Silos or System? Examination of Mainstream and VA Services Use by Homeless Veterans

In the 2010 APHA meetings I gave an overview of a project examining the overlap in services use between mainstream and VA homeless services systems by homeless Veterans. Homeless persons who are veterans differ from their non-veteran counterparts in having access not only to the general homeless services available in a particular jurisdiction, but also to a range of homeless services, ranging from health care to transitional and permanent housing, provided by the Department for Veterans Affairs (VA). While this gives veterans a richer array of services to choose from, it also creates challenges for coordinating services use and for assessing the demand for services across the two systems. There were no results available for the 2010 presentation, and this presentation is intended as a follow up and will present the initial findings from matching administrative data from mainstream homeless services and from VA homeless services in Philadelphia. Results will produce an integrated profile of the veteran homeless population – providing insights into the size and characteristics of this population, as well as into the patterns of their services use. This will assist in planning services across these systems and as a basis for better coordinating care for these veterans.