8 42.5 33.5 46.7 11.7

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 

Islander

0.7 0.7 0.0 3.5 0.0 0.0

White 50.8 38.6 49.3 48.7 51.0 80.8

Multiracial 2.2 0.0 0.7 8.5 0.0 6.0

Percent of veterans by ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino origin 10.3 5.9 12.6 8.2 13.0 11.9

Not of Hispanic or Latino origin 89.7 94.1 87.4 91.8 87.0 88.1

Percent of veterans by gender

Male 73.1 60.1 76.4 78.7 69.7 89.7

Female 26.7 39.9 22.6 21.3 30.4 10.3

Percent of veterans by marital status

Now married 31.7 39.2 26.2 38.8 28.5 24.1

Widowed 0.9 0.0 1.5 0.0 1.5 1.7

Divorced 27.1 25.8 29.7 34.0 19.8 29.2

Separated 9.1 8.3 2.3 5.9 15.4 17.8

Never married 31.2 26.7 40.3 21.4 34.8 27.1

Percent of veterans by age group

18 to 24 4.5 3.1 1.9 1.1 6.2 15.0

25 to 30 17.1 26.8 13.7 18.5 7.8 20.6

31 to 40 28.5 37.1 29.9 26.4 24.3 18.5

41 to 50 19.0 17.0 17.6 19.0 28.1 10.2

51 to 64 27.6 14.0 31.0 32.6 31.8 32.8

65 and older 3.2 2.1 5.9 2.4 1.7 3.0

Percent of veterans living with own 

children

45.3 63.0 37.6 44.7 41.9 30.3

Percent of veterans living alone 33.5 24.9 38.1 35.2 31.6 44.0

(continued)
30 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 4

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by educational 

attainment level

Less than high school diploma/

GED®

2.2 1.9 2.8 4.3 0.9 1.7

High school diploma/GED® 27.2 24.9 20.2 29.0 25.7 47.5

Some college or associate’s degree 60.5 66.6 62.3 62.3 59.1 43.9

Bachelor’s degree or higher 10.1 6.7 14.7 4.4 14.3 6.9

GED® = General Educational Development credential.

Note: Race, ethnicity, and age came from Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administrative data (N = 509), 

and marital status, whether the veteran lived alone, whether the veteran lived with his or her own children, and educational 

attainment came from the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) baseline survey (N = 424).

Sources: Weighted HMIS administrative data; weighted VHPD baseline survey data

About 45 percent of households served were veterans living with their children. Central Texas served 

the highest share (63 percent) of families, and Upstate Northern New York served the lowest share 

(30 percent). About one-third of veterans across all sites were living alone, and the remaining veterans 

(about 12 percent) were living with other adults (for example, family members, spouses, significant 

others, roommates).

Variation existed across sites in terms of veteran marital status (see table 4.3). Roughly one-third of 

VHPD clients were currently married (32 percent) or were single and had never been married (31 

percent). More than one-third were either divorced or separated (27 and 9 percent, respectively). 

Tacoma had the lowest rate of singles (21 percent) and highest rate of divorce (34 percent) across all the 

programs. Central Texas had the highest share of married VHPD veterans (39 percent) and veterans living 

with their children (63 percent) and the lowest share of veterans living alone (25 percent).

Although, overall, veterans lag behind the nonveteran population in terms of completing bachelor’s 

and graduate degrees, they are more likely to have achieved at least a high school diploma/General 

Educational Development credential (GED®) or some college than the nonveteran population, which 

is likely related to the fact that a high school diploma or GED® is a requirement for military service. 

According to 2011–13 American Community Survey estimates, a larger percentage of the overall U.S. 

veteran population (92.6 percent) has at least a high school diploma compared with the nonveteran 

population (85.6 percent), and 63.3 percent of veterans have at least some college compared with 

57.6 percent of nonveterans. A slightly smaller share of veterans (26.6 percent) achieve bachelor’s 

or graduate degrees compared with nonveterans (29.4 percent). By comparison with the veteran 

population overall, larger shares of VHPD participants had at least a high school diploma or GED® (98 

percent) and at least some college (70 percent), but a much smaller share had a bachelor’s or graduate 

degree (10 percent). 

Table 4.3

Demographic Characteristics by Site (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 31

Chapter 4

Income Level and Employment Status

Overall, it was common for veterans to enter the VHPD program with no income: across sites, about 

one in four veterans had no income at entry. This share ranged from 14 percent in San Diego to 37 

percent in Upstate Northern New York. Few veterans had monthly household incomes of $2,000 or more 

at program entry, except in San Diego, where the share was 29 percent, about twice the next highest 

share. This higher income was likely because San Diego placed greater emphasis on the sustainability 

component of program eligibility than did the other sites (Cunningham et al., 2013). Table 4.4 shows 

VHPD veterans’ income and employment characteristics across the five sites.

Table 4.4

Income and Employment Characteristics by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by monthly 

income at program entry

No income 23.1 19.2 14.2 17.6 35.1 37.0

$1 to $499 13.0 15.0 6.5 22.3 8.8 18.9

$500 to $749 4.7 4.8 1.3 8.8 4.6 7.3

$750 to $999 8.9 8.3 10.1 12.2 7.9 4.5

$1,000 to $1,499 20.6 23.3 19.2 24.0 19.4 16.6

$1,500 to $1,999 15.8 21.3 20.2 9.3 9.7 14.3

$2,000 or more 13.9 8.2 28.6 5.8 14.5 1.4

Percent of veterans by employment 

status at baseline

Working full time 14.4 19.2 24.3 8.8 5.2 8.0

Working less than full time 10.8 12.4 7.5 10.5 12.1 12.2

Not working 74.8 68.4 68.2 80.8 82.7 79.9

Percent of veterans by household 

income sources at baseline

From a job 29.6 38.5 37.2 15.5 22.7 25.9

Unemployment 10.6 10.8 5.9 12.6 8.3 21.5

Supplemental Security Income 5.4 2.1 9.2 5.7 2.7 9.3

Social Security Disability Income 11.7 11.8 17.2 10.1 7.9 9.0

Veterans pension/payment 32.4 31.3 33.8 43.7 26.4 28.5

Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families

3.1 1.8 3.2 3.2 4.1 3.5

Family or friends 3.8 4.5 0.9 6.4 2.6 7.3

(continued)
32 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 4

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by receipt of 

benefit at baseline

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program

60.5 66.6 33.9 81.0 66.8 65.6

Medicaid 23.8 36.4 9.0 19.5 27.1 27.7

Medicare 11.3 10.5 7.3 11.1 14.9 14.7

Children’s Health Insurance Program 4.3 5.7 5.2 5.8 1.0 3.5

Notes: Income came from Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administrative data (N = 509). Employment status 

came from the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) baseline survey (N = 424).

Sources: HMIS administrative data; weighted VHPD baseline survey data

About three of four veterans across the sites were not working at baseline, but this share varied 

appreciably by site. In Central Texas and San Diego, about 68 percent were not working, but the other 

sites’ shares ranged from 80 percent in Upstate Northern New York to 83 percent in Tampa. San Diego 

had the highest share of veterans working full time (24 percent), but this share was 19 percent in Central 

Texas and appreciably lower in the other sites, ranging from 5 percent in Tampa to 9 percent in Tacoma. 

Although nearly three-fourths of all veterans reported their households had income from some source at 

program entry, less than one-third (30 percent) reported their households had income from employment 

at baseline. The majority of veterans’ households received some form of cash assistance or veterans 

pension payments. Overall, 32 percent of veterans received income from a veterans pension. This share 

ranged from 26 percent in Tampa to 44 percent in Tacoma. About 11 percent of veterans across sites 

were also receiving unemployment benefits at program entry, ranging from 6 percent in San Diego to 22 

percent in Upstate Northern New York. Of VHPD participants, 5 percent were receiving Supplemental 

Security Income and 12 percent were receiving Social Security Disability Income at program entry.

VHPD veterans were also receiving noncash benefits at program entry (see table 4.4). Overall, 61 percent 

of veterans were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits at baseline, with the 

highest proportion being in Tacoma (81 percent) and the lowest proportion in San Diego (34 percent). 

More than one-third of veterans across sites were enrolled in either Medicaid or Medicare at baseline.

Physical and Mental Health Conditions

The prevalence of physical and mental health issues among veterans is of great interest to policymakers 

because they are among the predictors of who becomes homeless. Across all sites, on a scale including 

poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent, a substantial share (44 percent) of veterans rated their health 

as poor or fair; in Tampa, more than one-half (51 percent) of VHPD veterans ranked their health as fair or 

poor. This is an exceptionally high rate of poor or fair health, especially when compared with the general 

population, in which fewer than 1 in 10 people are in fair or poor health (Adams, Kirzinger, and Martinez, 

2013).

Table 4.4

Income and Employment Characteristics by Site (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 33

Chapter 4

The high unemployment and benefit uptake numbers among VHPD veterans are not surprising, given the 

high percentage (43 percent) of veterans who report a disability that prevents them from working. Of 

these, 74 percent report their disability is related to their military service. Table 4.5 shows the physical 

and mental health issues reported by VHPD veterans.

Table 4.5

Prevalence of Physical and Mental Health Issues

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by self-rating of 

overall health

Excellent, very good, or good 56.3 58.8 55.9 54.5 49.1 68.3

Fair or poor 43.7 41.2 44.1 45.6 51.0 31.8

Percent of veterans with a disability 

that prevents them from working

42.5 38.2 44.5 51.8 40.3 39.4

Percent for whom that disability is 

related to military service

73.7 87.7 73.4 73.9 71.8 47.5

Percent of veterans reporting the 

following conditions

Serious depression, anxiety, and/or 

tension

66.6 65.0 64.7 72.0 73.2 54.7

Being easily startled, not being able 

to relax your guard

51.2 61.4 44.6 51.5 51.2 43.1

Trouble understanding, 

concentrating, or remembering

45.9 49.2 39.1 55.0 47.6 38.4

Trouble controlling anger or violent 

behavior

14.4 18.8 9.2 14.0 14.3 16.5

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress 

disorder 

43.1 51.0 41.0 48.2 37.1 35.1

Trouble with use of alcohol or drugs 5.7 6.2 2.6 2.5 7.7 11.9

Problems dealings with the results of 

head injury or traumatic brain injury

11.7 10.2 9.7 17.2 11.0 13.0

Experiencing serious thoughts of 

suicide

3.4 1.7 2.9 6.3 4.0 3.5

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey (N = 424)

Overall, two-thirds of veterans report experiencing serious depression, anxiety, and/or tension. Of 

veterans in VHPD, 43 percent reported experiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (also 

called PTSD), with the highest prevalence occurring in Central Texas (51 percent) and the lowest in 

Upstate Northern New York (35 percent). Other mental health symptoms with high prevalence rates 

among VHPD veterans across sites were “being easily startled, not being able to relax your guard” (51 
34 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 4

percent) and “trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering” (46 percent). Approximately 12 

percent of the veterans were also dealing with the repercussions of a head injury or traumatic brain 

injury (also called TBI).

How VHPD Veterans Compared With Those Served Through HPRP

To understand how veterans served through VHPD compare with other veterans and nonveterans served 

by other homelessness programs, the research team compared VHPD study participants with veterans 

who participated in the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP; table 4.6). 

Compared with veterans who participated in HPRP, VHPD veterans were more likely to be female, part of 

families, and younger, which suggests, again, that VHPD was successful in reaching its target populations. 

According to the HUD Special Needs Assistance Programs office, these differences also reflect the fact 

that HPRP grantees were encouraged to serve veterans who were not eligible for VA healthcare services 

(for example, those with dishonorable discharges). To the extent that HPRP grantees targeted non-VAeligible veterans, HPRP served a population of veterans distinctly different from those served by VHPD, 

which exclusively served those eligible for VA health care. The data suggest that the veterans whom the 

Continuums of Care served through HPRP may reflect more typical veterans experiencing homelessness 

or the risk of losing housing, who tend to be single and older. Larger shares of veterans who participated 

in VHPD reported physical and mental health issues compared with both those veterans who 

participated in HPRP and nonveterans who participated in HPRP. 

Table 4.6

Comparison of VHPD Veterans With HPRP Adult Participants

All VHPD 

Veterans

HPRP Adults—Veterans HPRP Adults—Nonveterans

Percent of adults by race

Alaska Native or American Indian 1.9 1.2 0.8

Asian 0.9 0.2 1.3

Black or African-American 43.7 28.9 31.3

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 

Islander

1.6 0.2 1.1

White 48.5 33.6 55.0

Multiracial 3.4 35.7 10.4

Other 0.1 0.2 0.3

Percent of adults by ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino origin 10.0 10.9 32.7

Not of Hispanic or Latino origin 90.0 89.1 67.3

Percent of adults by gender

Female 28.0 17.8 66.0

Male 71.8 82.0 34.0

(continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 35

Chapter 4

All VHPD 

Veterans

HPRP Adults—Veterans HPRP Adults—Nonveterans

Percent of adults by age group

18 to 24 5.0 2.9 16.8

25 to 30 18.3 8.7 16.4

31 to 40 27.4 11.6 27.8

41 to 50 20.8 27.0 23.5

51 to 64 25.3 44.7 13.6

65 and older 3.2 5.1 1.9

Percent of adults in households 

with children

48.4 30.3 68.8

Percent of adults by household 

income at program entry

No income 21.9 26.6 33.7

$1 to $499 11.5 9.3 9.2

$500 to $749 6.7 6.5 10.6

$750 to $999 8.2 13.9 10.2

$1,000 to $1,499 19.9 13.7 13.9

$1,500 to $1,999 17.4 12.9 9.8

$2,000 or more 14.6 17.1 12.7

Percent of adults by type of health 

issue

Physical health issue 36.5 20.1 5.8

Mental health issue 27.4 15.5 6.0

Chronic health condition 7.9 3.5 1.0

Developmental disability 0.3 0.3 0.1

Substance abuse issue 5.2 7.3 2.0

Note: This table does not include data from the Continuum of Care (CoC) for Utica and Rome, Oneida County.

Sources: Homeless Management Information System administrative data from the following CoCs: Austin, Travis County; San 

Diego City and County; Tacoma and Lakewood, Pierce County; and Tampa, Hillsborough County.

Table 4.6

Comparison of VHPD Veterans With HPRP Adult Participants (continued)
36 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 37

Chapter 5

Chapter 5. Housing Stability

This chapter examines how housing stability changed after participants received assistance from the 

Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD). The research team found that at program 

entry about three-fourths of veterans served were those at risk (either imminently at risk of losing 

their housing or living in unstable housing), and the remaining one-fourth were homeless (sleeping in 

emergency shelters or sleeping somewhere not meant for human habitation). The majority (54 percent) 

of veterans had been homeless at some point in their lives, which suggests a greater likelihood that 

they were at real risk of becoming homeless, because some studies suggest that prior homelessness is 

predictive of subsequent homelessness (Byrne, 2014; Byrne et al., 2014). By program exit, the majority 

(85 percent) of veterans were considered stably housed, and, by follow-up, most (76 percent) were 

still living in their own homes or apartments. Some veterans experienced homelessness between the 

baseline interview and the follow-up interview. Across sites, 10.5 percent of those interviewed at followup reported experiencing homelessness since their baseline interview. This finding suggests that VHPD 

participants largely avoided subsequent need of either non-VA or VA homeless service systems; however, 

several limitations restrict the team’s ability to draw firm conclusions on the impact of the VHPD 

intervention on housing stability. 

Housing Status at Program Entry

VHPD program rules allowed service providers to enroll veteran households that were at risk of 

homelessness and those that were homeless for a short period (less than 90 days). As households 

entered VHPD, their housing status was categorized into one of the following four categories defined by 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program guidance.

1. Literally homeless: The individual or family lacks a fixed regular or adequate nighttime residence.

2. Imminently at risk of losing housing: The individual or family is currently housed but at imminent 

risk of losing housing and without subsequent options or resources or support networks needed 

to remain in current housing or obtain other temporary or permanent housing.

3. Unstably housed: The individual or family is currently housed but experiencing housing instability, with one or more other temporary housing options but lacking the resources or support 

networks to retain or obtain permanent housing.

4. Stably housed: The individual or family is not at risk of losing housing and does not meet the 

criteria for any of the previous housing categories.

At program entry, about one in four (26 percent) veterans across all five sites were literally homeless. San 

Diego and Central Texas served the smallest shares of literally homeless veterans, at 18 and 20 percent, 

respectively. The other three sites had larger proportions of literally homeless veterans at entry, at 28, 

31, and 40 percent in Tacoma, Tampa, and Upstate Northern New York, respectively.
38 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 5

Overall, VHPD served far more veterans who were at some level of homelessness risk rather than those 

who were actually homeless when they enrolled in the program (table 5.1). They were housed when 

they entered the program (although not necessarily in their own place), but their risk of becoming 

homeless varied. The majority (57 percent) of all veterans served across sites were imminently at risk 

of losing their housing. Within the sites, a majority of clients were at imminent risk in Central Texas (80 

percent), Tampa (64 percent), and Upstate Northern New York (50 percent). In San Diego and Tacoma, 

the share of clients at imminent risk was lower, at 39 and 46 percent, respectively. These two sites also 

had significant shares of unstably housed veterans at program entry (40 and 25 percent, respectively). 

Central Texas and Upstate Northern New York served no veterans in this category and, in Tampa, a very 

small share (3 percent) was unstably housed. Very few veterans were stably housed at program entry. 

Only one site served a substantial portion of stably housed veterans at program entry: Upstate Northern 

New York, where 10 percent of veterans were judged to be stably housed compared with 2 percent or 

less in the other four sites. It is unclear why the site served this many participants judged to be stably 

housed and raises questions about the interpretation of these HUD categories.

Table 5.1

Housing Status at Program Entry by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by housing status 

at program entry

Literally homeless 25.6 20.2 18.2 28.1 31.0 39.9

Imminently at risk of losing housing 56.5 79.8 39.4 45.8 64.0 49.9

Unstably housed 15.6 0.0 40.3 24.8 3.3 0.0

Stably housed 2.4 0.0 2.1 1.3 1.7 10.2

Note: This table does not include data from the Continuum of Care (CoC) for Utica and Rome, Oneida County.

Although the data on housing status at entry generally suggest that Central Texas, Tampa, and Upstate 

Northern New York served veterans in more risky housing situations at entry than did San Diego 

and Tacoma, it is important to note that these categories are somewhat subjective. Although literal 

homelessness has a clear definition among homeless service providers, at the VHPD evaluation’s crosssite meeting with program staff, the researchers learned that program staff across the sites did not have 

a clear and consistent understanding of what situations fell under each of HUD’s four categories. Because 

of this, some of the cross-site differences could be because of differences in staff interpretation of the 

categories rather than true differences in the housing situations of veterans at program entry. 

History of Homelessness

The survey at baseline enabled the research team to collect data on each VHPD participant’s history of 

homelessness (table 5.2). The survey found that, overall, 54 percent of veterans reported experiencing 

homelessness at some point in their lives. In four of the five sites, the share of veterans who had ever 

experienced homelessness ranged from 57 and 59 percent in San Diego and Upstate Northern New 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 39

Chapter 5

York to 63 and 66 percent in Tampa and Tacoma, respectively. Central Texas was the only site where the 

majority of veterans did not have any experience with actual homelessness. In Central Texas, only 34 

percent had ever been homeless.

Table 5.2

History of Homelessness by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by whether they 

had ever been homeless and number 

of times homeless

Yes 54.1 34.0 57.1 65.9 63.1 58.6

Once 51.5 53.6 51.3 38.5 48.8 73.9

Twice 25.6 20.1 22.7 31.2 32.1 17.3

Three or more times 22.8 26.4 17.0 30.4 19.1 8.8

No 45.9 66.0 42.9 34.1 36.9 41.4

Percent of veterans who had ever 

been homeless by their age when 

they first became homeless

As a child (less than age 18) 11.7 10.2 9.3 16.1 12.4 10.7

As an adult 88.3 89.9 90.8 84.0 87.7 89.3

Ages 18 to 24 19.7 18.6 24 15.5 17.2 24.1

Ages 25 to 34 30.5 37.2 27.9 35.4 24.8 32.1

Age 35 or older 38.1 34.1 38.9 33.1 45.7 33.1

Percent of veterans by whether they 

had been homeless for at least 12 

months in their lifetime

Yes 16.0 8.0 20.9 16.7 18.5 16.9

No 84.0 92.0 79.1 83.3 81.5 83.1

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey

Of all veterans in the study, only a small share (16 percent) said they had been homeless for at least 

12 months cumulatively during their lifetimes. This share was smallest in Central Texas at 8 percent. 

Tacoma and Upstate Northern New York had the next lowest shares, and at 17 percent they were double 

Central Texas’s share. Tampa and San Diego had even larger proportions of veterans with these homeless 

histories at 19 and 21 percent, respectively. 

Of those veterans who reported being homeless at some point, across all five sites, the majority (52 

percent) had been homeless only once. In Upstate Northern New York, 74 percent of veterans with 

some homeless history had experienced only one episode of homelessness. Central Texas, San Diego, 

and Tampa clustered together between 49 and 54 percent, and, in Tacoma, only 39 percent of veterans 
40 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 5

with some homeless history had been homeless only once. Across the sites about one-fourth of veterans 

with some homeless history were homeless twice. Within sites, this share was highest in Tacoma and 

Tampa, at 31 and 32 percent, respectively, and lowest in Upstate Northern New York, at 17 percent. The 

remaining 23 percent of veterans with homeless history were homeless three or more times in their 

lifetimes. Again, this share was lowest in Upstate Northern New York (9 percent) and highest in Tacoma 

(30 percent). 

Of those who had ever been homeless, the vast majority (88 percent) of all veterans across the sites had 

their first homeless episode as adults (after they reached the age of 18), and only 12 percent had their 

first homeless episode as children. The sites were largely consistent on these measures. Tacoma had the 

largest share (16 percent) of veterans who had their first homeless episode as children, and San Diego 

had the smallest (9 percent).

Housing Status at Program Exit 

At program exit, the vast majority (95 percent) of veterans were in housing (85 percent as judged by 

providers were stably housed and 10 percent were unstably housed). For this purpose, “after program 

exit” is defined as starting the month after receipt of the last housing subsidy payment from VHPD. The 

share of veterans stably housed ranged from 70 percent in Tampa to 94 percent in Upstate Northern 

New York, with the remaining three sites being between 86 and 91 percent. The share unstably housed 

ranged from 6 percent in Upstate Northern New York to 13 percent in San Diego. 

Very few veterans (5 percent) were either literally homeless or at imminent risk when they exited VHPD. 

In four of the five sites, less than 2 percent of veterans were either literally homeless or at imminent risk 

at exit, with Upstate Northern New York noting no one in those conditions. By contrast, Tampa had about 

20 percent of veterans exit as either literally homeless (5 percent) or at imminent risk (15 percent). As 

noted previously, to some degree, these improvements from program entry and differences between 

sites could be because of differences in how the site program staff understood the housing status 

categories and to the unique data limitations in Upstate Northern New York.8 Table 5.3 shows housing 

status at program exit by site.

8

 The lead CoC in Upstate Northern New York, the Utica and Rome, Oneida County CoC, does not record housing 

status at exit in their Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) system. They capture housing destination 

only at exit. The HMIS administrator for this CoC advised the research team on how to recode the housing 

destinations into the four housing status categories. Permanent supportive housing, any rental by client (either 

subsidized or unsubsidized), or a permanent situation staying with friends or family was recoded as stably housed. 

Staying with friends or family in a temporary situation or staying in an institution (for example, jail, prison) was 

recoded as unstably housed. Because housing status was recoded based on the short destination description with 

the help of the HMIS administrator rather than at the actual time of program exit by the veteran’s case manager, 

who would likely have had a more nuanced knowledge of the stability of that situation, the Upstate Northern New 

York data may not be as consistent as the data from the other sites.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 41

Chapter 5

Table 5.3

Housing Status at Program Exit by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by housing status at 

program exit

Literally homeless 1.6 0.7 0.8 1.3 5.0 0.0

Imminently at risk of losing housing 3.4 0.8 0.7 0.0 14.5 0.0

Unstably housed 10.1 10.8 12.9 8.1 10.2 6.0

Stably housed 84.8 88.2 85.7 90.7 70.3 94.0

Source: Weighted Homeless Management Information System administrative data

The research team examined how housing status changed over time by comparing housing at program 

entry and housing at program exit (table 5.4). Among those who were either homeless, at imminent risk, 

or unstably housed at program entry, a high and consistent share (84 to 87 percent) were stably housed 

at exit. The shares of unstably housed veterans at exit were also similar among the other three groups, 

ranging from 10 percent among those literally homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness at entry 

to 13 percent among those unstably housed at entry. Only sites with veterans who were either literally 

homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness had any veterans who exited in these conditions, although 

the shares were small (5 percent among those literally homeless at program entry and 7 percent of those 

at imminent risk of homelessness at entry). Further, the vast majority (more than 90 percent) of both the 

veterans who were literally homeless at entry and the veterans at imminent risk at entry improved their 

housing status by exit to either unstably or stably housed. 

Table 5.4

Housing Status at Program Entry Compared With Housing Status at Program Exit Across All 

Five Sites

Housing Status at Program Entry

Literally Homeless At Imminent Risk Unstably Housed

Stably 

Housed Total

Housing Status 

at Program Exit N % N % N % N % N %

Literally 

homeless or at 

imminent risk 7 5.2 19 6.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 26 5.1

Unstably housed 13 10.2 27 9.5 10 12.8 0 0.0 51 10.0

Stably housed 110 84.7 240 83.8 69 87.2 12 100.0 431 85.0

Total 130 100.0 286 100.0 79 100.0 12 100.0 507 100.0

Note: Statistical tests were not possible because of small sample size and limited variation in the housing status at exit variable.

