Thursday, April 18, 2024
4/18/2024
Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOALA) will connect homeless and chronically homeless Veterans with substance use and co-occurring substance use and mental disorders treatment integrated with primary health care, trauma-informed care, case management, and linkages to VA and public benefits, recovery-oriented supportive services and permanent housing. This proposed infrastructure will increase the number of program-enrolled Veterans in Orange County, California placed in permanent housing with the supports to ensure recovery from behavioral health issues and maintain their outcomes long-term. Population: VOALA will prioritize services for homeless/chronically homeless Veterans all of whom will have high rates of substance use and/or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders, health care needs and significant socioeconomic disparities. The population includes a heterogeneous mix of races, genders, and ages with post 9/11 Veterans among those with the highest service needs. It is anticipated that the project will serve 54 Veterans in Year 1 and 72 annually in Years 2-5 for 342 unduplicated participants over the five-year period. Interventions: Using a holistic and comprehensive service system, VOALA will utilize the EBPs of Motivational Interviewing, Critical Time Intervention and Peer Support Services through the use of Veteran "Battle Buddies" as well as trauma-informed care to link Veterans with permanent housing while also partnering with the VA Long Beach Healthcare System to provide onsite substance use and co-occurring treatment, and access to additional mental health care, MST counseling and primary health care. VOALA will likewise provide intensive case management, connections with public and VA benefits through use of SOAR as well as wraparound/recovery supports to promote stability and improved outcomes. Goals & Objectives: The primary goal of the project is to support the expansion of local implementation of a community infrastructure that integrates behavioral health treatment and services for SUD and COD, permanent housing, and other critical services for Veterans in Orange County who are experiencing homelessness. Expected outcomes by the end of the project period include: 1) Increase coordination with and expansion of the number of entities engaged in responding to Veteran homelessness in Orange County by 25%; 2) Improve identified behavioral health outcomes of participants by 65%; 3) Reduce past 30-day tobacco use of participants engaged in cessation services by 40%; 4) Increase housing stability for participants by 65%; 5) Increase participation rates in peer and recovery-oriented services by 70%; 6) Increase benefits enrollment of participants by 80%; and 7) Maintain operational integrity of the program by completing 100% of required tasks on time and within SAMHSA requirements. Morehead State University will conduct an independent evaluation which will focus on GPRA measures, implementation, achievement of targeted goals, objectives and outcomes, fidelity, assessment of cultural competence, satisfaction, and continuous quality improvement.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
