Item Description:
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Direct staff to work with local partners and provide resources needed to achieve and maintain a functional zero homelessness for Veteran’s designation for Hennepin County - offered by Commissioners Anderson, Conley, Fernando, Goettel, and Lunde
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Resolution:
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WHEREAS, criteria required to achieve a functional zero designation include:
• Providing low-barrier shelter immediately to any Veteran experiencing unsheltered homelessness who wants it.
• Having capacity to help Veterans to swiftly move into permanent housing.
• Identifying and helping any Veteran who is at risk or who becomes homeless in the future.
• In the past 90 days, all veterans experiencing chronic homelessness have been offered permanent housing.
• Veterans experiencing homelessness are connected to permanent housing in an average of 90 days.
WHEREAS, Hennepin County and its partners have been dedicated to the work of addressing homelessness in our community by implementing systems and prevention measures to ensure that Veteran homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring. Some of these include:
• Earning a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon county designation in 2021.
• Partnering with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) to add 3 housing-focused Social Workers and additional staff in the Veterans Services office who will focus on income solutions.
• Transferring Hennepin County-owned properties to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MAC-V) for more veteran housing
• Creating an accelerated prioritization process - so that Veterans without other options are the top priority for the very next housing opportunity that opens up; and
WHEREAS, this work is ongoing and takes many resources. The advocacy and support we offer to veterans every day illustrates our commitment to Veterans and their families and could not be done without our partners in this work who include but are not limited to:
• Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
• Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
• US Department of Veteran’s Affairs VA Medical Center
• US Department of Veteran’s Affairs Community Resource and Referral Center
• Minneapolis Public Housing Authority
• Metro Public Housing Authority
• Heading Home Hennepin Continuum of Care
• Homeless service providers, particularly those with veteran specific programs like Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Agate Housing and Services
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners directs county staff to continue work with local partners and provide resources needed toward achieving and maintaining a functional zero homelessness for Veterans designation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Hennepin County Veteran’s Services department is directed to update the board annually on collaborations with local partners, outreach with Veteran’s and the status of functional zero in the county.
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recommendation
Recommendation from County Administrator: Recommend Approval