has been completely evasive about his positions. has been all over the lot on many of them. and has tried to play a game of hide and seek with the american people. i think the news media will be challenged to challenge him, to be more forthcoming, and then the story is going to be that for a while. this is the nature of this business. >> look behind the presidential election process when you want online with c-span's road to the white house and the c-span video library. >> the national housing conference hosted a decision on homelessness among veterans. par tis papts talked about how difficult it can be to identify veterans in the community and the importance of supporting programs that keep them from becoming homeless in the first pla

place. >> i'm pretty sure i see carol lamberg back there. >> all right. welcome back for the first of two panel discussions. this one is about veterans homelessness and supportive housing as a solution among many to that challenge. . i am very pleased to introduce our moderator, the president and ceo of the national alliance to end homelessness. she's also a long time nhc board member and a great source of wise advice and counsel to us as we bring the stake holders together to address a range of issues. but in particular, today, we're going to focus on veterans' homelessness. so i'll let her introduce the panel and let them take the discussion from there.

>> okay, thank you, ethan. i want to thank also our keynote speakers this morning. i thought it was illuminating selt of presentations pointing out some of the housing and related issues that veterans have. we certainly -- i think one thing that we've certainly experienced at -- i'm sure the other panelists as well, that there is really something of a unique moment with respect to veterans in homelessness and housing issues. in particular there's a lot going on. there's been tremendous leadership from the congress. including senator murray has been really remarkable on that front as well. the agencies are working together. which was pointed out doesn't always happen. and there really is a moment of opportunity, i think. i also want to congratulate the

fantastic award winners from last evening. it's an honor and pleasure to be here with them. a few years ago at the national alliance and homelessness. we decided to take a look at veterans' housing overall. we knew veterans were represented in the homeless population. so we wondered if this meant that veterans had housing problems more generally. and what we found when we looked at the data was surprising to us. we found on the hole veterans are well housed or were. this was again a few years ago. better housed than the general population. they had a higher rate of homeownership, and they had a higher percentage of mortgages paid off. fewer velt rans had severe housing cost burdens as a percentage of the population. they were somewhat better off economically, also with higher incomes and lower poverty rate. however, there still were an unacceptable number of veterans who had housing problems.

the sheet in your package says 1.5 million veterans pay more than half of their income per housing. veterans with a disable are more lick likely to have housing cost burden. females are more likely to have housing cost burden. and older veterans are more likely to have housing problems, we found. and, of course, as it's been mentioned, veterans are disproportionately represented in the homeless population. we found it was a factor in the problems as it is homelessness, generally. so veterans, like everyone else, would be better housed and do better if we addressed housing affordability. better generally and overall. we also know veterans have some

particular housing needs, some have physical disabilities and need accessible housing. some have traumatic brain injury and sexual trauma, other kinds of trauma. these can affect the stable in housing. some have behavioral health issues, men hall health illness. they need supportive housing. some are in treatment. they need their families to be nearby them there. they can't find affordable housing. some generate high medical costs because of the instability in housing. the veterans need affordable housing. they may need a specialized housing as well. just like everybody else, as was pointed out by the speakers. we have a terrific panel of folks to address the housing need.

most specifically around veterans who are lower income. what are the solutions? we know what the problems are. we have an opportunity, we think, as we've been hearing to implement solutions. what are the solutions? so you have full biographies in the package. i'm so delighted to be here with the very talented and skill eed colleagues. john driscol president and ceo. she used to be the president of common ground, this mark described in terms of the boot camps.

and many other things that she'll discuss. and great allies. i've given a snapshot of the needs for veterans housing. the role affordable housing plays. the associated service needs. >> i'll jump in them. i don't see them as particularly different. one thing we've been working on throughout the country is especially for all veterans, especially those chronically homeless, there's a surprising

barrier just around having good data. they are not known to the local systems as veterans. they're not connected to the v.a., so alingular challenge, there are ways community take them on very successfully is to identify who the homeless veterans are by name and prioritize people on the basis of their health risk. and theho connection process can actually drive a lot more effective housing resource allegation. so it's a surprising insight. so first of all, we want to thank the national housing conference for inviting nchb to

be a participant here. this is a critical moment in terms of helping bring them into the cold, as it were. in 2011 communities were not required to report veteran data in the hmis systems. we had loans not republican understand until 1999 or the year 2000 with the analysis of the homeless providers alliance so that is a relatively new development.

