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25–016 2017

FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR VETERAN 

HOMELESSNESS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC 

OPPORTUNITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 

FIELD HEARING HELD IN RIVERSIDE, 

CALIFORNIA 

Serial No. 114–50 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida, Vice-Chairman 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana 

RALPH ABRAHAM, Louisiana 

LEE ZELDIN, New York 

RYAN COSTELLO, Pennsylvania 

AMATA RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

MIKE BOST, Illinois 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida, Ranking 

Minority Member 

MARK TAKANO, California 

JULIA BROWNLEY, California 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

RAUL RUIZ, California 

ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire 

BETO O’ROURKE, Texas 

KATHLEEN RICE, New York 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

JON TOWERS, Staff Director 

DON PHILLIPS, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

BRAD WENSTRUP, Ohio, Chairman 

LEE ZELDIN, New York 

AMATA RADEWAGEN, American Samoa 

RYAN COSTELLO, Pennsylvania 

MIKE BOST, Illinois 

MARK TAKANO, California, Ranking 

Member 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

KATHLEEN RICE, New York 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 

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(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 

Page 

Finding Solutions For Veteran Homelessness In Southern California ............... 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Honorable Brad Wenstrup, Chairman ................................................................... 1 

Honorable Mark Takano, Ranking Member .......................................................... 2 

Honorable Raul Ruiz, Member ............................................................................... 4 

Honorable Norma Torres, U.S. House of Representatives, 35th Congressional 

District; California ............................................................................................... 23 

WITNESSES 

Mr. Emilio Ramirez, Development Director, City of Riverside ............................ 6 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 35 

Ms. Carrie Harmon, Principal Development Specialist, County of Riverside .... 8 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 40 

Mr. Stephen Peck, M.S.W., President & CEO, U.S. VETS .................................. 10 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 43 

Mr. Son Nguyen, Co-founder & President, Veterans Association of Real Estate 

Professionals ......................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 44 

Mr. Jose Rivera, Student, University of California, Riverside ............................ 15 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 51 

STATEMENTS FOR THE RECORD 

Mike Michaud .......................................................................................................... 52 

Stephen Peck ............................................................................................................ 56 

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(1) 

FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR VETERAN 

HOMELESSNESS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D.C. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:33 p.m., in Riverside City College, AD122 of the Administrative Building, 4800 

Magnolia Ave., Riverside, California, Hon. Brad Wenstrup [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Wenstrup and Takano. 

Also Present: Representatives Ruiz and Torres. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF BRAD WENSTRUP, CHAIRMAN 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, good afternoon, everyone. And the Subcommittee will come to order. 

I want to thank you all for joining us for this field hearing of the 

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. 

My name is Brad Wenstrup, and not only is it my pleasure to 

serve as the Congressman for the Second District of Ohio, which 

includes portions of Cincinnati and southern Ohio, but also to serve 

as the Chairman of this Subcommittee. 

Before we begin, I want to say what a pleasure it is to be here 

at Riverside City College, and I thank my colleague and Ranking 

Member of the Subcommittee, Congressman Mark Takano, for 

hosting us here today. It is great to work with a thoughtful legislator like Mark. He continues to put the goals of the veterans first 

and to provide economic opportunity for veterans. And I would say 

that the people of the 41st District of California are lucky to have 

him as their Congressman. 

Today, we are here to examine and highlight programs and benefits that help combat veteran homelessness not only here in southern California but nationwide. There has been significant progress 

made in reducing homelessness among veterans, and several municipalities are able to celebrate the fact that they have eliminated 

veteran homelessness. 

While this is certainly great news, as funding for homeless veteran programs at VA and the Department of Labor continue to 

reach record levels, we must ensure that we have a true and accurate picture of how this money is being spent. 

The Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program, HVRP, administered by the Department of Labor, is designed to provide homeless 

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grams for homeless veterans. And while HVRP has been determined to be one of the most successful job-training grant programs 

in the Federal Government, I know there is always room for improvement. 

For example, as it was mentioned in Mr. Peck’s testimony with 

U.S.VETS, homeless veterans that are currently using HUD–VASH 

vouchers are not eligible to receive services under HVRP. And 

while I believe it is important to provide veterans with short-term 

housing through VA’s HUD–VASH housing voucher program, it is 

even more critical that they also receive comprehensive wraparound services like those provided by HVRP that help them find 

employment. 

Without helping veterans find meaningful employment through 

HVRP, we are only providing them temporary housing, but we are 

not setting them up for long-term and sustainable success. That is 

why I was proud this past summer when the House passed my bill 

H.R. 474, which would expand eligibility for HVRP to all of the veterans in HUD–VASH housing and would also reauthorize the program for 5 years. 

I want to thank Mr. Takano and the rest of our colleagues for 

their support in passing this bill, and I hope the Senate sends it 

to the President’s desk very shortly. 

Once again, I am very happy to be here this afternoon. I am interested in hearing from our witnesses about ways to improve 

HVRP and other suggestions they may have about how to improve 

homeless veteran programs and services nationwide. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. At this time I ask unanimous consent that our 

colleagues, Dr. Ruiz from California’s 36th District, and hopefully 

Ms. Torres from California’s 35th District, be allowed to sit at the 

dais and ask questions. Hearing no objections, so ordered. 

It now gives me pleasure to recognize Mr. Takano for any opening remarks he may have. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF MARK TAKANO, RANKING MEMBER 

Mr. TAKANO. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very 

pleased to welcome you to my home district here in Riverside 

County and the Inland Empire. Thank you for your kind words. 

And I must say, I appreciate the bipartisan spirit in which you 

chair this Committee and the bipartisan work we are able to do on 

behalf of our Nation’s veterans. 

I am also glad that Dr. Ruiz is here. I know my mom is glad you 

are here. She is in the audience. You saw her. And I am hopeful 

that Ms. Torres will join us very shortly. 

Thank you all for making the effort to learn how Riverside County and the Inland Empire are finding solutions to the problem of 

veteran homelessness. Today, we have come together to talk about 

the fact that, as President Obama has said, ‘‘too many of those who 

once wore our Nation’s uniform now sleep in our Nation’s streets.’’ 

Veteran homelessness is a complicated problem with many 

causes, which call for comprehensive and evidence-based solutions. 

Each of us here today is dedicated to learning how we can contribute to those solutions. Fortunately, we have seen models that 

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work, and many of those models have been successfully implemented here in Riverside County. 

I am extremely proud of the work that is being done in my community to get veterans and their families off the streets into permanent housing and entering meaningful employment or pursuing 

higher education and training. 

The five witnesses joining us today each have a unique narrative 

to share on the topic of veteran homelessness. We will hear from 

both the city and county of Riverside about what is possible when 

we coordinate regional efforts among Federal, State, and local governments; nonprofits; and the private sector to provide a full spectrum of resources that meet the needs of veterans transitioning 

from homelessness to permanent, stable housing. 

We will hear from two nonprofit organizations that have each 

contributed greatly to ending veteran homelessness in this region. 

U.S.VETS has been fighting veteran homelessness for over 20 

years and has a wealth of recommendations to share with us, particularly regarding efforts to improve the Department of Labor’s 

Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program, or HVRP, which our 

Subcommittee oversees. 

U.S.VETS, along with other organizations, spearheaded the creative strategy to reuse March Air Force Base and build the new 

March Veterans Village in Moreno Valley. I am very proud of this 

initiative, along with many others in this region. 

The Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals, or 

VAREP, serves as a voice for the interests of veterans on the topic 

of financial literacy, homeownership, and VA loan education. They 

play a unique role in the effort to help veterans achieve the American dream of homeownership, and I look forward to their contribution to today’s discussion. 

Last but not least, we will hear from a veteran who served our 

Nation honorably and then struggled on the brink of homelessness 

before accessing the housing and education resources that have ensured he and his family have a stable home and a bright future. 

Welcome. 

We have asked that the witnesses focus their testimony on issues 

that fall within this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction, particularly programs that help homeless veterans find good, stable jobs or that 

enable veterans to use the GI Bill to pursue educational opportunities while receiving a living stipend. 

That said, we want to hear about the comprehensive approaches 

that have worked to move homeless veterans into permanent housing, including HUD–VASH vouchers, the Housing First model, and 

issues related to mental health, health care, and substance abuse. 

We understand that veteran homelessness is a complicated issue 

and that jobs and education are a part of the solution but not the 

whole solution. Most importantly, we are all looking forward to 

hearing about the initiatives and efforts that have produced results 

in Riverside County and the region, as well as your recommendations that we can take back to Congress so that we may continue 

to see improvements. 

Now, I want to thank all of you for being here today, and I look 

forward to hearing about how Riverside County and our region 

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have made progress on this all-important issue. And, Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you, Mr. Takano. 

And, Dr. Ruiz, please feel free to share any opening remarks that 

you may have. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF RAUL RUIZ 

Mr. RUIZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

It is interesting. I am neighbors with the Chairman in the Longworth Building. His door is right in front of my door so I always 

know what time he gets in. He gets in pretty early. And we have 

a good working relationship, so thank you for coming to Riverside 

to hold this hearing. It is very important that we do this in a bipartisan way, and it is very important that the people see that in 

order to be an example of what we can do together when we eliminate the hyper-partisanship and start working together to get 

things done. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Absolutely. 

Mr. RUIZ. And I want to thank the Ranking Member Takano for 

holding this timely hearing regarding a true crisis that has been 

plaguing our veteran population for too long, which is homelessness. Our veterans sacrifice so much for this country. They are the 

men and women who left their homes, families, and careers to defend our American values. Today, we must accept that our veterans 

are also those homeless that we pass on the street. 

Although a veteran’s service to this country is complete—and for 

many, the passion to help and to serve is a way of life that never 

ends; it is not a temporary job—many veterans still desire to serve 

in their communities, and I am interested in how we are educating 

and empowering those veterans to aid in solving this current crisis. 

We must not overlook the well of expertise we have right here in 

this room, right here in our home and in our communities. 

Two of these veterans, advocates from my district, are here in 

the audience with us today. We have Anita Worthen, who coordinates the annual Pass Area Veterans Expo, which will take place 

in Beaumont Civic Center on Saturday, January 30. One of the 

expo’s goals is to connect homeless veterans with Loma Linda VA 

Hospital for mental health services and other services, including 

housing, et cetera. 

And Shirley Powell, who spent 38 years in the Air Force, and 

who participated in our Veterans University last year, where community leaders learned the skill to ‘‘pay it forward’’ and help their 

fellow veterans. She is also coordinating the Veteran’s Easy Access 

Program Expo that will happen April 2 in Indio. Both of them are 

my top advisors in relation to veterans’ issues. 

We are holding this hearing a week before the 2016 Point-inTime count, which means that we can face those numbers with realistic expectations, and more importantly, pragmatic solutions. My 

hope is that these solutions will lead to a veteran population that 

no longer has to wonder if they traded their service for financial 

instability and homelessness. 

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But in order to solve this multifaceted, complex problem, we 

must be dedicated not only to the end result, but also to the process. And this process involves three main stages: One, assisting 

veterans before the end of their activity duty service; empowering 

veterans to succeed in the first months after returning to civilian 

life; and providing a safety net for veterans to avoid homelessness. 

Each of your organizations is working to address different aspects of this process, and there is value in the alternate approaches 

to ensure no veteran slips through the cracks. And as we evaluate 

the different points of intervention offered through your organizations, we must be willing to perform a critical analysis of our current processes and have a frank discussion of successes and failures. 

In 2014, I joined Congressman Takano and our neighbor Congressman Calvert to support a Coachella Valley Housing Coalition 

with U.S.VETS, and county housing authority application for 75 

project-based HUD–VASH vouchers to help develop a community 

for homeless veterans here at March Air Force Reserve Base in 

Riverside known as the March Veterans Village. 

So I am interested in learning about the successes of this project 

and the obstacles that were realized prior to or during implementation as well. As a physician, I understand that homelessness and 

shelter is a major determinant of health. It is one of the basic 

human necessities, and I know this being a disaster specialist 

working in Haiti after the earthquake and other areas of extreme 

poverty. 

And I am also interested in hearing about how we serve our 

homeless population with their health care. Just earlier this week, 

I met with several community stakeholders that service homeless 

populations in the hopes of starting a street medicine program that 

actually provides point of care in the streets for the homeless, finds 

them, integrates them, and helps them there. 

And also, if you all could shed light on specific issues that women 

homeless veterans face in job placement, utilizing their GI Bills, 

and also getting housing. 

So I want to say thank you all for your passion and for caring 

and for serving our veterans. Thank you. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you very much, Dr. Ruiz and Mr. 

Takano, for your statements. And I think that you can tell, at least 

amongst the Congressmen sitting up here, that there is a true desire to take care of our veterans and be successful at doing it. 

At this time, I would like to welcome our first and only panel. 

And on our first panel we have Mr. Emilio Ramirez with the city 

of Riverside, California; Ms. Carrie Harmon with the county of Riverside, California; Mr. Stephen Peck with U.S.VETS; Mr. Son 

Nguyen with Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals; 

and finally, Mr. Jose Rivera, a student at the University of California, Riverside. 

Each of you will be recognized for 5 minutes. And please note 

that the timer in front of you, there will count down how much 

time you have left. I thank you for being here. I have read ahead 

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and I am impressed with what all of you are doing, and I thank 

you very much. 

With that, Mr. Ramirez, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF EMILIO RAMIREZ 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Thank you. Good afternoon, Honorable Chairman 

and Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Emilio Ramirez. I 

have the honor of serving with the Community Economic Development Department with the city of Riverside. And I am honored to 

be in front of you today and to have been asked to testify about 

what the city of Riverside is doing in its effort in meeting the challenge to end veteran homelessness in our community. 

I will be speaking about the Riverside Ending Homelessness 5- 

year plan that is included in the written testimony and focusing on 

being able to meet that challenge to end veteran homelessness. 

First, let me take an opportunity to thank the Committee and 

Chairman Wenstrup for the hearing and for the leadership that he 

is showing in this very important cause. 

I would like to acknowledge Representative Mark—Congressman 

Takano, as well as everybody involved in bringing the challenge to 

end veteran homelessness to our community. 

In addition, I would like to greatly appreciate the local leadership and thank Mayor Bailey and the city council for accepting the 

challenge and offering the support that we needed to succeed. 

So getting started, first, I would like to talk a little bit about 

what we have done. And in Riverside, the city and the community, 

there was already an amazing partnership that existed amongst a 

collection of real talent. But because the need is so great and the 

resources are so limited, we often find ourselves focused on what 

is immediately in front of us. And we end up working independently to solve the issue that is in front of us right now. 

So sometimes, it takes a reason to come together to work together, and the challenge brought that forward, not that we didn’t 

already know each other, not that we didn’t already share experiences, but now we had a reason. And we had to house 86 people 

in the Riverside community, and we had 6 months to do it. And 

it didn’t mean in a shelter, in an overnight bed. It meant in a 

home, in a permanent unit, and that meant a lot of work and a lot 

of collaboration in order to achieve that and do that in a successful 

way. Because it is not easy to just hand a person a key and say 

this is where you live. We need to make sure that they are going 

to be successful after they move in. We need to make sure that 

they are not going to be returning back to homelessness, which we 

see all the time, and I will talk about in a little bit. 

They—the homeless person, veteran, or otherwise—has to be 

ready to receive the unit. They have to have a job. They have to 

be employed. They have to be trained. They have to have education. And they need a lot of those resources that sometimes some 

of us take for granted. Even little things like a checking account 

are very important and it needs work. It needs a lot of work. And 

we all know that training and education is much more important 

than a handout. 

So we, the partners, managed to find each other and we work together and we exceeded the mayor’s challenge by housing more 

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than the 86 veterans that we had first identified. We learned a couple things along the way. When we are motivated, we can work together and we can get things done. Given all of the amazing bureaucracy that we all know exists at the local level, the county 

level, Federal, State, we managed to make sure that we found a 

way to work together and we met the challenge. We housed the 86 

plus people within the 6-month period. They were not housed in a 

motel room. They were not housed in shelter. They were housed in 

a permanent unit. 

It caused us to work together and to identify things that we 

didn’t know, such as, we have plenty of cash, but sometimes the 

cash is stuck in places that we can’t use it. Sometimes, it doesn’t 

allow us the flexibility that we need. 

We discovered that some of the programs that are out there are 

very valuable, valuable programs, but as the Chairman had identified in an opening statement, sometimes they are stuck and they 

don’t seem to work well together. We identified programs like the 

Housing Choice Voucher Program and the VASH program that can 

provide a unit, but then the landlord is refusing to accept the tenants because it comes with a Section 8 voucher or a VASH voucher. 

Why? Simply because there is a stigma attached to that voucher. 

I think that we need a little bit of better policy and some homework in being able to overcome that stigma. 

We need someone who is going to be able to help the homeless 

person from the beginning to the end. We need to be fully engaged 

in housing and employment navigation as an integral part of Housing First. We need effective case management as an integral part 

of Housing First both before and after they move into the home. 

We cannot just say here, here is the place that you are going to 

live and expect that we have done our job because that person is 

not going to live in that unit for very long, and it is going to be 

vacant and it is going to be available to another person for us to 

move into that unit and there will be a revolving door. And that 

is not success. That does not work. That is not Housing First. 

I can share with you many, many stories. I am sure everybody 

on the panel can share many stories about people who have 

achieved success. I know personally of a veteran—we will call him 

Fred—in Riverside that achieved success. And he achieved success 

because he received that wraparound service, housing navigation, 

employment navigation, a housing unit, case management afterwards. All of the time from beginning to end, the team was talking 

with the homeless person, his family, and everybody around their 

community. 

There is also failure that we have experienced then that we have 

learned along the way of a person in the community that just 

didn’t receive a unit for failure of housing navigation. We just were 

not ready to offer the service when he was ready to receive it. We 

can’t expect him to come to a meeting at 1:30 in the afternoon on 

Thursday and this is when you are going to get the service. We 

need to be ready to be responsive when he is ready to be responsive. 

There is also examples that exist where a person did receive a 

unit, they moved in, and they were not ready to live in a unit. They 

did not have the ability to acclimate to their surroundings and so 

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they moved out. We found them on the street 3 months later. That 

is not success. 

So what we are asking for you today is to acknowledge that it 

is an entire process, and the process itself is Housing First, not just 

the units. The process involves identifying the person that is homeless with housing navigation and looking for a plan as to how to 

accomplish permanent housing and employment, and then identifying a unit in a way that is actually viable that they can move 

in, whether it is a VASH voucher or a Section 8 voucher or something along the lines, or whether we actually construct a project 

much like what is described in March and also much like what we 

have done in Riverside with our Home Front at Camp Anza project. 

It is a veteran disabled family reunification project, 30 units in a 

historic Camp Anza military compound in Riverside that we are 

repurposing for affordable housing. 

Those things need to come as part of the whole of wraparound 

services. And a funding source for that program, that project, did 

not come from the VA. It came from other sources that is traditionally affordable housing. 

And so what we are asking for and what was included in my 

written testimony is an opportunity to include a program that is 

holistic in nature, that includes all the way from housing navigation, employment, that includes identifying units or actually constructing and developing the units and moving a veteran into that 

unit and then providing continued case management afterwards. 

