LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE

Transcription

1 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR Megan Hazle, Communications, CIR 9:40 am Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Megan Hazle 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

2 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE JANUARY 9, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Dr. Anthony Hassan, CIR Director, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. He briefly reviewed the meeting structure and working groups for first time attendees. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Currently, the Behavioral Health Working Group is drafting and critiquing a unique mission statement and working on clarifying goals for actionable items. The group has identified a key mission. After drafting the criteria and list, the group will then ask the entire Collaborative for feedback and suggestions. Lastly, the group discusses BH topics that they would like to be covered in the upcoming survey. Update on previous action items: Identify mission Identify goals Identify gaps and needs for Behavioral health needs Develop and inform best practices b. Career Advancement Working Group The Career Advancement Working Group compiled questions from its members regarding data that it would like to see gathered through the USC CIR survey of veterans and military families in Los Angeles. The group is also compiling a list of local militaryfriendly employers for possible inclusion in the USC veteran hiring event in March The group has also begun to finalize an asset map of veteran employment resources in the LA area. Group members were asked to submit additional resources to Lisa 1

3 Anderson so that they may be added to the map. The group s goal is to produce a list of veteran employment resources and develop an asset map that provides information as well as a quality rating. The group is going to seek new ways of publicity. Update on previous action items: Continue working on asset map. Suggest questions for USC CIR LA veterans survey. Finalize asset map. New action items: Compile list of veteran friendly employers to be used for USC hiring event Identify the need for a significant web presence to collect info Find new ways of getting new members involved Seek ways to publicize map c. Families & Children Working Group The Families & Children Working Group discussed the action items from the previous meeting and reviewed the group s Mission/Vision and Objectives. Members were encouraged to add to or review the Objectives. The group s Mission/Vision Statement and Objectives are still being worked due to the group s broad range. Members discussed issues related to custodial benefits and long term service delivery. Members developed questions for the upcoming survey. Update on previous action items: Continue developing the working group Mission/Vision statement. Continue developing the working group Objectives and policy statement. New action item: Identify contacts within faith based communities. Find new ways of getting new members involved Build association with Friday Night live as tool for outreach Work on position paper to reach out to schools Find new ways to ID Children associated with military d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group The Housing and & Homelessness Working Group had a large meeting. A representative from Eric Garcetti s office informed the group that they are looking for a veteran coordinator for the city of LA. Members also discussed mission statement of the collaborative in general and sought to figure out what would our mission be within the larger scope. Members discussed the homeless count and sought for more volunteers. New action items: Evaluate the possibility of soliciting furniture donations. Determine best ways of engaging VA decision makers. 2

4 Develop survey questions. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group The Legal & Re Entry Working Group discussed current areas each organization was working in. Additionally, the group brainstormed new ways to create veteran specific programs dedicated for veterans (e.g. dealing with tickets, DUI s, misdemeanors). The idea of a flow chart was created to help veterans handle their tickets. Additionally, the group brainstormed getting LA County Superior Court System to expand to Male Veteran Stand downs so that female stand downs receive similar support. The group announced Free attorney services (e.g. debt, immigration, divorce) for vets called the Valor Guide. IV. Administrative Details V. Next Meeting a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: February 13, 2013 March 13, 2013 April 10, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Dr. Anthony Hassan thanked everyone for coming and introduced Col Cross. Col Cross is the Reintegration trainer for the Army. He answered questions regarding his development of the transitional program for veterans back to the work place. Additionally, Anthony announced that CIR hopes to finalize interviews and hiring for the new Collaborative administrator and initiate the city wide survey and evaluation of veteran needs in Los Angeles county. CIR will then convene community members/wg co chairs to outline survey and gather input after the February Collaborative meeting. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact CIR at cir@usc.edu. Wednesday, February 13 9:30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA

5 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR 9:40 am Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Joseph Chicas 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