Source: Weighted Homeless Management Information System administrative data
42 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 5

Housing Situation at Follow-Up

At the time of the follow-up interviews, most of which occurred between 6 months and 1 year after 

program exit, about three-fourths of veterans were living in their own homes or apartments (table 5.5). 

This share was lowest in Tampa (66 percent) and highest in Central Texas (87 percent). The remaining 

three sites clustered together between 73 and 78 percent. The second most common arrangement was 

for veterans to be staying with friends or family. Across sites, 18 percent of veterans were staying with 

someone else; this share was smallest in Central Texas, at 9 percent, and highest in Tampa, at 25 percent. 

Across sites, 6 percent of veterans were homeless at follow-up. San Diego, Central Texas, and Tacoma 

had the smallest shares of veterans homeless at follow-up, at 3, 4, and 5 percent, respectively. The rates 

in Tampa and Upstate Northern New York were somewhat higher, at 7 and 10 percent, respectively. 

The small number of veterans who identified as being homeless at follow-up and the small sample size 

resulted in having insufficient variation to conduct any multivariate analyses to identify risk factors for 

homelessness. 

Table 5.5

Housing at Follow-Up by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by housing 

situation at follow-up

In own place 75.8 86.6 73.0 78.0 66.0 73.6

Staying in someone else’s place 17.6 9.3 20.5 17.5 24.5 17.3

Homeless 5.5 4.1 3.3 4.5 9.5 7.0

Other 1.1 0.0 3.2 0.0 0.0 2.1

Percent of veterans living in their 

own place at follow-up who 

struggled to pay rent

23.7 35.9 2.9 20.2 26.7 44.0

Percent of veterans by whether 

they struggled to pay utility bills at 

follow-up

Did not pay utilities 71.0 65.9 69.7 76.0 70.0 79.2

Paid utilities 29.0 34.1 30.3 24.0 30.0 20.8

Struggled to pay utility bills 13.4 24.2 7.0 7.9 15.5 0.0

Did not struggle to pay utility bills 86.6 75.8 93.0 92.1 84.5 100.0

Percent of veterans reporting 

homelessness since baseline 

interview

10.5 5.9 7.9 11.2 19.4 9.6

Notes: The “homeless” category for housing situation included emergency shelter, a hotel or motel room, housing through the 

VA’s Grant and Per Diem program, transitional housing, and anywhere not meant for human habitation. The “other” category 

included residential treatment programs, hospitals, jail or prison, permanent supportive housing programs, and any other 

situations besides those included under homelessness, living with friends or family, or living in the respondent’s own place.

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration follow-up survey data
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 43

Chapter 5

We examined the occurrence of self-reported homelessness between the baseline interview and 

the follow-up interview. Across sites, 10.5 percent of those interviewed at follow-up experienced 

homelessness since their baseline interview (this includes those who were homeless at follow-up). 

Central Texas reported the lowest share of veterans experiencing homelessness at 5.9 percent. Results in 

San Diego, Tacoma, and Upstate New York were 7.9 percent, 11.2 percent, and 9.6 percent, respectively. 

At 19.4 percent, Tampa had the highest rates of veterans experiencing homelessness between 

interviews.

Please note that differences between sites could be influenced by many factors, including how different 

programs operated and the types of veterans they served. For example, Tampa and Upstate New 

York served more homeless veterans and San Diego and Central Texas served more veterans at risk of 

homelessness. Sites also selected veterans of varying income levels.

Ability to pay rent and utility bills provided additional information on the likelihood that a veteran 

would be able to sustain his or her housing beyond the time of the follow-up interview. At follow-up, 

about 24 percent of veterans who were paying rent reported struggling with meeting that obligation. 

This percentage varied considerably by site, from only 3 percent in San Diego reporting challenges 

paying rent to 44 percent in Upstate Northern New York. The survey also asked about the ability to pay 

utilities. The researchers found that about 29 percent of veterans paid for utilities across sites. Those 

veterans who did not pay utilities either lived in a place where utilities were included in their rent or 

did not live in their own place. Of those who paid utilities, the majority (87 percent) across sites did 

not report ever struggling to pay their utility bills between the baseline and follow-up surveys, but 13 

percent reported struggling; however, substantial differences on this measure existed among the sites. In 

Upstate Northern New York, no one reported struggling to pay utilities, but 7 and 8 percent of veterans 

in San Diego and Tacoma, respectively, did. The largest proportions of veterans struggling to pay their 

utility bills were in Tampa and Central Texas, where 16 and 24 percent, respectively, reported having this 

problem. 

Use of Homeless Services After VHPD

Overall, very few veterans returned to shelter or transitional housing within 180 days of exiting VHPD. 

After weighting, only six veterans total across the sites had a return to emergency shelter or transitional 

housing. Those six were pretty evenly spread between the sites with only one site (Tacoma) having 

zero returns, two sites (San Diego and Upstate Northern New York) having one veteran return, and the 

remaining two sites having two veterans each return. These numbers are notably lower than the number 

of veterans who self-identified as homeless at the time of the follow-up survey. There are several 

reasons for this discrepancy. First, the research team was able to include data only from the five lead 

CoCs, so veterans could have sought services recorded in other Homeless Management Information 

Systems (HMISs) that the researchers have not captured, including the other eight CoCs within the VHPD 

service areas. Second, HMIS data do not capture instances of sleeping on the street or in other places 

not meant for human habitation, but self-reported homelessness on the follow-up survey included these 

instances. Third, the HMIS data were limited to 180 days from program exit, but the follow-up survey 
44 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 5

was conducted at least 6 months from the date of program exit but often occurred later than that (see 

appendix J for more details on survey timing). Because of this latter factor, some veterans had a longer 

period to become homeless again by the time the follow-up survey was conducted than was captured by 

the HMIS data.

In addition to using HMIS data, the research team obtained aggregate information from the VA about 

VHPD participants’ (all VHPD participants, not just those included in this study) use of VA homeless 

services after they exited VHPD. This information sheds some light on the extent of homeless service 

use through the VA system. In general, the VA data suggest that entering VA homeless services after 

leaving VHPD was quite uncommon. Of all VHPD veterans who had been out of the program for at least 

30 days at the time of analysis, only 12 veterans entered any VA homeless service during those 30 days; 

of those who had been out of VHPD for at least 90 days, 20 entered VA homeless services between 31 

and 90 days from program exit; and of those who had been out of VHPD for at least 180 days, 24 entered 

VA homeless services in the 91 to 180 days after VHPD exit (table 5.6). These data show that VHPD 

participants also entered HUD-VASH and returned to VHPD for a second time. Nine veterans entered 

HUD-VASH within 30 days of exit, 8 entered within 31 to 90 days, and 17 entered within 91 to 180 days. 

Only 1 veteran returned to VHPD within 30 days of exit, but 11 returned within 31 and 90 days of exit 

and 31 returned within 91 and 190 days. 

Table 5.6

VHPD Veterans Entering VA Homeless Services After VHPD Program Exit by Type of Service 

and Length of Time

Time Period

Any VA 

Homeless 

Service

HUD-VASH SSVF GPD DCHV VHPD

0 to 30 days 22 9 9 2 1 1

31 to 90 days 39 8 17 3 0 11

91 to 180 days 72 17 18 6 0 31

DCHV = Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans. GPD = Grant and Per Diem. HUD-VASH = HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive 

Housing. SSVF = Supportive Services for Veteran Families. VA = U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VHPD = Veterans 

Homelessness Prevention Demonstration.

Notes: SSVF is a VA homeless service program similar to VHPD that provides case management and limited financial assistance. 

GPD is a VA program that provides funding to community service agencies providing assistance to homeless veterans. DCHV 

provides housing for disabled veterans.

Sources: VA Homeless Registry; tabulations generated by the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans

The extent of subsequent homelessness the research team detected may understate the true extent 

of homelessness for several reasons. One of the most important reasons is that VHPD service areas 

were defined by the VA medical center service areas, rather than by the boundaries of the CoC leading 

the program and running the program HMIS. In all the sites except San Diego, the VHPD service area 

spanned multiple CoCs. Only the lead CoCs were able to give the team members data on all veterans in 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 45

Chapter 5

the study; some other CoCs contributed data also, but, because the researchers could not get data from 

all the CoCs involved, they decided not to include data from any of the secondary CoCs. The researchers 

know from the qualitative interviews that many veterans lived outside the service area of the lead 

VHPD CoC. It is likely that those veterans would have sought services where they lived rather than in 

the territory of the lead VHPD CoC. Any entries into the homeless service system in these areas are not 

included in this analysis. This limitation is not unique to this study; it is a common shortcoming of any 

data collection and research effort that relies on administrative data. 

Another important limitation of these data for measuring returns to homelessness is that HMIS data 

are limited to veterans who received homeless services from providers who report data into the HMIS 

system. This limitation means that the data do not capture any episodes of homelessness for which the 

veteran did not receive services, even if the veteran sought services but could not get them. Further, 

because of privacy and confidentiality issues, the VA could not share identified data on the study 

participants, and the study could not include receipt of VA homeless services in analysis of individual 

outcomes unless such receipt was also recorded in an HMIS. The VA tracks data for four primary 

homelessness programs: Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV), the Grant and Per Diem 

program, the HUD-VA Supportive Housing program, and Supportive Services for Veteran Families9. If 

a local homeless assistance provider supplies these services, is it likely they will be recorded in HMIS; 

however, if the services come through the VA itself, it is likely they will not be recorded in HMIS. The data 

least likely to be included in HMIS are from DCHV.

Conclusions

VHPD participants’ housing stability improved from program enrollment through program exit to the 

follow-up period. Most (75.8 percent) of the participants were in their own residences at the time of 

the follow-up survey, though some were living with friends or family (17.6 percent); of those who were 

paying rent, a subset (23.7 percent) was struggling. At program enrollment, about 26 percent of veterans 

were literally homeless and 72 percent were at risk for homelessness. Across sites, 10.5 percent of 

those interviewed at follow-up reported experiencing homelessness at some point since their baseline 

interview (this includes 6 percent who were homeless at follow-up). Few veterans accessed homeless 

services after VHPD, but the research team’s data on subsequent homeless service use are limited and 

researchers do not know to what extent this level of homeless service use would have been different 

in the absence of the intervention. Overall, VHPD showed significant promise in improving veterans’ 

housing stability. Data limitations, however, impede the researchers’ ability to draw firm conclusions 

about the effects of the VHPD intervention on participants’ housing stability.

9

 To obtain identified data from the VA to match the study participants’ VA and HMIS homeless service records, 

which would have created a more comprehensive picture of homeless service use after VHPD, the research 

team would have had to have asked each veteran for consent to get his or her identified data from the VA. VHPD 

program staff warned the researchers that doing so would likely deter veterans from agreeing to participate in the 

study, because many veterans have negative impressions of or experiences with the VA. To maximize sample size, 

the researchers elected to forgo asking for the consent for VA-identified data.
46 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 47

Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Income and Employment

The Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) was designed to include a partnership 

with local employment centers to provide veterans participating in the program with access to 

employment, training, and education resources. The goal was to help veterans who were able to work 

to get jobs that would set them on a course for long-term self-sufficiency. The program also aimed to 

connect veterans who were not able to work to appropriate benefits (for example, veterans pension], 

service-connected disability, Social Security Disability Insurance [SSDI]) to increase their incomes 

and promote sustainability. These program goals made veterans’ income and employment outcomes 

centrally important for this study of the VHPD program. 

Veterans increased their income from program entry to program exit. Veterans also were employed at 

higher rates at follow-up than at baseline. These findings varied significantly by site. The implementation 

study component of the VHPD evaluation showed that some sites were more successful in engaging their 

local U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) partners than others. Central Texas was the most successful site in 

linking VHPD program participants with the employment and educational supports they needed.10 The 

effects of this disparate implementation of the employment component can be observed by examining 

the employment and income outcomes for veterans participating in VHPD. This chapter addresses the 

income and employment characteristics of veterans at program entry (as recorded by the Homeless 

Management Information Systems [HMIS]) and baseline survey and how their circumstances changed by 

program exit (as recorded by HMIS) and follow-up survey. 

Variations in Cost of Living by Site

To frame the subsequent discussion of income, it is first important to acknowledge local household 

income and cost-of-living differences across VHPD sites. According to data from the 2011–13 American 

Community Survey estimates, which largely coincide with the period VHPD was in operation, Tampa and 

Upstate Northern New York had the lowest median household incomes and San Diego and Tacoma had 

the highest, with Central Texas falling in between. The median incomes in the counties in the Tampa and 

Upstate Northern New York regions were $3,613 and $3,889 per month, respectively. Central Texas had 

a higher median income, at $4,760 per month, but this figure was influenced by the much higher median 

income in Williamson County (Waco), which has a much higher median income than the other counties 

in the site’s service area, where VHPD participants, according to key informants, are more likely to live. 

The median incomes for Tacoma and San Diego were the highest, at $5,228 and $5,115 per month on 

average, respectively. The following discussion of income should be interpreted with these differences in 

mind. 

Income Levels and Sources at Program Entry and Survey Baseline

Part of a veteran’s eligibility for VHPD required having a household income below the Area Median 

Income (AMI), according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) AMI 

10 See Cunningham et al. (2013).
48 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

guidelines, which are adjusted for local costs of living and household size. At program entry, the mean 

monthly household income across all five sites was $1,097, with households in San Diego having by far 

the highest average income ($1,589). This observation is consistent with the San Diego program’s choice 

to target households they expected to be able to achieve self-sufficiency within 3 months. This decision 

meant the San Diego program served a larger proportion of veterans who had jobs and income at entry. 

In the rest of the sites, the average incomes were all less than $1,000 per month, ranging from $608 in 

Upstate Northern New York to $997 in Central Texas. 

The information in the previous paragraph comes from program administrative databases in which client 

characteristics at intake were stored. A second source of information about income during a veteran’s 

early days in VHPD comes from the baseline survey the research team conducted with veterans recruited 

to be in the evaluation sample. Reported income could differ in the two data sources. These differences 

could be because household income changed between program entry and taking the survey, or because 

veterans’ self-reported income differed from the income amount determined by VHPD case managers 

after reviewing their income documentation. Overall, the mean household income at baseline was 

slightly lower than at program entry, at $991, across sites. The baseline survey income data showed that 

San Diego still had the highest average household income, at $1,283, though it was about $300 less than 

what was reported at entry, and Central Texas still had the second highest average household income, 

at $1,157 per month, based on survey data, which was $160 more than what was recorded at entry. The 

average household income at baseline for Tacoma was about the same as at program entry, at $837, but 

Tampa’s was nearly $300 less, at $676, and Upstate Northern New York’s was more than $200 more, at 

$815. Despite this lack of congruence between the income at program entry and baseline survey data, 

both sources indicate that San Diego and Central Texas served veterans with higher incomes at the 

outset than the other sites.

Most veteran households had some income at VHPD program entry. Across all five sites, only 23 percent 

had no income when they entered VHPD. The sites varied appreciably on this factor, however. San Diego 

served the smallest share of no-income veterans, at 14 percent, and the rates in Central Texas and 

Tacoma were also less than average, at 19 and 18 percent, respectively. By contrast, Tampa and Upstate 

Northern New York served much larger shares of veterans whose households had no income at entry, at 

35 and 37 percent, respectively. 

The baseline survey showed a smaller share of respondents reported having no income across all 

five sites and within each site than at program entry. This finding could be driven by veterans being 

connected with some income between enrollment and the baseline survey. Across all five sites, 16 

percent of VHPD veterans reported having no income at survey baseline, which is 7 percentage points 

lower than at program entry. Central Texas, San Diego, and Tacoma still reported lower shares of no 

income than Tampa and Upstate Northern New York at baseline. In Central Texas, San Diego, and 

Tacoma, the shares were 10, 8, and 14 percent, respectively, and in Tampa and Upstate Northern New 

York, the shares were 28 and 26 percent, respectively.

At baseline, veterans noted receiving income from a range of sources, with the most commonly noted 

sources being income from jobs and veterans pensions. Across all five sites, 30 percent of veterans’ 

households received income from a job. This rate was highest in Central Texas and San Diego (39 and 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 49

Chapter 6

37 percent, respectively) and lowest in Tacoma (16 percent). Tampa and Upstate Northern New York fell 

in the middle, at 23 and 26 percent, respectively. Across all five sites, about 32 percent of households 

received income from a veterans pension/payment. This rate was highest in Tacoma, at 44 percent. In 

Central Texas and San Diego, it was somewhat lower, at 31 and 34 percent, respectively. It was lowest in 

Tampa and Upstate Northern New York, at 26 percent and 29 percent, respectively. 

Although less commonly noted, some veterans reported their households received income from 

unemployment insurance and SSDI benefits. Across sites, about 11 percent of veterans’ households 

had income from unemployment insurance at baseline. This rate was highest in Upstate Northern New 

York, where about one in five (21.5 percent) households received unemployment insurance, and lowest 

in San Diego, where about 6 percent did. Across all five sites, about 12 percent of households received 

income from SSDI. The share was highest in San Diego (17 percent) and lowest in Tampa (8 percent). 

The remaining sources of income—Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families (also called TANF), and money from family and friends—were noted among only 5 percent or 

less of veterans across sites, but they were more common in certain sites than others. For example, 

in San Diego and Upstate Northern New York, about 9 percent of veterans received SSI, and about 7 

percent of veterans in Upstate Northern New York also noted receiving income from family and friends. 

Veterans also noted receiving some non-U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) public benefits. Across 

all types, the rates of benefit receipt were substantially lower in San Diego than at the other sites (table 

6.1). The most commonly received benefit was from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

(SNAP). Across sites, about 60 percent of veteran households received SNAP. The rate of SNAP receipt 

was lowest in San Diego (34 percent) and highest in Tacoma (81 percent). In the remaining three sites, 

about two-thirds of households received it. Medicaid participation was less common, with a little less 

than one-fourth of the veterans saying their household was enrolled in the program. This rate was again 

lowest in San Diego, at 9 percent. It was highest in Central Texas, at 36 percent. Receipt of Medicare was 

noted less frequently, as would be expected given the age composition of the participants. Across all five 

sites, 11 percent received Medicare benefits, ranging from 7 percent in San Diego to 15 percent in Tampa 

and Upstate Northern New York. 

Table 6.1

Total Household Income and Benefits Receipt at Enrollment and Baseline by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by monthly income 

amount at program entry

No income 23.1 19.2 14.2 17.6 35.1 37.0

$1 to $499 13.0 15.0 6.5 22.3 8.8 18.9

$500 to $749 4.7 4.8 1.3 8.8 4.6 7.3

$750 to $999 8.9 8.3 10.1 12.2 7.9 4.5

$1,000 to $1,499 20.6 23.3 19.2 24.0 19.4 16.6

(continued)
50 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

$1,500 to $1,999 15.8 21.3 20.2 9.3 9.7 14.3

$2,000 or more 13.9 8.2 28.6 5.8 14.5 1.4

Mean income amount at program 

entry ($)

1,076 997 1,589 820 956 608

Percent of veterans by monthly income 

amount at baseline

No income 16.0 10.4 8.0 13.5 28.3 25.5

$1 to $499 12.9 10.1 9.7 23.6 13.6 10.2

$500 to $749 9.7 6.4 7.3 8.7 15.4 12.4

$750 to $999 11.7 8.7 16.4 12.5 9.5 11.6

$1,000 to $1,499 25.0 28.7 22.6 25.4 22.1 26.9

$1,500 to $1,999 14.6 24.2 19.4 9.0 6.6 5.9

$2,000 or more 10.1 11.6 16.6 7.2 4.6 7.7

Mean income amount at baseline ($) 991 1,157 1,283 837 676 815

Percent of veterans by household 

income sources at baseline

From a job 29.6 38.5 37.2 15.5 22.7 25.9

Unemployment 10.6 10.8 5.9 12.6 8.3 21.5

SSI 5.4 2.1 9.2 5.7 2.7 9.3

SSDI 11.7 11.8 17.2 10.1 7.9 9.0

Veterans pension/payment 32.4 31.3 33.8 43.7 26.4 28.5

TANF 3.1 1.8 3.2 3.2 4.1 3.5

Family or friends 3.8 4.5 0.9 6.4 2.6 7.3

Percent of veterans by receipt of benefit 

at baseline

SNAP 60.5 66.6 33.9 81.0 66.8 65.6

Medicaid 23.8 36.4 9.0 19.5 27.1 27.7

Medicare 11.3 10.5 7.3 11.1 14.9 14.7

CHIP 4.3 5.7 5.2 5.8 1.0 3.5

CHIP = Children’s Health Insurance program. SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SSDI = Social Security Disability 

Income. SSI = Supplemental Security Income. TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Note: Income at program entry came from weighted Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administrative data 

(N = 509), and the rest of the data came from the weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) baseline 

survey data (N = 424). 

Sources: HMIS administrative data; weighted VHPD baseline survey

Table 6.1

Total Household Income and Benefits Receipt at Enrollment and Baseline by Site (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 51

Chapter 6

Employment Rates at Survey Baseline

The majority (about 75 percent) of veterans across all five sites said they were not working at the time 

of their baseline interview. Some sites had larger shares of employed veterans at baseline than others. 

About 32 percent of the veterans in Central Texas and San Diego were working at baseline, but only 

between 17 and 20 percent of veterans in the other three sites were employed. Of those veterans who 

were working, the majority, about 57 percent, were working full time (at least 35 hours per week) across 

all five sites. These shares were also larger in Central Texas, at 61 percent, and San Diego, at 77 percent. 

In the remaining three sites, less than one-half of the employed veterans were working full time, with 

shares ranging from 30 percent in Tampa to 40 percent in Upstate Northern New York and 46 percent 

in Tacoma. Of all veterans in the study, 14 percent were working full time at baseline across sites, and 

a similar pattern emerged when rates were compared between sites. The rates were again higher in 

Central Texas and San Diego, at 19 and 24 percent, respectively, and the remaining three sites had much 

lower rates (9 percent in Tacoma, 8 percent in Upstate Northern New York, and 5 percent in Tampa). 

Table 6.2 shows veterans’ employment status at baseline by site.

Table 6.2

Employment at Survey Baseline by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by employment 

status at baseline

Working 25.2 31.6 31.8 19.2 17.3 20.2

Full time (percent of those working) 57.2 60.8 76.5 45.5 30.1 39.6

Less than full time (percent of 

those working)

42.8 39.3 23.5 54.5 69.9 60.4

Not working 74.8 68.4 68.2 80.8 82.7 79.9

Percent of all veterans working full 

time at baseline

14.4 19.2 24.3 8.8 5.2 8.0

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey (N = 424)

Engagement in Education and Training Opportunities at Survey Baseline

Across all five sites, at baseline, a minority of veterans, about 28 percent, were participating in some 

type of education or training (table 6.3). Central Texas had by far the highest share, at 37 percent. The 

remaining four sites clustered more closely together: their shares ranged from 22 percent in Upstate 

Northern New York to 28 percent in San Diego. Veterans most commonly reported participating in 

regular schooling leading to a degree and regular schooling leading to a vocational or professional license 

or certification. Across all five sites, about one in five veterans was participating in regular schooling 

leading to a degree at baseline. San Diego and Central Texas had slightly higher rates (22 and 24 percent, 
52 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

respectively), and the remaining three sites’ shares were lower, at 15 or 16 percent. Across all five sites, 

at baseline, about 6 percent of veterans were participating in schooling leading to a professional license 

or certification. This share was nearly twice as high in Central Texas (11 percent). In the remaining 

four sites, the share ranged from 3 percent in Tampa to 5 percent in San Diego, Tacoma, and Upstate 

Northern New York. A small number of veterans noted participating in other education or training 

opportunities, including General Educational Development credential (called GED®) programs, English 

as a second language courses, computer training, apprenticeships, and vocational rehabilitation. Across 

sites, only 1.5 percent of the veterans participated in vocational rehabilitation; among Tacoma veterans, 

however, the share was nearly three times as high, at 4.2 percent. 