We think that the VA has an opportunity, like it did with VASH, 

to copy a lot of the programs that are within HUD and provide for 

the wraparound services. HUD is effective in those programs, although there could be more money in them and more flexibility, 

but housing navigation, employment navigation, production of 

units, and case management afterwards. 

Thank you. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF EMILIO RAMIREZ APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you very much, Mr. Ramirez. 

Ms. Harmon, you are up for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF CARRIE HARMON 

Ms. HARMON. Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, 

and other Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you here today. On behalf of our county, I 

would like to thank you for your leadership and support, which has 

been instrumental in providing local communities with the resources needed to serve the Nation’s most vulnerable veterans. 

As the representative from Riverside County, I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the county departments and the 

partnering agencies that are actively engaged in our local fight 

against veterans’ homelessness. I also have the humble opportunity 

to represent the homeless veterans in our county, many of which 

are now housed—they have been assisted through this national effort. 

I am proud to report that our county has made significant 

progress in ending veterans’ homelessness, and we are very close 

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to reaching the finish line. Over the course of the last 2–1/2 years, 

we have housed over 1,000 homeless veterans, but most importantly, we have also learned a great deal about what systems locally need to be changed and what more is needed to further refine 

our efforts. 

So where are we at in Riverside County? We are now 2 years, 

7 months into our fight against homelessness. We have officially 

housed 1,007 homeless veterans countywide, and this number represents the number of veterans that have been housed through 

VASH, regular Section 8, permanent supportive housing programs 

offered by the continuum of care, and other affordable housing communities provided by our nonprofit developers, who are rarely mentioned but have joined us in this cause and will always offer a unit 

to a homeless veteran in our community. 

This number also represents the number of homeless veterans 

who successfully transitioned to market-rate housing and back to 

their families following their stay in transitional housing programs, 

grant per diem programs, and emergency shelters because not 

every homeless veteran needs a permanent housing subsidy. Some 

just need a temporary hand-up, and we cannot do away with transitional housing, grant per diem, or those temporary programs for 

our veterans that just basically need a job and a little help. 

In addition to housing—so we have 115 veterans left to go, and 

about 80, 85 of these veterans have a voucher in hand and are just 

looking for a rental unit. We will reach the finish line very soon, 

but we still have so much more work to do in our communities to 

service all veterans, especially low-income veterans, and make sure 

they do not slip into homelessness. 

In addition to housing veterans, we have developed more units 

of affordable housing that are earmarked for low-income veterans. 

Over the last 2–1/2 years this investment has translated to about 

$10 million in local funding, and this is not VASH funding, although there are some project-based vouchers. This is our home 

money through that Federal program that gets cut sometimes. But 

this is also money that flowed through the States and money we 

had locally. But we made that commitment. My goal is to create 

1,000 units of affordable rental housing that are there for veterans. 

Homeless or just low-income, we have already created 739, so we 

are also very close to that. So we don’t just house veterans. We are 

creating more housing units, which are very important in our 

southern California market. We don’t have enough housing for everybody. 

The county started our effort with the passage of VALOR. 

VALOR was passed by our board of supervisors in April 2013. It 

was the board’s public commitment to end homelessness, to craft 

local policies which made sure that our homeless veterans had access to the housing and services they so desperately needed. And 

it was also the board’s call to action to all county staff and departments to go back and find out how we can do better, serve better, 

and remove the barriers that are preventing full access to our services. 

VALOR is also a public-private partnership, and when I speak of 

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zens who have bought furniture, refrigerators, and all to help our 

veterans. 

In 2014, we did a veteran-only Point-in-Time count, but what 

was more important than counting was we realized that we need 

to survey them to better program our supportive services. We also 

led all of this through the Housing Authority, which is not usually 

tapped as the go-to person to lead housing efforts, but housing authorities are valuable. 

I wanted to leave you with some ideas of how we could further 

improve. There is an urgent need for more affordable housing for 

veterans and nonveterans, and we need to make sure that home 

funding at the Federal level, Section 8 funding, CDBG are brought 

back to levels that we can really make a difference in our community through that work. 

We continue to have veterans that stay homeless because they 

don’t have a birth certificate or a State-issued ID. We can fix that. 

It is ridiculous that you can’t rent an apartment because you 

haven’t gotten your birth certificate from New Jersey to get your 

driver’s license. These are things that we can, by public policy, fix. 

You know, employment is our most important thing. If I were to 

ask you to tell me about yourself, you would tell me where you live, 

where you work, who is in your family. Imagine if you are a homeless veteran, how would you answer these questions? You could not 

say who you were the way we normally say who we are. We must 

give more money for employment programs that are earmarked for 

veterans, and these must be on-the-job training programs that provide them with real work experience. 

And I know I am over my time, aren’t I? Yes. So that is pretty 

much it. We need more affordable housing, more funding for employment programs. Thank you. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF CARRIE HARMON APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you, Ms. Harmon. 

Mr. Peck, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF STEPHEN PECK 

Mr. PECK. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. And thank you 

very much for holding this hearing. 

My name is Stephen Peck. I am the president and CEO of 

U.S.VETS. I am also a Vietnam veteran. I served with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, and I have been doing 

this work with homeless veterans since 1991. 

U.S.VETS has been in the fight against veterans’ homelessness 

since 1993 when we started our first program in Inglewood, California. Since then, we have grown into the largest nonprofit organization for homeless veterans in the country, providing services at 

21 residential sites, 9 service centers in 14 different cities across 

6 States and the District of Columbia. 

Last year, U.S. VETS touched the lives of over 17,000 veterans 

and family members, providing housing to more than 4,500, provided preventive and repaid re-housing services to 4,600 veterans 

and their families, and placed more than 1,200 veterans back into 

full-time employment. 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

11 

Locally, U.S.VETS Inland Empire, our project headquartered at 

March Air Reserve Base, is the largest veteran provider in San 

Bernardino and Riverside Counties. This year, in these two counties about 2,000 veterans will experience homelessness, but 26,000 

veteran households are living in poverty on the brink of homelessness, so we have a big job in front of us. The Inland Empire unemployment rate among veterans is 9.5 percent, almost double the national average. 

Despite the fact that many of our veterans here have legal issues 

such as DUI, domestic violence, and child support as a direct result 

of dealing with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, and/ 

or combat trauma, we were able to help about 90 veterans return 

to full-time employment this past year. 

With over 200 units of housing from permanent supportive to 

Bridge Housing to Safe Haven, we have been able to help more 

than 800 veterans and their family members find housing in 2014– 

2015 and are on track to serve 1,000 this coming year. And we will 

be able to serve even more when we get our March Veterans Village up and running in 2017. Keep your fingers crossed on that. 

U.S.VETS services are comprehensive. To us, there is no one answer to homelessness, so we co-locate housing, counseling, and employment assistance at each of our sites, helping to create an environment that is responsive to the many challenges veterans face as 

they transition from military to civilian life. Our services include 

rapid re-housing beds, transitional and permanent supportive housing, and support services to homeless and at-risk veterans in the 

community, helping each veteran, male or female, achieve self-sufficiency. 

We want to prevent veterans from becoming homeless in the first 

place if we can, so along with the VA Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, we provide preventative mental health 

counseling to veterans in the community through our Outside the 

Wire program and employment assistance to veterans who are not 

yet homeless and are ready to return to work through our Career 

Development Initiative. Last year, through this program, we helped 

about 450 veterans return to work at an average wage of $45,000 

a year. Both of these programs, both CDI and Outside the Wire, 

are completely privately funded. 

Back in 1993, we started with the idea that every veteran should 

be empowered to live at their highest level of independence, which 

means that we want every veteran who is capable of full-time employment to have the dignity of finding a job. Every site has a career center, and our workforce teams are critical to the success of 

our veterans. 

We have six HVRP programs across the country, including one 

in Los Angeles County, which helped us place 618 veterans into 

full-time employment this past year at an average wage of $12 an 

hour. We have developed other State and private workforce funding 

to make up for the limitations of the HVRP program. 

So let me make a few observations. First, one of the limitations 

of operating HVRP is its inability to assist those veterans that may 

be at risk of homelessness such as the veterans we are serving 

through our SSVF program. They are not yet homeless and therefore do not qualify for HVRP services. We don’t always have other 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

12 

workforce funding to help these veterans, but if we could help them 

prior to the onset of homelessness, we may be able to prevent them 

from losing their housing. 

This is where our Career Development Initiative comes into play. 

Fully one-third of our job placements this last year were made 

through the CDI program because of lack of sufficient and flexible 

funding from DOL. 

Nationally, the HVRP funding has been flat-lined for the past 3 

years while increasing numbers of vets return from deployment, all 

of them needing jobs. The program is authorized at $50 million, but 

has never reached that funding level and is stuck at $38 million, 

leaving thousands of veterans without the employment assistance 

they need. Currently, there is no HVRP funding in Riverside County. 

Secondly, the ultimate goal of the HVRP program is to place veterans into long-lasting employment. If there were additional funds 

available to expand follow-up services to include more than just 

counseling and placement, services such as additional training if 

necessary, grantees could be more supportive to those veterans, 

help them secure higher-paying jobs, and ensure that they keep 

those jobs. 

And finally, the VA and HUD emphasis on quickly moving vets 

out of service-intensive transitional housing into permanent housing does have some unintended consequences. Once they are in permanent housing, they are ineligible for HVRP. Making them eligible for 90 days after they move would alleviate this problem. 

But the ready availability of HUD–VASH vouchers marketed 

heavily by the VA and others in the community can create a disincentive for some veterans to seek employment. Crawling out of 

homelessness and building the skills to become self-sufficient is difficult. We and other providers have had many veterans who have 

been in our workforce programs readying themselves for employment who suddenly drop out of the job search because they have 

heard the possibility of receiving a VASH voucher. What they say 

to us is, I don’t want to endanger the possibility of getting my 

voucher by getting a job. The income may disqualify me. That is 

a terrible disservice to veterans, trading a productive career for a 

lifetime of dependence. 

We have more resources than ever before to help veterans who 

are homeless, and it is up to all of us to use them wisely, empowering the veterans we are pledged to serve, and making sure we 

are providing them the skills that will help them, as one of our vets 

said, ‘‘to bring back the man who once wore the military uniform 

with pride and honor.’’ 

Thank you very much. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF STEPHEN PECK APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you very much, Mr. Peck. 

Mr. Nguyen, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF SON NGUYEN 

Mr. NGUYEN. Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, 

and Members of the Committee, good afternoon. 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

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My name is Son Nguyen. I am a Navy veteran, cofounder and 

president of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals, 

also known as VAREP. With 24 chapters and growing, we are 

pleased to share the perspective of those most directly impacted by 

the subject that this Committee addresses. 

Established in 2011, VAREP has grown to be the voice for the 

interest of veterans in financial literacy education, VA loan education, and homeownership counseling. Additionally, we have become the educational resource for the real estate, lending, and 

housing professionals. Our Capitol Hill visits have advocated for a 

multi-agency collaboration, including specific legislative and administrative changes in removing barriers to homeownership. 

Our proudest accomplishments in 2015 include educating over 

1,500 veterans on the importance of good credit, benefits of homeownership, the home-buying process, the VA loan benefit, and 

down payment assistance programs across the country. As a direct 

result of our housing summits, we have placed 500 families and 

helped them realize the American dream of homeownership. Of 

that 500, 50 families were helped in southern California. 

We are also proud to say that we were able to give away 10 

mortgage-free home donations to wounded warriors and heroes in 

2015. We also gave away $40,000 in forms of grants for down payment assistance, closing costs, and adaptive housing rehabilitative 

grants. 

We are also very proud of being able to take blighted homes, rehabilitate them, and resell them to 70 veteran deserving families 

in 2015. 

While southern California has made great strides in ending 

chronic veteran homelessness through programs such as HUD– 

VASH, we must now focus on the marginally homeless younger veterans. A young couch-surfing low-income veteran who cannot afford 

a permanent dwelling is essentially homeless. However, currently, 

these type of veterans have shared with us that they don’t qualify 

for the HUD–VASH voucher program. HUD–VASH should be reconsidered and expand its definition of homelessness to be more inclusive of the marginally homeless low-income veterans. 

The transitional period is a critical time in a veteran’s life. They 

are brought in off the street. They are provided with psychological 

assistance, physical assistance, but there is no fiscal education. 

They are not financially fit when they graduate from the program. 

We recommend that financial literacy, education, and housing 

counseling services need to be part of the wraparound supportive 

services provided and overseen by case management and required 

as a daily living activity. This would arm the veterans and make 

sure that they reintegrate sustainably in permanent housing. 

Lack of financial literacy education may trigger veteran homelessness. A study published in the American Journal of Public 

Health in 2013 stated ‘‘an overlooked contributor to veteran homelessness is not achieving financial stability after military service.’’ 

A 2014 USC Los Angeles County veterans’ survey backed this up. 

They said that of the veterans they surveyed, 30 percent of them 

reported financial troubles, which many began during their military service. A 2014 Blue Star Family survey revealed that 65 percent experienced stress related to their family’s current financial 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

14 

condition, and 84 percent agree that greater focus should be placed 

on preventative financial education as a whole. 

A financial literacy education and coaching program needs to be 

established under the GI benefits so veterans can apply, participate, and graduate financially if, ensuring sustainability. The new 

benefits should be implemented in all phases during active-duty, 

transitioning, and reintegration for sustainability. 

Barriers to homeownership: The biggest barrier of homeownership is lack of outreach, education, and counseling. The lack of 

these services have caused confusion, frustration, and in some 

cases, housing discrimination. 

In 2015, VAREP surveyed 500 veterans through our housing 

summits and found that 95 percent said they did not receive housing training and counseling services while in the service. Ninety 

percent said they did not receive VA loan benefit training during 

the service, transitioning out, or post-separation. Forty-five percent 

said they thought that they could never own a home. Sixty-five percent said they did not know where to go to get help with their credit. Seventy percent said they could not find a home on a limited 

income. Ninety percent said that VAREP was the first group that 

actually focused on educating veterans on homeownership. Seventy 

percent said that they had a hard time finding a realtor or lender 

that would work with them if they were using the VA loan program. 

The Department of HUD has proven that homebuyer pre- and 

post-purchase and default housing and education works. We recommend that the VA take a look at this program and come up with 

a solution to come up with a VA housing-approved counseling agency. 

To illustrate these points, I would like to share an example of a 

veteran that we have helped. In the Housing Summit held in Riverside, which Ranking Member Takano addressed the audience, we 

had 29 attendees and 6 confirmed veterans who bought a home 

within one year of attending. His name is Dennis. He is in the audience right now. He fell into hard times. He lost his job due to his 

injuries. His wife, himself, his daughter, who was pregnant at the 

time, was not technically classified as homeless, but they were living in a fifth wheel without electricity, borrowed electricity, and no 

running water. 

Since he did not fit the description of homelessness, he did not 

qualify under any of the Federal programs. Real estate agents and 

lenders did not want to work with him because he wanted to use 

his VA loan. He was not informed of the down payment assistance 

available, and his credit needed repair. Bottom line, no one would 

help him. He attended our Veterans Housing Summit and 6 short 

months later he realized the American dream of homeownership. 

In conclusion, the points of this proposal is clear. Financial literacy education and homeownership education with counseling 

services are proactive and preventive measures in ending virtual 

homelessness in southern California. Pilot programs should be focused here with scalability across the United States. It is our hope 

that VAREP can work with the VA to bring this concept from possibility to reality. 

Thank you. 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

15 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF SON NGUYEN APPEARS IN THE AP- PENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you, Mr. Nguyen. 

Mr. Rivera, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF JOSE RIVERA 

Mr. RIVERA. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak 

today. 

Good afternoon. I would like to share my experiences as a beneficiary of the HUD–VASH program. The program has been lifechanging. The HUD–VASH program has empowered me to actualize my educational and professional plans. The staff at the Veterans Affairs in Loma Linda, especially Ms. Jennifer Sircar, played 

an important role by mentoring and supporting my educational and 

professional goals. Ms. Sircar was a great liaison and spokesperson 

by referring me to the U.S.VETS for further assistance in accessing 

resources. Furthermore, I was referred to the Warehouse for Heroes, which furnished my apartment completely. 

The program has been full of great opportunities. I am indebted 

to the Veterans Affairs and HUD. The services provided by both 

HUD and the VA have prepared me to transition into a new phase 

in my life. I am now on my way to realizing a lifelong goal of attaining my bachelor’s degree in anthropology. This summer, I will 

graduate from the University of California, Riverside. 

I have been able to utilize the post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, which 

has contributed to the improvement of my quality of life for my 

daughter and myself. The GI Bill has been the platform which has 

allowed me to pursue my education. I have benefitted from the 

book stipend, from the tuition fee payment, and from the monthly 

living allotment. I have utilized the resources made available, and 

they have truly changed my life. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF JOSE RIVERA APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, I want to thank all of you for your testimony here today. 

And now, we are going to go into the question phase. And I recognize myself for 5 minutes for questions. 

And I think one of the things I heard a couple of times here 

today was about prevention and what we can do to try and prevent 

homelessness to begin with. One of the things that we on the Committee over the last couple years have fully recognized is that we 

need to engage people while they are still in uniform, that is the 

best time to reach them, not here is your DD-214, we will see you 

later, good luck, go call the VA, that we need to engage people and 

get them educated on the programs. 

Now, I know what it is like when you come off duty. It is probably the last thing you really want to hear about. You are ready 

to just get home. And so that is the challenge with our Transition 

Assistance Program is how do we continue to capture everyone. But 

to me, we want it to be not only a presentation to them, something 

that they get while they are still in uniform, but know where they 

can go for the information and know where they can go for help. 

Leonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

16 

So my question really to each of you, whoever wants to weigh in, 

and we can go down the line, is some tips that you may have from 

your experiences of how we can prevent homelessness to begin with 

or at least reduce the rate, because it is always going to be a challenge. I mean, this is not a transition that most people make in 

their life, and it is different from most transitions in life like from 

college right to a job and things like that. 

So anything you might want to share with us where you think 

we can do more to prevent that first step that we are trying to 

bring people out of. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Well, unfortunately, I don’t have the direct experience to be able to address coming out of service and into civilian 

life. However, I do think that there is a lot to learn from the work 

that the community does in preventing homelessness generically, 

generally. And that needs to include working on the population 

that is potentially going to be homeless and not having to require 

that they be homeless to receive service, like the example of the 

fifth wheel. It doesn’t mean that they need to accomplish homelessness in order to be eligible for service. I don’t think that that is 

necessary. 

Also, the production of affordable housing units and not shelter 

beds is very important. There is a large population of working poor, 

veteran and otherwise, and as the economy turns and as people 

move from a single-family home into an apartment complex, it just 

trickles down, and eventually, it creates a homeless population that 

wasn’t there before. 

And I do think that providing services that provide for job training, education, all of those services that could lead to eventual success in not just housing, but just in the quality of life, as our esteemed student mentioned. I think that that is valuable and we 

should pursue all of those things. And all of those are for the benefit of the quality of life of the family, and I think that that is what 

we should pursue. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. And I think another thing, too, that was brought 

up is how do we prevent someone who is in a home to becoming 

homeless. And I have seen it in my district where sometimes it is 

older veterans and their house is deteriorating and they can’t take 

care of it, and there are agencies that want to come in, even volunteer to help —they could use a little more funding. And if they can 

just fix up the house before it is condemned, then the veteran 

doesn’t become homeless. And I think that is what you were referring to, Mr. Nguyen, as well. 