6 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE FEBRUARY 13, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Dr. Anthony Hassan, CIR Director, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. He briefly reviewed the meeting structure and working groups for first time attendees. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Break out group notes were not provided b. Career Advancement Working Group In our meeting we reviewed the status of the Asset Map. It is still ongoing, but advertising and website presence are still being discussed. The group also discussed where to look to next. The following ideas were raised: Look at means for employer education. It was reported that the California Consortium for Hispanic Veterans and LA County are working on a similar topic. Also reported that USC CIR will be doing some employer education for the employers that are participating in their March 20 Veteran Hiring Fair. A service provider grading system similar to YELP for veteran service providers and schools Policy Issues what are they around employment/education and what can we do about them c. Families & Children Working Group 1

7 New members to the group were asked to introduce themselves by name, title or position, agency affiliate and a brief description of the service provided. The introduction generated discussion on several new members and noted the vast array of depth and breadth of relevant resources represented on the committee for veteran families and children. Obstacle Action Item: Direct Access and Awareness of the agencies and positions and resources is an issue for both the relevant complimentary partners, as well as the consumer/client, which is the Veteran, Family member and Child. Action can be taken to establish the access and awareness process of the resources to each other and the consumer. Deborah Hayes is updating this portion of the Resource section of the portal. Primary focus of discussion was the review and scrub of the 18 question Survey development, submitted from the January 9 brainstorm session. In order to delete, revise add/or consolidate the questions, the workgroup discussed five (5) primary elements regarding the survey, which were: Purpose, Broad Target, Specific Target, Methods, Venues, and Question Revision. A) The purpose of the Survey The discussion identified two (2) primary purposes of the survey, which would help guide the question construction. 1. Needs Assessment of Veterans their Families and Children 2. Asset Mapping for resource delivery and staff of USC CIR results B) The Broad demographic Target audience of the Survey The group discussed the target audience to understand which questions may be duplicated in another section of the survey or which questions could be led by the preliminary profile section of the first questions and which Family/Children questions could be trailed from the profile section. The group identified several estimated Consumers as the broad target audience not in a prioritized order: 1. Veterans a. Homeless b. Jobless c. Medical needs d. Connected to current systems: VA, Vet Centers Military One Source et al 2. Caregivers of Veterans children 3. Purple service organization Veterans a. Multi Component: Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard b. Multi Service: Army, AirForce, Navy, Marine, Coast Guard C) The specific demographic Target audience of the Family & Child section of the Survey The group identified several specifics of the Family and Child client consumer. 1. Veterans who are: married w/ no children, married w/ children, single parent, dual parent, step parent, foster parent, 2. Caregivers who are: the Veteran, spouse, relative caregiver 3. Gender: men and women veterans and caregivers have different needs and some resources. 2

8 Action Item: The group wants to research whether these (3) identifiers will be placed in the preliminary profile of the survey, which leads the person to the Family Child section or do these questions need to be strategically placed at the beginning of the Family Child section? D) Methods for survey publication The discussion identified (2) primary methods for issuing the survey: 1. Electronic a. Web based to known data based sites b. E blast to known distribution lists via Points of Contacts within each Purple target listed above in Section II B Hardcopy print outs Obviously, this may be more difficult to tally data results and a more labor intensive method. But if this one is not used, we run the risk of isolating and eliminating an entire target population of homeless and/or non computer accessible personnel who may in fact, be the highest risk pool and greatest need pool. E) Venue for data collection of the survey Dissemination venues for the survey quickly appeared to be a broad and detailed discussion and would probably need an entire workgroup focused on this. So the group chose to list and identify potential venues to set up a survey booth with date and time at a frequency of a few times per week. The group also made rough estimates as to the percentage of target population that could be procured at each venue. 1. Military Affiliate Organizations: Vet Centers, VA Hospitals (LA and Long Beach, others), American Legions, Veterans of Foreign Wars via the VA Claims Officer who has an electronic & hardcopy data base, AUSA,. Estimated target population: 30 40% 2. Community Civilian Agencies: Community Centers, Red Cross, LA Homeless Shelters, Patriot Ministry Groups within Churches, Faith Based organizations who offer support services to Veterans or Homeless persons Estimated target population: % 3. Military Events: a. JFTB Los Alamitos: Race on the Base March, Independence Celebration July 4, Wheels, Rotors & Reels Show 1 st weekend in October, Monthly Battle Assembly (1 st and 2 nd weekend of the month) Estimated target population: % b. LA AirForce Base: events calendar, commissary, MWR office Estimated target population: % c. Long Beach Naval Base: events calendar, commissary, and MWR Estimated target population: % d. Fort McArthur events calendar, commissary, and MWR Estimated target population: % e. Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program Events (DoD sponsored training and well being events targeting specifically at returning veterans and families and children of Reserve and National Guard) 3