Table 6.3

Participation in School or Training at Baseline by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans participating in any 

type of school or training at baseline 28.3 37.3 28.4 25.7 23.0 21.8

Regular schooling leading to a degree 19.6 24.4 22.4 15.6 16.3 14.6

Regular schooling leading to a 

vocational or professional license or 

certification

6.1 11.0 5.0 4.7 3.3 5.2

Source: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration weighted baseline survey (N = 424)

Change in Income and Sources of Income at Program Exit and 

Follow-Up Survey

Household incomes increased from program entry to exit (and from baseline survey to follow-up 

survey). The average household incomes for veterans across all five sites and within each site were 

higher at program exit than at entry using HMIS data and higher at follow-up than at baseline using the 

survey data. The mean household income at program exit was $1,535 across all five sites, but there was 

variation by site. It was highest in Central Texas, at $2,159 per month, and lowest in Upstate Northern 

New York, at $662 per month. The remaining three sites were at between $1,290 and $1,620. The 

difference between the mean household income at program entry and exit was $458 across sites. The 

average household income in Central Texas more than doubled, increasing by $1,162, and it increased 

by $618 in Tacoma and $334 in Tampa. In Upstate Northern New York and San Diego the increase was 

minimal, only $54 and $31, respectively. The extent of the change in income between program entry 

and exit, however, could have been affected by veterans leaving the program immediately before they 

were expecting to receive an increase in their income (for example, getting a higher paying job, starting 

to receive their service-connected disability payment) that would have put them above the program’s 

maximum income level. At the study grantee meeting, some program staff indicated they thought they 

needed to exit veterans before they would be income ineligible, so income at program exit might actually 

understate the change in income for some sites. 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 53

Chapter 6

Although levels of income reported at follow-up were somewhat different from those reported at 

program exit, the same pattern emerged among the sites. Central Texas had the highest average monthly 

income at follow-up, at $1,795, and San Diego had the second highest, at $1,740. Tacoma and Tampa 

had similar average incomes, at $1,315 and $1,311, respectively. Upstate Northern New York still had the 

lowest average income, at $1,144, but it was significantly higher than what was reported at program exit 

and more in line with the incomes reported by veterans in other sites. This increase lends support for the 

research team’s hypothesis that income at program exit could be understated in some sites. Using paired 

t-tests to compare the incomes reported at baseline and follow-up, the researchers found the increase 

in income was significant across sites and within each site. This finding suggests the increase in income 

observed is greater than what could be due to chance; however, without a comparison group of similarly 

situated veterans who did not receive VHPD services, they cannot determine whether this increase is 

due to the intervention or other factors (for example, improving economic conditions). 

The research team did some exploratory multivariate analyses to identify characteristics that contributed 

to income level at exit and determined the most important influence on this outcome was the VHPD 

site at which a client was served. This analysis suggests that this influence could be due to the different 

choices the sites made around whom to serve and the robustness of the sites’ employment assistance. 

San Diego, for example, selected veterans who had higher incomes at entry, and Central Texas was the 

only site to form a strong partnership with the DOL grantees and consistently provide veterans with 

employment services (Cunningham et al., 2013). Further analyses could build on these exploratory 

analyses to create more robust models that unpack these issues. 

The share of veterans reporting having no income was lower at follow-up than at baseline across 

sites and in three of the five sites. At follow-up, 10 percent of veterans across sites had no income, 6 

percentage points lower than at baseline. The share with no income declined in Tacoma, Tampa, and 

Upstate Northern New York. In Tacoma and Upstate Northern New York, the share was 8 percent at 

follow-up, a 6- and 18-percentage-point decline from baseline, respectively. In Tampa, the share was 15 

percent at follow-up, a 13-percentage-point decline. The shares in Central Texas and San Diego stayed 

about the same, with Central Texas’s follow-up share being 9 percent and San Diego’s being 10 percent. 

Further, comparing whether the veteran’s household had income at follow-up by whether they had 

income at baseline shows that those veterans who reported having income at baseline were more likely 

to also have income at follow-up (93 percent) than those with no income at baseline (77 percent). The 

difference between the two groups in their likelihood of having income at exit was statistically significant 

(table 6.4).
54 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

Table 6.4

Presence of Income at Follow-Up by Presence of Income at Baseline

Presence of Income at Baseline

No Income Income Total

Presence of Income at 

Follow-Up N % N % N %

No income 10 22.7 19 7.5 29 9.7

Income 33 77.3 236 92.5 269 90.3

Total 43 100.0 255 100.0 297 100.0

χ2 = 8.87 (p < .01).

Sources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration weighted baseline; follow-up survey data

At follow-up, larger shares of veterans reported that their households received income from a job and a 

veterans pension, and smaller shares of veterans reported that their households received income from 

unemployment insurance. Across sites, 43 percent of veterans’ households received income from a job 

at follow-up. This share ranged from 25 percent in Tacoma to 55 percent in Central Texas. The remaining 

three sites had shares between 40 and 45 percent. Tacoma is likely the low outlier on this measure 

because the program selected veterans with more significant mental and physical health issues for whom 

work may not have been possible. Between baseline and follow-up, the proportion of veteran households 

across sites that received income from a job increased by 13 percentage points, and the increase was 

significant. The proportion also increased within each site, but the size of the increase varied substantially. 

None of the differences were statistically significant due to the smaller sample sizes at each site. The 

proportion with earned income increased only 3 percentage points in San Diego, where more people 

had earned income to begin with, and the increases in the other sites ranged from 10 percentage points 

(Tacoma) to 20 percentage points (Tampa). 

At follow-up, 41 percent of veteran households across the sites were receiving income from a veterans 

pension payment. The proportion within each site ranged from 28 percent in Upstate Northern New 

York to 54 percent in Tacoma, with the remaining three sites’ shares falling between 37 and 43 percent. 

The share receiving income from a veterans pension payment increased between baseline and followup across sites and within all the sites except Upstate Northern New York, where the share stayed about 

the same. The cross-site increase was 9 percentage points, and the within-site increase in the four sites 

with increases ranged from 8 percentage points in San Diego to 11 percentage points in Central Texas and 

Tampa. The change was significant at the cross-site level and within Central Texas, San Diego, 

and Tacoma. 

As would be expected with the increase in veteran households reporting income from a job, the share of 

veteran households reporting income from unemployment benefits decreased. At follow-up, the share 

reporting unemployment income was down to 3 percent across sites, ranging from 1 percent (Tampa) 

to 5 percent (San Diego and Tacoma) within the sites. The decline in the share receiving unemployment 

income was significant at the cross-site level and in Central Texas, Tampa, and Upstate Northern New 

York. 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 55

Chapter 6

In a similar way, receipt of several means-tested benefits (SNAP, Medicare, and Children’s Health Insurance 

Program [CHIP]) also declined from baseline to follow up both at the cross-site level and within each site. 

For example, at follow-up, 43 percent of veteran households across the five sites were receiving SNAP 

benefits, down from 61 percent at baseline. The share of veteran households reporting SNAP receipt at 

follow-up, however, varied significantly by site. It was highest in Tacoma and Tampa, where 69 and 61 

percent of veteran households, respectively, reported receiving it, and lowest in San Diego, where only 17 

percent reported receiving SNAP. The remaining two sites, Central Texas and Upstate Northern New York, 

fell in between: 39 percent of veterans in each of those sites reported that their household received SNAP 

at follow-up. The changes in SNAP, Medicare, and CHIP receipt between baseline and follow-up were all 

significant at the cross-site level and in Central Texas. In San Diego, only the changes in SNAP and CHIP 

were significant, and only the decline in SNAP was significant in Tacoma and Upstate Northern New York. 

None of the changes were significant in Tampa. 

Change in Medicaid receipt, by contrast, was more varied. At follow-up, 20 percent of veterans reported 

that their household received Medicaid. This percentage was down slightly from 24 percent at baseline. 

This cross-site picture, however, masks substantial differences between sites. First, only three of the five 

sites saw declines, and the size of those declines varied. Central Texas’s share declined by 15 percentage 

points between baseline and follow-up, Upstate Northern New York’s share declined by 10 percentage 

points, and Tampa’s declined by 7 percentage points. By contrast, San Diego and Tacoma saw increases 

in the shares of veterans reporting receiving Medicaid: in San Diego, the share increased by 8 percentage 

points, and the Tacoma share increased by 6 percentage points. The changes in Medicaid receipt were 

significant at the cross-site level and in Central Texas and Upstate Northern New York only. To some extent, 

changes in Medicaid receipt within sites could be influenced by states’ decisions to expand Medicaid, for 

which this analysis does not account. During the time VHPD was in operation, California, New York, and 

Washington expanded Medicaid in line with the Affordable Care Act. New York was the earliest adopter, 

agreeing to expand coverage in June 2012, and the other two states did so in June 2013. The remaining 

two states, Florida and Texas, had not yet expanded Medicaid coverage at the time of writing (Advisory 

Board Company, 2015). 

Table 6.5 shows household income and benefits receipt at program exit and follow-up survey by site, and 

table 6.6 shows the mean difference between baseline and follow-up on income, employment, and benefit 

measures.

Table 6.5

Total Household Income and Benefits Receipt at Program Exit and Follow-Up Survey by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by monthly income 

amount at program exit

No income 19.1 9.0 20.1 14.3 24.0 34.0

$1 to $499 8.0 7.4 2.2 11.5 8.8 16.2

$500 to $749 4.1 2.9 0.7 6.3 5.5 8.6

(continued)
56 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

$750 to $999 6.7 3.0 8.0 8.9 7.9 6.0

$1,000 to $1,499 17.6 17.4 15.6 21.8 17.2 18.0

$1,500 to $1,999 18.2 30.0 18.6 12.2 10.4 15.8

$2,000 or more 26.4 30.3 34.8 25.0 26.2 1.4

Mean income amount at program exit ($) 1,535 2,159 1,620 1,439 1,290 662

Percent of veterans by monthly income 

amount at follow-up

No income 10.0 8.8 9.8 7.5 14.9 7.6

$1 to $499 9.0 6.1 7.3 5.7 9.8 20.5

$500 to $749 7.4 3.6 7.7 12.6 6.0 10.8

$750 to $999 5.4 2.5 6.8 8.4 4.1 7.4

$1,000 to $1,499 21.7 20.6 13.3 31.2 24.8 23.3

$1,500 to $1,999 15.3 19.0 16.0 14.2 13.3 11.5

$2,000 or more 31.2 39.5 39.1 20.5 27.3 19.0

Mean income amount at follow-up ($) 1,519 1,795 1,740 1,315 1,311 1,144

Percent of veterans by household income 

sources at follow-up

From a job 42.9 55.2 40.4 25.1 42.6 44.8

Unemployment 3.2 3.2 4.5 4.5 1.4 1.9

SSI 3.4 1.9 1.3 8.5 4.3 2.6

SSDI 11.6 6.8 9.4 23.3 7.4 17.8

Veterans pension/payment 40.9 42.5 41.6 53.7 37.2 28.1

TANF 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Family or friends 0.5 1.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0

Percent of veterans by receipt of benefit at 

follow-up

SNAP 42.9 39.5 17.2 69.3 61.4 39.4

Medicaid 20.2 21.7 16.8 25.7 19.8 18.2

Medicare 5.1 4.4 3.4 7.0 4.5 8.4

CHIP 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0

CHIP = Children’s Health Insurance program. SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SSDI = Social Security Disability 

Income. SSI = Supplemental Security Income. TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Note: Income at program entry came from Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administrative data (N = 509), 

and the rest of the data came from the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) follow-up survey (N = 315)

Sources: HMIS administrative data; weighted VHPD follow-up survey

Table 6.5

Total Household Income and Benefits Receipt at Program Exit and Follow-Up 

Survey by Site (continued)
Table 6.6Mean Difference Between Baseline and Follow-Up on Income, Employment, and Benefit Measures by Site

Cross-Site Total Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tam

Mean 

Diff. 

Std. 

Err.

Mean 

Diff. 

Std. 

Err.

Mean

 Diff. 

Std. 

Err.

Mean 

Diff. 

Std. 

Err.

Mean

 Diff. 

Monthly income ($) 525**** 67.26 661  126.9 460**  187.4 479*** 130.8 620  

Working full time (Yes/No) 0.14** ** 0.03 0.21*** 0.06 0.03 0.05 0.12* 0.06 0.22*** Household receives income fromA job (Yes/No) 0.08** 0.03 0.12 0.07 0 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.13 

Unemployment insurance (Yes/No)

-0.11  0.02 -0.09**  0.05 -0.03 0.03 -0.08 0.07 -0.13** 

SSI (Yes/No) -0.02 0.02 -0.02 0.03 -0.06* 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.02 

SSDI (Yes/No) 0.01 0.03 0.00 0.05 -0.06 0.05 0.11 0.09 -0.01 

Veterans pension (Yes/No) 0.12*** 0.04 0.14* 0.08 0.15** 0.07 0.17* 0.09 0.1 

TANF (Yes/No) -0.04*** 0.01 -0.02 0.02 -0.05* 0.03 -0.06 0.04 -0.02 Someone in household receives benefits fromSNAP (Yes/No) -0.18**** 0.03 -0.27  0.06 -0.18** * 0.06 -0.14* 0.08 -0.02 

Medicaid (Yes/No) 0.05* 0.03 -0.2** 0.08 0.07 0.05 0.08 0.47 -0.07 

Medicare (Yes/No) -0.07** 0.03 -0.12 0.08 -0.04 0.03 -0.02 0.05 -0.07 CHIP (Yes/No) -0.06** 0.03 -0.05** 0.02 -0.07** 0.03 -0.01 0.03 -0.01 

CHIP = Children’s Health Insurance program. Diff. = difference. Err. = standard error. SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SSDI = Social Security Security Income. TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.*p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. ****p < .0001.

Notes: Monthly household income is in non-inflation-adjusted dollars. A small amount of the differences could be due to differences resulting from inflation bSources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration weighted baseline; follow-up surveys
58 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 6

Change in Employment at Follow-Up Survey

Veterans were employed at higher rates at follow-up than at baseline. Overall, 43 percent of veterans 

were working in some capacity (either full time or part time) at follow-up across sites, an 18-percentagepoint increase from baseline. The share of veterans employed within each site was also larger than the 

share at baseline. Central Texas had the largest share of veterans employed at follow-up, at 53 percent, 

and San Diego, Tampa, and Upstate Northern New York clustered together between 40 and 46 percent. 

Tacoma was substantially lower, at 25 percent. Of those veterans who were working, the majority across 

sites and within each site except Upstate Northern New York were employed full time (at least 35 hours 

per week). In Upstate Northern New York, only two in five veterans were employed full time. Veterans 

who were working at baseline were more likely to be working at follow-up (71 percent) than those who 

were not working at baseline (32 percent). This difference was statistically significant (table 6.7). 

Table 6.7

Employment Status at Follow-Up by Employment Status at Baseline

Working at Baseline

Not Working Working Total

Working at Follow-Up N % N % N %

Not working 155 68.0 25 29.5 181 57.4

Working 73 32.0 61 70.5 134 42.6

Total 229 100.0 86 100.0 315 100.0

χ2 = 34.74 (p < .0001).

Sources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration weighted baseline and follow-up surveys

Among all veterans, the share of veterans working full time (at least 35 hours) doubled between baseline 

and follow-up across all five sites, reaching 29 percent at follow-up compared with 14 percent at 

baseline. The share of veterans who were employed full time increased within each of the sites, but the 

size of the increase varied (table 6.7). Central Texas had the largest share of veterans employed full time 

at follow-up (41 percent) and also had one of the largest increases: the rate doubled between baseline 

and follow-up, increasing by 22 percentage points. San Diego had the second highest share at followup, at 30 percent, but it also had the smallest increase (only 6 percentage points) between baseline 

and follow-up. Tampa had the third highest share of veterans employed full time at follow-up; its share 

increased fivefold from 5 percent at baseline. Tacoma and Upstate Northern New York had the lowest 

shares of veterans employed full time at follow-up, at 20 and 17 percent, respectively, but, like Central 

Texas, the shares in those two sites approximately doubled between baseline and follow-up. Paired 

t-tests showed that the increases in full-time employment were significant across sites and in Central 

Texas, Tacoma, and Tampa.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 59

Chapter 6

The research team also conducted exploratory multivariate analysis to determine characteristics that 

predicted the likelihood that veterans would be working full time at follow-up. As with the income 

analysis discussed previously, this analysis showed that site variables (specifically whether the veteran 

was from San Diego or from Central Texas) increased the likelihood that the veteran was employed 

full time at follow-up. Veterans who were participating in schooling or training and veterans who had 

a disability that prevented them from working were less likely to be employed full time. Veterans with 

traumatic brain injury were more likely to be working full time. As with income, further analysis could 

create more robust models to try to determine what factors in those programs are associated with the 

changes (for example, who was selected to receive assistance and level of employment assistance). 

Among the 57 percent of veterans who were not working at follow-up, slightly less than one-half (43 

percent) were looking for work and slightly more than one-half (57 percent) were not. The share of 

veterans not looking for work was largest in Tacoma (67 percent) and Upstate Northern New York (75 

percent), the two sites with the highest rates of mental illness and disability. When asked for the main 

reason they were not working or looking for work, those veterans who were not working or looking for 

work most commonly noted health reasons related to military service (34 percent), being disabled (21 

percent), being in school or training (20 percent), and health reasons unrelated to military service (15 

percent). A smaller share of veterans (5 percent across sites) were retired, but this share was between 

9 and 11 percent in Tacoma and Tampa. This result is consistent with the larger share of retirement-age 

veterans in those sites. There was significant variation in the share of veterans who cited being engaged 

in school or training as the reason for not working or looking for work. In Central Texas the share was at 

38 percent, which was almost twice the share of the next highest site (San Diego at 21 percent), but, in 

Tampa, it was only 6 percent. Table 6.8 shows veterans’ employment status at follow-up by site.

Table 6.8

Employment at Follow-Up by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans by employment status 

at follow-up

Working 42.6 52.6 40.1 25.1 46.1 42.7

Full time 67.2 78.0 74.2 78.7 57.0 39.5

Less than full time 32.8 22.0 25.8 21.3 43.0 60.5

Not working 57.4 47.4 59.9 74.9 53.9 57.3

Looking for work 43.2 38.9 58.2 33.5 49.7 24.9

Not looking for work 56.8 61.1 41.8 66.5 50.3 75.1

Percent of all veterans working full time 28.6 41.1 29.7 19.7 26.3 16.9

(continued)
Chapter 6

60 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans neither working 

nor looking for work by main reason at 

follow-up

Housing problems 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Health reasons related to military service 34.1 47.3 24.3 30.7 33.8 32.0

Health reasons unrelated to military 

service

14.5 0.0 16.4 11.6 19.4 30.2

Has job but temporarily absent/seasonal 

work

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Could not find any work 0.6 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 0.0

Could not find a job that pays enough 1.5 6.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Childcare problems 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Family responsibilities 3.5 4.9 0.0 4.4 7.0 0.0

In school or other training 19.6 37.8 21.4 13.4 5.9 18.3

Waiting for a new job to begin 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Had enough money from other sources 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Retired 5.1 3.2 0.0 9.4 10.9 0.0

Disabled 21.1 0.0 37.8 28.1 22.9 19.4

Note: 10.17 percent of observations were missing on the reasons for not working or looking for work.

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration follow-up survey (N = 315)

Engagement in Education and Training Opportunities at 

Follow-Up Survey

A minority of veterans, about 3 in 10, were participating in education or training programs at followup (table 6.9). The share was highest in Central Texas, at 41 percent, and lowest in Tampa and Upstate 

Northern New York, at 20 and 21 percent, respectively. In San Diego and Tacoma, 28 and 30 percent of 

veterans, respectively, were participating in education and training. The shares of veterans participating in 

education and training at follow-up were similar to those at baseline. At follow-up, 29 percent of veterans 

were participating in education and training across sites compared with 28 percent at baseline. In San 

Diego, Tampa, and Upstate Northern New York, the shares at follow-up were also about the same as those 

at baseline, but, in Central Texas and Tacoma, there were small increases of about 4 percentage points.

Follow-up survey responses reflected baseline responses in that veterans most commonly reported 

participating in regular schooling leading to a degree (20 percent across sites) and regular schooling 

leading to a vocational or professional license or certification (8 percent across sites). The share 

participating in schooling leading to a degree was highest in Central Texas (30 percent) and lowest 

in Tampa (10 percent), and the remaining three sites clustered together in the middle between 17 

and 20 percent. The share participating in schooling leading to a vocational or professional license or 

Table 6.8

Employment at Follow-Up by Site (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 61

Chapter 6

certification was highest in Central Texas and Tacoma (12 percent) and lowest in Upstate Northern New 

York (2 percent). 

Veterans who served after September 11, 2001 (veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF], 

Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF], or Operation New Dawn [OND]), may have been eligible for post-9/11 GI 

Bill benefits from the VA, which include up to 36 months of education benefits, a housing allowance, a 

stipend for books and supplies, and a one-time rural benefit payment. Of veterans in VHPD, 55 percent 

were OEF/OIF/OND veterans and therefore likely eligible for the post-9/11 GI Bill, and about 17 percent 

of VHPD veterans were receiving GI Bill benefits at follow-up. The share of veterans receiving GI Bill 

benefits was highest in Central Texas, where one-fourth of veterans were receiving the benefit at followup. Central Texas was also the site with the highest share (74 percent) of OEF/OIF/OND veterans. Tacoma 

had the second highest share of veterans receiving GI Bill benefits, at 19 percent. In the remaining three 

sites, this share was lower and ranged from 12 to 14 percent. 

Table 6.9

Participation in School or Training at Follow-Up by Site

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern 

New York

Percent of veterans participating in any 

type of school or training at follow-up

29.0 41.0 27.6 29.9 20.2 21.4

Percent of veterans participating in 

school or training at follow-up by type

Regular schooling leading to a degree 19.7 29.9 19.9 16.9 10.3 17.4

Regular schooling leading to a 

vocational or professional license or 

certification

8.4 11.9 7.6 12.1 6.6 1.9

Percent of veterans receiving GI Bill 

benefits that helped with school at

follow-up

16.9 25.3 12.8 19.0 12.0 14.0

Source: Weighted Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration follow-up survey (N = 315)

Conclusions

San Diego and Central Texas seem to have served veterans who were in better income and employment 

circumstances at baseline compared with the other three sites. Because many respondents did not 

complete the baseline survey within a few weeks of program entry, however, it is unclear whether this 

difference was because of the veterans the programs decided to serve or whether the programs quickly 

connected the veterans to employment and benefit resources after enrollment. Based on findings of the 

implementation study, the former is more likely the case in San Diego, and the latter is likely at least part 

of the driver in Central Texas, given its success with the DOL partnership. (See Cunningham et al. [2013] 

for a full discussion of these issues.) 
62

Chapter 6

The research team’s analysis shows that incomes increased between baseline and follow-up, as did rates 

of full-time employment and receiving income from a job and from a veterans pension payment. Rates 

of receipt of means-tested benefits also generally decreased between baseline and follow-up to a degree 

that was significant at the cross-site level and within some sites. Because the researchers do not have a 

comparison group, however, they cannot determine whether these changes were because of the VHPD 

intervention or the result of other factors. 

This analysis supports findings from the interim report that Central Texas’s VHPD program had the most 

successful employment component. At program exit and follow-up, veterans from Central Texas had the 

highest average household income, the highest rates of any employment, and the among highest rates 

of full-time employment at follow-up and substantially higher rates of engagement in education and 

training opportunities than the other sites, including the highest share of veterans receiving post-9/11 

GI Bill benefits.

62 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
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Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Veteran Perspectives 

Hearing directly from veterans about their experiences with homelessness is important. In addition to 

conducting the baseline and follow-up surveys, the research team conducted focus groups in each of 

the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) sites, talking to 49 veterans. Listening 

and talking with VHPD participants during focus groups enabled researchers to hear first hand about 

the veterans’ experiences: what led them to VHPD and how they found the program; how helpful they 

thought the program was; and how they think the program has affected their long-term stability. This 

chapter presents findings from these focus groups.

Reasons for Housing Instability and Homelessness

Veterans shared the challenges that led to their housing instability or homelessness and need for 

VHPD services. For recent veterans, the research team heard about unexpected emergencies, including 

family deaths and health problems, losing jobs, and struggling to find affordable housing and maintain 

employment, especially for those who have physical health problems. Another common theme was 

making the transition from base housing to housing in the private civilian market. Among veterans who 

served in wars some decades ago, team members heard about issues related to chronic homelessness 

(for example, substance use, serious mental and physical health problems).

Sudden Adverse Events

Homelessness is often the result of adverse events, and veterans participating in the focus groups 

often told stories of adversity leading to homelessness. Many veterans reported experiencing sudden, 

unexpected circumstances and facing housing instability for the first time. 

I came to this program for assistance with housing, and my wife passed away in October of last year 

and I got three boys, and so I’m running with that and I’m trying to deal with the military having to 

fight my case for disability for about 19 years now, and the system is giving me a fit.

It’d been a long time since I’d been out of the military. I didn’t have a problem with the transition from 

military to civilian. My problems started from Hurricane Katrina and I moved up here. My son was 

living here. He was stationed at Fort Lewis and getting a job. I had kids, three kids that live with me. I 

did take care of them and I didn’t really have a full-time job. I was in school and I just started having 

problems being able to pay my rent to survive, taking care of kids.

Some veterans, particularly women, described major changes in their household that precipitated their 

housing instability. For example, one veteran shared that she had to take her mother in and provide her 

with care. Another female veteran reported going through a divorce. Other veterans discussed losing 

their jobs or having their hours cut. 
64 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 7

But a lot of different things had happened in my household, and it had gotten to the point where it 

was just insurmountable when I took in my mother to take care of her and everything that encompass 

that. It just wasn’t enough money. Every month I was struggling to just pay the rent and then I was 

trusting God to know what I was going to do to get . . . those food stamps were only so much and I’ve 

got teenagers. They eat more than I do. I’ve got one boy and one girl, and it had gotten to the point 

where my son was like—he told me later. He didn’t tell me while we were struggling then, but after 

time had passed he said, “Well, mom, I just chose not to eat sometimes,” and that just broke my heart 

because when you have your kid you want them to be able to at least eat. So anyway, I was getting to 

that point where I decided it was time for us to leave, but I needed to plan.

Challenges Maintaining Employment

Without a steady income, veterans had trouble staying housed; many noted problems finding and 

keeping a job. Some veterans described challenges with maintaining employment because of physical 

disabilities related to their military service. One veteran sustained a back injury while in the military and 

had to leave his job as a truck driver because it aggravated the injury. Another veteran, who supports her 

teenage sister, was unable to work because of her injuries; however, she did not have documentation of 

those injuries upon leaving the military. This lack of documentation made her ineligible to receive other 

public benefits (for example, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits). 