i believe they've been working on veterans issues and veterans homelessness for 22 years since they've been a partner of that. the focus that we see now is data driven. now we understand the scope. and i believe that's the requirement of the veteran data mhis is going to open doors, access for veterans, and certainly communities weren't focusing on keeping those doors open. >> you know, we always think if we want to serve veterans, it would be through the va. is that true? that you can only rely on them. >> i think it might be high,

50%. we're talking veteran housing. i've been with them for 38 years. prior to 2008, we never talked about housing and veterans in the same discussion. they started developing housing, especially designed for veterans with immigration problems. i know they talked about developing a transitional housing assistance program some 25 years ago. because it was the only game in town. in many communities that was the only help homeless veterans were going to have.

so they were, in fact, an integrated service delivery system. we current calling it that then, but that's what it was. that's had the greatest impact on driving down the number of homeless veterans. up until immediate access to permanent support of housing. which prior to 2008 was not being done on any scale. so that changed fundamentally the world we live in. but it doesn't replace the need for that transitional system that is 20 years in the making. provides homeless veterans with a wide range of services. and that doesn't work for everybody, either. if you have something those clients can work towards, and

this is what i hope this audience will hear. that there's 1 hnt 4 million people that will never have to go through the program and destabilize and looking for stable housing. but that system, if it's in plis, built out to 60,000. and then the housing industry in communities, making affordable housing available. i think that brings us to the goal we're looking for gi 2015. >> do you find when veterans' housing needs change over time, that they have different needs, they are detaching from the service? >> i think both mark johnston and deputy secretary gould make an important point to be mindful of. we should assume strength in the individuals as they return from service.

just remarkable discipline and courage our rush to pa thol jazz is something we should question. certainly so many men and women are coming back with physical and psychological injuries that need to be addressed. but not all of the veterans more than good information and good access to stable housing. and so the mainstream housing industry and the mainstream affordable housing industry can really handle most of this. . i thought it was wonderful framing that deputy gould made around rescue servicefuls. let's avoid meating those and doing more on the affordable rental front. maybe the call to arms is really more about how to make good access to mainstream housing by making the process of accessing

it the best customer service experience anybody has had. right now it's the information gap. where do you go for help if you need it? that leads people down a slippery slope, where they need more services. for the most part, these are men and women who need assistance navigating, you know, a too complicated affordable housing market. >> they provide housing for many different populations. how do you see this playing out? >> first of all, i would i would like to thank them for honoring volunteers of america last night.

a lot of it has been around the human services side. and one of the things i've seen over the past three to four years is the concept to take a lot of affordable housing programs and use it for permanent support of housing, which wasn't necessarily true before. i think the advent or the better use of the vouchers have been extremely important. we can provide permanent housing for veterans and also have the are wrap-around services involved, too. which we wouldn't have had previous to that. it would have been a case if we were lucky enough to get section 8 from the housing authority or some other source. but then you're hunting for the service dollars. for the voucher is critical. the other piece, too, was the concept that we could use a

long-term housing credit to assist in developing the newer facilities that do have the permanent housing part of it. it also has the community space involved, that's needed for the service provision and the socialization that needs to happen. zbl so in terms of housing affordability. for a lot of veterans it's just an affordability issue. that was raised by earlier speakers and employment and poverty. people coming back simply can't afford housing. so that's an element of it. but there are people with higher need needs. >> as we know -- >> is your mike working? we can't hear. >> okay. all right.

the issues around housing need, they vary by person, and they vary by region. and so, i guess the challenge to all of us is creating enough diversity option so that people who are returning from service and service members from past who are homeless now get what they need and get it quickly. so in terms of what's different about veteran housing needs, i would love to hear more from both of you. my sense is we need to make this whole array of housing options much more transparent and accessible, and then for those returning veterans who do have needs for support attached to their housing, some of it is for appropriately designed housing. housing built to universal design standards. we heard about the amazing work of the home depot foundation and others who are adopting homes