Does anyone else care to comment? Please. 

Ms. HARMON. Yes, one of our departments, our county departments, is Workforce Development Services. And what we have long 

asked for is just give us a list of the veterans that are coming home 

into our community that recently separated because we always expect the veteran to find us, but hey, we can find the veteran. And, 

you know, maybe we just need to call them—we have veterans that 

are on staff—and reach out to them. 

The other thing is, in general, we need to welcome back veterans 

to our community. We need to create campaigns that say we are 

proud to have a veteran as a neighbor. We need to offer discounts 

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17 

in our local businesses. In our workforce centers we have priority 

of service. 

But we also need to realize that I think our idea of a veteran is 

an older person at times or, you know, the guy or girl who did a 

lot of time. And it might be a very young veteran who went in at 

18 and said, you know, I am going to do one stint and then I am 

going to go on. We need to catch that veteran and make sure that 

we have a pathway to middle class. Because oftentimes, those 

younger veterans came from families where there weren’t a lot of 

opportunities. They might come from low-income families. 

So help us reach out to them so we don’t expect veterans to find 

us because we are more than happy to reach out to them. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Yes. I think that is important, too. And I think, 

like you said, there are many young people that get in, and it is 

not in their family history necessarily, serving or doing something 

else afterwards and so they are not aware of what their opportunities are. 

Yes? 

Mr. PECK. I think there is an issue that might be a legislative 

fix. When a veteran moves from the military to civilian life, it is 

a little bit like moving to a foreign country speaking a different 

language. They simply are not prepared beforehand. We would not 

send a Peace Corps volunteer to a foreign country without teaching 

him the language. So the TAP program obviously has its limitations. As you said, they are just ready to get out of there. You 

know, they are just holding their ears for a couple of days before 

they get out. 

So if we could do an assessment on them beforehand, especially 

those who have been in combat, you do the E–5s and below who 

have been in combat who have a lack of job skills, may have mental health issues which might be identified by that assessment, and 

all those other predictors to homelessness, then we would begin to 

follow them. 

The problem is the privacy laws don’t allow us to follow them. 

We can’t get those names from the State, from DoD. So there needs 

to be a connect from the information that we can gather if we 

choose to before they are discharged that we can then use as an 

essential tool to help them afterward in some mechanism, some incentive for them to come back. 

We all know that there is a lot of reluctance to admit that they 

have any problems. They think if they say they have a problem, 

they are somehow going to get held back, won’t be released. So we 

need to fix some of those either through legislation or through incentives to get them to come and see us. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you. Mr. Nguyen, anything to add? 

Mr. NGUYEN. Yes, I would like to add. We are talking about preventative. I just remember me going through the service and definitely boot camp they didn’t teach us anything but to get us ready, 

right, and then when you go to your first duty station, I truly believe that part of the—if we could mandate and make it part of the 

curriculum in preventative education, whether it is financial literacy, whether it is career skills, much more mandated prior to the 

TAP transitioning out. 

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And I believe if you start earlier in the process, you are going 

to instill, whether it is money-management skills or what have you, 

the skills early and often. The TAP should just be a refresher 

course, not a course to say I have never been really taught that before. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you. Mr. Rivera? 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes, well, from my personal experience, what I 

learned in the military didn’t translate into the civilian life. I 

wasn’t prepared. So that was a major setback where there was a— 

I was uneducated. I was not ready to take head on the civilian life. 

So that was a major setback that I was—I didn’t receive a—although they do train you, right before you get out, they offer classes, it still didn’t—it wasn’t enough to prepare me for the real world 

of not only the job aspect of it, but of just incorporating yourself 

back into society of how to function as a civilian again because you 

are in the military for so long, you get accustomed to that lifestyle. 

When you get out, you are really not prepared. 

As for myself, that was a major thing, that what I had learned 

in the military did not translate over. Although I was an infantryman, obviously it is not. It is more of a, you know, law enforcement 

or security type, since I didn’t pursue those, I was relegated to 

mainly labor type of jobs, which although there is pride in that, you 

should be proud if you are working in that industry, that is not 

what I envisioned myself coming out of the military, digging, working with the shovel, or working a $9 job. So that was my major experience when I first got out. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Sure. You know, President Bush, I met him in 

Washington about 6 months ago, and he was in town because he 

was working with veterans on how to prepare their resume. And 

he was saying that when they ask you what skill you have, you 

don’t just write ‘‘sniper,’’ you know? You say the skills I have are 

I show up for work on time, I am dependable, people can count on 

me, and things like that. And that is to your point, I think. 

But listen, thank you all very much. And, Mr. Takano, you are 

now recognized. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the wonderful line of 

inquiry. 

Mr. Rivera, can you tell me, what community did you come from? 

Are you from the Inland Empire? Did you grow up here? 

Mr. RIVERA. No, no. Originally, I grew up in Orange County. 

Mr. TAKANO. Okay. Well, that is in the neighborhood. 

Mr. RIVERA. Well, yes, it is southern California, right. It is in the 

neighborhood. And I have been living in Riverside County from, I 

believe, 2010, 2009. 

Mr. TAKANO. So where did you grow up in Orange County? 

Mr. RIVERA. In Orange County? Well, I graduated from Garden 

Grove High School in Rancho Alamitos. So I went to school in the 

Santa Ana School District up to 8th grade, and my high school was 

in Garden Grove at Rancho Alamitos High School. 

Mr. TAKANO. Wonderful. Wonderful. Did you come from—what 

was your kind of economic background? 

Mr. RIVERA. It was a lower economic background. My parents 

worked in the catering business. They had a lunch truck, tried to 

make ends meet, worked at the swap meet. So that is part of my 

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decision to go into the military was that I was limited in my opportunities. College wasn’t in the future at all. 

Mr. TAKANO. Were those educational opportunities that were 

held out by the recruiter or whoever you went to see, was that a 

huge part of why you joined? 

Mr. RIVERA. The incentive to get money for college was a major 

reason why I wanted to join the military because I needed a way 

to advance my education somehow, so I realized that the GI Bill, 

at least for myself, amongst wanting to serve my country, was a 

determining factor for me wanting to enlist. 

Mr. TAKANO. Okay. Now, tell me where you were serving. I 

mean, tell me a little bit about your military history. 

Mr. RIVERA. Okay. I was stationed 2 years in Georgia, Fort 

Benning, and I went to South Korea for 1 year, and that is where 

I left the military, from South Korea in 2002. 

Mr. TAKANO. So you exited the military— 

Mr. RIVERA. I exited the military— 

Mr. TAKANO [continued]. After how many years you were in? 

Mr. RIVERA Three years. 

Mr. TAKANO. Three years? 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. It did get you out of your neighborhood in Orange 

County? I am not saying it was a bad place, but the military— 

Mr. RIVERA. Well— 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—did allow you to see— 

Mr. RIVERA. Right. 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—you know, a different part of the world 

and— 

Mr. RIVERA. Oh, definitely, yes, because thanks to the military, 

I got to travel to South Korea. That was a learning experience, 

learned the culture. Everything that I have learned in the military 

has stayed with me. Even when I was in Fort Benning, Georgia, 

there was a training and— 

Mr. TAKANO. Okay. Here is where I am going with this. Mr. 

Nguyen has said some things that I have often thought, and I have 

heard the Chairman kind of mutter things here at the dais as well 

about— 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Mutter. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mutter. Well, I didn’t mean it that way. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. I know. 

Mr. TAKANO. Mention or discuss the notion that somehow in the 

lifecycle of a military servicemember, cramming everything into the 

TAP program at the end doesn’t seem to be enough to prepare our 

military folks for that transition. So you came in the military with 

an expectation of being able to improve your situation, to get the 

educational benefits, but Mr. Nguyen is—how do you respond to 

Mr. Nguyen’s assertion that somehow there needs to be earlier 

preparation? What might have helped you— 

Mr. RIVERA. Right. 

Mr. TAKANO.—looking back? 

Mr. RIVERA. Well, see, the main training that I received was 

right before you got out. It was all these courses or these lessons 

on resume-building, on interview skills. Now, there would have 

been a little bit more resources available to—just like we focus on 

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20 

combat training or on weapons training, there should probably be 

a transition training, I mean, for all those people that are definitely 

planning to get out of the military. 

Mr. TAKANO. I see. I see. Tell me, you mentioned how critical 

those HUD–VASH vouchers were for you. Were you at the point of 

being homeless at that point or were you homeless at that point? 

Mr. RIVERA. No, I was homeless already at— 

Mr. TAKANO. You were already homeless? 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. And can you just kind of give us some insight into 

how you got to that state of homelessness, kind of tell the story, 

please. 

Mr. RIVERA. It was in 2008 when—okay. So it goes back. 2008 

I went through a divorce, okay, so I split up from my family. I was 

left—from that point on I was left—I wasn’t directly homeless because I could go to my parents, but I could only do that for so long. 

So from 2008, I had been struggling up to the point where I 

learned about the HUD–VASH program that I could—I did even 

the couch-surfing. I lived in my car. But you can only sleep on 

somebody’s couch for so long before you become a nuisance or you 

are infringing on their lifestyle. So I was already homeless up to 

the point where it was—actually, I got housed last March. I am 

about to hit the year mark when I got the HUD voucher. 

Mr. TAKANO. And employment was also a challenge for you— 

Mr. RIVERA. The employment— 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—during this economy, right? 

Mr. RIVERA. Right. I had been working at temporary agencies, 

and because those particular job industries aren’t—I worked at 

temp agencies and I would be laid off. I worked at a construction 

company, and I was laid off. 

Mr. TAKANO. So it was the lack of stability and— 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—duration of employment? 

Mr. RIVERA. Right. It was the lack of stability of having a job of 

steady income coming in to be able to sustain a place to live or— 

Mr. TAKANO. My time has run out, but I want to just ask you 

this—can I—thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

How critical was this HUD voucher for you? If it didn’t exist, 

what would that have been like? 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. I don’t want to think like in that frame, because it probably wouldn’t be good. I would probably be living in 

my car. I am sure that I would not be in school. But I really am 

thankful because at the same time when I got the Section 8, I had 

assumed full responsibility of my daughter because her mother became sick. And it happened just—I don’t know. It just happened to 

happen at the same time where I had my daughter before I had 

the voucher, so we were sleeping on my mom’s couch. I could no 

longer sleep in my car because I had my daughter, so that is when 

I went back to my mom’s. And we were sleeping in her living room 

up to the point where we got the—it was only about 3 months up 

to when we got the voucher. But if I didn’t have the voucher, I 

know that I would probably be living in my car. I guarantee that 

I would not be in school. 

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21 

Mr. TAKANO. I know we have chatted before and you told me 

about—how much longer do you have until you graduate? 

Mr. RIVERA. I am going to graduate in this spring. 

Mr. TAKANO. Wow. 

Ms. HARMON. Good for you. 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. Well, I want to just say how proud I am of you. 

Mr. RIVERA. Thank you. Thank you. 

Mr. TAKANO. I told you I was going to check up on you, and you 

are graduating. We are just all very proud of you. 

Mr. RIVERA. Thank you. 

Mr. TAKANO. So thank you for serving our country and, you 

know, thank you for using—you know, Secretary Shinseki once 

said that the Congress and the United States have approved a very 

generous package of post-9/11 education benefits, and that is why 

you entered the military, and the one obligation you have as a veteran is to complete and to finish and to use them well. And I am 

just so proud of you. You are out of U.C. and University of California, and you are using your benefits well and you are getting a 

good degree from a good university. And I have all the hope in the 

world for you and your daughter. 

Mr. RIVERA. Thank you so much. 

Mr. TAKANO. So thank you very much. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you. Dr. Ruiz. 

Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Rivera, I have to echo Congressman Takano’s 

statement that we are all very proud of you. And actually your 

story touches me deeply. I have had family members who lived in 

cars as well because they were homeless working up and down, 

picking the grapes and citrus in the State of California. So I really 

admire the struggle, your perseverance, your dedication, your hope. 

And you are very blessed, my friend— 

Mr. RIVERA. Yes. 

Mr. RUIZ [continued].—that you are at this point now. So I want 

to thank you for never giving up hope, man. You have a bright future— 

Mr. RIVERA. Thank you so much. 

Mr. RUIZ [continued].—and we appreciate you. 

My question is going towards the whole panel, but I want to 

know, what are the unique dynamics for women veterans either 

that they are on the verge of being homeless or women veteran 

homeless population or women homeless veterans getting job training and job placement? I know that in the general population many 

women oftentimes face barriers in getting shelter because they 

don’t accept their kids or, you know, they don’t want to risk saying 

that they are in a shelter because then they will lose their kids in 

case they are in a divorce. So can anyone speak to those unique dynamics for women veterans? Mr. Peck? 

Mr. PECK. Thank you. At our Long Beach program we have a female veterans program and have had for 10 years or so. We have 

about 40 women, 9 of those are women with their children. And 

what we discovered early on when we first opened that program in 

the early 2000s, we couldn’t fill the beds and we were wondering 

what was wrong. At that point it was only 30 beds. We came to 

find out that most of the women that were coming to us had sexual 

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22 

trauma of some sort, and that disturbance was preventing them 

from living a life like you would want to live. Many of them had 

lost their children. 

And then as a result of this war, female veterans are in the combat zone. The prevalence of military sexual trauma is much greater 

than anyone would wish to know about. And an article recently in 

the L.A. Times said that the incident of suicide among female veterans is as high as the male population. It is six times higher than 

the female population of that age group. 

So there is a major mental health problem out there. There are 

way too few programs for women. And of all the women who come 

through our program in Long Beach, the vast majority need counseling and a significant time of stability before they are ready to 

go back to work. And only about half of them are going back to 

work. Some of the women that are coming through our program, 

their incident happened 20, even 30 years before, and as a result, 

they have a lot of physiological problems as a result of that. 

Mr. RUIZ. Thank you. I can imagine that a single mother with 

two, three children wants to get a job, and they want to participate 

in the job training rehabilitation program. How do they get 

childcare? Does the program provide stipend for childcare so that 

they can undergo the job training program? 

Mr. PECK. A number of the women today, young women with 

families, are availing themselves of the SSVF programs, Supportive 

Services for Veteran Families program, and that is not only the 

Rapid Re-Housing or Homeless Prevention. There is childcare dollars, there is transportation dollars. So all of that is available if 

they use it. 

The challenge with the SSVF program is it is time-limited, and 

if they are suffering from any mental health issues, it is difficult 

for them to complete— 

Mr. RUIZ. Is that time adequate to cover the job training programs, rehabilitation, or does it cover that entire time that they 

would need? 

Mr. PECK. I think it is up to 9 months now. It used to be 5 

months. I think it is up to 9 months. Is that right? So if they, for 

instance, had a 6-month training program, that would be adequate. 

But as I said, if they have— 

Mr. RUIZ. How often are the training programs longer than 9 

months? 

Mr. PECK. Sorry? 

Mr. RUIZ. How often are the training programs longer than 9 

months? 

Mr. PECK. Well, for instance, if they want to go back to community college, that would not work. So if we get them on the GI Bill, 

if that would be sufficient to handle their housing and here they 

can get an education, then that would be adequate. But many of 

them are having trouble putting all of those pieces together, and 

so as Mr. Nguyen said, it is a matter of education. 

Mr. RUIZ. Thank you, Mr. Peck. I am out of time. I yield back 

my time. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Doctor. 

Mrs. Torres, thank you for joining us today. And you are now 

recognized. 

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OPENING STATEMENT OF NORMA TORRES 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and 

Ranking Member Takano. And although I am not on your Committee, I very much appreciate the opportunity to participate in 

this hearing with you and with Dr. Ruiz. 

I am no stranger to housing issues. In the State House, I served 

as the chairwoman for the Housing and Community Development 

Committee. And I am not a stranger to the homelessness issues. 

And I must say, I recommit to all of you there is absolutely no 

shame in being homeless. Circumstances beyond our control sometimes puts us in situations where we find ourselves in that position. 

Myself in 2005, I lost my home to a fire. And although I did not 

meet, you know, the regular, I guess, measurements of being homeless, thankfully, I had a credit card and I was able to charge myself, you know, into a hotel room with my three kids. I know the 

challenges that you have in trying to find a place to live, especially 

when you have liabilities like children and cats and a dog. Those 

all of a sudden become liabilities because there isn’t a landlord that 

I know that is willing to accept, you know, a couple with three 

teenage boys, a dog, and a cat. They absolutely think that you are 

going to destroy their home. 

So I found myself being the mayor of my home city of Pomona 

living in a hotel, and ultimately, you know, being able to move 

back into my home 14 months later. 

So there is no shame in that. And from that perspective, Mr. 

Chairman, I feel like deja vu all over again in trying to address the 

issues of veterans and homelessness and job placements around 

this category that we hold so dear. 

Part of the problem is that, as veterans, you are warriors. You 

are the defenders of the homeland. You are trained to protect us. 

Therefore, it is very difficult in many ways for you to say I need 

help. I need somebody to give me a hand because I need assistance 

getting my benefits, I am not getting anywhere with this bureaucracy, the red tape that is often very, very difficult to maneuver. 

So I find that in my office now, as a Member of Congress, being 

able to help veterans but only after maybe 6 months to a year of 

them trying to get benefits. 

There are some areas that we can work as Members of Congress 

working with our State Legislatures and our local governments, 

and that is matching that training that you receive in the military. 

For example, if you are part of security forces or, you know, a police officer, MP, you know how to drive a bus, you come out with 

a bus driver’s license most often, you know how to guard a building. Or if you are a paramedic, you know, you are the best person 

to serve in an emergency room side by side with an emergency doctor. You have already worked through that and treated some of 

those injuries in the field. 

One of the frustrations that I have had is getting the military to 

provide that training material to our community colleges so they 

are able to translate those learned tactical—that tactical experience that you have had into a certificate program where you can 

receive a certificate and you are able to get a job within that type 

of job classification that you had been trained in the military. That 

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24 

is one area that I think we can try to twist some arms with the 

military and help them share that information with our community 

colleges. 

The issue of not having identifications, I am a little bit concerned 

about that. Getting the DD-214 form sometimes takes 3 to 6 

months after the veteran has left the military. A lot can happen 

during that short period of time, and a lot of times, I think that 

that is where we are losing them. 

To the city and county inspectors, housing inspectors, I would 

like to ask how are you dealing with VASH vouchers because my 

understanding is a different type of inspection that maybe your city 

or county may have then, the Section 8 vouchers. 

Ms. HARMON. We actually use the same standards as the Section 

8 program. VASH gives us the flexibility of pre-inspecting units, 

and that inspection is good for a period of time so that we have a 

unit ready for a veteran. The biggest problem, even in the Inland 

Empire where we kind of, are billed as the cheaper place versus 

Orange County and L.A., is our rental rates are going up, and the 

voucher doesn’t pay the same as a private person. And everybody 

is competing for rental units, you know, young people who have 

just graduated from college who are starting their careers, our 

homeless veterans, even professionals like myself are in the rental 

market, and all of that puts a lot of pressure. 