Veterans without physical disabilities also reported challenges finding and sustaining employment. They 

discussed not knowing how to translate their military experience into skills and experience valued by 

civilian employers. One veteran explained, “When you come out of the military, there are acronyms 

and roles and titles that don’t exist in the civilian world. It was really difficult to try to take your 

[Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report] and turn it into a résumé.” Another veteran said, “I got out 

in ‘09. That was the recession, prime recession time, and everybody was looking for work.”

Trouble Making the Transition to Civilian Life

Other veterans associated challenges with their discharge from the military with their housing instability. 

Many veterans were forced out of the military earlier than they expected, which left them without a 

plan in place for housing. One veteran described her experience after being told that her end of time in 

service date, the date she had to leave the military and her on-base housing, was 3 weeks earlier than 

she was initially told:

[They said,] “You’re getting out on this day. You will be out of housing on this day.” I said, “But I can’t 

even move into my apartment. I can’t afford another month of rent. I still have to feed my children, put 

gas in my car, still have 3 weeks’ worth of getting back and forth to post to get to work as it is, and now 

you want me to move out a month early?” She’s like, “I’m sorry. Maybe you can live at the hotel on 

post.” 
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Chapter 7

Another veteran, a father of two children with special needs, cited delays in receiving his final payment 

from the Department of Defense as the reason for his housing instability. He described his situation after 

leaving the military: 

We had everything set up. School was on. We were waiting for our final check to come from the final 

pay. I had sold [about 3 months] of leave; that’s a pretty good lump of money. It took the Army until 

[about 6 weeks after my last day of active duty] to pay me. In that scope of time, all the savings that 

we had saved up, we went through it. 

Other veterans had problems finding affordable housing when they returned to civilian life:

I went back home and I struggled. I was unemployed for a little while. I found work. I finally got my GI 

Bill stuff situated. I was able to get enrolled in school and I was doing okay, but then other things kind 

of... life gets in the way. I ended up in a crummy situation and that’s why I had to leave New York and 

come here. I relocated here to Texas from New York because I couldn’t afford to live there anymore 

and I have a small child. I have family here in this area and I relocated here. I was staying with them 

for a little while, but then it started to get a little crowded in their home. I had to start making moves 

but I didn’t know what to do, how to get started.

Finding VHPD

How can providers of services best target and reach homeless veterans? An answer to this question 

is important for practitioners and policymakers designing programs. Veterans reported hearing about 

VHPD in several main ways. 

VA Medical Center and Community-Based Center Referrals

Some veterans said they heard about the VHPD program while meeting with staff at local U.S. 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers (VAMCs) or VA community-based centers. For 

veterans who were connected with the VA, especially those who regularly accessed healthcare services 

through the VA, VA staff outreach was successful in informing veterans about the program. One veteran 

reported learning about the program at several local VA healthcare centers. Another veteran said, 

In my personal experience, wherever I’ve encountered or have the most interaction with other 

veterans or people whose job it is to help veterans, it’s always at the VA hospital. That’s where I 

received my care. That’s where I see my counselor once a month. That’s where I receive my physical 

therapy for my injuries, and that’s where I get any information pertaining to any services that I’m 

eligible for, through the VA.
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Chapter 7

Human Services Agency, Homeless Services Provider, or Hotline

Veterans often reported hearing about the program as part of a lengthy process searching for services 

to assist them in their housing crisis. Some veterans looked up services on line, and others conducted 

their search by phone. Veterans told stories of calling the VA’s homeless veterans 1–800 number and 

other service hotlines, getting referrals, calling service providers, finding out they were ineligible, and 

ultimately working their way to VHPD. One veteran described her search like this: 

There wasn’t really a specific way that I can remember because I called a lot of different programs but 

I didn’t qualify for them, so they were more like, well try this, try this, and try this. I want to say one 

of the VA representatives at Temple . . . they told me about this program that I had heard again. It was 

the second time I heard [about] the program, so then I finally called and that’s how I found out about 

it. But it was through just calling and [hearing] well, no you don’t qualify, no you don’t qualify, no 

you don’t qualify.

Word of Mouth

Other veterans heard about the program by word of mouth, sometimes from other veterans or from 

individuals who work with veterans. One veteran reported hearing about the program through her 

veterans’ employment representative through DOL. Another veteran learned of the program after talking 

with another veteran who directed him to the VA. 

Experiences With VHPD Services, Effectiveness of Those Services, and 

Unaddressed Challenges

The VHPD program offered participants a range of services, including financial assistance (for example, 

payment of rent arrearages, rental assistance, payment of security deposits, utility payments), case 

management services, access to health care through the VA, and employment services through DOL. 

Veterans also commented on valuing the peer-to-peer support from other veterans because they could 

identify with what they had been through and they trusted them.

Overall Satisfaction With VHPD

The research team asked veterans participating in the focus groups about their overall impressions 

of VHPD and how the program helped with specific services like finding housing and employment. In 

general, veterans reported satisfaction with the program and found the services helpful. Speaking of the 

VHPD program, one veteran said, 

I just want to say I was really down. I didn’t know what to do, and they gave me help. Basically, they 

saved me. They helped me with my rent, with my bills. They gave me information. Like [my veterans’ 

employment representative], he taught me how to get jobs or what kind of questions they ask.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 67

Chapter 7

Another respondent described VHPD this way:

Well, they did help me, like I said, they were really good. They were there, like you said, when you 

needed it because I was really stressed. It was holiday time. I’m thinking God where am I going to go, 

what am I going to do. They were. They helped. That was my Christmas present or I would have been 

out on the street. 

Paying Rent Most Helpful Part of Program

When asked what was most helpful about the program, the most common response from veterans was 

the help paying for rent (current or arrearages) and utilities. One veteran got behind on bills waiting for 

her VA disability claim to be processed and described how having VHPD assist her with expenses gave 

her time to dig herself out of that debt. She noted, 

I think the helpful part, of course, is the financial stability; that’s what you’re coming here [to VHPD] 

for, so that was a major burden that let off and then—then once I finally did have my VA checks come 

in, I could catch up on the stuff they weren’t paying for.

Case Managers, Especially Peer-to-Peer Support, Valued

Aside from the financial assistance, some veterans noted that the case management was helpful. 

Veterans liked having someone to discuss what they were going through and in whom they could 

confide. When asked what was helpful about the program, one veteran responded, “Just airing my 

grievances, having someone to talk to because we all have certain issues, certain vices that we need to 

just speak to someone about.” 

Some programs employ case managers who are veterans, and other sites have specific peer-to-peer 

support positions embedded in the program. Some veterans commented that having veterans as staff in 

the program was beneficial. Veterans valued this because they thought that VHPD staff who were also 

veterans had a better understanding of their experiences and struggles. One veteran said, “The ideal 

situation for a person being a case manager would be someone who has walked in your shoes.” Another 

veteran said, “It’s nice when you have somebody that knows you, knows your experiences, and can 

be there.” 

Even though veterans thought these services were valuable, they had some service needs the program 

did not meet, although these needs differed by site because the programs varied locally. Some veterans 

would have liked legal services. One veteran had been fighting a disability claim with the VA for about 20 

years and needed legal assistance that the program was not able to provide. Some veterans experienced 

challenges with sustaining housing. Veterans from the California focus groups discussed the short-term 

nature of the program and how they thought it was not enough time to become fully self-sufficient. 
Chapter 7

68 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Employment Support Helpful but Uneven

Veterans in most of the sites also noted challenges gaining and sustaining employment. When asked what 

services they did not receive that would have been helpful, some veterans specified employment services 

(that is, job search and job placement services). One San Diego veteran said, 

Instead of every week asking me, “What are you doing for yourself?”—I’m looking for work, I’m looking 

for jobs. But you can also help me do that, too, so that way you can ensure that you don’t have to be 

paying me anymore for rental assistance.

Veterans in the Central Texas focus groups, however, identified the valuable assistance they received from 

their Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives program. When speaking of the lead local veterans’ 

employment representative for the Central Texas VHPD program, a veteran said, 

He, basically, took all these skills that I hadn’t even thought about that I had under my belt, experience, 

and he turned it into civilian work or résumé language, if you will, and that was excellent. I think if there 

were more people like [the VHPD lead local veterans’ employment representative] who had the same 

qualities or training that he has that would be . . . [good]. If there were more of [him] out there . . . 

These divergent perspectives on the employment services received from the program speak to the 

different degrees of success the local programs had in integrating their local DOL service providers. As 

documented in the interim report, Central Texas did the best job of creating and maintaining a close 

collaboration with its DOL arm; the other sites were less successful. Veterans’ desire for employment 

services in the other sites and the commendation those services received from Central Texas veterans 

reinforce the importance of those services for helping veterans achieve long-term stability. 

Prospects for the Future

Many veterans thought the program helped them avoid homelessness and get back on their feet. Veterans 

agreed that the program helped them avoid an immediate housing crisis and noted the importance of the 

VHPD. When asked about how VHPD would affect their housing over the long term, however, they had 

concerns about their housing stability and well-being in the future. 

One veteran commented about the help he received getting back on his feet: “I hope that this study is 

helpful and lets Congress know that this program is needed, and it needs to be, if possible, nationwide 

because it’s doing great things.”

When asked about their individual sustainability, veterans were less certain that the program had put 

them on a path toward long-term self-sustainability. Some veterans thought the program had given them 

the tools to be more stable and successful in the long term, but other veterans still felt unstable or unsure 

of their future. Some veterans noted the need for stable employment as necessary for their long-term 

sustainability and housing stability. 
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Chapter 7

Aside from employment help, when asked about services they thought they needed going forward to 

further achieve or maintain sustainability, some veterans noted continued access to medical care. Other 

veterans, especially women, wanted to know more about what resources and services were currently 

available to them so they could access them if they needed them, and other veterans specified the need 

for service providers who were more knowledgeable about resources available in the community so they 

could make appropriate referrals.
70 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
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Chapter 8

Chapter 8. Lessons Learned for Serving Veterans at Risk 

of Homelessness

Existing studies of homelessness prevention programs do not provide the information policymakers 

need to effectively reach and serve veterans at risk of homelessness. In addition to understanding if 

homelessness prevention programs are effective, this study aimed to fill gaps in knowledge by examining 

whether serving veterans and their families differs from serving nonveterans. The research team learned 

from the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) evaluation that veterans need what 

other people need when they are at risk of losing their housing: help getting back on their feet, shortterm financial assistance, and some mix of supportive services. Although veterans at risk of homelessness 

have needs that are similar to those of other populations facing housing instability, they have other needs 

related to their military service, particularly support for physical and mental health issues and finding 

employment. Veterans, however, also have a richer array of benefits available to them. VHPD filled a gap 

in the service delivery continuum for veterans and their families. The researchers also learned through 

this demonstration project that to successfully engage younger, more recent veterans, including women, 

homeless service providers must use different outreach strategies to identify veterans at risk. 

Identifying At-Risk Veterans

Most homeless prevention programs rely on people to access the services they need by asking for help. 

Families show up at a shelter or ask for assistance through a community services agency from which they 

are already receiving assistance. Some families might call the community help line (for example, 211). As 

noted in the interim report (Cunningham et al., 2013), VHPD program sites used traditional strategies like 

these. To help veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) supports the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans (1–877–4AIDVET). According to 

the VHPD service providers, many of the veterans served through VHPD came from hotline referrals. 

The VHPD experience showed, however, that to effectively target veterans, in particular younger, 

recent veterans, including women, providers of homeless services need to identify at-risk veterans in 

places where they are seeking services for other issues or continuing their education or during the 

demobilization process after their tour of duty. If service providers are to have the greatest chance of 

finding eligible veterans, they need to focus outreach efforts in places where those veterans frequent, 

such as— 

• VA, VA medical centers (VAMCs), and Vet Centers.

• Veteran service organizations (for example, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion).

• Veteran-specific events (for example, Yellow Ribbon, Homeless Stand Down Events).

• Community colleges and universities (GI Bill).

• Military bases and transition-assistance programs.

Although VA’s various programs and activities are obvious locations, many veterans do not contact the 

VA even though they may need the types of resources VA programs offer. Therefore, an early public 

information campaign is essential. Programs like VHPD should also contact places people go when they 

face a housing crisis (for example, emergency shelters and other homeless assistance programs). VHPD 
72 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 8

participants, particularly those who had recently separated from the military, noted they would have 

liked to have received more information about services and supports for veterans while they were still in 

the military. 

Serving Veterans Through Interagency Collaboration

VHPD provided short-term crisis intervention services, relying on VA and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) 

partners to supply longer term services to address physical and mental health and employment issues. 

Sites emphasized the importance of community involvement—a common catchphrase researchers heard 

was, “It takes a community to serve a veteran.” The VHPD program design reflected this ethos. VHPD 

was built on a three-legged stool—U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grantees and 

subgrantees, DOL grantees, and the federal VA, which in some sites included both the local VAMC and 

Vet Center—to ensure that VHPD households received a comprehensive set of services to help them 

stabilize in housing, locate employment opportunities through local DOL grantees, and access benefits 

and health care through the VA. 

Program staff reported strong coordination with the VA on health services and case management 

provided through the VA. Combining VHPD housing services with VA health services allowed veterans to 

receive comprehensive supports to help them better maintain housing stability. Engaging DOL partners 

proved more difficult. Only one site was able to navigate DOL partnerships effectively and collaboratively. 

The remaining sites struggled to develop strong relationships with the One-Stop Career Centers and 

employment centers operating in their service areas. Collaboration with Disabled Veterans’ Outreach 

Programs staff and Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives was uneven across sites. During key 

informant interviews, program staff mentioned bureaucratic obstacles that made building relationships 

with DOL difficult, and they commented that more support from DOL organizational leadership would 

have improved the quality of employment services provided through VHPD.

Ensuring Veteran Cultural Competency 

VHPD staff and the veterans themselves clearly stated that policymakers should be aware of the 

differences between serving veteran and general populations. VHPD service providers noted that 

veterans are shaped by their military service and are part of a distinct veteran culture, which makes 

them more difficult to reach. 

I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to completely separate from the civilian side, but if you’re going to be 

serving veterans you need to know the veteran culture. People working with veterans need to go 

through cultural competency training to understand what they went through and understand the 

military mindset: what works for them, what communication works for them, what could have been 

their military experiences. Their service has changed them, and it is part of them forever. Working 

with them from a strength-based approach is key. You also need an understanding [of] what benefits 

they are eligible for. There needs to be a sense of the veteran culture of community to work with them 

effectively—otherwise there is a disconnect. – VHPD program staff
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Chapter 8

According to one VHPD service provider, veterans often pride themselves on self-sufficiency. Getting 

them involved in prevention programs can be challenging, because they often will ask for outside help 

and supports only as a last resort.

As noted in chapter 7, veterans report not trusting civilians and highlight that peer-to-peer support is 

helpful. VHPD providers recognized this and made efforts to have veterans on staff, including female 

veterans: 

VA [is] starting to see more female veterans; [they are] becoming more noticeable. If there is MST 

[military sexual trauma] history, [the VHPD case worker will] try to also go out with [a] female peer 

support specialist or have the vet come into the office rather than doing a house visit. For other 

female veterans [this is] not an issue. [It has been an] asset to have female peer support. – VHPD 

program staff

Addressing Veterans’ Mental Health and Physical Health Needs

VHPD service providers describe veterans as less healthy than the general population. The demands 

of their military service can lead to detrimental physical and mental health outcomes. The survey data 

reveal a high prevalence of physical disabilities, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and also mental 

health disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These injuries can be destabilizing to 

vets and can create barriers to employment and to maintaining housing. These needs often lead to 

challenges with substance use. When asked how serving veterans differed from serving nonveterans, one 

VHPD staff person said:

There is a high proportion of mental health and substance abuse issues, alcohol in the military is very 

big, and there are medical complications that come with being a lifetime alcoholic. The medical piece 

is simply that vets are much sicker than the general [population] for their age. Vets generally have a 

higher level of medical needs. – VHPD program staff

Overcoming Service-Related Employment Barriers 

When they leave military service, veterans have many marketable skills. Translating those skills into 

civilian employment, however, is challenging for several reasons. First, veterans often do not know how 

to reframe skills learned in the military into those valued by civilian employers or how to emphasize the 

soft skills (for example, leadership, management, communication) they built during their service. Second, 

civilian employers may require licenses and certifications that military service does not provide, even 

if veterans have the experience, and sometimes employers do not consider experience gained during 

military service as work experience. Finally, veterans may also have a medical barrier (for example, PTSD, 

TBI) that makes finding and maintaining employment difficult.
74 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Chapter 8

They get out wanting jobs . . . but I can’t get [them] a job because [they] don’t have the certifications 

civilian employers require. Now we have to tell veterans, “Okay, you were a medical tech in the 

military. Let’s find the civilian requirements.” The civilian requirements are higher, and veterans can’t 

get those jobs. There’s a money issue and a timeline issue because the vet wants a job and isn’t willing 

to settle. He comes in saying, “I want $85,000 per year,” and he’s probably worth it. But on the civilian 

side he can’t make it. He can get $35,000 in a lesser field. Along that same line, they may have the 

experience and [be] doing the job already in their active military position. A hospital corpsman is 

almost like a nurse. A medic in the military gets out; they go to school for a nursing degree. They have 

the experience and certification, but when they are looking for work they don’t have the experience 

because their military experience doesn’t count. They (employers) look for 1 or 2 years’ experience 

as an RN. They have the experience in military, but it’s not recognized. That’s a big problem. – VHPD 

program staff

Accessing a Greater Array of Benefits

Although veterans face unique obstacles, they also have more services available to them than the 

general population. VHPD service providers note that being a member of the military makes it easier 

for veterans to connect with services like income benefits, VA health care, and educational assistance 

through the post-9/11 GI Bill. Despite the fact that veterans are eligible for these benefits, at the time 

of VHPD implementation, access issues existed as the result of a 5- to 18-month benefits application 

review backlog at the VA (Cunningham et al., 2013). Key informants, including staff at VAMCs, expressed 

frustration with long wait times for services and for benefits applications, noting that these income 

benefits could help veterans pay for housing and that wait periods for mental or physical health services 

also prolong instability among veterans at risk. 

Changing Discharge Status To Obtain Services

To qualify for VHPD, veterans needed an honorable or general discharge. Veterans discharged from 

the military with a dishonorable discharge are not eligible for VA medical services and, therefore, not 

eligible for VHPD. Current and former members of the National Guard or Reserve qualify for VA medical 

services (and VHPD) only if they were called to active duty by a federal order and completed the full 

period for which they were called or ordered to active duty. VHPD programs found that some veterans 

who contacted them with clear housing crises did not qualify either because they had dishonorable 

discharges or because they did not serve long enough on active duty. VHPD programs could not alter 

length of service, but they sometimes tried to help veterans change their discharge status. These efforts 

had to be undertaken before a veteran could be enrolled, however, so the ability of VHPD programs 

to cover the time needed to assist these veterans was limited. If future program funds cannot be used 

for assisting these veterans, partnerships with legal aid and other organizations that work on changing 

discharge status should be encouraged. Service providers thought that allowing VHPD funding to cover 

legal services would be particularly helpful, especially when a veteran wished to challenge his or her 

discharge status to qualify for VHPD and other veterans’ services. 

74 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 75

Chapter 8

Conclusion

As of this writing, the administration has less than a year to meet its goal of ending veteran 

homelessness by 2016. As policymakers increase funding or reallocate funding toward homelessness 

prevention and rapid re-housing within the Continuums of Care, one assumption is that veterans 

should have greater access to these crisis intervention resources and that this access will contribute to 

decreasing homelessness among veterans. Policymakers, however, will need to decide if veteran-specific 

programs are necessary and are worth expanding. The findings from this report reflect the significant 

need for homelessness prevention programs that target veterans specifically, demonstrate that these 

programs should tailor services to veterans’ specific needs, and further suggest that that these veteranspecific adjustments contributed to the success of VHPD.
76 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 77

Appendix A

Appendix A. Definitions of Terms

General Terms

• Annual Performance Report (APR) is a report all programs receiving funding through the 

homeless assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD) are required to submit at the end of their grant year. It describes 

households and people served, services delivered, and program funding spent during that 

year. For everyone who exits the program during the reporting year, the APR also reports 

changes between program entry and exit on income, benefits, and destination. For the Veterans 

Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD), housing status (see definition of term) was 

collected at program entry and exit.

• “but for” was shorthand for HUD’s suggestion that a good way to determine whether a 

household meets its second eligibility criterion (see definition of imminently at risk of losing 

housing) was to ask whether the household would “be homeless but for this assistance.”

• Continuums of Care (CoCs) are local planning bodies responsible for coordinating the full range 

of homelessness services in a geographic area, which may cover a city, a county, a group of cities 

and counties, a metropolitan area, or even an entire state.

• Eligibility criteria for VHPD services that HUD required included (1) household income at or 

below 50 percent of Area Median Income, (2) veteran eligible for U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs (VA) health care, and (3) household imminently at risk of losing housing or had been 

homeless for less than 90 days AND had not identified any appropriate subsequent housing 

options AND lacked the financial resources and support networks needed to remain in its 

existing housing or obtain immediate housing.

• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a data system designed to record and 

store client-level information on the characteristics and service needs of homeless people. HMIS 

enables unduplicated counts of people using homeless assistance services over time and was 

the basis of the information on annual prevalence reported to Congress in the Annual Homeless 

Assessment Report. A special HMIS module was created for VHPD.

• Housing status is a field first added to HMIS for the purpose of reporting for the Homelessness 

Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), and it was also used by VHPD. It specifically 

reflects the type of housing a client had when enrolling in VHPD and the type of housing the 

client had at program exit. Information on housing status for participants leaving the program 

(exiters) was reported in each VHPD program’s APR and was meant to be used to indicate 

whether client housing status improved from entry to exit. The following definitions used by 

VHPD came from HUD’s HMIS data standards.

͹ Literally homeless—The individual or family lacked a fixed, regular, or adequate 

nighttime residence, meaning one of the following:

• The individual or family lived in a place not designated for or ordinarily used as a 

regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. 
78 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix A

• The individual or family lived in a publicly or privately operated shelter designed 

to provide temporary living arrangements (including a hotel or motel paid for with 

funds other than the person’s own funds, congregate shelters, and transitional 

housing).

• The individual exited an institution (including hospitals) where he or she resided 

for a period of 90 days or less if the person was sleeping in an emergency shelter or 

place unfit for human habitation before the institutional stay.

͹ Fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence—The individual or family was fleeing or 

attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other 

dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or 

family member, including a child, which had either taken place within the individual’s 

or family’s primary nighttime residence or had made the individual or family afraid to 

return to their primary nighttime residence, and the individual or family had no other 

residence and lacked the resources or support networks (for example, family, friends, 

and faith-based or other social networks) to obtain other permanent housing. 

͹ Imminently at risk of losing housing—The individual or family was currently housed 

but at imminent risk of losing housing and without subsequent options or resources or 

support networks needed to remain in current housing or obtain other temporary or 

permanent housing.

͹ Unstably housed—The individual or family was currently housed but experiencing 

housing instability, with one or more other temporary housing options but lacking the 

resources or support networks to retain or obtain permanent housing. 

͹ Stably housed—The individual or family was not at risk of losing housing and did not 

meet the criteria for any of the previous housing status definitions.

• Rural area is a place designated by HUD as rural if it meets any of the following criteria:

͹ Any area or community that does not include any land considered to be a part of a 

metropolitan statistical area as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. 

͹ Any area or community that is within a metropolitan statistical area but located within 

a county in which at least 75 percent of the population is considered to be living in rural 

areas.

͹ Any area or community within a state where (1) the population density is less than 30 

people per square mile, (2) at least 1.25 percent of the total state’s acreage is under 

federal jurisdiction, and (3) no metropolitan city in that state is the sole beneficiary of 

grants to be awarded (HUD, 2009). 

• Sustainability is the financial ability of a household to maintain itself in housing after VHPD 

assistance ended. 

• Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) is a program administered by the VA that makes 

grants to nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to provide supportive services 

and limited financial assistance to very low-income veteran families who are living in or making 

the transition to permanent housing. SSVF grantees provide veteran families with the following 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 79

Appendix A

services: (1) outreach, case management, and assistance obtaining VA benefits and (2) referrals 

to other benefits (for example, health care, daily living services, personal financial planning 

assistance, transportation, childcare, housing counseling, legal services, and fiduciary and payee 

services). In addition, grantees have the option to provide time-limited payments to third parties 

(for example, landlords, utility companies, moving companies, and licensed childcare providers) if 

these payments help veteran families stay in or acquire permanent housing on a sustainable basis.

• U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans’ Employment & Training Service, Jobs for Veterans State 

Grants Program is a noncompetitive grants program that provides funds to state workforce 

agencies. The grant amount, which is proportional to the number of veterans seeking 

employment in each state, funds the following staff positions: 

͹ Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program specialists provide intensive services to meet 

the employment needs of disabled and other eligible veterans. Emphasis is placed 

on serving veterans who are economically or educationally disadvantaged, including 

homeless veterans and veterans with barriers to employment. 

͹ Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives primarily focus on conducting outreach 

efforts with employers to increase employment opportunities for veterans and to 

encourage the hiring of disabled veterans. Representatives could also assist a veteran in 

gaining and maintaining employment and conduct workshops and seminars for veterans 

(DOL, n.d.). 

