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Identifying Graduation Rates and Practices in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program

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Abstract

Graduation from permanent supported housing program (PSH) is an important part of individuals’ recovery and rehabilitation, yet little research has examined this process. We examined graduation rates, practices and policies in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, the largest PSH program in the United States. We used HUD-VASH administrative data from Fiscal Years 2016–2020 to summarize graduation rates from the program. Using a template analysis approach to open-ended online surveys from 65 HUD-VASH program managers, we identified key themes related to graduation practices. Graduations accounted for 21% of all HUD-VASH exits across all years. Graduation practices and policies varied across HUD-VASH programs, and staff expressed interest in having additional data to support graduation decisions. There may be value in developing standards for graduation criteria that is shared with clients and providers in supported housing programs in order to titrate care appropriately and support client independence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Homeless Programs Office, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center on Homelessness among Veterans, Washington D.C, USA

    Jack Tsai & Thomas Byrne

  2. School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1200 Pressler St, 77030, Houston, TX, USA

    Jack Tsai

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Jack Tsai

  4. School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Thomas Byrne

  5. Homeless Programs Office, Business Intelligence, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington D.C, USA

    Lindsay L. Hill, Bessie Flatley & Nicole Harelik

  6. Homeless Programs Office, National Center on Homelessness among Veterans, Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Office, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington D.C, USA

    Meghan Deal

Authors
  1. Jack Tsai
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  2. Thomas Byrne
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  3. Lindsay L. Hill
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  4. Bessie Flatley
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  5. Nicole Harelik
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  6. Meghan Deal
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Contributions

Jack Tsai, Thomas Byrne, Nicole Harelik and Meghan Deal contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Jack Tsai, Thomas Byrne, Nicole Harelik, Lindsay L. Hill and Bessie Flatley. Jack Tsai and Thomas Byrne led the writing of the first draft of the manuscript and all authors contributed to the editing and revisions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack Tsai.

Ethics declarations

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center on Homelessness among Veterans. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. The contents of this article do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.

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Tsai, J., Byrne, T., Hill, L.L. et al. Identifying Graduation Rates and Practices in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program. Community Ment Health J 59, 808–811 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01057-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01057-y

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