Unfortunately, the HUD-set payments standards are not competitive with the market rates in high-cost areas, and so we are 

asking landlords to really take a loss on a unit. Some are very financially well off and can do that, but it would be nice if they could 

get a tax incentive or some type of break for what they are—I 

mean, we could not run Section 8 or VASH without our private 

landlords, and they are very recognized. It truly is a private-public 

partnership. And I think in the Bay area, Chicago, parts of Chicago, New York, even Sacramento now, the vouchers just cannot 

get you in the door. 

Mrs. TORRES. Right. 

Ms. HARMON. And I think the city can also speak to that. 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you. I think my time is out. 

In closing, I want to say that part of the solution with affordable 

housing in general, you know, lies within our communities. And addressing the issues of NIBY-ism, ‘‘not in my backyard,’’ a lot of people feel that affordable housing is substandard housing that doesn’t 

belong in our neighborhoods. And I would challenge them to say, 

you know, affordable housing are housing units where we house police officers, teachers, your nurses, and your local veterans. 

So thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to be here and 

to ask those questions. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you. And I appreciate it. We will do 

another round of questions. 

There are a couple of things crossing my mind. It has been addressed; it is being addressed to try and parlay military experience 

and military education. And you know, Mr. Rivera, you spent time 

in a classroom with your job, and most everyone in the military 

does to various levels, and translating that into college credit or 

some type of credentialing for a State license, et cetera. So, you 

know, we sit at the Federal level. We are talking about things that 

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25 

require State licenses, and so working in that realm to try to get 

some cooperation with States and get them to have some buy-in on 

taking this experience and to allow it to parlay. 

And you bring up a good point, Ms. Harmon, of recognition of the 

landlords that do this, that in essence take that risk. And I equate 

it similar to the recognition that employers get when they hire 

someone who is in the Guard and Reserve. You know, basically 

that business is serving their country, you know, because they are 

hiring someone who may have to leave for a while and come back. 

And so I think there are ways that we can recognize and in some 

way provide incentives for people to want to take that chance and 

make it better. 

As a doctor, and Dr. Ruiz will weigh in on this, we always look 

at prevention and cure. You know, you get your symptoms in front 

of you and you think, well, how can I prevent it from happening 

again or for the next person, and then, how do we cure the one that 

is in front of us. And I think that is a lot about what we are talking 

about here today. 

And, Mr. Peck, I want to talk to you a little bit about your mental health services that you provide to non-homeless veterans 

through the Outside the Wire program if you could comment on 

that and how that works because to me that is another opportunity 

to reach out and prevent the veteran from becoming homeless. 

Mr. PECK. It is. So you can largely—I mean, no two stories are 

the same, but there is some kind of disturbance in their lives and 

that is around employment or mental health or substance abuse, 

and sometimes that is lack of skills. So if you really provide robust 

mental health and employment services, you can prevent a lot of 

homelessness. 

Our Outside the Wire program was started in Long Beach about 

5 years ago when we started a residential program for post-9/11 

veterans, all of whom were homeless, all of whom had post-traumatic stress. And in reaching out to them, we found many of them 

at their local community colleges and realized that there were 

many many post-9/11 veterans at the community colleges. And they 

were the veterans by and large who were experiencing some kind 

of challenge. They weren’t fully ready to go to a 4-year college. 

They thought they would try the community colleges to try to get 

some skills. 

And in talking to them, we realized that a lot of them had mental health issues, and largely, it was around post-traumatic stress. 

So we began raising money to provide mental health services at the 

veteran resource centers in the community colleges, and now we 

are at 13 community colleges in L.A. and Orange County providing 

free confidential mental health counseling. 

A number of the young veterans also don’t want to go to the VA. 

They think they are a bunch of old guys there like me. And they 

think, well, you know, that is not my place. That is an older veterans’ place and I don’t want to go there. And we all know there 

is a lot of stigma associated with mental health, and as you said, 

they don’t want to admit the fact that they can’t handle their problems. 

So part of the challenge with the Outside the Wire program, although we are seeing a lot of veterans at those colleges, it is simply 

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getting them to walk in the door. And we are continually trying to 

find new ways to make it easier for them to come in. The fact that 

we are right there at the Veteran’s Resource Center, you know, and 

we have fliers there, it means that they can come in and talk. They 

don’t have to talk about their mental health; they can talk about 

anything. 

But, you know, through that process of communication, we hope 

that if they have mental health issues around post-traumatic stress 

that they will begin to talk to the psychologists. So we are constantly learning with that program. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you very much. 

Mr. Takano? 

Mr. TAKANO. Great. Thank you. 

Mr. Ramirez, Ms. Harmon, you might want to weigh in on this. 

You mentioned something about Housing First and the necessity 

for—we still need transitional housing, that we can’t throw that 

out. And I seem to recall this emphasis on Housing First has 

maybe reduced our resources in terms of temporary and transitional housing. But do you have a comment? 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Well, at least I am not suggesting that Housing 

First is a bad policy. 

Mr. TAKANO. No, I am not saying you are. I mean, I think it is 

a good policy, but I think I have heard from some of our members 

of the community that have told me that Housing First is great in 

a lot of ways but we can’t eliminate the—we still have a need for— 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Right. 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—the transition and temporary. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Right. Correct. And what I think my point is that 

Housing First, you know, it should focus, I think, rightfully so on 

ultimately reaching housing, but housing alone does not mean success. And it cannot just mean here, here is a house, here is a key 

and move in. It has to include all of the services leading up from 

the first time that we meet the homeless person, the homeless veteran, until after they move in. And along the way that means job 

training, job introduction, job navigation, housing training, and 

maybe some transitional housing, and eventually, production of actual units. 

And that is why I think both Carrie and I were suggesting that 

we needed to improve and increase those affordable housing resources, and, as part of those affordable housing resources, that 

there be mandated an inclusion of funding for case management 

and for housing navigation and for employment training, and that 

you don’t say because we are focusing on Housing First, we are not 

going to do transitional housing because then it leaves a person 

that has to go find that affordable unit. 

Mr. TAKANO. Real quickly because I want to get to some other— 

do we need more resources for transitional housing? 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Yes. 

Ms. HARMON. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. Is that one of the missing pieces? 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Yes. 

Ms. HARMON. Yes. HUD is moving away from defunding it, and 

it has caused a lot of disruption in continuum of care, which does 

do a good job. I started at U.S.VETS as an AmeriCorps member. 

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27 

It is how I got into servicing homeless veterans. And the VIP program is basically designed to be a 90-day to 6-month program 

where you get a job, get some support around you, and then take 

off from there. It is a very effective program, and it really helps 

guys exiting substance abuse, inpatient substance abuse because, 

you know, outreach workers will tell you, you can’t get your pockets right until you get your mind right. So they dealt with the substance abuse disorder, and they just need a little more structure 

to make it on their own and to protect that sobriety. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. They are defunding it because it is not deemed 

housing, and so in the move to Housing First, then the things that 

cause us to take housing is not deemed housing. 

Mr. TAKANO. I just want to make sure my Committee staff connect with this issue. I would love to spend more time on it, but I 

want to get to some other issues. But thank you for highlighting. 

Ms. Harmon, before I move on, though, you listed a list of programs that you said needed more help, and they weren’t necessarily veterans’ programs, but they somehow seem to be interconnected with our ability to address veterans’ homelessness. You 

mentioned the HOME program, CDBG, Section 8. Those aren’t, 

strictly speaking, veterans-specific programs, but you seem to be— 

you know, you were in a hurry to sort of mention these things. Can 

you give a little more time to kind of explain what you were talking 

about? 

Ms. HARMON. So I firmly believe we already have the right tools 

and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel so to speak to serve veterans. We need to make veterans a priority in our community and 

use existing Federal programs. And so we need them funded, and 

we need to be told you need to have a plan because you have to 

have a plan to spend CDBG funds, HOME, that includes top priority for veterans’ housing units, top priority for—like CDBG can 

fund employment programs for low-income veterans. So fully fund 

that program, but tell us veterans have to have a priority when you 

disburse the funds locally. And then you don’t have to create a new 

program. It forces us not just at the VA or nonprofits to deal exclusively with veterans, to integrate veterans’ services more 

seamlessly into our existing community so they don’t have to go to 

these standalone agencies like the VA hospital, which is 40 miles 

away from some parts of Riverside County, to go in the door as a 

veteran. 

Mr. TAKANO. Well, thank you. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Congressman, if I can add just a piece— 

Mr. TAKANO. Sure. 

Mr. RAMIREZ [continued].—to it if you don’t mind. I agree with 

Carrie, first of all, that we do have the tools, and HOME, CDBG, 

Section 8, low-income housing tax credits, all those things help to 

produce units. And who goes into those units ultimately, it could 

be a veteran or it could be just a low-income person. So we already 

have figured out how to make those things work. 

What I think is needed is that, number one, we need additional 

funding to make that happen. And, for example, in the HOME program, the HOME program allows for production of the units, but 

then it does not allow for the subsequent case management to go 

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28 

and operate that unit. So it is—go building a unit and then you are 

done building the unit. 

And in the Section 8 program, for example, the Section 8 program does not allow for the operation of a housing navigation in 

order to successfully introduce the person to the units and just because it is focused on a different thing. And I believe that it should 

allow for eligibility of use in a broader way, in a more flexible way. 

Mr. TAKANO. So we need to connect these themes that go with 

veterans’ homelessness and generic homelessness. There is a lot of 

ways in which these programs can be structured to be more flexible 

so we really are able to serve veterans more fully with the broad 

array of even programs that aren’t strictly funded. And I hear we 

need more funding. 

If I may, I want to turn to Mr. Peck. I think what bears a little 

more explanation or what I would like to hear more about is this 

HVRP, this conundrum that you focused on in your testimony, the 

conundrum of the HVRP and the fear of losing the voucher and 

then not being able to fully do the training that we need. 

Mr. PECK. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO. And if you could just sort of tease that out some 

more for us. 

Mr. PECK. So the issue that I mentioned, which is that it acts 

as a disincentive to some veterans. And this is not just us; I have 

talked to many agencies across the country and this is always the 

case. And the veterans who are struggling are very vulnerable. 

They are afraid of what their future is going to look like. 

So if you say to them ‘‘I am going to work with you over the next 

3 months, it is going to be really, really hard, but at the end of that 

you are going to get a job,’’ or, ‘‘would you like a voucher next 

week?’’ Right? It is acting as a disincentive for them to go through 

that difficult period where they are going to have to really work 

hard, really overcome some of the habits that they have picked up 

when they were homeless to complete that course and give up the 

freebie basically. 

The vouchers are incredibly important for those people who cannot return to employment for families, for people who, really, that 

don’t have any options. Those who are using that voucher short 

term for education, for instance, it is an incredibly good use of that 

voucher. 

For some who are marginal, who are not sure whether they can 

go back to work or not, they are opting for a life of dependence as 

opposed to going out, getting the skills, and finding a job. And I 

think that really is a disservice to them, and we try to—to me, it 

is not working to the veteran’s skills. It is working to their weaknesses, and I think we have to be very careful about that. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Can I— 

Mr. TAKANO. Go ahead, please. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. You know, we in the House side, we passed H.R. 

474, and I would love it if you would take a look at that, Mr. Peck. 

We are hoping the Senate will respond in kind because it expands 

the eligibility for HVRP to veterans in the HUD–VASH housing. 

Mr. PECK. That would be terrific. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. And that is really what we are after. If you— 

Mr. PECK. Yes. 

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29 

Mr. WENSTRUP [continued].—think there is something more we 

need along those lines, we would love to hear from you. So take a 

look at how it is constructed. It has passed out of the House. We 

are hoping the Senate follows and that we can move that forward. 

Mr. PECK. I think that would be brilliant. Then they wouldn’t 

have to make that choice, right? Then they could use the voucher— 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Right. 

Mr. PECK [continued].—or what it is meant to be to help them 

to the next level, and then that voucher, in turn, would rotate to 

another veteran who needed it so it would be the best of both 

worlds. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. I am sorry. May I make a comment? 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Yes. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. I think Mr. Peck makes a good point. However, 

what I find to be the problem in what he is describing is the extremity of the scenario. And so if you move to the other extreme, 

you are going to end up with another problem. And I believe that 

if you say you can only have the voucher for 6 months and after 

that you have to move on or you have to have a plan, there is going 

to end up another collateral consequence that we don’t want to 

have to end up. And maybe the flexibility needs to be given at the 

local level to the case manager that is working with the person instead of setting these limits, this line in the sand because then you 

end up with something else that you weren’t foreseeing. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. And I don’t think this bill does that. The flexibility is on the HVRP side and not so much with the voucher side. 

So I appreciate—go ahead— 

Mr. TAKANO. If I could get one more—yes. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Takano. 

Mr. TAKANO. I appreciate your generosity. 

Mr. Nguyen, I think we have had this conversation. I recall this 

conversation at some point, but you mentioned about the real estate agents often not being willing or able to work with veterans 

on the VA loan issue. And you gave the example of Dennis. Did 

Dennis ever find a real estate agent that he could work with for 

the VA loan? Or how did Dennis get—did he use a VA—but anyway, I just want you to kind of elaborate a little more on this issue 

and— 

Mr. NGUYEN. Simply put, the VA loan in the past has a PR problem or it had a PR problem that never was overcome. The VA loan 

established in 1944 as an entitlement has never had—essentially, 

you have a VA loan without the wraparound support services for 

outreach education. So you have a benefit that you are relying on 

real estate professionals and lending professionals who are not educated on the changes, or they are, or through lack of education, 

they are biased against it. And I can cite thousands of cases like 

Dennis’s where we have been approached and even a study from 

the VA in 2010 when veterans who got a housing loan, why didn’t 

they use the VA loan? And they said that 8 percent of 10 percent 

of the real estate professionals and lenders discouraged them from 

using it. They said they weren’t discussed about their benefit when 

they self-identify. 

So I think the situation is lack of education to the industry. I believe that the VA is relying on lenders and realtors without proLeonard.horne on VACREP0180 with DISTILLER

30 

viding them the education to doing it, to the supportive services to 

educate the veterans. 

Mr. TAKANO. Did Dennis ultimately get a VA loan or was that 

not part of his solution? 

Mr. NGUYEN. Dennis actually worked—we assigned him a Marine who also was a realtor, and—hold on. Dennis, did you get a 

VA loan? 

DENNIS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. NGUYEN. He got a VA loan. He got a VA loan. 

Mr. TAKANO. So the Marine got it done. 

Mr. NGUYEN. The Marine got it done. The Marine got it done. 

But the key, I think, with our program that he was running into 

and a lot of veterans, the veteran culture, as you know, it is a separate culture and it has not been recognized such as other minority 

cultures that can be tied to ethnicity or race. And so I think that 

when a veteran works with another veteran, the guard goes down 

and you are not seeing a lot of that. And so what Dennis was running into were civilians without any experience. Thus, he did not 

get the help he needed from vet to vet. 

Mr. TAKANO. Well, I am heartened to learn that the Chairman 

said we actually are going to engage this very topic next week— 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Yes. 

Mr. TAKANO [continued].—in our hearings back on Capitol Hill. 

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your indulgence, and I appreciate 

the extra time. And thank you so much. I yield back. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you. If I could share a story, I know a 

Congressman who is a veteran, and he applied for a VA home loan, 

and he was told you better do it before the end of the year because 

you are in a job that is not guaranteed for the next 2 years. And 

that veteran is me, and I appreciate the reality of that. We got it 

done. So I understand the frustration. 

Dr. Ruiz? 

Mr. RUIZ. Thank you. Thank you. 

You know, I think there are some important themes that we 

need to highlight here, and I know that we are ending up, so I 

would like to mention those because I don’t know if we are going 

to have another round. But one of the early themes that we all 

talked about is the lack of education outreach to our veterans. 

There are a lot of veterans out there that don’t know these services 

exist. They are not being approached in a manner that will help 

empower them to make life decisions, choose wisely, and take advantage of the resources. 

That is something that I found when I did a health care initiative back in 2010, talking about health care access barriers. And 

many of the residents didn’t know that the resources existed in the 

community. And when I did my veterans’ initiative in 2013 where 

we went around and asked veterans about their life and the barriers and the issues and solutions, a lot of them also said that they 

didn’t know that, hey, this organization existed that was present 

at these events. 

So I think that community collaborations and work is very important. I am going to start a veterans’ university which will do 

just that, work on educating, and I invite all of you to participate 

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31 

and share the information, the resources, and the benchmark programs that some of you have successfully completed. 

The other theme that I want to really highlight is—and it goes 

along with the lack of education in terms of what the resources are 

is that they are fragmented, right? They all work independently. 

And I like the idea of a continuum of holistic care to our veterans. 

There has been talk about the continuum of health care of a person in uniform serving to when they are discharged and continue 

with their care with the VA health care systems. There is the idea 

of continuum holistic care when somebody is looking for their benefits, for example, and then once they apply or they have been denied and they want to appeal them, it goes to a whole different system with a whole new set of structures, but see it as a continuum 

of services for that veteran. And I think that we need to really address that as well for our purposes in the homeless care. 

And in saying that, the main categories that we all need to work 

together with the homeless population, something Mr. Peck alluded 

to is of course housing is very important, but that will not be as 

successful if we don’t include mental health services and health 

care. We know that there are certain elements that veterans face 

in higher proportion than non-veterans, PTSD, for example, of 

those who have been in combat. However, they are not immune to 

the mental health illnesses that the non-veteran community faces 

as well, like the biological incidences of clinical depression, psychosis, schizophrenia, et cetera, that also puts an individual at 

higher risk of being homeless. 

The other thing that we need to address within the mental 

health world is the addictions, addiction to drugs, addiction to alcohol that is also a confounding factor in a veteran’s ability not only 

to get housing but also to get employment, right? And then of 

course the third and the fourth, which is employment and the job 

training and education. And it seems like there is a lot of spokes 

but we have to figure out a way where there is that hub, that one 

location, much like what we have in the nonprofit world that can 

act as caseworker or case managers that will tie all of those ends 

to better manage, to better have success with a veteran. 

So in saying that, and going along with health care, I am very 

interested in the notion of street medicine. Have you guys heard 

of street medicine? Do you know if—are you tied in with a street 

medicine program with your organization, doctors and nurse practitioners and health care providers that actually go find the veteran 

homeless person and take care of them? 

Mr. RAMIREZ. Yes. In fact, at the Hulen Place campus that exists 

in Riverside, the homeless shelter that we operate, there is a medical clinic in the campus itself. Health to Hope operates a center 

there, and it is specifically focused on the population that would go 

to the Hulen Place campus. And they go out into the community, 

along with our homeless outreach team that goes into the community, into the streets and identifies and engages the person that is 

in need. So they are actively working on not only identifying the 

person that needs the needs and then curing or identifying what 

might be the solution to that need. And then they have full-time 

medical attention at the campus as well, so something that we are 

working on expanding as well. 

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32 

Mr. RUIZ. Excellent. And I think U.C. Riverside, their family 

medicine program in Palm Springs, initiated that. I was supportive 

of their program and really encouraged them from the ground level, 

along with a collaborative that we are trying to form in the area 

because there is a redundancy of programs from different agencies 

that serve the homeless. And if we can collaborate with all the different agencies to maximize the value that we provide the homeless 

person and also connect them because, let’s face it, street medicine 

is not the ideal method of providing medical care, but it is good 

temporarily. But the best thing that street medicine can do is bring 

them back in to a case management scenario where then we can 

fully integrate a veteran back into our society and being healthy 

and productive. 