• VA Medical Services includes all the health and behavioral health services a qualifying veteran 

may receive through a VA medical center or its affiliated clinics. Eligibility for VA Medical Services 

was a requirement for VHPD participation. 

• VA Vet Centers are community-based agencies and are part of the Veterans Health 

Administration of the VA. They offer readjustment counseling to combat veterans and their 

family members and also bereavement counseling for families of deceased veterans. Given their 

position as community-based agencies, Vet Centers were primarily involved in VHPD through 

conducting outreach for the program. 

• Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) was authorized by Congress in 

March 2009 and was administered by HUD’s Special Needs Assistance Programs Office from 

2011 to 2014. It was designed to prevent housing loss and subsequent homelessness among 

veterans facing a housing crisis and also to restore people to housing who were experiencing 

short-term (less than 90 days) homelessness.

• VHPD financial assistance refers to program spending to cover rent or utility payments, rent or 

utility deposits, rent or utility arrearages, moving costs, or hotel or motel vouchers. All payments 

were made directly to a landlord, utility company, or other vendor; none went directly to VHPD 

households. The homeless services partner agency administered the financial assistance.

• VHPD housing relocation and stabilization services included referrals to other community 

resources, outreach and engagement, housing search and placement, landlord-tenant 

mediation, legal services, childcare, car repair, and credit repair, all usually performed within 

the general rubric of needs assessment and case management. The homeless services partner 

agency administered the housing relocation and stabilization services.
80 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix A

VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Veteran- and Military-Specific Terms

• Service categories

͹ Active Duty: Active duty military service is similar to working at a full-time civilian job. 

Active-duty service members are full-time members of the military, living on base or in 

military housing. Active-duty terms of service typically last 2 to 6 years. Deployment can 

last up to 1 year.

͹ National Guard: The National Guard consists of the Army National Guard and the Air 

National Guard. National Guard units participate in training drills one weekend a month 

and two full weeks per year. National Guard units focus on homeland security and 

humanitarian relief. A National Guard member commonly holds a civilian job full time 

while serving as a National Guard member. 

͹ Reserve: The Reserve was created to maintain trained units at home while active-duty 

service members are deployed. Each active-duty branch of the military has a Reserve 

component under its command, which is available for active-duty deployment in 

times of war or national emergency. Reservists are part-time service members. They 

participate in training drills one weekend per month and in a 2-week program each year.

• Medical conditions of special concern

͹ Posttraumatic stress disorder (commonly known as PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder 

that can occur after a person experiences a traumatic event that involved the threat of 

injury or death. Common symptoms included recurring flashback episodes, emotional 

numbness, detachment, and hypervigilance. 

͹ Traumatic brain injury (also called TBI) is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or 

a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain.

• Military discharge definitions

͹ Honorable discharge: To receive an honorable discharge, a service member must receive 

a rating from good to excellent for his or her service. Service members who meet or 

exceed the required standards of duty performance and personal conduct and who 

complete their tours of duty normally receive honorable discharges.

͹ General discharge: General discharges are given to service members whose 

performance is satisfactory but marked by a considerable departure in duty performance 

and conduct expected of military members. Reasons for such a characterization 

of service vary from medical discharges to misconduct and are used by the unit 

commander as a means to correct unacceptable behavior before initiating discharge 

action. 

͹ Other than honorable discharge: An other than honorable discharge is the most severe 

form of administrative discharge. This type of discharge represents a departure from 

the conduct and performance expected of all military members. Other than honorable 

discharges are typically given to service members convicted by a civilian court in which a 

sentence of confinement was adjudged or in which the conduct leading to the conviction 

brings discredit upon the service.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 81

Appendix A

͹ Bad conduct discharge: A bad conduct discharge can be given only by special or general 

court-martial as punishment to an enlisted service member. Bad conduct discharges are 

often preceded by a period of confinement in a military prison. Veterans who receive a 

bad conduct discharge forfeit almost all veterans’ benefits.

͹ Dishonorable discharge: A dishonorable discharge can be given to an enlisted member 

only by a general court-martial. Dishonorable discharges are handed down for what 

the military considers the most reprehensible conduct. This type of discharge could 

be rendered only by conviction at a general court-martial for serious offenses such as 

desertion, sexual assault, and murder. Veterans with this discharge status forfeit all 

veterans’ benefits, regardless of any past honorable service.

• Military service eras (as defined by the VHPD APR) 

͹ Post-September 11, 2001: September 11, 2001–present.

͹ Persian Gulf Era: August 1991–September 10, 2001.

͹ Post-Vietnam: May 1975–July 1991.

͹ Vietnam Era: August 1964–April 1975.

͹ Between Korean and Vietnam Wars: February 1955–July 1964.

͹ Korean War: June 1950–January 1955.

͹ Between World War II and Korean War: August 1947–May 1950.

͹ World War II: September 1940–July 1947.

• Recent military operations

͹ Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF): OEF began with U.S. military forces deployed to 

Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks and 

ended on December 28, 2014 (Torreon, 2015). 

͹ Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF): OIF is the military operation in Iraq from March 2003 

to August 2010. Although the combat mission in Iraq officially ended with OIF in August 

2010, a transitional force remained in the country under a new designation: Operation 

New Dawn (see definition of term; Torreon, 2015).

͹ Operation New Dawn (OND): As of September 1, 2010, military operations in Iraq were 

designated as Operation New Dawn. Military activities in Iraq during OND included 

providing assistance and support to Iraqi security forces and protecting U.S. civilians. The 

operation officially ended on December 15, 2011, which marked the end of the Iraq War 

(Torreon, 2015).
82 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 83

Appendix B

Appendix B. Qualitative Data Collection Methods

The qualitative data collection for the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) 

included three data collection activities: (1) early program reconnaissance interviews with VHPD staff, (2) 

two waves of semistructured key informant interviews with program staff and community stakeholders, 

and (3) focus groups with veterans who participated in VHPD. The key informant interviews were 

conducted during two site visits to each VHPD program, one that occurred early in implementation 

(between April and May 2012) and one that occurred at the end of implementation (between July and 

November 2013). The focus groups were conducted during the second site visit. This appendix details 

each data collection activity.

Early Program Reconnaissance

The research team conducted telephone interviews with key staff at each of the local VHPD programs 

between November 2011 and January 2012. The people interviewed included VHPD program directors 

and other staff, including those at the local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center 

(VAMC) charged with designing how the program would take shape locally, and Homeless Management 

Information System (HMIS) administrators from local Continuums of Care (CoCs). This data collection was 

meant to provide the research team with a baseline understanding of how the five sites were designing 

their programs and issues related to the HMIS administrative data that would be available to supplement 

the evaluation’s primary data collection activities. This information also informed early project design 

deliverables, including the research design. 

Through the program reconnaissance, the research team aimed to gather information on the following 

topics:

• From VHPD grantees— 

͹ How do they collect and store intake and enrollment information? Is it stored 

electronically on the grantees’ own data systems before being transferred to HMIS? 

͹ How much information is transferred to HMIS, and how often? What information, 

exactly, do grantees collect? How often is the information updated, if at all? Does all 

information get transferred to HMIS, or is there additional information in grantee files 

that never gets transferred because fields for it do not exist in HMIS? If yes, what is this 

additional information, and how might it be useful to the evaluation? Is the additional 

information unique to each of the five grantees, or is some of it similar or identical? 

͹ What system do the grantee caseworkers use while they work directly with clients? Can 

they see client information that is already in the system while they work with clients? 

͹ Can grantee managers access their own data after they are entered into HMIS? How are 

grantee managers using client data to assess performance for the grant as a whole, for 

each individual client, and for specific subsets of clients?

͹ What type of informed consent is currently requested of enrollees regarding transferring 

information about them to HMIS? What fields are they asked to allow transfer for, and 
84 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix B

to what uses of the data do they consent? What are they told about uses of the data in 

identified versus deidentified form?

͹ What is the best or most useful approach to training and working out the necessary 

arrangements for data access and informed consents?

• From VAMC units working with VHPD— 

͹ How do they collect and store intake and enrollment information? How and where is 

this information stored electronically in the grantees’ own data systems? Is it being 

transferred to HMIS, or is transferring information solely the responsibility of the 

VHPD grantees? Is it being transferred to the Homeless Operations Management and 

Evaluation System (HOMES) or some other VA system? 

͹ How much information is transferred to what systems, and how often? What data, 

exactly, do VAMC staff collect and record for their veteran clients? How often is the 

information updated, if at all? Does all the information get transferred to HMIS, HOMES, 

or both, or is there additional information in VAMC files that never gets transferred 

because fields for it do not exist in HMIS or HOMES? If yes, what is this additional 

information, and how might it be useful to the evaluation? 

͹ What happens regarding data collection and storage for veterans who are not homeless 

or at risk? For veterans who are actually homeless, are data in HOMES? How do the 

VAMCs determine if a veteran household is at risk of homelessness? Is the additional 

information unique to each of the VAMCs in the demonstration, or is some of it similar 

or identical? 

͹ What system do the VAMC caseworkers involved with VHPD use while they work directly 

with clients? Can they see client information that is already in the system while they 

work with clients? 

͹ Can grantee managers access their own data after they go to HMIS? How are VAMC 

managers using client data to assess performance for the VHPD project as a whole, for 

each individual client, and for specific subsets of clients? 

͹ What type of informed consent is currently requested of enrollees regarding transferring 

information about them to HMIS and HOMES? What fields are they asked to allow 

transfer for, and to what uses of the data do they consent? What are they told about 

uses of the data in identified versus deidentified form? 

͹ What is the best or most useful approach to training or working out the necessary 

arrangements for data access and informed consents?

• From CoCs and HMIS administrators— 

͹ What are the size and geographic coverage of HMIS? What are the average point-in-time 

and annual shelter use statistics, broken out by gender and family status; that is, for each 

of the following groups separately: single men, single women, and families? 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 85

Appendix B

͹ What agencies report to HMIS? To be specific, how many emergency shelters are in the 

CoC, what types of households do they serve, do they all report, does any other frontline 

agency report to HMIS that would capture homeless people who were not using shelters 

(for example, soup kitchens, health care for the homeless)? 

͹ How complete are the data? How complete is the “veteran” field? 

͹ On what timeline do agencies report—real time, monthly, quarterly? 

͹ How easy is it for the HMIS administrator to generate reports from HMIS data other than 

the standard Annual Performance Reports, and maybe quarterly performance reports, 

for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP)? How long does 

it take, and how many people need to be involved? If an administrator wanted to know 

the utilization and length of stay of veterans compared with nonveterans, separately for 

single adults and families, what would he or she have to do to get 

that information?

͹ What type of informed consent does the CoC require participating agencies to use to 

obtain permission to send data to HMIS? What fields are they being asked to allow 

transfer for, and to what uses of the data do they consent? What are they told about 

uses of the data in identified versus deidentified form?

͹ What would the research team need to do to be able to search HMIS for a veteran’s 

entry into shelter following participation in VHPD for all VHPD participants and some 

veterans who did not participate in VHPD?

͹ How might it be possible for the research team to use HMIS data to identify a 

comparison group of households who received HPRP-prevention rental assistance and 

check their subsequent shelter use? This comparison would ideally involve using HPRP 

enrollment data to select nonveteran households most similar to VHPD participants, 

determining what rental assistance they received from HPRP and when it ended, 

whether they entered a shelter in the local CoC within 6 months of the end of that 

assistance, and whether any of their entry characteristics predicted their eventual 

shelter use. Could the HMIS administrator run such an analysis with the help of the 

research team to make sure all the data remain secure within HMIS? Or could the 

research team receive an exported dataset, with the data deidentified (that is, no names 

or other identifying information for HPRP participants) but containing selected variables, 

for the researchers to analyze? What would it take for one or the other of these things 

to happen? (Administrators were asked to note that the timeframe for these activities 

would be at least a year in the future, so they had time to work out arrangements and 

permissions.)

Key Informant Interviews

The research team conducted a series of interviews with key informants, including program staff and 

other key stakeholders, such as the following:
86 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix B

• VHPD grantee staff (agency director; program director; direct line workers doing intake, 

assessment, housing search, placement, and stabilization and ongoing case management; data 

and management information people).

• VAMC staff (VHPD director, director of all VA homeless assistance, VHPD caseworkers; clinical 

staff, as appropriate).

• CoC representatives (convener; HMIS administrator; others, as appropriate).

• One-Stop Career Centers/workforce development staff (director, staff working directly with 

VHPD households).

• Veterans advocacy organizations, if they were independent of the VHPD provider.

• Other stakeholders suggested or recommended by local informants.

Each interview lasted approximately 1 hour. In most cases, two researchers participated in each 

interview, with one researcher leading the interview and the other serving as the dedicated notetaker. 

Interviews were not audio recorded. 

The research team developed a field discussion guide for use at each of the program sites that enabled 

researchers to consistently assess across programs how VHPD was implemented at each of the program 

partners and to determine what differences and similarities existed across sites. Interviews were 

semistructured, however, meaning that, although they were guided by a predetermined list of questions, 

the researchers allowed for flexibility to discuss other relevant issues that came up on site. All research 

staff were trained in administering the interview guides. 

Although the topics covered during the first and second interview waves were similar, the first interview 

wave, conducted during the earlier implementation site visit, focused more on gaining detailed 

knowledge of how each site implemented the VHPD program locally, and knowledge gained from the 

second wave of interviews enabled the researchers to see if and how implementation changed over time 

at these program sites. Our VHPD stakeholder guides included the following topics.

• Program participants:

͹ Pathways to enrollment in VHPD—identification and outreach, recruitment.

͹ Screening and eligibility determination; how the “but for” guidance was implemented.

͹ Processes of assistance—assessment, case plan development and support for 

implementation, primary and secondary goals, follow-up, reassessments.

͹ Types and levels of assistance—months of rental assistance, types and length of 

supportive services.

͹ Data entry and tracking.

• Service agencies and systems:

͹ Program structure, partners, relationships with other aspects of the homeless and other 

assistance systems; how this particular structure and participants were selected for each 

VHPD community.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 87

Appendix B

͹ Role of VA, workforce development, and the primary housing/service partner in 

VHPD in the community, historical relationships that may have eased or complicated 

implementation of VHPD, perceived value to the VA and homeless systems of new 

relationships developed and/or new systems brought into interaction.

͹ Interactions and approaches to integrating housing and services receipt across VHPD 

partners (and others, if relevant).

͹ System changes already accomplished, plans and implications for future joint work.

The full key informant interview instruments can be found in appendixes C (round 1) and D (round 2). 

Focus Groups With Program Participants

During the second wave of site visits, the research team conducted focus groups with veterans who 

had enrolled in the study and received services through VHPD. Veterans received a $50 incentive to 

participate in the focus group. The focus group discussions lasted no more than 2 hours and were 

moderated by a member of the research team using a semistructured guide. The moderator guide 

covered the following topics. 

• Reasons for housing instability and pathways to VHPD: 

͹ Challenges faced by veterans when returning from their tour of duty.

͹ The nature of their housing challenges.

͹ Reasons for seeking help.

͹ How they learned about VHPD.

͹ The effectiveness of outreach in their area.

• Experiences with VHPD, services received, and effectiveness of those services:

͹ Veterans’ overall impressions of the VHPD program.

͹ What services veterans were able to access through the grantees, VA, and DOL.

͹ How veterans’ housing situations changed since entering VHPD.

͹ Aspects of VHPD veterans found to be most helpful.

͹ Veterans’ recommendations for additions or changes to VHPD.

͹ Veterans’ beliefs concerning VHPD’s impact on their long-term housing stability.

The full focus group discussion guide is in appendix E.

All the focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed, and the transcripts were used for data 

analysis. The research team limited recruitment of focus group participants to the pool of VHPD 

veterans who enrolled in the study because team members had their contact information and consent 

to contact them about focus group participation. The researchers tried to recruit enough veterans for 

the focus groups to have two groups in each site. They were able to conduct two focus groups in all but 

the earliest site (Tacoma). When the number of veterans enrolled in the study and their demographic 

characteristics permitted, they conducted focus groups with a certain target population (for example, a 
88 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix B

group comprising Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/ Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation New 

Dawn (OND) veterans only). Table B.1 shows the number of groups conducted and whether any targetpopulation-specific focus groups were conducted. Overall, the researchers conducted nine focus groups 

with 49 total participants and had three target- population-specific groups: two groups with OEF/OIF/

OND veterans and one group with women veterans. 

Table B.1

VHPD Round 2 Site Visit Focus Group Details

Tacoma Central Texas San Diego Tampa Upstate 

Northern New 

York

Site visit start date 9-Jul-13 6-Aug-13 12-Aug-13 22-Aug-13 7-Nov-13

Site visit end date 12-Jul-13 8-Aug-13 14-Aug-13 23-Aug-13 8-Nov-13

Number of focus groups 1 2 2 2 2

Number of participants 6 9 14 10 10

Focus group target 

population Not targeted OEF/OIF/ONDWomen Not targeted

Non-OEF/OIF/

OND

Not targeted

Not targeted

OEF = Operation Enduring Freedom. OIF = Operation Iraqi Freedom. OND = Operation New Dawn.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 89

Appendix C

Appendix C. Round 1 Key Informant 

Interview Instrument

Table C.1

Potential Respondents

Potential Respondents

Respondent type Agency name Respondent role What they might know

VHPD grantee policy/community level 

General program activities Selection/

requirements for screening and 

assessment tools/data elements 

What the grantee requires Use of data 

for monitoring and evaluation

VHPD subgrantees practice/direct service

Program activities 

Screener and assessment tools VHPD 

data collection and entry

Use of data for monitoring and 

evaluation

Continuum of care 

(agency lead) policy/community level 

How VHPD fits in community response

General program activities

Use of data for monitoring and 

evaluation 

Ten-year planning effort 

to end homelessness policy/community level

How VHPD fits into ten-year planning 

efforts

General program activities

Use of data for monitoring and 

evaluation

HMIS administration 

(agency lead) policy/community level

Use of data for monitoring and 

evaluation

Specific data elements

Challenges with HMIS or client database

What screener/assessment information 

is entered into database 

(continued)
90 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix C

Potential Respondents

Respondent type Agency name Respondent role What they might know

Local VA medical center 

or health care facility

policy/community level

practice/direct service 

Referral of VHPD households

Systems integration with homeless 

services

Provision of other services to VHPD 

households

Local DOL office or 

workforce board practice/direct service

Referral of VHPD households

Systems integration with homeless 

services

Provision of other services to VHPD 

households

Any activities to prevent homelessness 

Interview Goals

✓ Understand how the site conducts outreach and how participants enter the program.

✓ Understand how the site is targeting VHPD and what the program eligibility requirements are 

beyond HUD guidelines. Understand the screening and assessment process.

✓ Understand how the site defines “imminent risk” of homelessness (e.g., follows the “but for this 

assistance the household would be homeless” criterion). 

✓ Understand what types of housing subsidies and services grantees/subgrantees provide 

participants.

✓ Understand what types of data the community is tracking and how they are using them.

✓ Understand how well the implementation is going in the community.

Interview Introduction

Hello, my name is _______________________, and I am part of a team of researchers from the Urban 

Institute that is working on a study for HUD of the Veteran Homelessness Prevention Demonstration 

(VHPD). Thank you for agreeing to meet today. I’m going to start the interview by providing an overview 

of the study, then I will review our informed consent procedures:

• The study focuses on how communities across the country have implemented VHPD. 

• We have questions about program design, implementation, and outcomes.

Table C.1

Potential Respondents (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 91

Appendix C

• The information collected during the study will be used to help inform the development of 

future prevention programs. 

• This is your chance to convey your experiences and opinions to HUD.

• Your participation in this interview is voluntary and you can choose not to answer any questions.

• All the information you provide will be confidential, and we will not share it with anyone except 

for research staff working on the study.

• We will not quote you by name in project case studies or reports. Should HUD request to see 

any of our notes from our interviews, we would remove all personally identifying information to 

prevent those outside the research team from knowing who provided the information. 

• We will be drafting a memo summarizing findings from our visits to all five sites, and your 

answers contribute to the information that goes into the grantee memo. 

• Everyone working on the research team has signed a confidentiality form agreeing to these 

terms. 

• Do you have any questions?

Okay, let’s get started.

Grantee/Subgrantee Module

1. AGENCY ROLE IN VHPD 

• Please describe your agency’s role in VHPD.

• What type of agency are you?

• What types of services do you provide?

• What geographic area does your agency serve?

• Where does your agency fit in the community?

• Is your agency active in the local ten-year plan or CoC?

2. PATHWAYS TO ENROLLMENT IN VHPD

• How do VHPD participants enter the program? 

• Do you do outreach to recruit participants into VHPD? If so, please describe. Are any specific 

populations (e.g., OEF/OIF, females, families) being targeted during this outreach?

• Are there agencies in the community that refer eligible participants to the program? If so, please 

describe the referral process.

3. INTAKE: SCREENING AND ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION

• What are the income eligibility requirements for VHPD?

• Are there other eligibility requirements for VHPD?

• How do you decide that the household would be homeless “but for this assistance?” 
92 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix C

• Is there a formal screening process for households applying for VHPD? Please describe.

• I’ve obtained your screening form ahead of time and would like to review it with you. Can you 

tell me how it works? 

[Note to interviewer: Review the screening form with respondent.]

• What types of information are collected?

• Is this a common screening form used by all VHPD providers? 

• Of all households screened, about what proportion are found eligible?

4. ASSESSMENT FOR PREVENTION ASSISTANCE

• Is there an assessment process that households applying for VHPD must go through? 

• I’ve obtained your assessment form ahead of time and would like to review it with you. Can you 

tell me how it works? 

[Note to interviewer: Review the assessment form with respondent.]

• How do you use the assessment form? (e.g., to decide final eligibility, to assess needs and match 

services, for ongoing case management?)

5. PREVENTION ASSISTANCE: TYPES AND LEVELS OF ASSISTANCE

• What types of financial assistance does your agency offer? 

• If providing ongoing rental assistance: how is the rental assistance structured? 

͹ How does your agency decide on the amount of rental assistance each household will 

get, and for how long? 

͹ What expectations are households given for what they may ultimately receive? 

͹ Is it the same for all target populations? If not, what is different?

• What types of supportive services does your agency offer?

͹ Do you provide these services or make referrals? If referrals, please describe.

• If providing case management: how is the case management structured?

͹ How are case management visits conducted (i.e., telephone, home visits, office visits?)

͹ How long and frequent are case manager meetings with VHPD prevention clients? 

͹ For how many months does your agency provide case management?

͹ Is case management offered after the housing subsidy ends? 

͹ Are case management services the same for all target populations? If not, what’s 

different?

͹ How do you decide which clients receive case management?

• What challenges have you experienced in serving veterans for this program? 

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 93

Appendix C

• Engaging veterans with mental health issues (PTSD, TBI, etc.)

• Dishonorable discharge

• VA benefits backlog

6. DATA ENTRY AND TRACKING

• Is your agency entering VHPD into HMIS?

• What types of information does your agency collect about VHPD and enter into HMIS?

• HUD-required HPRP data elements?

• Other data elements?

• Information from screening?

• Information from assessment?

• Information from financial services or case management activities?

• Information on participants who apply but do not receive VHPD?

7. LOCAL PARTNERS AND SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

• Please tell me about your VHPD partners.

͹ How is the local VA involved?

• Describe your partnership with the VA. Is it new? How strong is it? Will it last?

• Has this partnership changed your approach to preventing homelessness?

• Has it changed your approach in other ways?

͹ How is the local DOL involved?

• Describe your partnership with the DOL. Is it new? How strong is it? Will it last? Has 

the relationship improved since the last time we talked? How so? 

• Has this partnership changed your approach to preventing homelessness?

• Has it changed your approach in other ways?

͹ Are there other community partners?

• Describe your partnership with the community partner. Is it new? How strong is it? 

Will it last?

• Has this partnership changed your approach to preventing homelessness?

• Has it changed your approach in other ways?

8. IMPLEMENTATION

• When did you begin the program?

• About how many participants have enrolled so far?

• How many have you deemed ineligible so far?

• How effective do you think VHPD has been in preventing homelessness?
94 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix C

• Please describe some of the implementation challenges you encountered during early 

implementation. What did you do, if anything, to overcome those challenges?

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Uneven case management (across subgrantees if applicable)

• Serving large service areas

• Grantee oversight of subgrantees (if applicable)

• HMIS data entry, management, and quality

• Please describe some of your early implementation successes.

• What types of technical assistance from HUD would be helpful?

VA Module

1. ABOUT THE AGENCY

• Please tell me about your agency.

• What types of services do you provide?

2. AGENCY ROLE IN VHPD 

• Please describe your agency’s role in VHPD.

• What geographic area does your agency serve?

• What types of services do you provide to VHPD participants?

• What challenges have you experienced in serving veterans for this program? 

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Engaging veterans with mental health issues (PTSD, TBI, etc.)

• Dishonorable discharge

• VA benefits backlog

• Does your agency enter VHPD data into HMIS?

3. AGENCY ROLE IN COMMUNITY

• Where does your agency fit in the community?

• Is your agency involved in the CoC?

• Is your agency involved in the local ten-year planning efforts?

4. PARTNERSHIP WITH GRANTEE/SUBGRANTEE AND HOMELESSNESS PROVIDER COMMUNITY

• Please describe your partnership with the VHPD grantee/subgrantee. Is it new? Is it strong? Will 

it last?
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 95

Appendix C

• Has your involvement in VHPD changed your approach in addressing the needs of homeless 

veterans?

