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MMR - FY20 - Department of Veterans’ Services

  • Page Type:: Document Section
  • Parent Document:: Mayor's Management Report - Fiscal Year 2020
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      • DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’
      • SERVICES James Hendon (Lt. Col.), Commissioner
      • DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ SERVICES | Page 249
      • WHAT WE DO
      • The Department of Veterans’
      • Services (DVS) connects, mobilizes
      • and empowers New York City’s
      • Veteran community in order to
      • foster purpose-driven lives for U.S.
      • Military Service Members—past
      • and present—in addition to their
      • caregivers, survivors and families.
      • DVS works with City, state and
      • federal agencies, as well as regional
      • private and not-for-profit partners,
      • to improve the lives of all New York
      • City Veterans and those close to
      • them. The Department ensures that
      • homeless Veterans have permanent
      • housing and access to the support
      • services needed to find and maintain
      • their homes; expands education
      • and career opportunities for
      • Veterans; and provides the human
      • and technological infrastructure
      • for Veterans and their families to
      • gain citywide access to benefits,
      • resources and care through the
      • nation’s leading coordinated service
      • network.
      • FOCUS ON EQUITY
      • DVS strives to connect with New York City Veterans regardless of discharge
      • status and branch of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Reserves
      • and National Guard. DVS serves as a critical hub for Veterans’ advancement by
      • informing the City’s Veteran community of resources that exist, serving as a bridge
      • to those resources when needed and occupying roles that the local government
      • can uniquely fill when gaps in Veterans’ services appear in the private, notfor-profit, federal and state realms. DVS recognizes and honors Veterans of all
      • protected classes in the City of New York, as the diversity of our City informs
      • and reflects the diversity of our Veteran community. Further, the Department
      • serves family members, caregivers and survivors, recognizing their essential role
      • in Veteran health and well-being.
      • OUR SERVICES AND GOALS
      • SERVICE 1 Provide supportive services to Veterans and their families.
      • Goal 1a Mitigate and prevent homelessness for Veterans.
      • SERVICE 2 Assist Veterans and their families with accessing eligible
      • resources.
      • Goal 2a Ensure Veterans have information about and are connected with
      • appropriate resources.
      • Page 250 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
      • HOW WE PERFORMED IN FISCAL 2020
      • SERVICE 1 Provide supportive services to Veterans and their families.
      • Goal 1a Mitigate and prevent homelessness for Veterans.
      • During Fiscal 2020, DVS secured housing for 184 homeless Veterans through the Veteran Peer Coordinator (VPC) program,
      • a peer-to-peer service model focused on helping homeless Veterans navigate the challenging process of finding housing
      • in New York City. The number of Veterans housed grew 16 percent compared to Fiscal 2019; this increase is attributed to
      • the Housing and Support Services team on-boarding an additional Veteran Peer Coordinator. Additionally, the first quarter
      • of Fiscal 2020 brought the opening of Surf Vets, a mixed-use development on Coney Island with 82 apartments reserved
      • for Veterans.
      • Starting on March 16, 2020, the agency—including the VPC team—shifted to remote operations due to the COVID-19
      • pandemic. Despite working remotely, VPCs continued to engage Veterans, community partners and other agencies to work
      • towards combating Veteran homelessness via alternate means to limit close, in-person interactions. Housing viewings were
      • replaced by videos of available units and management companies opted to interview Veteran applicants over the phone or
      • video conference. The VPC team navigated these new processes alongside the Veterans to ensure that services continued.
      • On top of their continued contact with Veterans currently experiencing homelessness, during the first two weeks of the
      • pandemic, VPCs called all Veterans who were previously housed by the program to complete wellness checks and provide
      • vital resources during uncertain times.
      • DVS provided aftercare and prevention services to 455 Veterans in Fiscal 2020, an increase of four percent from the
      • previous Fiscal Year. This growth can be attributed to an increase in referrals from the Mission: VetCheck initiative and
      • Constituent Services unit, and an increase in requests for services. In particular, there was an increase in landlord mediation
      • engagements as a result of the financial strain caused by the pandemic.
      • During the final months of Fiscal 2020, the Aftercare and Eviction Prevention unit implemented a new six month Housing
      • Check procedure to increase engagement and connect Veterans and their families to housing support services, social
      • services and other support needed to maintain stable housing during their transition from homelessness to residence.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • « homeless Veterans and their families who received housing
      • through DVS Veteran Peer Coordinator program NA NA 169 158 184 * * NA *
      • « Veterans and their families receiving homelessness prevention
      • assistance from DVS NA NA 466 438 455 * * NA *
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
      • SERVICE 2 Assist Veterans and their families with accessing eligible resources.
      • Goal 2a Ensure Veterans have information about and are connected with appropriate resources.