So I would definitely love to hear more about how we can take 

those practices and start them throughout the entire Riverside 

County, especially in my district. 

I have an idea I wanted to test with you in terms of the need 

for more affordable housing. Just hearing you today, you know, I 

am working with the foster system and trying to recruit more foster parents because there is a lack of foster parents and housing 

for our foster kids. And so trying to find syzygy and synergy with 

that program, what about creating a program where we would 

train veterans to house homeless veterans in their personal home 

and have those individual veterans have incentives like whether it 

is tax breaks or stipends or a certain payment and having like a 

home— 

Mr. TAKANO. It is a like a foster— 

Mr. RUIZ [continued]. Like a foster, yes, like something like that 

where that veteran’s home now becomes like a health home that 

is integrated within a network of services for a veteran. 

Mr. RAMIREZ. I think that is a great idea. I think it does a lot 

of different services to not only the veteran that is coming into the 

home but also the veteran that is receiving the veteran. There are 

some supportive services, there is some case management available, there is some ability to interact between the two people that 

have the same experience, there is some housing that gets provided. I think there is a lot of merit and we should really pursue 

it. 

Mr. RUIZ. Okay. 

Ms. HARMON. I also agree that that model could be very effective. 

You know, a house is not just an apartment. You know, so many 

times I have handed a veteran a key, and that is not the end of 

the road because really a house is feeling connected, it is having 

visitors, it is a sense of belonging somewhere. And I think that that 

can help a veteran feel that they are back part of something. And 

you can always use another person on your team. 

I just wanted to sneak in with your idea of a street medicine program, and I think a lot of times people don’t want to talk about 

their homeless issue but they will talk about the sore on their leg. 

It would be great if those type of mobile clinics could have a substance abuse counselor on there, somebody who is an expert, because while we sent outreach workers out in the homeless realm 

to identify people who don’t have housing, we need substance abuse 

counselors out in the streets in encampments to bring people in 

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and to help recovery happen in the streets, not when they walk in 

the door as well. 

Mr. RUIZ. Any comments on this side? 

Mr. PECK. If I could, I think it is an interesting idea that you 

bring up. Homelessness to us, the solution for homelessness is all 

about rehabilitation. It is about recovery from a variety of things. 

There are a number of things that happen to these veterans that 

made them homeless. And I would be reluctant to put someone 

with a mental health and a substance abuse issue into someone’s 

house, right, who wasn’t equipped to take care of it. So we would 

have to be very careful there— 

Mr. RUIZ. Of course. 

Mr. PECK [continued].—into who we placed where, that they 

were adequately prepared— 

Mr. RUIZ. Trained— 

Mr. PECK [continued].—to handle the issues that would come up. 

Not all of our veterans are likeable guys— 

Mr. RUIZ. Yes. 

Mr. PECK [continued].—but, you know, we don’t judge that. 

Mr. RUIZ. Yes. 

Mr. PECK. They have been through a lot. A lot of them have 

every right to be angry with the way their lives have gone, and 

that takes a professional to really march them through that, help 

them, walk by their side until such a point as they can accept the 

fact that they are where there are and they are ready to move forward. So it has— 

Mr. RUIZ. Well, one model that works really well is the AA 

model, the Alcoholics Anonymous model, where you have a coach— 

Mr. PECK. Right. 

Mr. RUIZ [continued].—and somebody who has been through it 

but somebody who understands and somehow has the training to 

intervene during crisis situations— 

Mr. PECK. Right. 

Mr. RUIZ [continued].—in case somebody wants to take a drink 

and— 

Mr. PECK. Right. 

Mr. RUIZ [continued].—have somebody to talk to. So I think that 

there are ways that there could be specific intelligent, smart training and placement to match the right homeless veteran with the 

right coach, for example. 

Mr. PECK. Right. 

Mr. RUIZ. Before I give up my time, anybody want to comment 

on that? 

Mr. NGUYEN. I would echo Mr. Peck’s statement. I think with the 

proper vetting of the right foster family so to speak— 

Mr. RUIZ. Yes. 

Mr. NGUYEN [continued].—I think the byproduct that you are 

going to get is peer-to-peer counseling. 

Mr. RUIZ. Yes. 

Mr. NGUYEN. You shared the same thing, as you said, with the 

AA. 

Mr. RUIZ. Yes. 

Mr. NGUYEN. So I think it is a great idea. When is that happening? 

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Mr. RUIZ. Thanks for asking. I think that is a good question. 

Anyway, I yield back my time. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Well, thank you. You know, this really has been 

great. You know, I came from the snow in Ohio today, so for a lot 

of reasons, it was well worth the trip. And I thank you all for taking time. I thank you for what you are doing each and every day. 

You know, I think the things we come away with are—and we 

have all known this—there is no one answer for every veteran that 

we face. There are a lot of different circumstances. But it would be 

nice if we were better coordinated with the things that we have to 

offer and more flexible with the things that we have to offer to 

match an individual’s needs. And I think that is something that is 

difficult when you are talking about, you know, broad spectrum 

across the country, but we need to keep embracing that and trying 

to drive that so that more people can be taken care of for what 

their needs are. 

And before we adjourn, I want to just extend my thanks to the 

students and the staff and the administration at Riverside City 

College for hosting us and our witnesses, obviously for you taking 

the time to be here with us. But I am also impressed with the 

number of people that are here, whether you are veterans or just 

concerned. We appreciate you being here to take the time to take 

an interest in taking care of our veterans. Without them, we have 

nothing. 

So finally, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on today’s hearing. Hearing no objection, so ordered. 

[THE ATTACHMENT APPEARS IN THE APPENDIX]

Mr. WENSTRUP. And the hearing is adjourned. Thanks. 

[Whereupon, at 4:22 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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(35) 

A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Statement of Emilio Ramirez 

Introduction 

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano and members of the Subcommittee 

on Economic Opportunity, I am grateful to be invited to testify before you today on 

behalf of the City of Riverside regarding our collaborative efforts to combat chronic 

homelessness and our work to end homelessness amongst our honored veterans. We 

appreciate your attention to continuing this good fight and for your effort in ‘‘Finding Solutions for Veteran Homelessness in Southern California.’’ 

This hearing is both significant and timely for the region because accepting and 

succeeding in the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness required real collaboration among many different partners, including federal, state and local jurisdictions, as well as many private partners. If we are going to have a chance at a 

permanent solution for veteran and chronic homelessness, we need that collaboration to strengthen, grow and continue. The City of Riverside is encouraged by the 

success in the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran’s Homelessness, and by the prospect of developing a regional plan in partnership with our neighboring jurisdictions 

to address homelessness across the region. We have not yet formally engaged our 

federal partners but I see no better time to invite you to this effort than now. 

The City of Riverside Homeless Services Program was established to connect 

homeless individuals with social services and housing. The City has taken a proactive approach to addressing homelessness in our community by cultivating partnerships with the County of Riverside, a wide-range of non-profit organizations, social service agencies and faith-based institutions. 

Partnerships 

Riverside has created a centralized environment to provide short-term emergency 

shelter, coupled with a range of complimentary supportive services that are necessary to assist homeless individuals and families achieve housing stability. 

The City has found success with the Housing-First model and evidence-based case 

management to help individuals exit life on the streets and transition to self-sufficiency. The Housing First Model emphasizes moving homeless individuals into housing as quickly as possible and provide the appropriate level of services to support 

housing stabilization and retention. 

The Riverside Homeless Services Campus on Hulen Place includes the Path of 

Life Riverside Community Shelter, ‘‘The Place’’ Safe Haven Supportive Housing and 

Drop-In Center and the City operated Multi-Service Access Center. Together, this 

partnership provides short-term emergency shelter, meals, case management, a pet 

kennel, medical services and permanent supportive housing for those with mental 

health concerns. Collaboration is the key to our success. Our on the ground partners 

include: 

1. Health to Hope Medical Clinic 

2. Social Security Administration 

3. California Department of Motor Vehicles 

4. Path of Life Ministries Community Shelter 

5. Path of Life Ministries Family Shelter 

6. Set Free Ministries 

7. U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs 

8. Riverside County Housing Authority 

9. Riverside County Department of Mental Health 

10. Riverside County Department of Public Social Services 

11. U.S. Vets 

12. Lighthouse Social Services 

13. Foothill Aids Project 

14. Roy’s Desert Resource Center 

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15. MFI Recovery Center 

16. Cedar House 

17. Riverside Treatment Center 

18. Riverside Police Department 

19. Riverside Probation Department 

20. Riverside Sheriff’s Office 

21. Riverside Parole Office 

22. Coachella Valley Rescue Mission 

23. Operation Safe House 

24. Riverside Unified School District 

25. Alvord Unified School District 

26. Riverside County Animal Services 

27. Arlington Temporary Assistance 

28. Salvation Army 

29. Catholic Charities 

30. Community Connect 

31. Community Settlement Association 

32. Family Service Association 

33. YMCA Riverside 

34. Goodwill Resource Center 

35. Department of Rehabilitation 

36. Riverside Transit Agency 

37. Riverside Community College 

38. California Baptist University 

39. University of California, Riverside 

40. California State University San Bernardino 

41. Intercoast College 

42. Harvest Christian Fellowship 

43. Kansas Seventh Day Church 

44. Our Lady of Perpetual Help 

45. Calvary Presbyterian Church 

46. First Congregational Church 

In addition to overseeing operation of the entire campus, the City operates a 

Multi-Service Access Center. The City’s Access Center provides an entry point and 

service hub to the City’s Continuum of Care. The Access Center provides a widerange of services under a single-roof: homeless prevention resources, homeless street 

outreach, basic needs emergency assistance, transportation assistance, housing navigator services, employment development, benefits enrollment, health care, mental 

health services, substance abuse recovery, veteran’s services, life skills training, financial counseling, legal services, access to a telephone and computers, and a permanent mailing address. 

Programs 

The City’s homeless services staff operate a menu of programs designed to provide 

holistic supportive services. 

Homeless Outreach Program 

The Homeless Outreach Team is comprised of four service providers who conduct 

daily mobile outreach and client service engagement for homeless individuals and 

families on the street, in service venues, and around town. The Outreach Team responds to people in need of assistance, as well as local residents and businesses in 

the community. The Outreach Team focuses on those ‘‘hardest to reach’’ and ‘‘service 

resistant’’ homeless individuals. The Outreach Team partners with other city staff, 

local services providers, health professionals, law enforcement and the community 

at-large to help people get off of the streets and connect to services they need to 

gain stable housing and achieve self-sufficiency. Local service providers and community volunteers participate in ‘‘ride-alongs’’ to help engage people in need. 

Navigating Back Home 

Once the Homeless Outreach Team is able to identify and build a rapport with 

homeless individuals living on the streets, vehicles and places not meant for human 

habitation; the team transports the homeless individual to the Riverside Access 

Center to begin the housing process. At the Riverside Access Center, there are two 

full-time housing navigators assigned to assist individuals and families break the 

cycle of homelessness by moving them from the street to interim housing, accessing 

necessary social services, and rapidly obtaining permanent housing. The housing 

navigators provide individualized client support throughout this entire journey by 

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assisting each client develop a plan to address their barriers, increase their income, 

and maintain and sustain permanent housing. As part of the client’s case management plan, the housing navigator will identify each area in which clients will need 

assistance to accomplish the outlined goals and objectives such as scheduling appointments, applying for mainstream benefits and identifying subsidized housing. 

The housing navigator’s level of case management is intensive and requires extensive time and commitment to each individual client. The housing navigator’s overall 

goal is to assume full responsibility for their clients’ success in securing and maintaining permanent housing utilizing a housing first approach. 

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance 

This program provides eligible homeless individuals and families as well as those 

at-risk of becoming homeless in the City with short-term rental subsidies coupled 

with home-based case management. This effort currently includes HUD funded Permanent Supportive Housing Program; the Veteran’s Administration Supportive 

Housing initiative administered by U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the 

Housing Authority of the County of Riverside, the City’s HOME-funded Tenant 

Based Rental Assistance program and the Shelter Plus Care ‘‘Street to Home’’ 

Project. 

Permanent Supportive Housing Program 

The City operates a Permanent Supportive Housing Program, funded with an annual allocation through the HUD Continuum of Care Supportive Housing Program 

to support development and operation of two permanent supportive housing communities for sixteen households. One of the communities provides supportive housing 

specifically to chronically homeless individuals and the second community provides 

supportive housing to homeless with disabling conditions. On-going case management and supportive services are provided to participants to help ensure housing 

stability. 

Veterans’ Affairs Supportive Housing Initiative 

The Obama Administration has set a goal of ending homelessness among veterans 

over the next five-years. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is working in collaboration with the Housing and Urban Development Department to provide targeted 

housing choice vouchers to homeless veterans throughout the country. Locally, the 

VA Loma Linda is working in collaboration with Housing Authority of the County 

of Riverside, the Homeless Outreach Team and other continuum of care partners to 

assist homeless veterans with moving off the streets and into permanent supportive 

housing. The Veterans’ Affairs Supportive Housing Initiative provides a veteran the 

ability to choose where they live and ensure that their housing choice is affordable. 

Housing First Initiative 

The City is working with community partners to implement the best practice 

‘‘Housing First’’ approach which emphasizes moving people into housing as quickly 

as possible and provide the appropriate level of services to support housing stabilization and retention, into all aspects of our local continuum of care. The Housing 

First approach represents a significant shift away from the traditional homeless 

service delivery system to one focused on homeless prevention, rapid re-housing and 

home-based case management to facilitate client stabilization leading to self-sufficiency. 

Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran’s Homelessness 

The Mayor’s Challenge is a nationwide effort to end veteran homelessness in the 

United States. In June 2015, Mayor Rusty Bailey eagerly accepted the challenge. 

Our identified goal was to permanently house 86 homeless veterans in City by December 31, 2015. Through dedicated and diligent outreach efforts, 86 homeless veterans were identified in the City of Riverside. These veterans were living on the 

streets, parks, shelters, vehicles and other places not meant for human habitation. 

Many of these individuals were suffering from physical disabilities, mental illnesses, 

substance abuse disorders, and lack of social infrastructure. Through collaborative 

efforts with community partners such as the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the 

Housing Authority of the County of Riverside, Department of Mental Health, Department of Public Social Service, U.S. Vets and Lighthouse, we were able to provide permanent housing interventions for 89 homeless veterans by December 31, 

2015. We exceeded our goal by using a housing-first approach, through coordinated 

outreach efforts, by creating a prioritized by-name list of all of Veterans, and with 

weekly case conferencing with our service partners. The team’s dedication and efforts were wide-ranging and included activities such as physically assisting with the 

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move-in, providing security deposits and utility assistance, and obtaining various 

donations from businesses and faith-based organizations within the community to 

ease in the transition. Through community collaboration, each of us can find a way 

to show our gratitude and give back to those men and women who proudly served 

us. In doing so, we can help ensure that veterans have a safe place to permanently 

call home. 

25 Cities Initiative 

The 25 Cities Initiative is a key Federal strategy through which 25 cities are receiving technical assistance and are mobilizing local planning efforts and partnerships to create effective systems for aligning housing and services interventions 

through coordinated systems to end homelessness. Led by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the goal is to assist 25 cities 

in accelerating and aligning existing efforts to create coordinated assessment and 

entry systems, laying the foundation for ending all homelessness (including homelessness among veterans) in these communities. Riverside County is one of 25 cities 

across the nation selected to participate. This initiative recognizes that ending veteran and chronic homelessness requires strong coordination between all partners 

and stakeholders who are working together in our community. During regular case 

conferencing city partners and service providers meet to match homeless individuals 

and families with available housing resources and rapidly place homeless individuals and families into housing. 

Many of our housing programs offer special incentives including paying security 

deposits, guaranteed rent payments, pre-screening of clients, and intensive case 

management services. Riverside has created and implemented a coordinated entry 

system which includes a common assessment tool known as the Vulnerability Index 

& Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool, coordinated outreach efforts, the 

creation of a by-name list of individuals and families experiencing homelessness 

throughout the County of Riverside, and weekly case conferencing. Riverside County 

continues to cultivate partnerships with community members, with service providers, businesses, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions, inviting 

them to join this ongoing effort to end homelessness in our nation. 

Riverside Ending Homelessness 

A collaborative effort between Community Connect, Today’s Urban Renewal Network, Riverside Downtown Partnership, Arlington Business Partnership, Path of 

Life Ministries, the Housing Authority of the County of Riverside, and the City, has 

produced the Riverside Homeless Reduction and Prevention Strategy Five-Year 

Plan. The Five-Year plan sets forth focused strategies to help individuals and families move toward self-sufficiency. The Riverside City Council formally adopted the 

Five-Year plan in late 2012. This Five Year Plan is attached for your reference. Additional information can also be found at the Riverside Ending Homelessness 

website (www.endhomeless.info) 

This Five Year plan launched the Riverside Ending Homelessness effort, calling 

for the provision of a comprehensive menu of services from basic needs to employment, education and housing. We are making progress toward this goal, but still 

have a long way to go. We have created the Riverside Ending Homelessness nonprofit and established its governing board of directors from the spectrum of the community. We have seeded the Riverside Ending Homelessness Fund and continue to 

help it grow. We have a plan for expansion of basic services at the Hulen Campus 

and are now undertaking a fund raising effort for the $3,000,000 needed for expansion. 

My verbal testimony will focus on the Riverside Ending Homelessness effort. 

Regional Effort 

Building upon the positive momentum created through the City’s work to end veteran homelessness, the City is actively reaching out to all neighboring jurisdictions 

in Western Riverside County to encourage the development of a regional plan that 

more broadly addresses homelessness. 

Recognizing that homelessness is not a condition unique to any one jurisdiction, 

the City will invite representatives from each jurisdiction in Spring 2016 to help 

craft a plan through a collaborative development process that not only identifies the 

challenges faced but builds upon the efforts currently being undertaken by each jurisdiction. It is the City’s hope that the resulting plan will strengthen working relationships and serve as a foundation for improved cooperation throughout the region. 

Into the Future 

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All of the partners and service providers are dedicated, passionate and committed 

to ending homelessness. Staff from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs are always helpful and responsive. 

There is always so much opportunity for improvement. A few items that we suggest 

that would assist current efforts to help to end chronic homelessness include: 

1. Mandate implementation of Evidence Based Case Management in any 

programreceiving federal funds and provide the necessary funding to allow for 

its effectiveinclusion. It is difficult for many clients to acclimate to indoor living. The Critical TimeIntervention model, which has 3 phases of case management, has demonstrated tohave a 90 percent housing retention rate. 

2. Incentivize a regional approach and coordination of homeless services to 

encouragelocal governments to work together. 

3. Incentivize landlords and hotels/motel establishments to provide 30–90 

dayemergency housing vouchers. There’s a shortage of landlords due to the 

stigmaattached to housing programs including the Housing Choice Voucher 

Program. It isimportant for our community leaders to reach out to rental and 

realtor associations,property management companies and private owners to 

educate them on howservice providers have restructured their housing process. Five years ago, we(meaning housing providers) were placing clients in inappropriate housingprograms. It’s important to recognize our flaws and most 

importantly identify whatwe have done, collaboratively, to restructure our program requirements and developa coordinated system that better serves our clients and landlords. 