9 Estimated target population: 100 % Action Item 1: Sherrie and survey team or a workgroup dedicated to the venue proposals would need to develop a POC at each site, procure an events calendar, establish relationships and access to the events and create a comprehensive calendar for the survey delivery. (beyond the scope of this committee but great foundational brainstorming) Action Item 2: If Yellow Ribbon access is desired to set up a computer booth and or a hardcopy distribution for later returns, the Reserve Component would need to have a plan developed to either identify the population who are not Los Angeles based or to identify only those LA Veterans for the purpose of the survey. It was noted that there are benefits to remaining mission focused on only LA Veteran target population and benefits to surveying the non LA population for purposes of current comparison/ contrast and future tailored scalability to state or national venues. F) Question Revision: Each specific Question s relevance and position in the Family & Child section of the survey, as well as the overall survey was discussed 1. Questions added: It was recommended that the following questions be added: a. Would you like to have a service provider or resource contact you for any of the following items: yes no Children s camps Marriage Enrichment seminars Child Youth School Services, Respite Care Domestic Violence support, Exceptional Family Member Care etc If so, please provide us with the contact information and how you would like for us to reach you. name, phone, , mailing address, site visit on first Thursday of each month at This question could be added at the end of each section of the survey and tailored to the specific workgroup or added at the final end of the completion of the survey. Added value: USC CIR can build a direct service contact base for the Vet and may develop mentors and leaders w/i the Veteran community to facilitate and self refer and sustain internally b. ADD A question at the beginning of the Family Children section or the beginning of the profile for the Single Veteran to identify a Family Member under a broader definition, (ie) parent, brother/sister, uncle. (We call this the service member s family designee) If the single Veteran is left out of the initial profile s option identify a family member, we assume that he/she has no family members, only issues with, finance, employment, physical mental health. c. ADD the gender question, preferably in the initial profile rather than the Family Child section. d. ADD the category: spouse to question 1, or create another question that identifies whether the Veteran or Spouse/Family member is completing the survey. It is assumed that the first question of the profile and first question of the Family Children section will accurately identify 4

10 the person completing the survey and that this information is trailed into the answers that follow. e. ADD Question 14, What was your discharge date or the date of your last deployment? 2. Change Questions: a. Question 6 needs to clarify Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program or Yellow Ribbon Education Program with colleges or list both. Also, this question may have too many items in it, unless it has a dropdown to specify. Change to Have you used or accessed, rather than, do you belong, because some of these are events rather than memberships b. Determine which questions may be identified in another section: Questions: 8, 9, 11, 13, Question Review: All questions were read individually and reviewed collectively when time necessitated that the list be scrubbed later, alongside the other workgroup questions because it was unknown which of the questions may contain duplication or gaps. Announcements: Links Deborah will update Resource List/Toolkits and disseminate. EFMP Parent Meeting San Diego, Miramar March 7, 2013 USC CIR Internship launches coming up. Watch for locations and agencies where Dr. Michael Johnson can match the interns to projects. d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group The Housing and & Homelessness Working Group had a large meeting to consider advocacy positions, including: Vigilance regarding the Los Angeles City Community Care Facilities Ordinance, which may be re introduced with changes, Support for AB 639, The Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act; and Support for the California Homes and Jobs Act of VA representatives at the meeting reported that a program to solicit donations of furniture to facilitate move ins for VASH participants is in the works for Los Angeles, so the Working Group will not need to pursue this item on its agenda. New action items: Evaluate the possibility of soliciting furniture donations. Determine best ways of engaging VA decision makers. Develop survey questions. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group First, the Committee agreed, in the majority, to endorse and support the final draft by Jodi Galvin to Superior Court Judge Wesley requesting a meeting to address traffic ticket 5