      • Fiscal 2020 presented unique challenges for the City as New Yorkers dealt with the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19
      • pandemic. Starting on March 16, 2020, all agency services shifted to remote operations to ensure continuity of care and
      • community safety. The pandemic eliminated all in-person events from March through July 2020, contributing to a decline
      • of 45 percent in the number of Veterans and their families engaged by DVS.
      • To compensate for the elimination of in-person events, DVS quickly launched several initiatives to engage Veterans digitally
      • and over the phone. In mid-April, DVS launched Mission: VetCheck, a citywide outreach partnership with ThriveNYC, that
      • engaged over 2,870 Veterans and Veteran households through supportive phone calls to provide information about vital
      • public services, free meals, COVID-19 test site locations and mental health resources. Prior to the onset of the pandemic,
      • the Engagement and Community Services (ECS) team was reorganized into demographic portfolios to improve connectivity
      • with our community. Portfolios were organized into the following categories to provide more targeted and individualized
      • services: women Veterans, working professionals and jobseekers, LGBTQ+, caregivers and seniors, Veteran business
      • owners and student Veterans. This reorganization proved fruitful and timely. It provided the team with a clear engagement
      • framework when the COVID-19 crisis eventually reached its peak in New York City.
      • DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ SERVICES | Page 251
      • DVS also ramped up its digital outreach by increasing the frequency of the DVS newsletter to a weekly cadence, equipping
      • the community with access to timely, vital resources and information during this critical period. The ECS team assisted 270
      • Veterans and their families who faced food insecurity, processing a total of 408 direct food requests through the GetFood
      • NYC program, each captured in the assistance metrics below. The team also responded to 360 service requests that
      • emerged from the Mission: VetCheck outreach initiative. These instances of direct assistance are also captured below. From
      • April 13 to May 7, the DVS Outreach and Constituent Services teams successfully connected Veteran homeless shelters,
      • supportive housing residences, Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and VSO-run food pantries with 5,123 pantry boxes
      • of food. As of July 1, DVS has distributed 3,584 meal packages donated by HelloFresh. DVS also played a critical role in
      • distributing almost 25,700 reusable face masks to all New York City based U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals
      • and Vet Centers, Veteran nursing homes, homeless shelters and supportive housing residences and VSOs. Though the
      • figures from these two specific efforts are not counted in the itemized individual assistance indicator below, this effort
      • illustrates how DVS creatively worked across sectors to form partnerships that connected Veterans with essential resources
      • in the midst of extraordinary circumstances.
      • Performance Indicators
      • Actual Target Trend
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
      • Desired
      • Direction
      • Veterans and their families engaged by DVS NA NA 12,099 12,896 7,084 * * NA *
      • « Veterans and their families given assistance to access resources NA NA 3,230 3,087 2,715 * * NA *
      • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñĂČ Directional Target * None
      • AGENCY RESOURCES
      • Resource Indicators ActualÂč PlanÂČ
      • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5yr Trend
      • Expenditures ($000,000)Âł NA $2.5 $3.6 $4.1 $5.9 $6.1 $6.5 NA
      • Personnel NA 32 35 38 41 49 44 NA
      • Overtime paid ($000) NA $11 $23 $29 $30 $30 $0 NA
      • ÂčActual financial amounts for the current fiscal year are not yet final. Final fiscal year actuals, from the Comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, will be reported
      • in the next PMMR. Refer to the “Indicator Definitions” at nyc.gov/mmr for details. ÂČAuthorized Budget Level ÂłExpenditures include all funds “NA” - Not Available * None
      • SPENDING AND BUDGET INFORMATION
      • Where possible, the relationship between an agency’s goals and its expenditures and planned resources, by budgetary unit
      • of appropriation (UA), is shown in the ‘Applicable MMR Goals’ column. Each relationship is not necessarily exhaustive or
      • exclusive. Any one goal may be connected to multiple UAs, and any UA may be connected to multiple goals.
      • Unit of Appropriation
      • Expenditures
      • FY19Âč
      • ($000,000)
      • Modified Budget
      • FY20ÂČ
      • ($000,000) Applicable MMR GoalsÂł
      • 001 - Personal Services $3.5 $4.1 All
      • 002 - Other Than Personal Services $0.7 $1.8 All
      • Agency Total $4.1 $5.9
      • ÂčComprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2019. Includes all funds. ÂČCity of New York Adopted Budget for Fiscal 2020, as of June
        1. Includes all funds. ³Refer to agency goals listed at front of chapter. “NA” Not Available *None
      • Page 252 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
      • NOTEWORTHY CHANGES, ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS !
      • ‱ During the first four months of Fiscal 2020, Loree Sutton, MD. Brigadier General (ret.) was DVS Commissioner; James
      • Hendon was appointed Commissioner of DVS as of November 1, 2019.
      • ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
      • For more information on the agency, please visit: www.nyc.gov/veterans
MMR - FY20 - Department of Veterans’ Services