4. Create a mitigation fund for landlords willing to take a chance on renting to 

ourveterans. 

5. Provide motel vouchers so desperately needed for those veterans that absolutely 

refuse to enter the shelter. We will continue to lose veterans if we cannot temporarily provide them with a place to stay. 

6. Provide incentives to large and small businesses to hire formerly homeless vet- erans. 7. Provide funding for housing navigator positions. 

8. Provide a method of recognizing organizations that partner with local governments/regional partnerships to end veteran homelessness. 

9. Provide funding dedicated for capital improvements and operational expenses 

for facilities that provide coordinated services and meet basic needs. 

10. Maintain and expand existing program, as they are valuable and needed. 

If we are dreaming about truly being able to end homelessness for any person or 

the homeless population, then we propose the creation of a new program with an 

added value. 

Following the life of a person suffering from homelessness from the street to housing success can give us a guide to a new potential effort. Would it be possible for 

Housing and Urban Development to join efforts with Veterans’ Affairs to create a 

holistic program aimed at ending homelessness? 

Can we expand the Supportive Housing Program to include allowing for actual 

production of affordable housing units appropriate for the formerly chronically 

homeless along with a mandated case management system and partnered with 

housing and employment navigation? Can Veterans Affairs also take on that expanded Supportive Housing Program example and create a similar program dedicated for the homeless veterans? Can we create a Housing First Supportive Homeless Program? 

Success in the Mayor’s Challenge and the 25 Cities Initiative effort proved that 

a housing first model is effective but also demonstrated the efficiency required of 

the holistic menu of supportive services. While permanent supportive housing with 

case management is effective and HOME program production of affordable housing 

is valuable, they are not enough. We cannot sacrifice the delivery of housing navigation and supportive services. Housing navigation and supportive services are key because they are able to introduce the person in need to the opportunity available. 

We have seen firsthand what is possible when regional coordinated efforts and a 

full spectrum of resources are aligned and focused on a specific need. We can engage 

a team of dedicated and qualified professionals to help guide individuals and families through every stage, from the street to a home. This represents a genuine effort 

to effectively implement the Housing First model and is not a band aide approach 

dependent on overnight shelter beds. 

The new program needs to address tangible barriers to housing by focusing on the 

individual’s immediate and basic needs and offer multiple opportunities for contact 

with caring housing navigators, case managers, medical providers, education consultants, employment trainers and mental health professionals while consistently 

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increasing the availability of affordable housing units to increase the chances for 

success. 

To aid the transition into long-term housing stability, we could provide funding 

for an employment program aimed at empowering individuals to obtain the necessary skillset to successfully reenter the workforce and sustain gainful employment. 

To be successful, the Housing First Supportive Homeless Program would fund the 

team described above who would be fully dedicated to achieving housing success, 

where a shelter bed is not the objective. The Housing First Supportive Homeless 

Program would add funding for development of housing units specifically available 

to the formerly chronically homeless. The program would fund opportunities to acquire and rehabilitate existing homes within established neighborhoods where community reintegration can thrive. The employment program will inspire the community stakeholders to participate, promote, and stimulate program growth while contributing to the success of the individual. 

A partnership between HUD and the VA could launch a new initiative based on 

the lessons learned in the Mayor’s Challenge and pursue a similar success on a larger scale. 

We thank the Chairman, Ranking Member, and the Subcommittee Members for 

your time, attention, and devotion to this cause. As always, we welcome your feedback and questions, and we look forward to continuing to work with this subcommittee, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, to ensure the success of all 

generations of veterans. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Carrie Harmon 

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, and distinguished members 

of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity: 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Committee today. On behalf 

of our County, I would like to thank you for your leadership and support which has 

been instrumental in providing local communities with the resources needed to 

serve the nation’s most vulnerable veterans. As the representative from Riverside 

County, I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the county departments and 

the partnering agencies that are actively engaged in our local fight against veterans’ 

homelessness. I also have the humble opportunity to represent the homeless veterans in our county, many of which are now housed, that have been assisted 

through this united national effort. 

I am proud to report that our county has made significant progress in ending veterans’ homelessness and we are very close to reaching the finish line. Over the 

course of the last two and half years we have housed over 1,000 veterans but most 

importantly we have also learned a great deal about what systems need to be 

changed and what more is needed to assist our veterans. The purpose of my testimony is to share this information with you and to provide some recommendations 

on how we can further refine our strategies to end not just veterans’ homelessness 

but all homelessness within our communities. 

I am also honored to appear before you with my colleagues and in effort to not 

duplicate information my testimony will be focused on the following areas: 

• Riverside County’s progress, programs and initiatives; and 

• Recommendations for the Committee’s consideration 

Riverside County’s Programs and Progress 

Counties play a unique role in the fight against homelessness as the primary provider of public social services at the local level. While the Mayor’s Challenge focuses 

on the efforts of cities to end homelessness, counties have substantial resources that 

can and should be marshaled for this effort. Additionally, counties have the ability 

to establish local policies and practices that have a major impact on the way veterans, homeless and low-income residents are serviced and prioritized within our 

communities. Riverside County has long recognized this fact and has assumed a 

leadership role in ensuring that veterans and affordable housing are top priorities 

for our jurisdiction. This leadership can be found most notably in the passage of the 

Veterans Assistance Legislation of Riverside County (VALOR) initiative in 2013 and 

throughout the County’s numerous departments. 

Veterans Assistance Legislation of Riverside County (VALOR) 

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The Riverside County Board of Supervisors assumed the lead role in ending veterans’ homelessness through the unanimous approval of the Veterans Assistance 

Legislation of Riverside County commonly known as the VALOR initiative in April, 

2013. 

The purpose of VALOR is threefold: 

1. The Board’s public commitment to end homelessness among veterans ahead of 

the federal deadline; 

2. A commitment to enact local policies that will assist homeless veterans with 

accessing the services and housing they so desperately need; and 

3. The creation of the VALOR subcommittee which was tasked with implementing 

systems changes, enhancing services and most importantly identifying and 

housing homeless and at-risk veterans. 

Although spearheaded by the Board of Supervisors, VALOR was implemented as 

a public-private effort to rapidly house homeless veterans with an emphasis on engaging partners with the greatest resources to impact homelessness. Housing is always the first the priority using a ‘‘housing first’’ model of care. Secondary to the 

housing effort is the systems and service change that is necessary to move the entire homeless continuum of care into new mode of functionality which prioritizes 

permanent housing and the systematic matching of homeless individuals with an 

open housing unit. All of this is designed to move the county to ‘‘functional zero’’ 

for homeless veterans and the chronically homeless within the next year. 

2014 Veterans Point in Time Count (PIT) 

To begin the VALOR initiative, we needed an accurate baseline count of homeless 

veterans to monitor our impact and progress. This baseline began with data from 

the 2011 Riverside County Point In Time Count (PIT) which determined that there 

were 890 homeless veterans in our communities. This count was followed by the 

2013 count which found 179 homeless veterans a significant decrease that drove a 

local debate on the reliability of the PIT to accurately gage need and demand for 

homeless veterans’ services. In response to this debate, the County’s Department of 

Public Social who serves as lead agent for the Riverside County Continuum of Care 

obtained grant funds to conduct a veterans-only PIT count in 2014. This count determined that there were 290 homeless veterans of which 173 were unsheltered and 

included a survey of encountered veterans which was used to drive supportive service programming. The results of this PIT and survey, the 2014 Veterans Homeless 

County and Survey can be found online at http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us/homelessprograms. The 2014 number became the initial number used to drive our strategy 

to eliminate veterans’ homelessness in our area. Our next PIT is scheduled for January 27th and will include special efforts to reach veterans. 

County Programs and Services 

As noted previously, counties have an array of tools that can be utilized to combat 

homelessness and to provide veteran-centric services. I would like to highlight the 

following departments and/or programs which play a primary role in Riverside 

County’s response to veterans’ homelessness. 

➣ The Housing Authority of the County of Riverside 

Riverside County is home to one of the highest performing and progressive public 

housing agencies in the nation. The County’s Housing Authority has achieved the 

‘‘High Performer’’ designation from HUD for high quality management of its Section 

8 program for fourteen consecutive years which puts it in an elite group of less than 

10% of all housing authorities across the country. Moreover, the Housing Authority 

has implemented programs and services targeted to homeless and other special 

needs populations who require additional supports to obtain and maintain housing. 

In fact, our local housing authority is one of the very few that has its own homeless 

programs team complete with outreach workers and case managers. We believe fundamentally that a local public housing agency should be a one stop for all residents 

with housing needs especially those that are homeless. The Housing Authority operates daily on the principle that its primary mission is to restore lives, strengthen 

families and revitalize communities through the provision high quality affordable 

housing. The agency also offers a true public-private approach to housing through 

our partnership with Section 8 landlords who are instrumental in addressing homelessness. For this reason, the Housing Authority was tapped as lead for the VALOR 

initiative’s housing efforts and brings to the fight against veterans’ homelessness: 

existing partnerships with over 3,000 local landlords and affordable housing developers; funding for affordable housing development; over 8,500 Section 8 vouchers; 

469 units of public housing; 539 VASH vouchers; 120 units of supportive permanent 

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housing; 90 units of HIV housing; and 5 full time employees dedicated to homeless 

housing programs. 

➣ The Department of Public Social Services 

The Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) serves as the administrative 

agent for the Riverside County and City Continuum of Care and receives approximately $7 million in funding annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban development to provide housing and services to homeless individuals and 

families. The Riverside Continuum of Care was selected to participate in the 25 Cities Initiative and this project is being coordinated by DPSS. Under the 25 Cities, 

the County is aggressively moving all homeless services to a coordinated entry system that aligns the most vulnerable homeless veterans and chronically homeless 

with the first available housing unit. The system also includes a universal assessment system that is used to compile a master list of veterans in need of housing 

and a master list of veterans housed. These lists have fundamentally changed the 

way in which homeless veterans are identified and housed within our County. 

➣ Veterans Services 

As noted earlier, counties provide a unique range of public services that must be 

coordinated to address the needs of veterans regardless of housing status. One such 

department is the Riverside County Office of Veterans Services which is specifically 

tasked with honoring and enhancing the quality of life for veterans in Riverside 

County through claims assistance, education, advocacy, and special projects such as 

the Homeless Veterans Stand Down. The Veterans Services department is an important entry point for many veterans who are seeking assistance through the County’s 

various departments and/or seeking social service assistance through community 

agencies 

➣ Workforce Development Services 

Riverside County serves the administrator and operator of the Riverside County 

public workforce system. Employment is critical to ending and preventing homelessness. Riverside County offers priority of service to all veterans seeking services 

within our center and has implemented the HIRE VALOR program which focuses 

on the employment needs of homeless veterans participating in the VASH program. 

We are also working in partnership with the City of Riverside to implement an onthe-job training program for residents of the Riverside Emergency Shelter in an effort to provide work based learning experience, recent work experience and opportunities to earn income while receiving training. 

Riverside County Progress 

VALOR combined with the 25 Cities initiative has yielded the following results 

over the course of the last two and half years: 

1. 1,007 homeless veterans are now housed; 

2. We have funded three new housing developments earmarked for veterans - 

March Veterans Village, Camp Anza, and Habitat for Humanity’s Veterans Enriched Housing; 

3. We have implemented a standardized assessment tool and piloted a coordinated 

entry system for the Continuum of Care; and 

4. We have established an active list of all homeless veterans within our county 

who are still in need of housing and this list is reviewed weekly during a standing call with housing navigators and case managers. 

Recommendations 

Although we have accomplished much, we have also learned that there are adjustments that can be made to further enhance homeless services for veterans at the 

community and national level. I would like to share these recommendations with 

you for your consideration. 

1. There is an urgent need for additional units of affordable housing in the Southern California region for low income residents. Affordable housing is one of our 

best weapons in the fight against homelessness. We need to increase funding 

for the HOME program, Section 8, and other similar programs that can provide 

opportunities for communities to further expand the local supply of affordable 

housing units. These new communities must include units earmarked for homeless individuals and families. Veterans should receive top priority on waiting 

lists for these units. 

2. Identification documents should not be a major barrier to housing but they continue to be a significant barrier for homeless individuals and veterans. We have 

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eran with a VASH voucher in hand sit homeless awaiting a state issued ID or 

birth certificate which is almost always required to rent an apartment. This is 

unacceptable. We need to implement policy changes at the federal and state 

level that can provide these necessary identity documents free of charge for 

homeless veterans. 

3. We have achieved significant systems change in the local system of care. We 

owe a sincere debt of gratitude to the National Alliance to End Homelessness 

(NAEH) and Community Solutions for providing the leadership and technical 

assistance to guide us through this process. More is still needed. We need 

groups such as the National Alliance of Homelessness to set standards for professional training, education, and experience in the homeless service profession. 

This will facilitate a much higher level of care within the local Continuum of 

Care’s throughout the country. 

4. Employment is a critical to ending and preventing homelessness. We must 

move to the model of ‘‘housing first, employment second’’ and this must be a 

very close second priority. Employment is not just about income - a job is an 

important mechanism for connecting to the community and to an individual’s 

self-identity. Funding for workforce programs which focus on successfully reconnecting homeless individuals to the workplace are much needed and would 

make create significant impact. 

5. Finally, we need leverage the expertise and resources of long standing community agencies in our fight against homelessness. Housing Authorities are a 

prime example of this expertise. Housing Authorities already have long standing relationships with landlords and extensive knowledge of the local rental 

market. Please consider allowing Housing Authorities to use this skill in housing navigation rather than building this capacity in agencies that are better 

suited to addressing the clinical needs or emergency shelter needs of homeless 

veterans. 

In closing, I want to thank you for time and support. I began my work with homeless veterans over 13 years ago as an AmeriCorps outreach worker stationed at the 

VA Loma Linda. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that in 13 years I would 

see an end to homelessness among veterans. I think it is only fitting that veterans, 

even in their time of greatest need, led us on this path and showed us what can 

be accomplished when we imagine an end to one of our most challenging community 

issues. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Stephen Peck 

Good afternoon. My name is Stephen Peck and I’m the President and CEO of 

U.S.VETS. I’m also a Vietnam veteran. I served with the First Marine Division near 

Danang in ’69-‘70, and I’ve been doing this work since 1991. U.S.VETS has been 

in the fight against veterans’ homelessness since 1993 when we started our first 

program in Inglewood, California. Since then we have grown into the largest veteran-specific non-profit housing and service provider in the country, providing services at 21 residential sites and 9 service centers in 14 cities across 6 states, and 

the District of Columbia. 

Last year, U.S.VETS, touched the lives of over 17,000 veterans and family members; provided housing to more than 4,500; provided preventive and rapid rehousing 

services to 4,600 veterans and family members in the community, and placed more 

than 1,200 veterans into living wage employment. 

Locally, U.S.VETS - Inland Empire, our project headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, is the largest veteran housing provider in San Bernardino and Riverside 

Counties. This year in these two counties, about 2,000 veterans will experience 

homelessness. But 26,000 veteran households are living in poverty, on the brink of 

homelessness. The Inland Empire unemployment rate among veterans 9.5%, about 

double the national average. 

Despite the fact that many of our veterans have legal issues such as DUI, Domestic Violence, and Child Support as a direct result of dealing with Traumatic Brain 

Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress, and/or Combat Trauma, we were able to help about 

90 veterans return to full time employment. 

With over two hundred units of housing, from permanent supportive to Bridge 

Housing and Safe Haven, we’ve been able to help more than 800 veterans and their 

family members find housing in 2014–15, and we are on track this year to help 

more than a thousand. 

Our services are comprehensive. To us there is no one answer to homelessness, 

so we co-locate housing, counseling and employment assistance at each of our sites, 

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helping to create an environment that is responsive to the many challenges veterans 

face as they transition from military to civilian life. Our services include rapid rehousing beds, transitional and permanent supportive housing, and support services 

to homeless and at-risk veterans in the community, helping each veteran, male or 

female achieve self-sufficiency. 

We want to prevent veterans from becoming homeless if we can, so along with 

the VA Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, we provide preventative 

mental health counseling to veterans in the community through our Outside the 

Wire program; and employment assistance to veterans who are not yet homeless, 

and are ready to return to work through our Career Development Initiative (CDI). 

Last year through this program we helped 450 veterans return to work at an average wage of $45,000 a year. Both of these programs are completely privately funded. 

Back in 1993, we started with the idea that every veteran should be empowered 

to live at their highest level of independence, which means that we want every veteran who is capable of full time employment to have the dignity of finding a job. 

Every site has a career center and our workforce teams are critical to the success 

of our veterans. 

We have six HVRP programs across the country, including one in Los Angeles 

County, which helped us place 618 vets into full time employment this past year 

at an average wage of $12.00 an hour. We’ve developed other state and private 

workforce funding to make up for the limitations of the HVRP program. 

Let me make a few observations if I may: 

First: One of the limitations of operating HVRP is its inability to assist those veterans that may be at-risk of homelessness, such as the veterans we are serving 

through our SSVF program. They are not yet homeless and therefore do not qualify 

for HVRP services. We do not always have other workforce funding to help these 

veterans but if we could help them prior to the on-set of homelessness we may be 

able to prevent them from losing their housing. 

This is where our Career Development Initiative comes into play. Fully one-third 

of our job placements last year were made through the CDI program because of lack 

of sufficient and flexible funding from DOL. 

Nationally, the HVRP funding has been flat lined for the past three years, while 

increasing numbers of vets return from deployment, all them needing jobs. The program is authorized at $50M, but it has never reached this funding level and is stuck 

at $38M, leaving thousands of veterans without the employment assistance they 

need. Currently, there is no HVRP funding in Riverside County. 

Secondly: The ultimate goal of the HVRP program is to place veterans into long 

lasting employment. If there were additional funds available to expand follow-up 

services to include more than just counseling and placement, services such as additional training if necessary, grantees could be more supportive to those veterans, 

help them secure higher paying jobs, and ensure that they keep their jobs. 

And finally: The VA and HUD emphasis on quickly moving vets out of service intensive transitional housing, into permanent housing does have some unintended 

consequences. Once they are in permanent housing, they are ineligible for HVRP. 

Making them eligible for 90 days after they move would alleviate this problem. But 

the ready availability of HUD–VASH vouchers, marketed heavily by the VA and 

others in the community, can create a disincentive for some veterans to seek employment. Crawling out of homelessness and building the skills to become self-sufficient is difficult. We and other providers, have had many veterans who have been 

in our workforce programs, readying themselves for employment, who suddenly drop 

out of the job search because they heard of the possibility of receiving a VASH 

voucher. What they say to us is ‘‘I don’t want to endanger my possibility of getting 

my voucher by getting a job. The income may disqualify me.’’ That is a terrible disservice to that veteran - trading a productive career for a lifetime of dependence. 

We have more resources than ever before to help veterans who are homeless, and 

it is up to all of us to use them wisely, empowering the veterans we are pledged 

to serve, and making sure we are providing them the skills that will help them, as 

one of our vets said, ‘‘to bring back the man who once wore the military uniform 

with pride and honor.’’ 

f 

Prepared Statement of Son Nguyen 

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano and members of the Subcommittee: 

Thank you for inviting the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals 

(VAREP) to submit our testimony on ‘‘Finding Solutions for Veteran Homelessness 

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in Southern California’’. With 24 plus chapters and growing across the country, we 

are pleased to share the perspective of those most directly impacted by the subject 

this committee addresses. 