5. IMPLEMENTATION

• How effective do you think VHPD has been in preventing homelessness?

• Please describe some of the implementation challenges you encountered during early 

implementation. What did you do, if anything, to overcome those challenges?

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Uneven case management (across subgrantees if applicable)

• Serving large service areas

• Grantee oversight of subgrantees (if applicable)

• Please describe some of your early implementation successes.

• What types of technical assistance from HUD would be helpful?

DOL Module

1. ABOUT THE AGENCY

• Please tell me about your agency.

• What type of services do you provide?

2. AGENCY ROLE IN VHPD 

• Please describe your agency’s role in VHPD.

• What geographic area does your agency serve?

• What types of services do you provide to VHPD participants?

• What challenges have you experienced in serving veterans for this program? 

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Engaging veterans with mental health issues (PTSD, TBI, etc.)

• Dishonorable discharge

• VA benefits backlog

• Does your agency enter VHPD data into HMIS?

3. AGENCY ROLE IN COMMUNITY

• Where does your agency fit in the community?

• Is your agency involved in the CoC?

• Is your agency involved in the local ten-year planning efforts?
96 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix C

4. PARTNERSHIP WITH GRANTEE/SUBGRANTEE AND HOMELESSNESS PROVIDER COMMUNITY

• Please describe your partnership with the VHPD grantee/subgrantee. Is it new? Is it strong? Will 

it last?

• Has your involvement in VHPD changed your approach in serving the homeless population?

5. IMPLEMENTATION

• How effective do you think VHPD has been in preventing homelessness?

• Please describe some of the implementation challenges you encountered during early 

implementation. What did you do, if anything, to overcome those challenges?

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Uneven case management (across subgrantees if applicable)

• Serving large service areas

• Grantee oversight of subgrantees (if applicable)

• Please describe some of your early implementation successes.

• What types of technical assistance from HUD would be helpful?

HMIS Administrator Module

1. LOCAL HMIS SYSTEM

• Please describe the local HMIS system.

͹ Is it an “open” or “closed” system?

͹ What type of software do you use?

͹ What is the coverage rate for shelters and transitional housing?

͹ What is the bed coverage rate?

2. HMIS ENTRY FOR VHPD

• What types of information do grantees/subgrantees collect about VHPD and enter into HMIS?

• HUD-required HPRP data elements?

• Other data elements?

• Information from screening?

• Information from assessment?

• Information from financial services or case management activities?

• Information on participants who apply but do not receive VHPD?
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 97

Appendix C

3. HMIS IMPLEMENTATION

• How successful is local HMIS implementation for VHPD?

• Are all grantees and subgrantees reporting into the system?

• Is the VA reporting into the system? The DOL?

• What are some of the biggest challenges?

• What are some of the biggest successes?

• What types of technical assistance could HUD provide to help?

CoC Module

1. ABOUT THE AGENCY

• Please tell me about your CoC.

• What type of services do you provide?

• Does your CoC manage the HMIS?

2. AGENCY ROLE IN VHPD 

• Please describe your CoC’s role in VHPD.

• What geographic area does your CoC serve?

• What types of services do you provide to VHPD participants?

• What challenges have you experienced in serving veterans for this program? 

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Engaging veterans with mental health issues (PTSD, TBI, etc.)

• Dishonorable discharge

• VA benefits backlog

• Does your CoC enter VHPD data into HMIS?

3. AGENCY ROLE IN COMMUNITY

• Where does your CoC fit in the community?

• What types of programs operate within the CoC (e.g., shelter, transitional housing, etc.)?

• Is your CoC involved in the local ten-year planning efforts?

4. PARTNERSHIP WITH GRANTEE/SUBGRANTEE AND HOMELESSNESS PROVIDER COMMUNITY

• Please describe your partnership with the VHPD grantee/subgrantee. Is it new? Is it strong? Will 

it last?

• Has your involvement in VHPD changed your approach to ending homelessness?
98 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix C

5. IMPLEMENTATION

• How effective do you think VHPD has been in preventing homelessness?

• Please describe some of the implementation challenges encountered during early 

implementation. 

͹ Probe on challenges identified in Interim Report: 

• Uneven case management (across subgrantees if applicable)

• Serving large service areas

• Grantee oversight of subgrantees (if applicable)

• Please describe early implementation successes.

• What types of technical assistance from HUD would be helpful?
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 99

Appendix D

Appendix D. Round 2 Key Informant 

Interview Instrument

Interview Goals

✓ Understand how the site conducts outreach and how participants enter the program.

✓ Understand how the site is targeting VHPD and what the program eligibility requirements are 

beyond HUD guidelines. Understand the screening and assessment process.

✓ Understand how the site defines “imminent risk” of homelessness (e.g., follows the “but for this 

assistance the household would be homeless” criterion). 

✓ Understand what types of housing subsidies and services grantees/subgrantees provide 

participants.

✓ Understand what types of data the community is tracking and how they are using them.

✓ Understand how well the implementation is going in the community.

Interview Introduction

Hello, my name is _______________________, and I am part of a team of researchers from the Urban 

Institute that is working on a study for HUD of the Veteran Homelessness Prevention Demonstration 

(VHPD). Thank you for agreeing to meet today. I’m going to start the interview by providing an overview 

of the study, then I will review our informed consent procedures:

• The study focuses on how communities across the country have implemented VHPD. 

• We have questions about program design, implementation, and outcomes.

• The information collected during the study will be used to help inform the development of 

future prevention programs. 

• This is your chance to convey your experiences and opinions to HUD.

• Your participation in this interview is voluntary and you can choose not to answer any questions.

• All the information you provide will be confidential, and we will not share it with anyone except 

for research staff working on the study.

• We will not quote you by name in project case studies or reports. Should HUD request to see 

any of our notes from our interviews, we would remove all personally identifying information to 

prevent those outside the research team from knowing who provided the information. 

• We will be drafting a memo summarizing findings from our visits to all five sites, and your 

answers contribute to the information that goes into the grantee memo. 

• Everyone working on the research team has signed a confidentiality form agreeing to these 

terms. 

• Do you have any questions?
100 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix D

Okay, let’s get started.

1. What have been some of your successes?

2. What have been some of your challenges?

3. How has collaboration changed? 

4. How do veterans differ from nonveterans? 

a. There are veterans quite young that are coming out as well as women veterans and 

veterans with families. What are the differences in serving those groups?

5. If you could change the program, how would you change it? 

6. How do you see this program linking to your community’s plan to end homelessness? 

7. Is there a plan for how to fill the gap after VHPD winds down? 
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 101

Appendix E

Appendix E. Focus Group Guide

VHPD Study Focus Group Protocol

Introduction

Welcome and thank you for coming. 

Let me start by thanking you for your service to our country. 

We asked you all here today to participate in this focus group to discuss your experiences with the 

Veteran Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD). We are collecting this information as part of a 

study funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The focus group will last 

about an hour and a half. At the end of the session, you will receive $50 as a token of our appreciation 

for your participation. 

During the session, I will be asking questions about your military experience, your thoughts on VHPD, 

and services that might be helpful to you in the future. This is a discussion, not a survey, so you can feel 

free to talk amongst yourselves and respond to what others are saying. Please make sure to be respectful 

of other people’s opinions. Occasionally I will jump in to moderate the conversation. Please note that 

you do not have to answer all of the questions. Importantly, we ask everyone here today to respect 

people’s privacy. Although we cannot control what people say after they leave, what is said in the room 

should stay in the room. We will only use first names for today’s discussion, and you do not have to use 

your real name if you prefer. At the end of the session, we will type up the notes and make transcripts of 

the discussion. Should HUD request to see any of our notes or transcripts, we will remove all personally 

identifying information to prevent those outside the research team from knowing who provided the 

information. The information will also be included in a report to HUD. The information you provide will 

be kept confidential and only used for this study to the extent allowed by the Privacy Act of 1974. This 

is a chance, however, to get your voice heard, since HUD will use this information to help improve the 

VHPD program and other homeless prevention programs like it. 

Any questions about the study, or why we are here for this focus group?

Before we go on, I need everyone to read the consent form in front of you and, if you agree with the 

terms, go ahead and sign it. Let me review the terms. 

[Moderator should read consent form.]

Does anyone have questions?

Opening

• First, I’d like to start with some introductions. Please tell us your first name or another name 

you’d prefer to use for this discussion, where you served, and how long you’ve been home since 

your last tour of duty. 
102 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix E

Reasons for Housing Instability and Pathways to VHPD 

• Please describe some of the big challenges you faced when returning from serving your tour 

of duty. [Probe for adjusting to family life, financial trouble, finding employment, finding or 

maintaining housing.]

[The following are probes that will be used for focus groups with particular subgroups, if it is possible 

to construct such groups:]

͹ Specific probe for veterans with families only: Were there challenges that were related 

to you specifically because you have children to take care of?

͹ Specific probe for women: Were there challenges that were related to you specifically 

because you are women? 

͹ Specific probe for veterans of OEF/OIF/OND: How do you think your experiences as an 

OEF/OIF veteran differed from those who served before you in the Vietnam War? 

• When did your housing struggles start? 

͹ [Probe for immediately on return or sometime after.]

• What led you to seek help? [Probe for loss of a job or housing, etc.]

• How did you hear about VHPD?

• When programs are trying to inform veterans about services like VHPD, what are good ways for 

them to reach out to veterans?

Experiences with VHPD, Services Received, and Effectiveness of Those Services

• What are some of your overall impressions of the VHPD program? 

• Has VHPD helped you access additional services through the VA and the Department of Labor/

Workforce Center? If so, how and what types of services?

• What services did you get from the [name of VHPD grantee organization]? How helpful were 

they? 

• How has your situation changed since starting the VHPD program? 

͹ Probe for housing security, job skills/employment, mental and physical health, benefit 

receipt, financial situation, education. 

• Looking back, which aspects of VHPD do you think have been most helpful in getting you to this 

point?

͹ Probe: financial assistance, case management, referrals

͹ For OEF/OIF/OND only: How do you think the needs of OIF/OEF/OND veterans differ 

from veterans from previous wars?

• Did you experience any challenges working with the program? If so could you describe them? 

Prospects for the Future

• What types of services would be helpful to you in the future?

• How do you think the VHPD program will affect your housing stability long-term?
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 103

Appendix F

Appendix F. Baseline Survey Methods

Enrollment for the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) evaluation began on 

September 11, 2012, and ended October 7, 2013. Veterans were recruited for the study by local VHPD 

case managers at the time of intake. The research team created training and outreach materials to help 

case managers explain the study and administer the informed consent form. Conference calls were also 

held with local program staff to train them on recruitment procedures. VHPD program staff submitted 

consent forms with veterans’ contact information to the survey firm, Silber & Associates, on a weekly 

basis via 2-day tracked Federal Express packages. The survey interviewing staff began to contact veterans 

for the study as soon as their consent form was received by Silber & Associates. The baseline survey 

was conducted with veterans over the telephone by using computer-assisted telephone interviewing 

technology. 

The baseline survey took about 30 minutes to complete and was designed to measure various baseline 

characteristics to provide insight into veterans’ current status across various demographic and housing 

status measures at intake. The research team also looked at various VHPD outcome measures on which 

researchers anticipated VHPD services would have an effect. The topics covered in the baseline survey 

included the following:

• Military history—date of discharge, discharge status, exposure to combat, number of 

deployments, challenges reintegrating into civilian life, respondent’s perception of impact of 

military experiences on housing situation.

• Housing status—nature of current housing, housing stability, housing costs, brief homeless 

history.

• Household composition.

• Education and training—highest level of education or training completed, current involvement in 

educational programming.

• Income level, sources, and noncash benefits for head of household and all other adults in the 

household.

• Employment, current and brief history; history and reasons for any unemployment, disabilities 

that prevented veterans from working.

• Housing costs—rent and mortgage payment amounts, utilities, government housing assistance.

• Family health and well-being, including disabilities, mental, emotional, and/or substance use 

problems.

• Client demographics—race, age, marital status.

The full baseline survey instrument is in appendix G. 

Please note that appendix G (baseline survey instrument) and appendix I (follow-up survey instrument) 

reproduce screen shots of the survey as it appeared to interviewers as they administered the survey. 

Most of the survey items are blank, but some of the survey items show test responses that were entered 

for training purposes. These responses were not entered by study respondents.
104 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 105

Appendix G

Appendix G. Baseline Survey Instrument

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[2/27/2013 9:07:25 AM]

RID012/bohne

1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

These questions are about your situation now that you have begun to participate in the Veterans Homeless Prevention

Demonstration Project. Most of my questions are yes/no-type questions.

1. I’m going to be asking you questions that refer to your local VHPD program. These questions will work best if I can use the

names that you call the agencies that are part of the program.

Could you please tell me what you call:

a. The VA medical center where you may get health care 

b. The program that provides rent assistance and other help with housing and benefits

c. The Worksource Center that you may use for help finding work or improving your job situation

2. What is the address where you are currently living?

Street

City State Zip code

3. Is that the address we should use to send you the $30 we will pay you for your participation in this interview?

Yes No

3a. If no, to what address should we send payment

Street

City State Zip code

4 When were you discharged from the military, Reserves, or National Guard?

Specify --> Month: - Year:

Don't know

Refused

-
106 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[2/27/2013 9:15:27 AM]

RID012/bohne

1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION A: Housing at VHPD Program

Entry and Housing History

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I'd like to ask you a few questions first about your living situation.

A1 Are you currently living in your own place? I mean a house or apartment that's in your name or your partner's.

Yes No Don't know Refused

A1a Do you own that place, or do you rent it?

Own it Rent it Don't know Refused
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION A: Housing at VHPD Program

Entry and Housing History

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I'd like to ask you a few questions first about your living situation.

A1 Are you currently living in your own place? I mean a house or apartment that's in your name or your partner's.

Yes No Don't know Refused

A2 Is it someone else’s place, for instance, the place of your parents, other relatives, or friends?

Yes No Don't know Refused
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4 SECTION A: Housing at VHPD Program

Entry and Housing History

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

A3 Could you tell me, then, which one of the following best describes your living situation now? I’ll start reading some

possibilities—stop me when I read the one that best describes your currently living situtation.

[INTERVIEWER: READ OPTIONS UNTIL RESPONDENT INDICATES THE RIGHT ONE, AND MARK THAT ANSWER]

An emergency shelter or domestic violence shelter

A voucher hotel or motel (paid for by a homeless or government program)

Housing paid for by the VA’s Grant & Per Diem program

A transitional housing program

Anywhere not meant for habitation—e.g., a car, truck, RV, or trailer; an abandoned building, in parks, on the streets, in

camping grounds, anywhere outside

A hotel or motel you paid for yourself

A VA residential drug or alcohol treatment program—only for vets

A residential drug or alcohol treatment program for anyone—not just for vets

A VA hospital

Any other hospital—i.e., not a hospital run by the VA

Jail or prison

A permanent housing program for people with disabilities who have been homeless, with services and caseworkers to

help you keep your housing

OTHER --> SPECIFY:

Don't Know

Refused
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4 SECTION A: Housing at VHPD Program

Entry and Housing History

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

A4 How long have you been living there?

Less than 1 month

1 to 3 months

4 to 6 months

7 to 12 months

1 year or more

Don't Know

Refused

A9 How would you describe the condition of your current house, apartment, or living space? Would you say it was in excellent,

good, fair, or poor condition?

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Don't Know

Refused

A18 Including the place you are living now, how many different places have you lived after you left the military?

1 place-just the place I am living now

2 places

3 places

4 places

5 or more places

Don't Know

Refused

A18a Besides the place you are living now, since you left the military did you live or stay... 

[READ RESPONSES AND MARK “YES” OR “NO” FOR ALL THAT APPLY.]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

A18a1 In my own place (lease was in your name or you owned it)

A18a2 In someone else’s place (relative, partner, or friend)

A18a3 In a shelter for homeless people/victims of domestic violence

A18a4 In my car/truck, abandoned building, somewhere outside, or a

place not meant for habitation

A18a5 In a hospital treatment program, jail, prison, other institution

A18a6 Some other type of place
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4 SECTION A: Housing at VHPD Program

Entry and Housing History

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

A19 Have you ever been homeless—that is, living or sleeping in an emergency shelter, transitional housing program, your car or

truck, anywhere outside, or in another place not meant for human habitation.

Yes No Don't know Refused

A20 How often have you been homeless in your lifetime—that is, living or sleeping in an emergency shelter, transitional housing

program, your car or truck, anywhere outside, or in another place not meant for human habitation?

Once

Twice

Three times

Four or more times

Don't Know

Refused

A21 How old were you the first time you were homeless? [INTERVIEWER if R uncertain, read “by homeless, I mean living or

sleeping in an emergency shelter, transitional housing program, your car or truck, anywhere outside, or in another place not

meant for human habitation]

Eleven or younger

12-15

16-17

18-19

20-24

25-34

35 or older

Don't Know

Refused

A22 Adding up all the times you've been homeless, would you say you have been homeless for at least 12 months in your

lifetime?

Yes No Don't know Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 111

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SECTION B: Household Composition 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

Now I’d like to ask you some questions about the people you have lived or stayed with after you left the military.

B4 Please tell me all the people you live with now. [Mark all that apply]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

B4a You live by yourself, no one else lives with you

B4b

Your children (if asked, “including someone else’s children you were

responsible for”) 

How Many?

B4c

Someone else’s children (not your responsibility) 

How Many?

B4d Your spouse

B4e Your boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner

B4f Your parent(s) or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s parent(s)

B4g Other relatives of yours or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s

B4h Friends

B4i Roommates

B4j Lodger(s), Boarder(s), anyone else

B4k How many adults and how many children would that be, in total, counting yourself?

Number of adults (18 and older):

Number of children (17 or younger):

2

2

1

1
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SECTION B: Household Composition 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

B6 Thinking about the children who live with you now and for whom you have responsibility, how many of them are ...

B6a Aged 0 (newborn) through 5?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused

B6b Aged 6 through 17?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused

B6c Adults—that is, aged 18 or older?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused
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Section D: Education and Training 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

D1 At the time you began to fill out your application for , what was the highest level of education you had completed?

8th grade or lesser

9th, 10th, or 11th grade, did not complete GED or get high school diploma

Completed GED

High School Diploma

Some college or a 2-year degree

Finished 4-year degree

Master's degree or equivalent

Other

Don't Know

Refused

D3 At the time you began to fill out your application for , did you have any type of vocational license or certification from a

training or educational program?

Yes No Don't know Refused

D4 Are you now participating in any additional schooling or training program that (has) lasted at least two weeks that was

designed to help you find a job, improve your job skills, or learn a new job?

[INTERVIEWER: If R is usually in school or training but at the time of the interview is not-e.g. because no summer school is

offered-record answer as yes]

Yes No Don't know Refused
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Section D: Education and Training 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

D5 What kind of schooling or training is that? [MARK ALL THAT APPLY]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D5a Regular schooling leading to a degree (AA, BA, etc.)

D5b Regular schooling leading to a vocational or professional license or

certification

D5c General equivalency diploma (GED)

D5d English as a second language (ESL)

D5e Computer training

D5f Apprenticeship / on-the-job training

D5g Vocational rehabilitation

D5h Other

D6 Did _________________ help you get that schooling / training? [Insert each program name in turn]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D6a

D6b

D6c

D6d Other agency

D7 Is the Post 9/11 GI Bill helping to pay your tuition and/or other school costs?

Yes No Don't know Refused

Set to 'No'
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E1 Have you or anyone in your household received any income from any source in past 30 days?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E2 In the past 30 days, have you or anyone in your household received any income from ...?

Yes No Don't

Know Refuse

E2a Income from a job

E2b Unemployment Insurance

E2c Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

E2d Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)

E2e Veterans pension/payment from the VA

E2f Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (or CalWorks in

California)

E2h Money from family or friends

Set to 'No'
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E3 In the past 30 days, did the Post 9/11 GI Bill, an education or training allowance from the VA, or a scholarship or grant

provide you with income or tuition that you could use to cover expenses?

Yes Usually yes, but no classes right now No Don't know Refused

E4b What was your household's total income in the past 30 days?

Amount Per Month --> .00

Don't know

Refused

500
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E3 In the past 30 days, did the Post 9/11 GI Bill, an education or training allowance from the VA, or a scholarship or grant

provide you with income or tuition that you could use to cover expenses?

Yes Usually yes, but no classes right now No Don't know Refused

E4b What was your household's total income in the past 30 days?

Amount Per Month --> .00

Don't know

Refused

E4b1 Can you give me range? Was your total household income last month:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't Know

Refused

500
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E5 In the past 30 days, did you or anyone in your household receive (or are you on) any of the following benefits:

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E5a Food Stamps (officially called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program (SNAP))

E5b Medicaid health insurance program (Medi-Cal for San Diego)

E5c Medicare health insurance program

E5d Children’s Health Insurance Program (in Washington and Texas);

KidCare (in Florida); Child Health Plus (in New York); Healthy

Families Program (in California)

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 119

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E6 Did _________________ help you access those benefits? [Insert each program name in turn]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E6a

E6b

E6c

E6d Another agency

Now I’d like to ask a few questions about any jobs you may have.

E7 Last week, did you do any work for pay?

Yes No Don't know Refused
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:1,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E6 Did _________________ help you access those benefits? [Insert each program name in turn]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E6a

E6b

E6c

E6d Another agency

Now I’d like to ask a few questions about any jobs you may have.

E7 Last week, did you do any work for pay?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E8 Have you been doing anything to find work during the past four weeks?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E9 What is the main reason that you did not work for pay or look for work last week? 

[INTERVIEWER: Allow R to respond spontaneously and Mark ONLY ONE response. If R mentions multiple response options,

INTERVIEWER repeat response options that the R indicated “Would that be... (response A, response B, response C)? And ask

them to choose the main reason]

Unable to work because of housing problems

Unable to work for health reasons related to military service

Unable to work for health reasons unrelated to military service

Has job but temporarily absent/seasonal work

Couldn’t find any work

Couldn’t find a job that pays enough

Child care problems

Family responsibilities

In school or other training

Waiting for a new job to begin

Had enough money from other sources

Retired

Disabled

Other (specify): 

Don't know

Refused
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:1,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E12b After you left the military, how much of the time have you had a job or done some work for pay?

All or almost all of the time

Most of the time

About half of the time

Some of the time

Almost none or none of the time

Don't know

Refused

E14 Were you working for pay at the time you began filling out your application for ?

Yes No Don't know Refused
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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:4

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

E15a About how long have you been working at that job?

Specify --> Number of months: Number of years:

Don't know

Refused

E15b Did _________________ help you get that job? [Insert each program name in turn, record answer]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E15b1

E15b2

E15b3

E15b4 Another agency

E17 How many hours per week do you usually work at your main job? By main job, I mean the one at which you usually work

the most hours.

Specify --> Number of hours: -

Don't know

Refused

E20 after you left the military, how much of the time have you had a job or done some work for pay?

All or almost all of the time

Most of the time

About half of the time

Some of the time

Almost none or none of the time

Don't know

Refused

-
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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

F2 What is the total rent or mortgage on the place you are staying—the rent on the lease or the monthly mortgage payment,

not just what you and your household pay?

Per Month: $ .00 (Four digits rounded to dollar; Expected range $1 - 3000)

Don't know

Refused

F2a Can you give me a range? Is the full monthly rent or mortgage payment:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't know

Refused

F3 In the month just past, what did you and your family pay in rent or for your mortgage. Tell me just the amount you and

your family paid without including any outside help you got from a government agency or someone helping you.

Per Month: $ .00 (Four digits rounded to dollar; Expected range $1 - 3000)

Don't know

Refused

F3a Can you give me a range? Is your own family’s monthly rent or mortgage payment:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't know

Refused
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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

F4 Do you receive any assistance to pay rent from the government or from some other program? 

[INTERVIEWER— this refers to any government program that might provide rental assistance, not just the VHPD provider]

Yes No Don't know Refused

F8 In the last 12 months, has there been a time when you were unable to pay rent or mortgage? [INTERVIEWER—if asked,

clarify—“by two weeks after it was due ”]

Yes No Don't know Refused

F8a How often did this happen?

Once

Twice

Three or more times

Don't know

Refused
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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

F10 Do you pay for any utilities that are not included as part of the rent or mortgage that you pay? By utilities, I mean electricity,

heating oil, gas or propane, and water, but NOT telephone and cable services.

Yes No Don't know Refused

F12 In the last 12 months, has there been a time when you were unable to pay utility bills—that is, electricity, heating oil, gas or

propane, and water, but NOT telephone and cable services. 

[INTERVIEWER—if asked, clarify—“by two weeks after it was due”]

Yes No Don't know Refused

F12a How often did this happen?

Once

Twice

Three or more times

Don't know

Refused
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SECTION H: Family Health and Well-Being 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

H1 Overall, how would you rate your health during the past month (that is the past 30 days)?

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Fair

Poor

Don't Know

Refused

H2 Please tell me about any health problems you may be experiencing at this time. 

[INTERVIEWER: Record an answer for each health subquestion, even if it is Don't Know or Refused]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

H2a Serious depression, anxiety, and/or tension

H2b Being easily startled, not being able to relax your guard

H2c Trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering

H2d Trouble controlling anger or violent behavoir

H2e Symptons of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

H2f Trouble with use of alchohol or drugs

H2g Problems dealing with the results of head injury/traumatic brain

injury (TBI)

H2h Experiencing serious thoughts of suicide

H2i Other

H3 Has _________________ been helping you with any of these health problems? [Insert each program name]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

H3a

H3b

H3c

H3d Another agency

H4 Do you get health care from the VA or another source that serves veterans or active military personnel?

