§2022 Coordination of Outreach Services for Veterans at Risk of Homelessness

Summary

The Secretary, through the Under Secretary for Health, must have the Mental Health Service and the Readjustment Counseling Service make a joint outreach plan to help veterans who are at risk of homelessness. The plan must focus especially on veterans leaving inpatient psychiatric care, substance abuse treatment, or prison. It must include ways to work with outside groups that veterans already use, make mentoring and recovery supports available, provide or refer to family support, increase access to case management, expand employment help, and set up referrals for mental health and substance abuse care. The plan must also describe how the Department will form formal partnerships with outside groups and must be sent to the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans for review. The Secretary must run an outreach program that gives homeless veterans and those at risk clear information about VA benefits and contact information for local VA medical centers, regional offices, and veterans centers. When making the program, the Secretary should, as much as possible, consult with public and private groups (for example, the Bureau of Prisons, State social service agencies, the Department of Defense, and advocates) to help find veterans, coordinate outreach, and align services. Reports to Congress are required: an initial report by October 1, 2002; an interim report by December 31, 2005 that includes the plan with goals and timelines and descriptions of the outreach and section 2023 programs; and a final report by July 1, 2007 that evaluates how well the plan, the outreach program, and the section 2023 demonstration worked and gives any recommendations.