Established in 2011, VAREP has quickly grown to be a voice for the interests of 

veterans in financial-literacy, homeownership and VA loan education and counselling; additionally, we have become the educational resource to the real estate, lending, and housing professionals. We teach them on how to better serve our veterans 

achieve the American Dream of homeownership. Our Capitol Hill visits have advocated for multi-agency collaboration including specific legislative and administrative 

changes in removing barriers to veteran homeownership. 

National Outreach Results: 

• 1,500 veterans were educated about the importance of good credit, benefits of 

Homeownership, the home buying process, the VA loan benefit, down payment 

assistance programs, HUD VASH, and SSVF programs through our ‘‘Veterans 

Housing Summits (VHS)’’ across the country. 

• As a direct result of these Veterans Housing Summits, 500 veteran families realized homeownership and counting. 

• 5,000 real estate professionals and lenders educated about the VA loan and how 

to work with the military and veteran communities. 

• 1,500 veteran families have been help by VAREP local chapters through toy, 

blanket, and food drives. VAREP has paid for utilities, rent, and mortgage payments for veteran families who experience a temporary hardship through our 

VAREP Cares program. 

• 10 Mortgage-Free Home Donations across the United States to qualified veterans through our ‘‘House-A–Vet - Homes for Heroes’’ program 

• $40,000 in a form of grants were given to veteran families for down-payment, 

closing costs, and adaptive housing assistance. 

• 70 homes remodeled and sold to low-to-moderate (LMI) income veterans families through our ‘‘House-A–Vet - Veteran First’’ resale program. 

Southern California Outreach Results: 

• 200 veterans attended Veterans Housing Summits in Riverside, San 

Bernardino, and Los Angeles Counties. 

• As a direct result of these Veterans Housing Summits, 50 Southern California 

veteran families realized homeownership. 

• 500 plus veteran families have been help by VAREP local chapters through toy, 

blanket, and food drives for the holiday season. 

In this testimony, we will address homelessness and low-income veterans as relates to transitionary housing, overcoming barriers to homeownership and 

transitioning into a sustainable life in Southern California. We look forward to 

working with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and this committee on these 

issues. 

Overview of California Veterans and Homeless Population 

California has approximately 1.9 million veterans. Of these, about 185,000 (or 9.7 

percent are women) Almost one million are currently over the age of 60 (52.3 percent). Most live in Southern California counties, and are heavily clustered in Los 

Angeles (281,961 in 2015), San Diego (221,076 in 2015), Orange County (112,449 in 

2015), San Bernardino (108,497), and Riverside (128,767 in 2015). 

California expects to receive an additional 30,000 discharged members of the 

armed services each year for the next several years - more than any other state. 

Nearly 15,000 California veterans experience homelessness nightly, representing 26 

percent of the nation’s homeless veterans. 

Compared to the general adult population, male veterans are less likely to 

progress from stability into homelessness. But male veterans living in poverty are 

about 1.2 time more likely to progress to homelessness when compared to civilians 

living in poverty. Women veterans, however, are twice as likely as other adults to 

move into homelessness, and women veterans in poverty are 2.7 times as likely to 

move into homelessness as other adults living in poverty. For all veterans, youth 

is now associated with a higher risk of moving into homelessness. For 18–30 year 

old veterans living in poverty, when compared to nonveteran adults living in poverty, veterans are 3.4 times as likely to become homeless. 

This young cohort is made up of veterans who have served in both Operation Iraqi 

Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) and has a higher proportion 

of women veterans that older cohorts do. 

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Women in their 30s to 50s experienced the greatest problems with housing destabilization and homelessness. However, we also found that women serving in the 

most recent conflict experience problems maintaining stable housing once they become a veteran. 

Homeless and Marginal Low-income Veteran Transitional Housing 

Southern California has made great strides to ending veteran homelessness 

through a collaboration of local, state, and federal programs including the HUD 

VASH and SSVF. 

The HUD VASH is a great program, however, the definition of homeless only covers veterans who are actually on the streets or housing shelters. A couch-surfing, 

low-income veteran cannot afford a permanent dwelling is essentially homeless, currently, this veteran would not qualify for the HUD VASH Voucher program. The 

propensity for this type of veteran to be street homeless is inevitable. HUD VASH 

should re-consider and expand its definition of homeless to be more inclusive of the 

low-income veteran. 

SSVF is another great program, however, the challenge is that a lot veterans are 

unaware that this program exists. The SSVF Continuum of Care grant recipients 

need to do a better job of outreach to educate veterans within the communities they 

serve. 

The transitional period is a critical time in a veteran’s life. They are brought off 

the street and into transitional housing to receive treatment for a variety of physiological and physical ailments. They are also encouraged to apply for entitlement 

benefits such as disability and find suitable employment for sustainability. However, 

financial fitness education and housing counseling needs are not being addressed. 

Financial literacy education and housing counseling services needs to be part of the 

supportive services provided and overseen by case management as a requirement 

of daily living activities. 

Studies: Lack of Financial Literacy May Trigger Veteran Homelessness 

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), depression, 

bipolar disorder, alcohol and drug abuse, younger age, and contact with the criminal 

justice system have each been identified as risk factors for homelessness among veterans. However, an overlooked contributor to veterans’ homelessness is not achieving financial stability after military service. Financial factors, including lack of stable employment, inability to budget and make ends meet, limited financial knowledge, poor judgment in making financial decisions, and lack of material security, can 

exist independently of mental health diagnoses and the other risk factors mentioned 

according to a report in the American Journal of Public Health in 2013. 

The study found that military members in general are less familiar with household budgets, more likely to be targets for predatory lenders and ‘‘may not have the 

opportunity to learn the skills necessary for being financially independent and managing money.’’ 

Researchers from the University of North Carolina and Duke University said the 

study of 1,000-plus veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era found nearly onethird had gone over their credit limit, written a bad check or been contacted by a 

collection agency. About 5 percent of those surveyed spent some time homeless. 

A 2014 University of Southern California Los Angeles County Veteran Study 

showed: 

• 30% of veterans reported financial troubles, many of which began during military service. 

A 2014 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey revealed: 

• 65% surveyed experienced stress related to their family’s current financial condition. 

• 84% agreed that greater focus should be placed on preventive financial education as a whole. 

Financial Fitness Education Solution 

A ‘‘Financial Literacy’’ education and coaching program needs to be established 

as a benefit under the new GI Bill so veterans can apply, participate, and graduate 

financially fit ensuring sustainability. 

The program can be implemented in all phases including active-duty, transitioning, 

and reintegration: 

• Active-Duty—Start early and make a financial literacy curriculum mandatory 

for all service members to be completed within 60 days after reporting to their 

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duty station. Follow up with peer-to-peer financial fitness coaching to include 

annual credit review and savings plan. Starting early in the service member’s 

career creates good money habits and the annual credit reviews will enable sufficient time, if needed, to restore financial health prior to military separation. 

• Transitioning—During TAP/Transition GPS, have trained financial counselor 

conduct final detailed financial analyses of separating service members’ financial health. 

• Reintegration and Sustainable Life—The Veterans Administration (VA) in partnership with veteran housing nonprofits to provide continued financial literacy 

education, support, and coaching. 

Barriers to Homeownership 

Mental Disorders, PTSD, TBI, substance abuse, unemployment, lack of income, 

poor money management, bad credit, are all barriers to homeownership. However 

the biggest barrier to homeownership is lack of home buyer outreach, education, and 

counseling. This lack of these services have caused confusion, frustration, and in 

some cases housing discrimination. 

A 2015 Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) Veteran Housing Survey Revealed: 

• 95% said they did not receive housing training and counseling while in service. 

• 90% said they did not receive VA Loan benefit training during service, 

transitioning out, or post separation. 

• 45% said they did not ever think they could own a home. 

• 65% said they did not know where to go and get help with their credit. 

• 70% said they could not find affordable housing on a limited income. 

• 90% said VAREP was the first group that actually focused on educating veterans on homeownership. 

• 95% said they wanted follow up and home buying counseling services. 

• 50% said they had a foreclosure or short sale and thought they could not buy 

again. 

• 70% said they had a hard time finding a realtor or lender to work with them 

if they were using the VA loan. 

Home Buyer Pre-purchase and Post-purchase Housing Education and 

Counseling Solution 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proven that providing home buyer pre-purchase, post-purchase, and default housing education and 

counseling through NeighborWorks America’s network of counseling agencies works. 

HUD’s data shows: 

• Pre-purchase homeownership counseling had positive long-term effects on credit 

score, debit levels, and delinquencies on debt. 

• Counseling clients are one-third less likely to become 90+ days delinquent in 

the two years since obtaining their loan. 

• Telephone quarterly free financial coaching for one year post-purchase found an 

11.1 reduction in mortgage default rates for first-time home buyers with 

subprime credit histories (credit scores below 680). 

HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are ill equipped to provide veteran 

housing education and counseling services because the VA loan and veteran demographic is not in their wheelhouse. The responsibility of these services rests with 

the VA. 

Despite HUD’s lack of catering to the veterans, the homeownership education and 

counseling model works. A veteran housing education and counseling program 

should be established under the GI Bill as part of the VA loan program. This seems 

to be a natural fit. 

Fair Housing Law Veteran Inclusion 

Veterans are members of a protected class. Laws have been passed to increase 

hiring of veterans, increase contracting opportunities for veteran-owned businesses, 

suspend civil proceedings against service members while deployed, provide foreclosure-prevention help for veteran homeowners, and penalize companies who prey 

on service members through high-interest loans and investments scams. It is long 

overdue to make veterans a protected class as part of the Fair Housing Act. 

Allow Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit for financial institutions who 

purposefully reach out to the Low-to-moderate (LMI) veteran community to give 

them the credit access they need. 

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Conclusion 

The benefits of this proposal are clear: financial literacy education and homeownership education with counseling services are proactive and preventive measures to ending virtual homelessness in Southern California while enabling reintegration sustainability. A pilot programs should be established within Southern 

California by the VA to develop and implement these services. Once success is proven, these programs can be scalable for the entire United States. It is our hope that 

we can work with the VA to bring this concept from possibility to reality. 

To properly demonstrate the veteran requests that VAREP receives on a daily 

basis, please see exhibit 1. We have done the best that we can, however, there no 

grants that support us in our endeavor, thus almost 1,000 affordable housing options, financial literacy, and housing counseling requests are backed-logged waiting 

for processing. 

Exhibit 1. Affordable Housing, Financial Literacy, and Homeownership Counseling 

Request Samples. 

We thank the Chairman, Ranking Member, and the Subcommittee Members for 

your time, attention, and devotion to the cause of veterans. We welcome your feedback and questions, and we look forward to continuing to work with this subcommittee, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the entire Congress to 

ensure the success and empowerment of all generations of veterans in the areas of 

financial and homeownership sustainability. 

Information Required by Rule XI2(g)(4) of the House of Representatives 

Pursuant to Rule XI2(g)(4) of the House of Representatives, VAREP has not received any federal grants in Fiscal Year 2015, nor has it received any federal grants 

in the two previous Fiscal Years. 

Son Nguyen, 

Founder and President 

Son Nguyen is the Founder and President of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP). Mr. Nguyen creates, implements, and overseas the programs within VAREP including working with government agencies and policy makers to create and reform veteran housing policy to remove barriers to homeownership. 

He is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert by government agencies, 

the real estate industry, the lending industry, and real estate trade organizations 

to provide consultation on a variety of veteran housing issues. 

Mr. Nguyen has 19 plus years of experience in real estate, public speaking, supplier diversity, curriculum development, and non-profit management. His record 

speaks of innovation and leadership at the highest level. 

Mr. Nguyen established VAREP as a housing non-profit for vets, by vets. He believes VAREP’s proactive stance—providing financial-literacy education and advocating homeownership—may not end the epidemic of homelessness among the veteran community, but can prevent it from happening in the future, one veteran at 

a time. 

Mr. Nguyen entered the Navy in 1996 and served as a Radioman on the USS Vincennes (GC–49) and USS Constellation (CV–64). A proud service-connected disabled 

veteran, Mr. Nguyen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from of the University of Florida and a Master’s in Organizational Management. He currently resides in Corona, CA with his wife, son, and Labrador. 

Exhibit 1. Affordable Housing, Financial Literacy, and Homeownership 

Counseling Request Samples. 

Credit Counseling Requests 

1. I want to learn more about fixing my credit, to apply to home loan. I am a 

war veteran, I did 3 years active and one deployment. I am currently in the process 

of finishing my last year of my eight year contract. 

-J. Jacquez 

2. Hello. My husband and I had a short sale a few years ago and it shows up 

on our credit as a foreclosure. Since then we have been moved from house to house 

(We have moved 10 times since 2007) and we are getting ready to move into a temporary house this weekend AGAIN! My husband and I both served in Iraq (Me-2 

years, my husband 1 year). I am a 50% disabled veteran and was hoping you could 

help us with some credit repair advice, or any assistance that is possible. We just 

want our own stable house to raise our family in. 

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-C. Morris 

3. My husband and I are both veterans. I am 50% disabled and we are working 

on his. We need some serious help in credit repair and counseling as we wish to 

purchase a home for our Golden years. We are putting into place this year a 2 year 

plan, we would appreciate any help. 

-A. Mallette-Robinson 

Home Buyer Counseling Requests 

4. Looking into using VA home loan to get first home questionable credit because 

of bad divorce. 

-A. Garcia 

5. I was medically retired from the Army in late 2013, and purchased a house 

around June of 2013. I filed for divorce in 2014, and bankruptcy shortly afterward. 

I wasn’t able to make mortgage payments/utilities and keep the house in order 

while being only supported by my VA disability compensation after my ex-wife left. 

The house was included in the the Ch 7 that was discharged Feb 2015. I understand 

that I am not allowed to be on any mortgage application for an FHA loan for at 

least 2 years following discharge. My questions involve the future, what is the status of another VA homeland guaranty or FHA application? 

-R. Smith 

6. Sick of throwing away money to rent! I am a disabled combat vet of the Iraq 

war. Served with the 101st airborne division as a combat infantryman. Am diagnosed with severe PTSD. Would be honored to receive credit counselling and home 

buying classes. 

-J. Sokel 

7. My wife and I have poor credit and our working towards improving our credit 

and paying off our debt. My wife works full time at the San Diego Zoo, and I recently finished school and am a Pharmacy Technician. Our monthly income is 3195. 

I didn’t want to use my VA home loan until our credit was better and obviously 

until both of us were where we needed to be career wise. I have worked my entire 

adult life in healthcare and aviation and have no doubt that I will be employed 

soon. With rent being so high here in San Diego I wanted to see what my options 

were as far as purchasing our first home. Condo or house. 

-R. Alvarez 

8. I would like to buy my own home in 2017. I have bad credit and need help 

saving a down payment or closing costs. 

-N. Cook 

9. Getting ready to buy a home and need some home buyer counseling. 

-M. Rutledge 

10. Looking to own our own home. Need to stop paying the insane amount of rent 

in the apartment we are in currently, move into something more affordable and 

start to repair our debt and credit. We want a house that we can fix up, something 

we can flip and call our own. our current situation is that we pay more for our 

apartment than we would a mortgage for have that cost, allowing us to live more 

comfortably...right now we can’t, we struggle to pay everything with such a high 

rent payment. Please help in any way that you can. 

-H. Atkinson 

Renting and Relocation Requests 

11. I’m a 14 year Army veteran with multiple disabilities, still awaiting approval 

of my claim from the VA. I currently reside in Section 8 Housing in Riverside, CA 

but will likely be on the street shortly. I was working as an electrician’s apprentice 

until I was laid off in April of this year, and have since been living off of unemployment benefits while I have been taking care of my health, including surgery on my 

left wrist, multiple epidural injections in my back, etc. My landlord has presented 

me with a three-day notice and will be forwarding me to her eviction attorney for 

rents that she claims I have not paid. I can prove that I have in fact paid, but I 

do not have every receipt from every month. My interaction with my landlord began 

very informally, and I did not think to request receipts from her or her son (who 

also collected rent) every month. Unfortunately they are now claiming that I haven’t 

paid. Either way, because I don’t have all of the receipts I stand in very real danger 

of losing my section 8 status and being homeless with my wife and two daughters. 

I don’t know where to turn, SSVF will not help because I am in Section 8, and none 

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of the other local charities have funding for rental assistance at this time. I need 

help finding affordable housing, looking to the future and eventual home ownership. 

-J. Pelletier 

12. I got out of the army in March of 2013 and moved to New Mexico where my 

dad was stationed. I just so happened to meet my now wife there while going to 

school at Eastern New Mexico university. She had two kids already from a previous 

abusive marriage and now she and I have a son together. We won custody of both 

of my step son and daughter and moved to Oregon to make a better future for ourselves with better opportunities for my kids and wife. Our living situation is where 

our problem lies. We currently live in a 25x25 room at my parents consisting of my 

wife and I, our 7, 4, and 1 years old kids and our dog. We don’t have a shower that 

works in our room so we have to go into my parents house to use theirs. We cannot 

afford a house of our own because I’m the only one working. My wife would work 

but we cannot afford daycare for our kids. I’m going to school full time and working 

as well to be able to get a house for my family. With our bills, the money I make 

from school and work covers them and leavesee us with a little bit of money for the 

necessity things like gas and what not. 

-R. Peel 

13. I was honorably released from service at on December 19, 2014. I tried to attend school but was forced to drop out due to missing too many days because of my 

PTSD and depression. I was unemployed until I found a job at the county human 

services in June 2015 where I am still currently employed. During my 6 months of 

unemployment, I missed paying my rent a few times and still owe that back rent 

to my landlord. I have been struggling to get caught up on past bills as well as trying to stay current. However, I received a vacate letter from my landlord stating 

that if I do not pay the arrears then me and my two kids must vacate the house 

which will leave us homeless. I don’t know what else to do, please help. 

-L. Bell 

14. Worried about my transition from military. Credit score is very low, hard to 

find anyone to rent to me. Finishing twenty years of active naval service. Really 

need help in finding a place to live when out of military, no family here in San 

Diego. 

-D. Pearson 

15. Hello, I am a single 32 male USMC Veteran. I just finished my goals of 2015 

which was connecting with family and friends. I am ready for myself. I will be relocating as P&T TDIU veteran. Due to my low credit, and low savings I will have 

to wait until February to think about continuing my goal to be independent and 

have a place to call home. I am looking to create a foundation and then excel from 

this foundation. First I need to take care of personal health goals and mindset. If 

you have any advice or opportunities to rent in the San Diego area, or that works 

with veterans please advise. Due to my income from the VA I do not qualify for 

some assistance programs like SSVF, I declined earlier this year to fix some personal relationships and take care that. I would like to get a head start in 2016, as 

I look to build my foundation for the future. 

-C. Forero 

VA Loan Specialist Requests 

16. I am a 61 year old veteran. MY 34 year old son is also a veteran, serving in 

both Afghanistan and Iraq. In the past, we have both had problems with homelessness due to economics more than anything. In 2014, I lost my home to foreclosure. 

I was 59 at the time, and had not been able to find a job that would support me. 

