In 2020, we announced our goal to effectively end veteran homelessness by 2021, that is, to never have more veterans experiencing homelessness than our system can house each month on average. Concentrating our efforts on an ambitious yet obtainable target will allow us to identify necessary system enhancements, while simultaneously demonstrating to the greater community that our Continuum of Care (CoC) has the potential to end homelessness for all other populations as well.
To achieve this goal, a Veterans Blitz has been initiated to activate the homeless rehousing system staff resources to assist with rapid identification and assessment of every literally homeless veteran by 6/30.
In the next two weeks, we will collaborate to:
1) Repurpose staff across the system to complete CAS assessments
2) Streamline the process to connect veterans to CAS
3) Improve coordination between Street Outreach and Shelter providers
While our goal is obtainable, it will require us to improve our ability to:
1) Maintain an up-to-date by-name list where all homeless veterans are tracked
2) Maximize veteran-dedicated resources and expand access in the CoC
3) Open up available CoC housing stock
4) Grow resource availability at a scale that meets the demand
5) Decrease length of time from assessment to housing
Our work will ultimately allow us to analyze and improve the functions of key system components, thus developing our capacity to reach functional zero for other subpopulations. By mobilizing our resources, we can declare an effective end to veteran homelessness by 2021, and more broadly, make the experience of homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties rare, brief, and non-recurring.
