Temporary Financial Assistance Decreased Health Care Costs For Veterans Experiencing Housing Instability.

Compared with housed people, those experiencing homelessness have longer and more expensive inpatient stays as well as more frequent emergency department visits. Efforts to provide stable housing situations for people experiencing homelessness could reduce health care costs. Through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, the Department of Veterans Affairs partners with community organizations to provide temporary financial assistance to veterans who are currently homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless.

Logic Model of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Role in Veterans Treatment Courts.

Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) grew exponentially in the last decade with more than 550 courts, dockets and tracks operating in the U.S. Eligibility criteria and operating practices of VTCs vary widely.

Homeless Veterans' Use of Peer Mentors and Effects on Costs and Utilization in VA Clinics.

Objectives: The study compared health care utilization and costs among homeless veterans randomly assigned to peer mentors or usual care and described contacts with peer mentors.

Methods: Homeless patients at four Department of Veterans Affairs clinics were randomly assigned to a peer mentor (N=195) or to usual care (N=180). Administrative data on utilization and costs over a six-month follow-up were combined with peer mentors' reports of patient contacts.

Diversion of Veterans With Criminal Justice Involvement to Treatment Courts: Participant Characteristics and Outcomes.

Objective: This study compared characteristics and outcomes between veterans who participated in veterans treatment courts (VTCs) and veterans involved in criminal justice who participated in other treatment courts (TCs) or who participated in neither VTCs or TCs.

Methods: Data from 22,708 veterans (N=8,083 VTC participants, 680 participants in other TCs [other-TC participants], and 13,945 participants in neither VTCs nor TCs [non-TC participants]) in the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program were analyzed by using multilevel regression models.

Results: VTC participants were more likely than other VJO participants to have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, but there were no sociodemographic disparities in access to VTCs.

Tailoring Care to Vulnerable Populations by Incorporating Social Determinants of Health: the Veterans Health Administration's "Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team" Program.

Introduction: Although the clinical consequences of homelessness are well described, less is known about the role for health care systems in improving clinical and social outcomes for the homeless. We described the national implementation of a "homeless medical home" initiative in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and correlated patient health outcomes with characteristics of high-performing sites.

Methods: We conducted an observational study of 33 VHA facilities with homeless medical homes and patient- aligned care teams that served more than 14,000 patients.

Factors Associated With Veterans' Access to Permanent Supportive Housing.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify individual- and program-level characteristics associated with veterans' ability to move into permanent housing following receipt of a housing voucher and to identify factors associated with more rapid placement into housing.

Methods: This study used secondary quantitative and primary quantitative and qualitative data collected from veterans participating in the U.S.

Increased Mortality Among Older Veterans Admitted to VA Homelessness Programs.

Objective: National Death Index data were examined to describe mortality patterns among older veterans who are homeless.

Methods: Homelessness and health care records from the U.S.

Disparities in housing status among veterans with general medical, cognitive, and behavioral health conditions.

Objective: The study explored disparities in housing status among veterans with general medical, cognitive, and behavioral health conditions.

Methods: Multinomial mixed-effects models estimated the relationship between medical, cognitive, and behavioral health comorbidities and housing instability among veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) (N=1,582,125) who responded to the Homelessness Screening Clinical Reminder for homelessness and risk during a three-month period.

Results: Veterans were two or more times as likely to screen positive for homelessness or risk if they had a diagnosis of a cognitive or behavioral health conditions in the study.

Retaining homeless veterans in outpatient care: a pilot study of mobile phone text message appointment reminders.

Objectives: We examined the feasibility of using mobile phone text messaging with homeless veterans to increase their engagement in care and reduce appointment no-shows.

Methods: We sent 2 text message reminders to participants (n = 20) before each of their outpatient appointments at an urban Veterans Affairs medical center. Evaluation included pre- and postsurvey questionnaires, open-ended questions, and review of medical records.

Community-level characteristics associated with variation in rates of homelessness among families and single adults.

Objectives: We modeled rates of family and single-adult homelessness in the United States in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions and as a function of community-level demographic, behavioral, health, economic, and safety net characteristics.

Methods: We entered community-level characteristics and US Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time counts for a single night in January 2009 into separate mixed-effects statistical analyses that modeled homelessness rates for 4 subpopulations: families and single adults in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan regions.

Results: Community-level factors accounted for 25% to 50% of the variance in homelessness rates across models.

Universal screening for homelessness and risk for homelessness in the Veterans Health Administration.

We examined data for all veterans who completed the Veterans Health Administration's national homelessness screening instrument between October 1, 2012, and January 10, 2013. Among veterans who were not engaged with the US Department of Veterans Affairs homeless system and presented for primary care services, the prevalence of recent housing instability or homelessness was 0.9% and homelessness risk was 1.

Recovery-oriented training and staff attitudes over time in two state hospitals.

Recovery attitudes and concepts are often promoted to community mental health staff through educational and in-service trainings, but no study found has examined this in state hospitals. The current observational study aimed to examine the types of recovery-oriented trainings that occurred at two state hospitals over 1 year and subsequent changes in staff recovery attitudes. A total of 184 state hospital staff completed questionnaires assessing their personal optimism, consumer optimism, and agency recovery orientation at baseline and 1 year later.