I now live in a trailer that should be condemned, (leaking roof, rotting floor, and 

not a functioning kitchen, to name a few of the problems). At least I am financially 

stable with a good job that I just started. My son and his family were evicted from 

his apartment in Bradenton in August. The company he worked for went out of 

business. He and his wife lived with me for a few months and he got a good job 

here in Clearwater. The 55+ MHP forced him to move out, so they moved to a 1 

bedroom apartment. The rent takes nearly half his monthly income. Their three 

children are currently living in Spring Hill with their other grandparents. His wife 

has almost no job experience and has health issues, so she has been unable to contribute in the past. She is currently seeking employment, though. My son and I 

want to pool our incomes and purchase a 3 or 4 bedroom home that has an additional 1 bedroom apartment where I can live. This would be our ideal situation, but 

with a foreclosure and eviction, neither of us has the credit rating that would secure 

a mortgage. All we need is an understanding lender. 

-A. Younger 

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17. I am an honorably discharged vet of the navy. I only did 4 years so I am not 

retired. I do know I am entitled to a VA loan. I am trying to buy a house. Basically 

though my credit score is so low no one will touch me and I don’t have a lot of 

money at all to put down for a house. My monthly payments couldn’t be over 

$900.00 my credit score is bouncing between 450 I think and 515. I don’t really have 

time to go see anyone (track down VA loan Specialists) I can’t use a cosigner either. 

So I need to know what are my options are there any programs that can help me. 

I am beginning to lose hope. I don’t even have the money to pay off my debts everything I make is gone the same day can’t save. I need help. 

-D. Crump 

18. We own our home but want to refinance it and take out a VA loan. We fell 

into some hard times beginning in 2005. I developed health problems that led to 

the loss of employment. Fortunately we had taken out a mortgage insurance plan 

that prevented us from losing our home when this happened so we didn’t have to 

make payments. But that meant we accumulated interest and no payments were 

being made on the principal of our mortgage. The mortgage lender would not help 

us at all. On top of this there were many foreclosures sold on the market in our 

area that brought the value of our home down and we were upside down on our 

mortgage. We tried to refinance at the current lower interest rates because our current rate is 7.18. We could not refinance but were unable to since our home appraised lower than what we owed due to all the factors mentioned. We had no 

money to bring to the table to cover the shortage. 

During this period I was approved for disability due to my health issues and I’m 

rated by the VA at 80% combined disability and considered unemployable. Fortunately, I do have an income and we were able to keep our home during this terrible 

time. 

Last year we got in touch with a mortgage lender in the area who works with 

VA loans thinking that the value of our home may have come back up enough for 

us to have enough to do a refinance. The appraiser who was sent out did not do 

us justice I believe (we had a real estate agent do a market estimate that was much 

higher). Again, our home fell short of what was needed. 

Sadly two years ago I lost my father. He left a sizable estate for his children for 

which I am thankful. Unfortunately it has been tied up in litigation for over a year 

but will now be disbursed, hopefully, before the end of the year. I just want to know 

what might be available for us. Our mortgage is not eligible for HAARP since it was 

owned by the bank that we took it out with which is TCF or Twin Cities Federal 

Bank. 

-N. Nygaard 

19. I would like to speak with someone about arranging for a V.A. home loan. We 

do have a number of questions. Our current situation is that for the past 12 years, 

we have been renting a large loft in Downtown L.A., which we use for both business 

and home. It’s been a perfect place for us, but the rent is starting to get so high, 

$3100 per month, that we really want to start looking for a home. We have never 

found a suitable home, especially in Los Angeles that would provide what we have 

now. We are willing to consider any area within Southern California. 

This would be a first time home purchase. My ex-wife, Bettie Miner, and I have 

been living together now for the past 12 years. We were divorced in 1992, but 

worked things out. We just never re-married. We are self-employed and do quite well ($110,000+ annually), but as self-employment allows significant write-offs, our tax returns look like we’re low-income. So, 

we’ve never really tried to buy a home before. We would also like to take advantage 

of the ‘‘no down payment’’ option. If you call, you are welcomed to speak with Bettie 

about any details or arrangements. 

-R. Galling 

Foreclosure Prevention Requests 

20. I’m currently in a VA mental health facility for PTSD/MST and addiction recovery. My home situation is somewhat complicated. I’m divorced, was awarded the 

family home. I need advice on this. Best way to contact me is via email due to rules 

restricting cellphones. 

-D. Tumblin 

f 

Prepared Statement of Jose Rivera 

Good Afternoon, 

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I would like to share my experiences as a beneficiary of the HUD VASH program. 

The program has been life changing. The HUD VASH program has empowered me 

to actualize my educational and professional plans. The staff at the Veterans Affairs 

in Loma Linda, especially Miss. Jennifer Sircar, played an important role by mentoring and supporting my educational and professional goals. Miss. Sircar was a 

great liaison and spokesperson by referring me to the US Vets for further assistance 

in accessing resources. Furthermore, I was referred to the Warehouse for Heroes, 

which furnished my apartment completely. The program has been full of great opportunities, I am indebted to the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development. The services provided by both HUD and the VA have prepared me to transition into a new phase in my life. I now am on my way to realizing a lifelong goal 

of attaining my Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, this summer I will graduate 

from the University of California Riverside. I have been able to utilize the Post 9/ 

11 GI Bill Benefits, which has contributed to the improvement of quality of life for 

my daughter and me. The GI Bill has been the platform which has allowed me to 

pursue my education. I have benefited from the book stipend, from the tuition fee 

payment, and the monthly living allotment. I have utilized the resources made 

available and they have truly changed my life. I hope to be a civil servant for this 

great nation. 

Respectfully 

Jose Rivera 

f 

Statements For The Record 

MIKE MICHAUD 

INTRODUCTION 

Chairman Wenstrup, Ranking Member Takano, and distinguished Members of the 

Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide a statement for today’s 

hearing on veterans’ homelessness. I commend you all for your tireless efforts to ensure that America fulfills its obligations to our current service members, veterans, 

and their families. The Department of Labor (DOL, or The Department) also works 

hard every day to ensure all veterans are prepared to meet their employment objectives. 

Secretary Perez and I know that one of the most important ways to prevent and 

end veteran homelessness is through a good job. However, employment is not the 

only factor in overcoming homelessness among veterans. Long-term stability requires a coordinated level of care between many federal partners, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), state and local organizations, non-profits, and the private sector 

to ensure veterans are successful in overcoming the myriad of barriers created by 

homelessness. To that end, the Department is committed to working on the Administration’s aggressive goal of ending homelessness among veterans, as guided by 

Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. In 

leading this effort, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) has generated powerful national partnerships at every level to work toward ending homelessness across the nation. While the goal of ending veterans’ homelessness in 2015 

was not reached nationally, it was reached in many communities, cities, and even 

States. The best practices from these successes will guide efforts in the rest of the 

country and the momentum generated by the President’s focus will propel all of us 

towards the national goal. 

Through these interagency efforts and many others, the Administration has 

achieved historic progress. According to the HUD’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, homelessness among veterans has declined by 36 percent 

from January 2010 to January 2015. Yet, on a single night in January 2014, there 

were still 47,725 homeless veterans. That is why the Department looks forward to 

working with the Subcommittee in providing these brave men and women who 

served our nation with the employment support, assistance and opportunities they 

deserve to succeed in the civilian workforce. 

We also note that our partnerships throughout DOL extend Veterans Employment 

and Training Service’s (VETS’) ability to achieve its mission, and bring all of DOL 

resources to bear for America’s veterans, separating service members, and their 

families. VETS’ mission is focused on four key areas: (1) preparing veterans for 

meaningful careers; (2) providing them with employment resources and expertise; 

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(3) protecting their employment rights; and, (4) promoting the employment of veterans and related training opportunities to employers across the country. 

One important component of these services is the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), which VETS administers to help homeless veterans reenter 

the labor force. The agency provides grants to state and local Workforce Development Boards, tribal governments and organizations, public agencies, for-profit/commercial entities, and non-profit organizations to administer the services necessary 

to assist in reintegrating homeless veterans into meaningful employment and to 

stimulate the development of effective service delivery systems that will address the 

complex problems facing homeless veterans. The HVRP program succeeds not only 

because of the hard work and local connections of our grantees, but also because 

of the collaborative efforts of our government partners at the Federal and State levels. These efforts help ensure that homeless veterans receive a robust, comprehensive network of support. 

HVRP PROGRAM PERFORMANCE & ADDITIONAL SERVICES TO ASSIST 

HOMELESS VETERANS 

HVRP’s client-centered, hands-on approach has helped place thousands of previously-homeless veterans, some of whom were chronically homeless, on a path to 

self-sufficiency. Historically, the Department also has funded two additional types 

of grants designed to address difficult-to-serve subpopulations of homeless veterans: 

the Homeless Female Veterans and Veterans with Families Program (HFVVWF) 

and the Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program (IVTP). In addition, the Department supports ‘‘Stand Down’’ events (described below) and technical assistance 

grants. 

HVRP grantees have helped many homeless veterans, including Marcus Vernardo. 

Mr. Vernardo was a U.S. Army National Guard Veteran who served as a Special 

Electronics Device Specialist. He left The National Guard with an Honorable Discharge and began attending the United Education Institute for the Computer Technician Certification Program. However, his life circumstances changed and Mr. 

Vernardo found himself homeless, looking for any type of employment to make ends 

meet. 

On December 1, 2015, Mr. Vernardo attended a recruiting event at the American 

Job Center (AJC) of Rancho Cucamonga, CA. There, he met Mr. Carl Reed, a Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) specialist, and was assigned to the Veterans’ Intensive Program (VIP). The DVOP started an Employment Development 

Plan for Mr. Vernado and reviewed his impressive resume, noting his extensive experience with Information Technology and numerous Information Technology certifications. 

Mr. Reed spoke with his colleague, Mr. Darren Cooke, a Workforce Development 

Specialist for the County of San Bernardino, and asked him if he knew of any opportunities for a communication specialist. Mr. Cook forwarded Mr. Vernardo’s resume. 

Later that day, Mr. Vernardo received a call from Veterans Communication Company for an interview for the following day. Mr. Vernardo was offered, and accepted, 

a position at the Veterans Communication Company as a Communication Specialist. 

He started on December 7, 2015, at $35.00 an hour. 

With its $38 million HVRP appropriation for PY 2014, DOL awarded 37 new 

grants, 119 option-year grant extensions, and 86 Stand Down grants. This included 

18 Homeless Female Veterans and Veterans with families (HFVVWF) grants. The 

Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program (IVTP) was not authorized in PY 2014 

but was reauthorized for PY 2015. 

DOL received level funding of $38 million for the PY 2015 cycle, awarding 38 new 

HVRP grants and 122 option year HVRP grants, including 12 HFVVWF and 8 IVTP 

grants. These grantees are expected to provide services to approximately 17,000 

homeless veterans, with an estimated placement rate of over 60 percent, at an estimated cost per participant of $2,200. The Department also awarded two technical 

assistance Cooperative Agreements to support grantees and disseminate best practices. 

HVRP grant recipients are measured against four performance outcomes outlined 

in our policy guidance: (1) number of enrollments; (2) number of participants placed 

in unsubsidized employment; (3) placement rate; and (4) cost per placement. DOL 

staff members work closely with grantees to help them achieve their goals for all 

four performance outcomes. HVRP grant recipients also report on the average earnings for individuals who retain employment. 

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Table 1. HVRP Participant Statistics, PYs 2013–2014 

Performance Outcomes PY 2013* PY 2014** PY 2015 Targets*** 

Participants Enrolled 16,133 17,039 17,000 

Placed Into Employment 10,226 11,699 11,050 

Placement Rate 63.4% 68.6% 65% 

Average Cost Per Participant $1,903 $1,936 $2,200 

Average Hourly Wage at Placement $11.51 $11.84 $12.00 

* As reported in the FY 2014 VETS Annual Report to Congress. 

** As reported in the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service Operations and Program Activity Report (VOPAR) System, 

HVRP Program Status Report, including HFVVWF but not ITVP data. 

*** As reported in the FY 2016 President’s Budget 

The Homeless Female Veterans and Veterans with Families Program 

VETS awarded 12 HFVVWF grants, totaling $2.1 million, in FY 2015. HFVVWF 

grants have been competitive grants that specifically target the subpopulation of 

homeless female veterans and veterans with children. As noted in HUD’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, homeless women veterans accounted 

for nine percent of the overall homeless veteran population. The program provides 

direct services through a case management approach that leverages federal, state, 

and local resources. Eligible veterans and their families are connected with appropriate employment and life skills support to ensure a successful integration into the 

workforce. 

The Incarcerated Veterans’ Transition Program Grants 

VETS awarded eight IVTP grants, totaling $1.8 million, in FY 2015; these grants 

will continue through March 31, 2017. IVTP grants are designed to support incarcerated veterans who are at risk of homelessness by providing referral and career 

counseling services, job training, placement assistance and other services. Eligible 

IVTP participants include veterans who are incarcerated and are within 18 months 

of release, or were released less than six months from a correctional institution or 

facility. For PY 2012, IVTP grantees enrolled 1,408 participants and had a placement rate of 63.4 percent with an average hourly wage of $10.69 at placement. 

Stand Down and Technical Assistance Grants 

Through HVRP, the Department also supports ‘‘Stand Down’’ events. These 

events, typically held over one to three days in local communities, provide an array 

of social services to homeless veterans. Stand Down organizers partner with federal 

and state agencies, local businesses and social services providers to offer critical 

services, including temporary shelter, meals, clothing, hygiene care, medical examinations, immunizations, state identification cards, veteran benefit counseling, training program information, employment services, and referral to other supportive 

services. 

The HVRP grant also provides funding to the National Veterans Technical Assistance Center (NVTAC). The NVTAC provides a broad range of technical assistance 

on veterans’ homelessness programs and grant applications to existing and potential 

HVRP, HFVVWF, and Stand Down grantees; interested employers; Veterans Service 

Organizations; and federal, state, and local agency partners. Currently, VETS’ two 

NVTAC grantees are the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and Advocates 

for Human Potential. 

Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) 

DOL awards Jobs for Veterans State grants (JVSG) as a formula grant to each 

state and territory to support two types of staff positions in the AJC network: Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives (LVER). DVOP and LVER staff support HVRP grantees by 

helping grantees achieve entered employment goals through case management, direct employer contact, job development, and follow-up services. 

DVOP specialists provide intensive services targeted at meeting the employment 

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ment, including homeless veterans. In addition, DVOP specialists often refer veterans who experience homelessness to other AJC services, such as the Workforce 

Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Adult and Dislocated Workers services and 

training. AJCs provided JVSG-funded services to 17,734 homeless veterans in PY 

2013. LVER staff conduct outreach to employers and engage in advocacy efforts with 

local businesses to increase employment opportunities for veterans, and encourage 

the hiring of veterans, including homeless veterans. 

The transition from the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) to the WIOA 

provides an extraordinary opportunity to improve job and career options for our nation’s jobseekers and workers, including veterans, through an integrated, job driven 

public workforce system that links diverse talent to businesses. While retaining the 

network of DVOP specialists at AJCs, WIOA strengthens accountability and transparency of outcomes for core programs, including establishing common performance 

indicators across these programs. The Department is considering the adoption of 

these new common performance indicators for JVSG and other VETS-administered 

programs, and strengthening ties between HVRP grantees and AJCs so that we will 

know with even greater detail the outcomes of our investments in veterans’ employment and related programs. 

H.R. 474 - ‘‘HOMELESS VETERANS’ REINTEGRATION PROGRAMS 

REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2015′′ 

The Department is pleased that the House passed H.R. 474, the ‘‘Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act of 2015,’’ which would reauthorize HVRP through 2020. Additionally, the bill would expand the eligibility for services under HVRP to include not only homeless veterans, but also veterans participating in VA- supported housing programs for which certain rental assistance is 

provided and veterans who are transitioning from being incarcerated. 

The Department supports the extension to the HVRP authorization. HVRP is one 

of the few nationwide federal programs focusing exclusively on helping homeless 

veterans to reintegrate into the workforce. HVRP is employment-focused; each participant receives customized services to address his or her specific barriers to employment. Services may include, but are not limited to, occupational, classroom, and 

on-the-job training, as well as job search, placement assistance, and post-placement 

follow-up services. 

As mentioned, H.R. 474 would expand eligible participants under HVRP. Veterans 

currently receiving housing assistance under the HUD–Veterans Affairs Supportive 

Housing (VASH) program and Native American veterans participating in the Native 

American Housing Assistance program are not eligible for HVRP services. Under 

current legislative authority, approximately 78,000 veterans who participate in the 

HUD–VASH program annually are ineligible for HVRP program’s services because 

they are not, technically, homeless. VETS believes housing programs such as HUD– 

VASH are critical to the rehabilitation and success of homeless veterans because the 

availability of housing and health services improves their job readiness and employability. 

In addition, under H.R. 474, veterans who are transitioning from incarceration 

would also be eligible for HVRP’s services. For veterans, having an arrest record is 

a major barrier to employment and can lead to homelessness. VETS believes it is 

critical to begin delivering employment support prior to their release in order to better prepare them to secure civilian employment. 

VETS supports the intent of expanding the eligible population for HVRP. However, to accommodate the proposed changes within existing funding, VETS would 

need to establish service priorities to reach those with the greatest needs and avoid 

duplication. 

CONCLUSION 

We at the Department of Labor remain committed to the Administration’s goal 

of ending veteran homelessness, and we look forward to working with the Subcommittee to ensure the continued success of our efforts. Chairman Wenstrup, 

Ranking Member Takano, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, this 

concludes my statement. Thank you again for the opportunity for VETS to provide 

input on the work we are conducting to help end veterans’ homelessness. 

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STEPHEN PECK 

Additional recommendation: The need for service intensive transitional housing in 

our continuums. 

It is critical, as we reduce the number of veterans on our streets, that we retain 

the variety of interventions available to help veterans stabilize and reintegrate. 

There is no one answer or program that will satisfy the array of deficits we see 

among homeless veterans. We need to design a system that incorporates the most 

therapeutic, and most economical interventions that will result in the greatest stability and productivity. 

Service intensive transitional housing, characterized by the VA Grant and Per 

Diem Program (GPD), is one of these interventions, and should be available in every 

community as one weapon in our fight to reduce homelessness. This intervention 

complements other interventions that focus primarily on housing. Transitional housing, as U.S.VETS has designed it, includes eight different tracks according to the 

need of the veteran, ranging from ‘‘Bridge Housing’’ to longer term sobriety support, 

education and employment tracks. This fits comfortably in the Housing First model, 

which emphasizes client choice; and strengthens the availability of rehabilitation in 

the continuum. 

Transitional Housing is the most effective, and efficient, intervention for a variety 

of scenarios: 

• A shortage of subsidized housing capacity in the community, i.e. too few housing/VASH vouchers 

• Insufficient SSVF resources 

• Client desire for treatment-based transitional housing, i.e. substance abuse 

treatment, military sexual trauma treatment, job training, etc. 

• Readiness for rapid rehousing 

’We have gathered data which indicates that 40% of the clients in our GPD program are choosing service intensive transitional housing, most of them to access 

substance abuse treatment and employment services. 

The VA has indicated that the GPD program is likely to shrink by 20% over the 

coming years, eliminating underutilized and underperforming programs. These resources should be reallocated to communities that have no, or too few, transitional 

housing beds, and have a demonstrated need for this resource. 

Æ 

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