Yes No Don't know Refused

H4a Do you have any non-military health insurance that pays for health care when you need it?

Yes No Don't know Refused

Set to 'No'
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION I: Veteran Status/Military

Experience

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I1 Have you ever been on active-duty military services in the Armed Forces of the United States or ever been in the United

States military Reserves or the National Guard? Active duty does not include training in the reserves or National Guard.

Yes, on active duty in the Armed Forces of the US in the past, but not now

Yes, active duty, in the Reserves or National Guard only

No

Don't Know

Refused

I3 Did you serve in the theatre of operations for any of the following military conflicts? That is, did you serve within the

geographic proximity of the military conflict. We’ll ask next if you were exposed to conflict itself.

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

I3a World War II

I3b Korean War

I3c Vietnam War

I3d Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

I3e Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom)

I3f Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom)

I3g Iraq (Operation New Dawn)

I3h Other peace-keeping operations or military interventions (such as

Lebanon, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo)

Set to 'No'
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION I: Veteran Status/Military

Experience

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I4 During your military service, were you ever in or exposed to combat?

Yes No Don't know Refused

I4a Were you ever exposed to unfriendly or friendly fire?

Yes, a lot

Yes, a little

No

Don't Know

Refused

I4b During your military service, how many times were you deployed to serve in combat?

0-1 deployments

2-3 deployments

More than 3 deployments

Don't Know

Refused

I5 In total, how many years of active duty military service did you serve?

Specify --> Number of years:

Don't know

Refused

I6 When you were discharged from military service, did you receive:

An honorable discharge

A general discharge, under honorable conditions

A general discharge, under other than honorable conditions

A bad conduct discharge

A dishonorable discharge

An uncharacterized or other discharge

Don't Know

Refused
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1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION I: Veteran Status/Military

Experience

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I7 I'm going to read a list of possible challenges you faced when re-entering civilian life after you left the military. For each one,

tell me yes or no. 

[INSERT EACH OPTION BELOW IN TURN]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

I7a Finding a job, or getting your old job back

I7b Not being able to adjust to working in civilian jobs

I7c Finding an affordable place to live

I7d Dealing with physical illnesses and conditions

I7e Getting through physical therapy/rehabilitation

I7f Getting used to my new physical limitations

I7g Letting down my guard, learning to relate to the world without

constant vigilance / expectation of danger

I7h Dealing with emotional problems

I7i Getting used to living with my family again

I7j Finding my place—seemed like there was no place for me any more, I

couldn’t reconnect

I7k Lack of social support

I7l Something else SPECIFY -->

I7m No challenges, haven’t had any problems
130 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[2/27/2013 12:45:08 PM]

RID012/bohne

1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1 SECTION I: Veteran Status/Military

Experience

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

I8 After leaving the military, what period of time did you find the hardest to get through?

Right after being discharged

About six months to a year after being discharged

More than a year after being discharged

No time was hard, haven’t had any problems

Don't Know

Refused

I9 Has your military service had any impact on your ability to keep housing? In other words, has it increased your housing

troubles, decreased your housing troubles, or had no effect?

Increased my chances of losing my housing

Had no effect

Decreased my chances of losing my housing

Don't Know

Refused

I9a In what ways do you think your military experience might have decreased your chances of losing your

housing?
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 131

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

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RID012/bohne

SECTION J: Demographics 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

J1 Is your ethnic background Hispanic or Latino?

Hispanic or Latino, or

Not Hispanic or Latino?

Don't Know

Refused

J2 What is your race? Do you think of yourself as: [INTERVIEWER: Mark all that apply]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

List Below

J2a If volunteered: Multiracial

J2b Alaska Native or American Indian

J2c Asian

J2d Black or African American

J2e Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or

J2f White

J2g Other: 

Don't Know

Refused

J3 INTERVIEWER: Record Respondent's Gender:

Male

Female

Don't Know

Refused

J4 What is your Date of Birth / Age?

Date of Birth Month: - Day: Year:

Age -->

Don't Know

Refused

J5 What is your marital status?

Now Married

Widowed

Divorced

Separated

Never Married

Set to 'No'

-
132 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[2/27/2013 12:50:50 PM]

Don't Know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 133

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

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SECTION K: Contact Information 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

Thank you very much for your time today. To help us be able to get back in touch with you in the future, we would like to collect

the names, telephone numbers and addresses of three people who will always know how to reach you. Please tell me about people

who live at different addresses. This information will be kept strictly confidential and will only be used if we are unable to contact

you.

K1 Could you tell us the name of someone who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused
134 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

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RID012/bohne

SECTION K: Contact Information 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

CONTACT #1:

K2 What is his/her first name? 

K2a What is his/her middle name?

K2b What is his/her last name?

K2c Does his/her name have a suffix?

K3 What is (his/her) street address? 

K3a Is there a complex/building name?

K3b Is there an apartment number?

K3c In what city?

K3d In what state?

K3e What is the zip code?

K4 What is (his/her) home phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K5 What is (his/her) cell phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K6 What is (his/her) email address? 

K7 What is (his/her) relationship to you?

Friend

Relative

Other -->

Don't Know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 135

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

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RID012/bohne

SECTION K: Contact Information 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

CONTACT #2:

K8 Could you tell us the name of a second person who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you?

Yes No Don't know Refused
136 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

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RID012/bohne

SECTION K: Contact Information 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

CONTACT #2:

K8 Could you tell us the name of a second person who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you?

Yes No Don't know Refused

K9 What is his/her first name? 

K9a What is his/her middle name?

K9b What is his/her last name?

K9c Does his/her name have a suffix?

K10 What is (his/her) street address? 

K10a Is there a complex/building name?

K10b Is there an apartment number?

K10c In what city?

K10d In what state?

K10e What is the zip code?

K11 What is (his/her) home phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K12 What is (his/her) cell phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K13 What is (his/her) email address? 

K14 What is (his/her) relationship to you?

Friend

Relative

Other -->

Don't Know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 137

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[2/27/2013 12:57:50 PM]

RID012/bohne

SECTION K: Contact Information 1:-1,2:2,3:1,4:2,5:1

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

CONTACT #3:

K15 Could you tell us the name of a third person who does not live with you and will always know how to contact you?

Yes No Don't know Refused

K16 What is his/her first name? 

K16a What is his/her middle name?

K16b What is his/her last name?

K16c Does his/her name have a suffix?

K17 What is (his/her) street address? 

K17a Is there a complex/building name?

K17b Is there an apartment number?

K17c In what city?

K17d In what state?

K17e What is the zip code?

K18 What is (his/her) home phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K19 What is (his/her) cell phone number, starting with the area code? 

Telephone # with area code: 

K20 What is (his/her) email address? 

K21 What is (his/her) relationship to you?

Friend

Relative

Other -->

Don't Know

Refused
138 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix G

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

http://fwsun.com:9474/survey.aspx[3/5/2013 3:38:40 PM]

2012 Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

Thank you very much for your time today and for helping us with this study. Your answers

and those of people like you will help shape programs to continue the types of help you have

received from your VHPD program.

Submit Survey
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 139

Appendix H

Appendix H. Follow-Up Survey Methods

Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) study participants who completed the 

baseline survey were contacted after program exit to participate in an outcomes survey. Silber & 

Associates began fielding the outcomes survey 6 months after the first study participant exited the VHPD 

program. The follow-up survey was in the field from mid-July 2013 to early October 2014. 

For the survey firm to track study participants’ program exit dates in close to real time, the research 

team asked the local program case management staff to submit forms for veterans who exited the 

program containing the program entry and exit date information on a weekly basis to Silber & Associates 

for study participants exiting VHPD. These data were tracked so that outreach for each follow-up survey 

began 6 months after the exit date reported by the program staff. 

The follow-up survey included questions on topics similar to the baseline survey to allow for comparisons 

between the two waves. The follow-up survey specifically addressed the following topics:

• Housing status at follow-up and experiences since baseline—nature of current housing, number 

and type of places where the respondent had lived since baseline, homelessness incidence since 

leaving VHPD.

• Household composition at follow-up.

• Education and training after program exit and since baseline, including any vocational training, 

and whether that education or training led to employment opportunities.

• Income level at program exit, sources, and receipt of noncash benefits for anyone in the 

respondent’s household.

• Employment after program exit and since baseline, current and brief history.

• Housing costs—rent and mortgage payment amounts, government housing assistance, and 

whether the respondent ever struggled to pay rent or utilities between baseline and follow-up.

• Respondent mental health issues.

The full follow-up survey instrument is in appendix I. 

Please note that appendix G (baseline survey instrument) and appendix I (follow-up survey instrument) 

reproduce screen shots of the survey as it appeared to interviewers as they administered the survey. 

Most of the survey items are blank, but some of the survey items show test responses that were entered 

for training purposes. These responses were not entered by study respondents.
140 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 141

Appendix I

Appendix I. Follow-Up Survey Instrument 

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:46:27 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

Hi, my name is susan. I’m calling from Silber & Associates, a research firm based in Baltimore. As you’ll recall, we talked on

05/22/2013, just as you were enrolling in the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD), about your situation and

your housing needs. I’m talking to people such as yourself who have participated in a program to help veterans keep their

housing, or get back into housing if they have lost it. We are interested in learning about how things are for you now, and how

VHPD may have helped, or may still be helping, you and your family. 

As before, I’ll be asking you a series of questions about your living situation (housing, who lives with you), income and

employment, housing cost, health and well-being, and anything that may be making it hard at present for you to stay stably

housed. I’ll also be asking you about the VHPD program you participated in, and the ways you think the program has affected

your current situation. 

HUD, the VA, and the Department of Labor, the federal partners sponsoring VHPD, are very interested in helping veterans avoid

homelessness. They hope to learn from your experiences with the VHPD program about the ways they might be able to help

veterans who find themselves in need of help keep their housing. Your participation in this study will help the VA and HUD to

improve programs for veterans like you across the country. Your participation is voluntary; you may stop the interview at any

time. If any question makes you feel uncomfortable, you can refuse to answer that question. The information you provide will be

kept confidential and only used for this study to the extent allowed by the Privacy Act of 1974.. The collection of this information

has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
142 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:47:35 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3, SECTION A: Housing Now and Since

Baseline

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

A1 Are you living in the same place you were when we last talked, which was in 05/22/2013

Yes No Don't know Refused

A2 Have you and your family been living here the whole time since we last talked, which was in 05/22/2013

Yes No Don't know Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 143

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:48:00 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3, SECTION A: Housing Now and Since

Baseline

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

A3 How long have you lived or stayed in the place you are living now?

Less than 1 month

1 to 3 months

4 to 6 months

7 to 12 months

More than 12 months

Don't Know

Refused

A4 Are you currently living in your own place? I mean a house or apartment that's in your name or your partner's.

Yes No Don't know Refused

A5 Is it someone else’s place, for instance, the place of your parents, other relatives, or friends?

Yes No Don't know Refused
144 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:48:26 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3, SECTION A: Housing Now and Since

Baseline

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

A6 Could you tell me, then, which one of the following best describes your living situation now? I’ll start reading some

possibilities—stop me when I read the one where you are living now.

[INTERVIEWER: Start reading options, stop when respondent indicates the right one, and mark that answer]

An emergency shelter or domestic violence shelter

A voucher hotel or motel (paid for by a homeless or government program)

Housing paid for by the VA’s Grant & Per Diem program

A transitional housing program

Anywhere not meant for habitation—e.g., a car, truck, RV, or trailer; an abandoned building, in parks, on the streets, in

camping grounds, anywhere outside

A hotel or motel you paid for yourself

A VA residential drug or alcohol treatment program—only for vets

A residential drug or alcohol treatment program for anyone—not just for vets

A VA hospital

Any other hospital—i.e., not a hospital run by the VA

Jail or prison

A permanent housing program for people with disabilities who have been homeless, with services and caseworkers to

help you keep your housing

OTHER --> SPECIFY:

Don't Know

Refused

A4A6 note
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 145

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:49:41 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3, SECTION A: Housing Now and Since

Baseline

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

A7 Can you tell me about the house, apartment, or living space you live in now. Overall, how would you describe the condition

of your current house, apartment, or living space? Would you say it was in excellent, good, fair, or poor condition?

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Don't Know

Refused

A8 Including the place you lived when we last talked that is, since 05/22/2013 and the place you are living now, how many

different places have you lived?

2 places

3 places

4 places

5 or more places

Don't Know

Refused

A8a Besides the place you are living now, since we last talked, that is since 05/22/2013 did you live or stay ... 

[READ RESPONSES AND MARK “YES” OR “NO” FOR ALL THAT APPLY.]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

A8a1 In my own place (lease was in your name or you owned it)

A8a2 In someone else’s place (relative, partner, or friend)

A8a3 In a shelter for homeless people/victims of domestic violence

A8a4 In my car/truck, abandoned building, somewhere outside, or a place

not meant for habitation

A8a5 In a hospital treatment program, jail, prison, other institution

A8a6 Some other type of place

A7A7 note
146 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:50:01 PM]

SUE001/susan

1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3, SECTION A: Housing Now and Since

Baseline

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

A9 Since you began participating in VHPD, have you received any of the following types of assistance from that program...?

[INTERVIEWER: read each option, record answer]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

A9a Paying off rent arrears—back rent you owed

A9b Paying deposit on different apartment

A9c Paying one or more month’s rent going forward

A9d Helping negotiate with current or new landlord

A9e Paying utility bill arrears—what you owed for old utility bills

A9f Negotiating with utility companies to set up a repayment schedule I

could handle , and/or lower my rate for the future

A9g Paying some or all of the costs of moving into a new place

A9h Helping get furniture and furnishings

A10 Did you get what you needed from the services you’ve just mentioned?

Yes, helped very much

Yes, helped somewhat

No, did not help

Don't Know

Refused

A11 Some people are able to get help during a housing crisis from family, friends, or other people they know in the community.

Did you get any help with rent, utilities, moving costs, or finding a new place from any of these types of people?

[INTERVIEWER: IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT YOU MEAN PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE VHPD PROGRAMS]

Yes No Don't know Refused

A11a Would you say that the help you received from VA Housing1,VA Medical1 or Va Job1 for your housing needs was more useful

than the help you got from your family and friends, less useful, or about equally useful?

More Useful About Equally Useful Less Useful Don't know Refused

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 147

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:50:39 PM]

SUE001/susan

SECTION B: Household Composition 1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

B1 Please tell me all the people you live with now. [Mark all that apply]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

B1a You live by yourself, no one else lives with you

B1b

Your children (if asked, “including someone else’s children you are

responsible for”) 

How Many?

B1c

Someone else’s children (not your responsibility) 

How Many?

B1d Your spouse

B1e Your boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner

B1f Your parent(s) or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s parent(s)

B1g Other relatives of yours or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s

B1h Friends

B1i Roommates

B1j Lodger(s), Boarder(s), anyone else

B1k How many adults and how many children would that be, in total, counting yourself?

Number of adults (18 and older):

Number of children (17 or younger):

B2 Are these the same people as you were living with since we last talked, that is, since 05/22/2013?

Yes No Don't know Refused

1

1

1
148 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

SUE001/susan

SECTION B: Household Composition 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

B3 Thinking about the children who live with you now and for whom you have responsibility, how many of them are ...

B3a Aged 0 (newborn) through 5?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused

B3b Aged 6 through 17?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused

B3c Adults—that is, aged 18 or older?

Number of children?

Don't know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 149

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:52:03 PM]

SUE001/susan

SECTION D: Education and Training 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

D1 Have you completed any school since we last talked---that would be in 05/22/2013. If yes, what grade or school did you

complete and get credit for? 

[MARK ONLY NEW COMPLETIONS. IF NONE, MARK “DID NOT COMPLETE ANY MORE EDUCATION]

Did not complete any more education

GED

High school diploma

Some college or 2-year degree

Finished 4-year degree

Master’s degree or equivalent

Other

Don't Know

Refused

D2 Since we last talked, have you completed a vocational, trade, or business program?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

D3 What kind of schooling or training is that? [MARK ALL THAT APPLY]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D3a Regular schooling leading to a degree (AA, BA, etc.)

D3b Regular schooling leading to a vocational or professional license or

certification

D3c General equivalency diploma (GED)

D3d English as a second language (ESL)

D3e Computer training

D3f Apprenticeship / on-the-job training

D3g Vocational rehabilitation

D3h Other

Set to 'No'
150 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:52:22 PM]

SUE001/susan

SECTION D: Education and Training 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

D4 Did _________________ help you get that schooling / training?

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D4a VA Housing1

D4b VA Medical1

D4c Va Job1

D4d Other agency

D4e Some people are able to get help with education and training from family, friends, or other people they know in the

community. Did you get any help with school or training from these types of people? 

[INTERVIEWER: IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT YOU MEAN PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE VHPD PROGRAMS]

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

D4f Would you say that the help you received from VA Housing1, VA Medical1 and Va Job1 for school or training was more

useful than the help you got from your family and friends, less useful, or about equally useful?

More Useful

About equally useful

About equally useful

Don't Know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 151

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:52:41 PM]

SUE001/susan

SECTION D: Education and Training 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

D5 Are you now participating in any additional schooling or training program that (has) lasted at least two weeks that was

designed to help you find a job, improve your job skills, or learn a new job. 

[INTERVIEWER: if R is usually in school or training but at time of interview is not – e.g. because no summer school is

offered – record answer as “Yes”]?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

D6 What kind of schooling or training is that? [MARK ALL THAT APPLY]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D6a Regular schooling leading to a degree (AA, BA, etc.)

D6b Regular schooling leading to a vocational or professional license or

certification

D6c General equivalency diploma (GED)

D6d English as a second language (ESL)

D6e Computer training

D6f Apprenticeship / on-the-job training

D6g Vocational rehabilitation

D6h Other

D7 Did _________________ help you get that schooling / training? [Insert each program name in turn]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

D7a VA Housing1

D7b VA Medical1

D7c Va Job1

D7d Other agency

D8 Is the Post 9/11 GI Bill helping to pay your tuition and/or other school costs?

Yes No Don't know Refused

Set to 'No'
152 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:54:01 PM]

SUE001/susan

SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E1 Have you or anyone in your household received any income from any source in past 30 days?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E2 In the past 30 days, have you or anyone in your household received any income from ...?

Yes No Don't

Know Refuse

E2a Income from a job

E2b Unemployment Insurance

E2c Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

E2d Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)

E2e Veterans pension/payment from the VA

E2f Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

E2g Money from family or friends

E2h Other source

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 153

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E3 In the past 30 days, did the Post 9/11 GI Bill, an education or training allowance from the VA, or a scholarship or grant

provide you with income or tuition that you could use to cover expenses?

Yes Usually yes, but no classes right now No Don't know Refused

E4 Since you began participating in VHPD have you received any of the following types of assistance from that program...? 

[INTERVIEWER: read each option, record answer]

Yes No Don't

Know Refuse

E4a Helping to get food stamps, child care, TANF, other public benefits

E4b Connecting to Va Job1 to help with employment

E4c Help from VA Medical1 to get any allowances, grants, or other

support that the VA has for veterans

E4d Any other help to increase your income or resources

E5 Did you get what you needed from the services you’ve just mentioned?

Yes, helped very much

Yes, helped somewhat

No, did not help

Don't Know

Refused

Set to 'No'
154 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E6 What was your household's total income in the past 30 days?

Amount Per Month --> .00

Don't know

Refused

E6a Can you give me range? Was your total household income last month:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't Know

Refused

E7 In the past 30 days, did you or anyone in your household receive (or are you on) any of the following benefits:

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E7a Food Stamps (officially called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program (SNAP))

E7b Medicaid health insurance program (Medi-Cal for San Diego)

E7c Medicare health insurance program

E7d Children’s Health Insurance Program (in Washington and Texas);

KidCare (in Florida); Child Health Plus (in New York); Healthy

Families Program (in California)

E7e Did _________________ help you access those benefits? [Insert each program name in turn]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E7e1 VA Housing1

E7e2 VA Medical1

E7e3 Va Job1

E7e4 Another agency

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 155

Appendix I

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E8 Last week, did you do any work for pay?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E9 Have you been doing anything to find work during the past four weeks?

Yes No Don't know Refused
156 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E10 What is the main reason that you did not work for pay or look for work in the past four weeks? 

[INTERVIEWER: Allow R to respond spontaneously and Mark ONLY ONE response. If R mentions multiple response options,

INTERVIEWER repeat response options that the R indicated “Would that be... (response A, response B, response C)? And ask

them to choose the main reason]

Unable to work because of housing problems

Unable to work for health reasons related to military service

Unable to work for health reasons unrelated to military service

Has job but temporarily absent/seasonal work

Couldn’t find any work

Couldn’t find a job that pays enough

Child care problems

Family responsibilities

In school or other training

Waiting for a new job to begin

Had enough money from other sources

Retired

Disabled

Other (specify): 

Don't know

Refused

E10a Did any VHPD staff-for example, your case worker(s)-refer you to Va Job1 to help you find work?

Yes No Don't know Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 157

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:55:40 PM]

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E11 Do you have a disability that limits or prevents you from working?

Yes No Don't know Refused

E11a Is this disability related to your military service?

Yes No Don't know Refused

When we last talked, you were working. Since that tiime,

E12b How long has it been since you last worked for pay?

Specify --> Number of months:

Don't know

Refused

E13 Since we last talked, how much of the time have you had a job or done some work for pay?

All or almost all of the time

Most of the time

About half of the time

Some of the time

Almost none or none of the time

Don't know

Refused
158 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E14 Since you began participating in VHPD, have you received any of the following types of assistance from any of the agencies

that participate in the program...?

[INTERVIEWER: read each option, record answer]

Yes No Don't

Know Refuse

E14a Helping with resume writing, presenting self to potential employers

E14b Job counseling—what would be good jobs for me, what skills I need

to develop, etc.

E14c Helping with specific skills or training needed for jobs (e.g.,

computers, job training)

E14d Making job lists available to me, referring me to specific jobs

E14e Clothing, uniforms, equipment needed for specific jobs

E14f Referrals to specific jobs

E14g Anything else job-related

E14h Did _________________ provided that assistance?

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E14h1 VA Housing1

E14h2 VA Medical1

E14h3 Va Job1

E14h4 Other agency

E15 Did you get what you needed from the services you’ve just mentioned?

Yes, helped very much

Yes, helped somewhat

No, did not help

Don't Know

Refused

E15a Some people are able to get help with education and training from family, friends, or other people they know in the

community. Did you get any help with school or training from these types of people? 

[INTERVIEWER: IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT YOU MEAN PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE VHPD PROGRAMS]

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

E15b Would you say that the help you received from VA Housing1, VA Medical1 and Va Job1 for school or training was more

useful than the help you got from your family and friends, less useful, or about equally useful?

More Useful

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 159

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

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About equally useful

Less useful

Don't Know

Refused
160 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E16 About how long have you been working at that job?

Specify --> Number of months: Number of years:

Don't know

Refused

E17 How many hours per week do you usually work at your main job? By main job, I mean the one at which you usually work

the most hours.

Specify --> Number of hours: -

Don't know

Refused

E17a Do you usually work 35 hours or more per week at your main job?

Yes No Don't know Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 161

Appendix I

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SECTION E: Income and Employment 1:2,2:1,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

E18 Did _________________ help you get your current job or any job you have had since we last talked ?

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

E18a VA Housing1

E18b VA Medical1

E18c Va Job1

E18d Another agency

E19 Some people are able to get help to find work from family, friends, or other people they know in the community. Did you get

any help to find work from these types of people? 

[INTERVIEWER: IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT YOU MEAN PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE VHPD PROGRAMS]

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

E19a Would you say that the help you received from VA Housing1, VA Medical1 and Va Job1 to help you find work was more

useful than the help you got from your family and friends, less useful, or about equally useful?

More Useful

About equally useful

Less useful

Don't Know

Refused
162 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:1,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

F2 What is the total rent or mortgage on the place you are staying—the rent on the lease or the monthly mortgage payment,

not just what you and your household pay?

Per Month: $ .00 (Four digits rounded to dollar; Expected range $1 - 3000)

Don't know

Refused

F2a Can you give me a range? Is the full monthly rent or mortgage payment:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't know

Refused

F3 In the month just past, what did you and your family pay in rent or for your mortgage. Tell me just the amount you and

your family paid without including any outside help you got from a government agency or someone helping you.

Per Month: $ .00 (Four digits rounded to dollar; Expected range $1 - 3000)

Don't know

Refused

F3a Can you give me a range? Is your own family’s monthly rent or mortgage payment:

Under $500 per month

$500 to < $750

$750 to < $1000

$1000 to < $1500

$1500 to < $2000

More than $2000 per month

Don't know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 163

Appendix I

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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:1,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

F4 Do you receive any assistance to pay rent from the government or from some other program? 

[INTERVIEWER— this refers to any government program that might provide rental assistance, not just the VHPD provider]

Yes No Don't know Refused

F5 Since we last talked, has there been a time when you were unable to pay rent or mortgage?

Yes No Don't know Refused

F5a How often did this happen?

Once

Twice

Three or more times

Don't know

Refused
164 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION F: Housing Costs 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:1,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

F6 Do you pay for any utilities that are not included as part of the rent or mortgage payment? By utilities, I mean electricity,

heating oil, gas or propane, and water, but NOT telephone and cable services.

Yes No Don't know Refused

F7 Since we last talked, has there been a time when you were unable to pay utility bills—that is, electricity, heating oil, gas or

propane, and water, but NOT telephone and cable services. 