and so that mind set and the creating ease of adaptation in the appropriate environments. one of the things that all of us who have worked in support of housing know is that services and the need for them can dial up and dial down. so this is an unusual moment for us to learn vital things for the whole array of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. how do we calibrate the services better? assuming strength, you know, i don't believe people who have had very profound traumas and injuries need necessarily to be assumed to be incapable of moving into greater capability. so how do we build capabilities up is something we need to learn for the whole field of homeless services. >> i could add to that. and i've already talked about

since the advent of the federal we have seen from the administration a commitment of resources unlike anything that we have seen probably since the great society from lyndon administration. at least from the veterans perspective, that's what we see. so going back to the transitional assistance program, 20 years in development, each of those programs is connected. they are not necessarily on site, but many of the most successful programs, they are on site i saw a study for the supportive housing recently released and health services and

housing stability. that's at the core of the program and for 20 something years. the organizations that have been working and developing, those systems that care, the housing stability with services as a vital component are now and have been for sometime exploring longer time permanent housing solutions where they are still connected with many of the attendant service. it's a little bit difference and in some places a lot different than the service provider community. we have said to the va, the programs are the spring board that are necessary to get

veterans who are coming out of the situations into permanent housing. we had a housing conference in san antonio and the most profound statement anyone said to me is it doesn't have to be programs. i thought i don't each know what that means. can you expand on that? when you get down to it, every community is different and every homeless person is different, therefore you have to have a responsive community entity, whatever that is. whether it's a service provider or an area that doesn't have any other alternatives. but it's the local response and planning and service providers and local government and housing officials.

it makes affordable housing available with a level of services. everybody needs the different programs. >> and also i want to look at the veterans and population and thinking of recurring in afghanistan in particular, it would be a local thought process here and coming back and going to a high paying job and that puts them in the lower income brackets with affordable housing and you have been back for a while and get established. even without a need for programs, just a veteran that needs housing. affordable housing more than anybody else potentially. and the economics of the affordable housing world and

rental world is that we are experiencing low occupancy rates in rental housing whether it's market rate and that's creating a bind because we are seeing the market rate folks are able to race them based on the occupation level. we are at a critical junction regardless of whether you are a veteran or not. how do we increase that with low income people or low income people and we need to provide them with tenants. looking at the rentals in the section eight program and you has been a got send with veterans of the population. you have a struggle finding places to locate veterans into

whether it's property. also where we are working with housing authorities trying to find them in the open market with other market rate landlords. they are not as interested so they can turn around and rent the unit at a higher rent where they don't have to deal with the program. it's a bit of a bind out there and it might be something that will trend away in a few years as it changes and the rental supply market catches up somewhat in the market rate and occupancy rates come down a little bit. there is a bind with the fact th that. >> it seems what you are pointing out is for a lot of veterans, the majority who have housing needs is just an affordability issue. there is a smaller subset that

has more particular needs and serious needs and services attached, but just on the affordability side, what you are seeing and pointing out that people have short-term or finite term crisis. people are coming back and not quite reattached to the labor market and it impedes their ability and to veterans. in a moment, in terms of veterans where there is a lot of support, do you feel is there and are there ways to use and take advantage of this moment and helping veterans and also pointing out the affordability needs more generally? do you think there is an appetite for a broader support for a benefit to assist with housing? >> i think we all agree that the

right housing bill is affordable veterans bills. typically for everything we read and seen and mixed communities. i guess there should be at least two components of that. one is maybe a production program and how we deal with the problem now. a rental subsidy and proposal and economists circulating around rental insurance for veterans and for those who do have a transitional need in crisis that are at a disadvantage and because there is an elevated rate of unemployment. and that's what we should be looking at. they are the most successful social program in the country.

what should our generations look like? >> each community will have to have its own response, but maybe as we talk about veterans with disabilities and whether they are emotional illness or physical disabilities that may impact their earnings potential. it's clear what the folks need and that's affordable housing. we have people in this audience who had made careers out of putting together partnerships to develop multifamily housing units and property renovations and new construction and collaborative communities. because of the experience and close to 3,000 units and the

u.s. has transitional, but they are working closely with the communities. you have those collaborations. public-private funding and that goes right to what the person said to me clearly. it can't be government responsive. it is going to have to be the local initiatives to scale that will benefit the specific communities. the home depot foundation that has been graciously in an active partner with the coalition. i am just amazed to see what they have done in the first year. ey and corporate and this time that we