[INTERVIEWER—if asked, clarify—“by two weeks after it was due”]

Yes No Don't know Refused

F7a How often did this happen?

Once

Twice

Three or more times

Don't know

Refused
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 165

Appendix I

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SECTION G: Family Health and Well-Being 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

G1 Overall, how would you rate your health during the past month (that is the past 30 days)?

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Fair

Poor

Don't Know

Refused

G2 Please tell me about any health problems you may be experiencing at this time. 

(read and check all that apply)

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

G2a Serious depression, anxiety, and/or tension

G2b Being easily startled, not being able to relax your guard

G2c Trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering

G2d Trouble controlling anger or violent behavoir

G2e Symptons of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

G2f Trouble with use of alchohol or drugs

G2g Problems dealing with the results of head injury/traumatic brain

injury (TBI)

G2h Experiencing serious thoughts of suicide

G2i Other

Set to 'No'
166 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION G: Family Health and Well-Being 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

G3 Since you began participating in VHPD, have you received any of the following types of help for these health problems from

any of the agencies that participate in the program...?

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

G3a Treatment for specific physical health conditions

G3b Counseling for emotional issues

G3c Counseling, treatment, group supports for substance abuse problems

G3d Help with family relationships

G3e Help with adjustments to civilian life

G3f Help or counseling for/with children, about family relationships,

school, other issues related to your children

G3g Other

G4 Has _________________ been helping you with any of these health problems? [Insert each program name]

Yes No Don't

Know Refused

G4a VA Housing1

G4b VA Medical1

G4c Va Job1

G4d Another agency

G5 Are you getting or did you get what you needed from the service?

Yes, very much

Yes, somewhat

No

Don't Know

Refused

Set to 'No'
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 167

Appendix I

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SECTION G: Family Health and Well-Being 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:1,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

G6 Some people are able to get help with health problems from family, friends, or other people they know in the community.

Did you get any help with your health problems from these types of people? 

[INTERVIEWER: IF NECESSARY, CLARIFY THAT YOU MEAN PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE VHPD PROGRAMS]

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

G6a Would you say that the help you received from VA Housing1 , VA Medical1 and Va Job1 for your health problems was more

useful than the help you got from your family and friends, less useful, or about equally useful?

More Useful

About Equally Useful

Less Useful

Don't Know

Refused

G7 Do you get health care from the VA or another source that serves veterans or active duty military personnel?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

G7a Do you have any non-military type of health insurance that helps pay for health care when you need it?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused
168 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix I

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SECTION H: Demographics and Closing 1:2,2:2,3:1,4:3,

Evaluation of the Veterans

Homelessness Prevention

Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

H1 Has your marital status changed since we last talked?

Yes

No

Don't Know

Refused

H1a What is your marital status now?

Now Married

Widowed

Divorced

Separated

Never Married

Don't Know

Refused

H2 Before we end, let me make sure I know the address where you are currently living...

Street

City State Zip code

H3 Is that the address we should use to send you the $30 we will pay you for your participation in this interview?

Yes

No

H3a To what address should we send payment?

Street

City State Georgia Zip code

111 Main Street

Metropolis 11111

111 F

Peachville Georgia 67211
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 169

Appendix I

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)<br />VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

http://fwsun.com:9477/survey.aspx[4/1/2014 7:57:35 PM]

Evaluation of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD)

VHPD FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW

Thank you very much for your time today and for helping us with this study. Your answers

and those of people like you will help shape programs to continue the types of help you have

received from your VHPD program.

Submit Survey
170 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 171

Appendix J

Appendix J. Survey Data Cleaning and Survey Timing

This appendix describes the process of cleaning the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration 

(VHPD) survey data and the period during which the surveys were conducted in relation to the veterans’ 

program entry and exit dates reported in the administrative data. 

Baseline Survey Data Cleaning

Upon reviewing the baseline survey data, the research team observed several issues that affected the 

usability of the data. Team members were able to correct some of these issues with missing value 

imputation, but not others. This section summarizes those issues and describes whether researchers 

were able to remedy the issue and, if so, what remedy they used.

Missing Data Imputation 

This section describes the methods by which the research team imputed values for missing data points 

and the questions that were affected by that imputation.

Monthly Income Amount

The survey first asked the respondents whether their household had received any income in the past 

30 days. The survey later asked how much income the household had in the past 30 days. Those who 

said “No” to the first question should not have been asked the second question; however, this skip 

pattern was not applied uniformly, resulting in missing values on the amount question. To correct for 

this inconsistency, the research team used the following decision rules to determine the respondent’s 

household income at baseline: 

1. If the respondent reported on E1 that his or her household did not receive any income and the 

respondent had a legitimate skip, missing data point, or answered 0 for the amount on E7_amt, 

then the researchers imputed his or her baseline income to zero. 

2. If the respondent reported on E1 that his or her household did not receive any income and had 

a value greater than zero for the amount of income the respondent’s household received in the 

past 30 days on E7_amt, then the researchers used that nonzero amount as his or her baseline 

income.

3. If the respondent reported on E1 that his or her household received income and reported an 

amount greater than or equal to zero on E7_amt, then the researchers used that amount (including zeros) for his or her baseline income.

4. If the respondent reported on E1 that his or her household received income and then either 

skipped or had a missing data point for the amount on E7_amt, the researchers considered his or 

her baseline income to be missing. 
172 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix J

Incomplete Data Entry On Series Questions

Many questions in the baseline survey were parts of a related series of questions. For example, the 

researchers asked whether the respondent received income from any of the following sources: (1) 

a job, (2) unemployment insurance, (3) Social Security Income, (4) Social Security Disability Income, 

(5) veteran’s pension/payment, (6) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or (7) friends or family 

members. The survey was coded such that the interviewer should have entered a distinct yes/no/don’t 

know/refused response for each subquestion. The interviewers, however, did not enter a response for 

each question, which resulted in extensive missingness on the series questions. When asked about these 

missing responses, the interviewers answered that to save time they entered only the yes responses. 

To remedy the missingness on questions that formed part of a series, the researchers first determined 

if they could get this information more reliably from the Homeless Management Information System 

(HMIS) administrative data. This was the case for the race question series; so, for analytic purposes, the 

study used the race data only from the HMIS data and not from the survey. If the information could not 

be gathered from HMIS, the researchers then determined if there was at least one yes response for one 

of the questions in the series. If there was, they imputed no for the rest of the questions in the series. 

If there was not at least one yes, they left all the responses as missing. Table J.1 lists the questions that 

were affected by this imputation. 

Table J.1

Series Questions Affected by Missing Data Imputation

Question 

Number Question 

A18a2 A18a2. Besides current place, have you lived: In someone else’s place?

A18a3 A18a3. Besides current place, have you lived: In a shelter for homeless, victims of 

domestic violence?

A18a4 A18a4. Besides current place, have you lived: In car, truck, abandoned building, 

somewhere outside?

A18a5 A18a5. Besides current place, have you lived: In a hospital treatment program, jail, 

prison?

A18a6 A18a6. Besides current place, have you lived: Other type of place?

B4b B4b. Do you live with your children?

B4c B4c. Do you live with someone else’s children?

B4d B4d. Do you live with your spouse?

B4e B4e. Do you live with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner?

(continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 173

Appendix J

Question 

Number Question 

B4f B4f. Do you live with your parent(s) or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s parent(s)?

B4g B4g. Do you live with other relatives of yours or your spouse/partner/boy/girlfriend’s 

relatives?

B4h B4h. Do you live with friends?

B4i B4i. Do you live with roommates?

B4j B4j. Do you live with lodger(s), boarder(s), anyone else?

D5a D5. Type of school or training: Regular schooling leading to a degree

D5b D5. Type of school or training: Regular schooling leading to a voc., prof license, or 

certification

D5c D5. Type of school or training: GED®

D5d D5. Type of school or training: ESL

D5e D5. Type of school or training: Computer training

D5f D5. Type of school or training: Apprenticeship/OJT

D5g D5. Type of school or training: Vocational rehab

D5h D5. Type of school or training: Other

E2a E2. Has your household received income from a job?

E2b E2. Has your household received income from unemployment insurance?

E2c E2. Has your household received income from SSI?

E2d E2. Has your household received income from SSDI?

E2e E2. Has your household received income from veterans pension/payment?

(continued)

Table J.1

Series Questions Affected by Missing Data Imputation (continued)
174 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix J

Question 

Number Question 

E2f E2. Has your household received income from TANF?

E2h E2. Has your household received income from money from family or friends?

H2a H2. Health problems: serious depression, anxiety, tension

H2b H2. Health problems: easily startled, not able to relax guard

H2c H2. Health problems: trouble understanding, concentrating, remembering

H2d H2. Health problems: trouble controlling anger, violent behavior

H2e H2. Health problems: PTSD

H2f H2. Health problems: trouble with alcohol, drugs

H2g H2. Health problems: TBI

H2h H2. Health problems: thoughts of suicide

H2i H2. Health problems: other

I3a I3. Theatre of operations: WWII

I3b I3. Theatre of operations: Korean War

I3c I3. Theatre of operations: Vietnam War

I3d I3. Theatre of operations: Desert Storm

I3e I3. Theatre of operations: Enduring Freedom

I3f I3. Theatre of operations: Iraqi Freedom

I3g I3. Theatre of operations: New Dawn

I3h I3. Theatre of operations: other peacekeeping interventions

Table J.1

Series Questions Affected by Missing Data Imputation (continued)

(continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 175

Appendix J

Question 

Number Question 

I7a I7. Challenges: finding a job, getting old job back

I7b I7. Challenges: not being able to adjust to working in civilian job

I7c I7. Challenges: finding affordable place to live

I7d I7. Challenges: physical illnesses and conditions

I7e I7. Challenges: getting through physical therapy/rehab

I7f I7. Challenges: getting used to new physical limitations

I7g I7. Challenges: letting down guard

I7h I7. Challenges: dealing with emotional problems

I7i I7. Challenges: getting used to family life again

I7j I7. Challenges: finding my “place”

I7k I7. Challenges: lack of social support

I7l I7. Challenges: something else

I7l_

specify I7. Challenges: something else specified

I7m I7. Challenges: no challenges

J2a J2. Race: Multiracial

J2b J2. Race: Alaska Native, American Indian

J2c J2. Race: Asian

J2d J2. Race: Black, African-American

Table J.1

Series Questions Affected by Missing Data Imputation (continued)

(continued)
176 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix J

Question 

Number Question 

J2e J2. Race: Hawaiian, Pacific Islander

J2f J2. Race: White

J2g J2. Race: Other

J2g_

specify J2. Race: Other specified

ESL = English as a second language. GED® = General Educational Development credential. OJT = on-the-job training. PTSD = 

posttraumatic stress disorder. SSDI = Social Security Disability Income. SSI = Supplemental Security Income. TANF = Temporary 

Assistance for Needy Families. TBI = traumatic brain injury. WWII = World War II.

Baseline Survey Timing

Although the research team attempted to survey veterans as quickly as possible after they entered the 

VHPD program, researchers were limited in their capacity to do this by the time required for the local 

program staff to mail in the consent forms and then by difficulties reaching veterans. Unstably housed 

or homeless individuals can be hard to reach by phone because of the lack of stability in their situation. 

Further, team members learned from local program staff that many veterans use “pay as you go” cell 

phones and run out of minutes before the end of the month. Because of these issues, it sometimes took 

interviewers several weeks or longer to get in touch with the veteran to conduct the baseline survey. To 

determine when the baseline survey occurred relative to veterans’ VHPD participation, the researchers 

compared the dates that the baseline survey was conducted with the program entry and exit dates 

provided in the HMIS data (table J.2).

Table J.2

Timing of VHPD Baseline Survey Relative to Program Entry and Exit

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern New 

York

N % N % N % N % N % N %

Baseline occurred 

between program entry 

and program exit

312 73.6 96 85.0 48 48.0 53 75.7 84 94.4 31 59.6

Within 14 days of entry 49 11.6 3 2.7 8 8.0 12 17.1 21 23.6 5 9.6

Between 15 and 30 

days of entry

115 27.1 24 21.2 23 23.0 25 35.7 29 32.6 14 26.9

Between 31 and 60 

days of entry

111 26.2 56 49.6 8 8.0 12 17.1 26 29.2 9 17.3

Table J.1

Series Questions Affected by Missing Data Imputation (continued)

(continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 177

Appendix J

Cross-Site 

Total

Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa Upstate 

Northern New 

York

N % N % N % N % N % N %

Between 61 and 180 

days of entry

37 8.7 13 11.5 9 9.0 4 5.7 8 9.0 3 5.8

Baseline occurred after 

exit

98 23.1 17 15.0 43 43.0 16 22.9 3 3.4 19 36.5

Baseline occurred 

before program entry 

according to given 

HMIS entry dates

14 3.3 0 0.0 9 9.0 1 1.4 2 2.3 2 3.9

HMIS = Homeless Management Information System.

Sources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey (unweighted); HMIS administrative data 

(unweighted)

As shown in table J.2, only 74 percent of surveys were conducted between program entry and program 

exit, and only 12 percent were conducted within 2 weeks of entry. Of veterans in the program, 35 

percent were surveyed before they exited the program but more than a month after entry, but a 

sizable minority (23 percent) were surveyed after program exit. As a consequence, the baseline survey 

data likely do not reflect the circumstances that a sizable portion of the veterans in the study were 

experiencing at the time they enrolled in VHPD. As a result, data analysis comparing baseline to followup data may not accurately reflect the effects of VHPD. A small percentage (3 percent) of surveys seem 

to have been conducted before program entry. The researchers posit that this occurred when veterans 

reentered VHPD and their original service dates were overwritten or otherwise not included in the HMIS 

data pull. 

To understand the effects of the delayed baseline survey and determine the extent to which baseline 

circumstances differed from those at program entry, the research team compared the housing status at 

program entry reported in HMIS with the veterans’ housing situations reported at baseline for the 23 

percent of veterans who completed their baseline interviews after exiting VHPD (table J.3). This analysis 

showed that, of the 20 veterans in this group who were literally homeless when they entered the 

program, only 3 were still homeless when the baseline interview was conducted. This finding provides 

support for the team’s belief that the veterans’ circumstances at the time they completed the baseline 

interview differed from their circumstances when they entered. This report does not present data on 

housing situation at baseline, and data from the baseline survey should be interpreted with this issue in 

mind. 

Table J.2

Timing of VHPD Baseline Survey Relative to Program Entry and Exit (continued)
178 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix J

Table J.3

Housing Situations at Program Entry and Baseline for Those Respondents Whose Baseline 

Interview Was Conducted After Program Exit

Housing Situation at Program Entry

Missing Literally 

Homeless

At Imminent Risk 

of Losing Housing Unstably Housed Stably Housed

Housing Situation at 

Baseline N % N % N % N % N %

In own place 1 100.0 15 75.0 43 87.8 18 78.3 5 100.0

Staying with someone 

else 0 0.0 2 10.0 3 6.1 2 8.7 0 0.0

Homeless 0 0.0 3 15.0 3 6.1 0 0.0 0 0.0

Other 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 13.0 0 0.0

Sources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration baseline survey (unweighted); Homeless Management Information 

System administrative data (unweighted)

Follow-Up Survey Timing

The research team started contacting veterans in the study for the follow-up interview 6 months 

after they exited the VHPD program. As with the baseline survey, however, getting in contact with the 

veterans sometimes took several weeks. Because some veterans were more difficult to reach for the 

interview than others, the time at which the follow-up interview was conducted relative to their VHPD 

program exit ranged substantially (table J.4). More than one-half the interviews occurred between 6 

and 8 months after program exit; however, about 41 percent occurred even later. Those veterans with 

later follow-up interviews had longer periods during which to report changes in their housing situation 

and more opportunity for their housing stability to erode. Findings from the follow-up survey should be 

interpreted with this in mind. 

Table J.4

Timing of Follow-Up Survey Data in Relation to Program Exit

Cross-Site 

Total Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa

Upstate 

Northern 

New York

N % N % N % N % N % N %

Follow-up occurred before 

180 days after program exit

8 2.5 1 1.2 2 2.7 2 4.1 1 1.6 2 4.7

Follow-up occurred between 

180 and 239 days after 

program exit

179 56.8 51 60.0 28 37.3 34 69.4 47 74.6 19 44.2

Follow-up occurred between 

240 and 299 days after 

program exit

70 22.2 18 21.2 20 26.7 9 18.4 11 17.5 12 27.9

(continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 179

Appendix J

Cross-Site 

Total Central Texas San Diego Tacoma Tampa

Upstate 

Northern 

New York

N % N % N % N % N % N %

Follow-up occurred between 

300 and 364 days after 

program exit

37 11.8 9 10.6 18 24.0 3 6.1 1 1.6 6 14.0

Follow-up occurred 365 or 

more days after program exit

21 6.7 6 7.1 7 9.3 1 2.0 3 4.8 4 9.3

Sources: Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration follow-up survey (unweighted); Homeless Management Information 

System administrative data (unweighted)

Table J.4

Timing of Follow-Up Survey Data in Relation to Program Exit (continued)
180 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 181

Appendix K

Appendix K. Administrative Data Elements

Table K.1 shows the administrative data elements from local Homeless Management Information 

Systems (HMISs) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Registry that the research 

team collected to inform this study of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) 

program.

Table K.1

Administrative Data Sources

Data Source Indicator

HMIS Age

Race

Ethnicity

Gender

Veteran status

Whether children were present in the household

VHPD program entry date

VHPD program exit date

Housing status at program entry

Housing status at program exit

Monthly household income at program entry

Monthly household income at program exit

Presence of substance abuse issues

Presence of mental health issues

Presence of physical health issues

Presence of a chronic health condition

Presence of a developmental disability

Whether the client has HIV/AIDS

Entry and exit dates for any emergency shelter or transitional housing service use

VA Age

Race

Ethnicity

Gender

Marital status

Longest period of military service

Receipt of hostile or friendly fire in a combat zone

Where the veteran slept the previous night

Length of current homeless episode

(continued)
182 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix K

Data Source Indicator

Number of separate homeless episodes in the past 3 years

Veteran self-report of serious medical problems

Veteran self-report of traumatic brain injury

Veteran self-report of alcohol dependency—current 

Veteran self-report of alcohol dependency—past 

Veteran self-report of drug dependency—current 

Veteran self-report of drug dependency—past

Veteran self-report of current psychiatric or emotional problems

Employment history

Number of days worked in past 30 days

Income in the past 30 days

Number of nights spent in DCHV within 24 months of intake

Number of nights spent in GPD within 24 months of intake

Whether the veteran entered HUD-VASH within 24 months of intake

Whether the veteran entered SSVF within 24 months of intake

Number of nights spent in HUD-VASH within 24 months of intake

Number of nights spent in SSVF within 24 months of intake

DCHV = Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans. GPD = Grant and Per Diem. HMIS = Homeless Management Information 

System. HUD-VASH = HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing. SSVF = Supportive Services for Veteran Families. VA = U.S. 

Department of Veterans Affairs. VHPD = Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration.

Sources: Homeless Management Information System universal data elements; VA HOMES assessment form

Table K.1

Administrative Data Sources (continued)
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 183

Appendix L

Appendix L. Survey Weighting

This appendix describes the three survey weight variables that were created for the analysis of survey 

data collected for the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) evaluation. In addition, 

this appendix describes the propensity score matching weight that was created to allow for comparisons 

between the survey respondents and a comparison group of veterans for whom administrative record 

information was obtained. 

Weighting

Survey weights affect variance estimates and, as a result, tests of significance and confidence intervals. 

Variance estimates derived from standard statistical software packages that assume simple random 

sampling, in general, are too low, which can lead to overstated significance levels and overly narrow 

confidence intervals. The impact of the survey design on variance estimates is measured by the design 

effect and is explained in more detail at the end of this appendix.

For measures that are based on all veterans who signed the consent form agreeing to be study 

participants, the analysis used the weight variable “BASEWEIGHT.” This weight includes— 

• An adjustment for the lower consent rate among veterans who were homeless at program entry.

• An adjustment for the lower consent rate among veterans who had children in their household.

• An adjustment for the lower consent rate among veterans who reported having a chronic health 

condition.

• An adjustment for the lower consent rate among veterans who reported having a mental health 

issue.

• An adjustment for the lower consent rate among veterans who reported having a physical health 

issue. 

The final BASEWEIGHT was then normalized so the sum of the weights equaled the sample size of 

veterans who consented to participate in the study (n = 509).

For measures that are based on all veterans who completed the baseline survey, the analysis used 

the weight variable “WAVE1WEIGHT.” This weight includes all the adjustments used to create the 

BASEWEIGHT variable and also the following additional adjustments: 

• An adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who were White 

non-Hispanic respondents.

• An adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who had a lower 

income at program exit.

• A further adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who reported 

having a chronic health condition.

• An adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who were younger
184 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT

Appendix L

• An adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who reported having 

a substance abuse issue. 

The final WAVE1WEIGHT was then normalized so the sum of the weights equaled the sample size of 

veterans who completed the baseline survey (n = 424).

For measures that are based on all veterans who completed the follow-up survey, the analysis used 

the weight variable “ATTRITIONWEIGHT.” This weight includes all the adjustments used to create the 

WAVE1WEIGHT variable and also the following additional adjustments: 

• A further adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who had a 

lower income at program exit.

• A further adjustment for the lower baseline survey response rate among veterans who reported 

having a mental health condition. 

The final ATTRITIONWEIGHT was then normalized so the sum of the weights equaled the sample size of 

veterans who completed the follow-up survey (n = 315).

Design Effects

Post-data collection statistical adjustments were required due to combining multiple waves of the 

sample in which there were disproportionate attrition rates of veterans participating in each stage of 

the study. The post-data collection adjustments required analysis procedures that adjusted the standard 

errors that would have been obtained if a simple random sample had been used that involved no 

adjustments. Therefore, when using survey weights, variance estimation required estimating the survey 

design effect associated with the weighted estimate. The term “design effect” is used to describe the 

variance of the weighted sample estimate relative to the variance of an estimate that assumes a simple 

random sample. 

In a wide range of situations, the adjusted standard error of a statistic should be calculated by 

multiplying the usual formula by the design effect (deft). The formula for computing the 95 percent 

confidence interval around a percentage is shown by the following equation:

where p̂ is the sample estimate and n is the unweighted number of sample cases in the group being 

considered.

The average design effects for the survey weights and the propensity score matching weight are shown 

in table L.1.
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 185

Appendix L

Table L.1

Design Effects 

Type of Analysis deft

For measures based on all veterans who signed the consent form agreeing to be study 

participants using the BASEWEIGHT weight variable

1.026

For measures based on all veterans who completed the baseline survey using the 

WAVE1WEIGHT weight variable

1.024

For measures based on all veterans who completed the follow-up survey using the 

ATTRITIONWEIGHT weight variable

1.064

Thus, to get a more accurate estimate of the standard errors associated with the weighted estimate, 

one would multiply the unweighted standard error by the appropriate deft value shown in table L.1. For 

example, suppose one was using the WAVE1WEIGHT weight on a measure from the baseline survey and 

the estimate had an unweighted standard error of .0213. The weighted estimate would not change, but 

the standard error of the estimate would be .0218 (.0213 × 1.024).
186 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 187

Appendix M

Appendix M. Annual Performance Report Data 

Imputation Approach

Grantees submitted performance reports to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) on a quarterly and annual basis that provided data on the number of people, veterans, and 

households served by the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD). VHPD households 

were counted toward each report as long as their case was still open during the reporting period. 

Because VHPD households could have been served for up to 18 months, households could have had 

their case open across multiple reporting quarters and multiple reporting years, resulting in duplication. 

Because the Annual Performance Reports (APRs) cover a longer period than the quarterly reports, 

duplication was less common in the annual report data than in the quarterly data, making it the more 

accurate source of information on the number of people, veterans, and households served. Two APRs 

were not submitted by grantees (Tampa Year 2 and Utica Year 3), however, and one submitted APR 

contained data that HUD determined to be unreliable and unusable (Tacoma Year 3).

Because quarterly data were complete for all 12 quarters of VHPD in Tacoma and Tampa, the research 

team approximated the missing annual report data (Tampa Year 2 and Tacoma Year 3) by taking the 

following steps: 

1. The researchers summed the number of people served reported in each quarter for each year in 

each site.

2. For the years in which they had both complete quarterly and annual data, they divided the number of people served from the APR by the sum of the number of people served from the quarterly reports for that year. This computation provided a number by which the quarterly report 

sums could be multiplied to get the annual figures. These multipliers were always less than zero 

because they were deduplicating the sums of the quarterly reports.

3. The researchers then took the average of the multiplier for the 2 years in which data were 

complete and multiplied the quarterly sum by that number to estimate the annual data for the 

missing year. 

In addition to missing its annual report for Year 3, Utica was missing four quarters of data: one in 

Year 2 (Quarter 8) and three in Year 3 (Quarters 10, 11, and 12). Because Utica did not have complete 

quarterly data, the researchers were unable to use the three-step process to develop estimates for its 

Year 3 report and did not impute any data. Therefore, Utica Year 3 was excluded from the researchers’ 

calculations of total numbers served, and Utica was excluded from average cost calculations, which were 

based on data for the entire grant period.
188 VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 189

Appendix N

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VETERANS HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION DEMONSTRATION EVALUATION FINAL REPORT 193
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of Policy Development and Research

Washington, DC 20410-6000

November 2015