11 infractions, failures to appear and warrants affecting Veterans. Final draft to be forwarded to other collaborative members for their review and possible support with a response of support due by February 19th. Secondly, the group addressed and recommend a disclaimer for the collaborative letterhead and website that will address non political activity and allow collaborative members to participate but opt out of listing their organization on letterhead and website. Lastly, the committee will take up addressing the VA claim filing process in more detail in our next meeting. IV. Administrative Details V. Next Meeting a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: March 13, 2013 April 10, 2013 May 8, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Dr. Anthony Hassan thanked everyone for coming. Additionally, Anthony announced that CIR hopes to finalize interviews and hiring for the new Collaborative administrator and initiate the city wide survey and evaluation of veteran needs in Los Angeles county. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact CIR at cir@usc.edu. Wednesday, March 13, :30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA

12 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR 9:40 am Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Margaret R. Thomas 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

13 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE MARCH 13, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Dr. Anthony Hassan, CIR Director, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. He introduced Margaret Thomas, the new Community Liaison and collaborative coordinator. He also discussed the survey and its progress. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. Groups were asked to think about what information from such a survey would help them the most. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Currently, the Behavioral Health Working Group is drafting and critiquing a unique mission statement and working on clarifying goals for actionable items. They group identified the following as questions/information they would like asked in the survey: What services are you aware of for healthcare? Where would you go for healthcare? How one felt their life was in danger? Have you ever experienced stress due to civilian life? Military life? Did you seek help and where? Do you hide your BH needs? b. Career Advancement Working Group The group is continuing to work on an asset map of veteran employment resources in the LA area. The group s goal is to produce a list of veteran employment resources and develop an asset map that provides information as well as a quality rating. The group is going to seek new ways of publicity. The group also discussed an employer consortium group and ways to improve the TAP program and make better connections with the civilian sector. 1

14 Update on previous action items: Continue working on asset map. Finalize asset map. New action items: Identify the need for a significant web presence to collect info Find new ways of getting new members involved Seek ways to publicize map c. Families & Children Working Group The Families & Children Working Group discussed the stigma related to the seeking out mental health help and services. The group discussed that the issue of services being offered but folks not taking advantage of them. The group also discussed the possibility of greater case management and follow up and that the case manager help people find needed services. The group also discussed and wondered whether coverage (insurance) is a barrier to seeking services Update on previous action items: Identify contacts within faith based communities. Find new ways of getting new members involved Build association with Friday Night live as tool for outreach New action item: Work on position paper to reach out to schools Find new ways to ID Children associated with military d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group The Housing and & Homelessness Working Group had a large meeting. The group had a great discussion on the two (2) current proposed state bills and urged all those in the collaborative to get involved and reach out to their representatives to support the proposed bills. New action items: Evaluate the possibility of soliciting furniture donations. Determine best ways of engaging VA decision makers. Develop survey questions. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group The Legal & Re Entry Working Group discussed current areas each organization was working in. Additionally, the group brainstormed new ways to create veteran specific programs dedicated for veterans (e.g. dealing with tickets, DUI s, misdemeanors). The idea of a flow chart was created to help veterans handle their tickets. Additionally, the group brainstormed getting LA County Superior Court System to expand to Male Veteran Stand downs so that female stand downs receive similar support. 2

15 Update on previous action items: Letter was delivered to Judge Wesley regarding judicial support at LA County Stand Downs New action item: VA Claims Process IV. Administrative Details a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: April 10, 2013 May 8, 2013 June 12, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Margaret Thomas thanked everyone for coming and reminded everyone again about the survey and to pass along any information and ideas to CIR. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact Margaret Thomas at Margaret.thomas@usc.edu V. Next Meeting Wednesday, April 10, :30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA

16 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR Margaret Thomas, Collaborative Coordinator, CIR 9:40 am Announcements and Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Margaret R. Thomas 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

17 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE APRIL 10, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Margaret Thomas, Community Liaison, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. She discussed the focus group and survey process and status. Conducted a short questionnaire of the attendees to determine strengths of the collaborative, ways the collaborative could improve, any asked for additional comments and suggestions. Announcements made regarding upcoming events and projects to include: UCLA conference How are Veterans Changing America? And USC SoarTech Project for family and friends of those who have served. James Schickle from CalVet spoke. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. Groups were asked to think about what information from such a survey would help them the most. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Discussed Evidence Based Practices (EBP). Introduced 3 new people to the collaborative. Additionally, the group is considering compiling a list of organizations which are not performing and or offering stated services. Still discussing criteria to use to evaluate poor performing services and organizations. b. Career Advancement Working Group This month the group broke into 3 smaller groups for more in depth conversation on specific issues facing the group. The group also identified next steps and tasks for ongoing projects to be completed for next month s meeting. Introduced new individuals to the collaborative. c. Families & Children Working Group 1

18 To start the working session the group reread the group s mission statement. Discussed the upcoming survey and input. Traded and shared resources within the families and children area. Discussed foster children issues and new First 5 LA resources. Also discussed the definition of family member v. military dependent. d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group Introduced new member of the group to the collaborative. Concentrating on making new and greater connections with greater resources. Phil Bowers with VOA announced availability of funding for specific homeless families. The group also discussed the effects of sequestration on VASH and other programs. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group The group named Jodi Galvin as a second chair to the Legal and Re entry working group. The group introduced a new member to the collaborative. The group has been successful in getting a meeting with the Criminal Division Judge in LA to discuss greater presence at LA based stand downs to assist with clearing of traffic tickets and other such tickets that act as a bar to housing assistance. Also working to get a meeting with folks at the VA to discuss claims and the claims backlog. IV. Administrative Details V. Next Meeting a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: May 8, 2013 June 12, 2013 July 10, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Margaret Thomas thanked everyone for coming and reminded everyone again about the survey and to pass along any information and ideas to CIR. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact Margaret Thomas at Margaret.thomas@usc.edu Wednesday, May 8, :30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA

19 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR Margaret Thomas, Collaborative Coordinator, CIR 9:40 am Announcements and Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Margaret R. Thomas 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

20 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE MAY 8, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director CIR and Margaret Thomas, Community Liaison, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. Discussed the focus group and survey process and status and progress on Deloitte s involvement. Provided the working group Co Chairs mini questionnaires. Announcements made regarding upcoming events and projects to include: Housing Authority Response Letter. Kate Horner and Anthony Pike from IAVA spoke and introduced their new RRRP program launching in LA. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. Groups were asked to think about what information from such a survey would help them the most. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Discussed in detail Evidence Based Practice and how to make better, more successful referrals. Also discussed how to find better referral resources. b. Career Advancement Working Group Broke into 2 sub groups again to be able to further discuss issues. Discussed mitigation and gaining greater employer support. Also looking to promote speakers to group. c. Families & Children Working Group Discussed Philip Browning s (DCFS) military youth in foster care. Also DCFS found out that it has 67 veterans working for it. Trying to figure out better ways to identify military children in schools. Finding that the 0 5 age group is not being identified. There is an increased energy to focus on this group especially with the folks at First 5 LA. 1

21 April was the Month of the Military Child. OC is improving with identifying military children in their schools. d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group Will respond to the Housing Authority s response. State Bill is doing well and progressing nicely. Also discussed status and availability of HUD VASH Vouchers. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group Tony Herrera with Goodwill joined the group today to discuss further progress with meeting with Judge Wesley. Minor misdemeanor tickets are causing barriers to veterans getting jobs and passing background checks. Meeting is progressing nicely and should have information from the meeting at next month s LAVC meeting. Also continuing to work on the VA Claims process and timeline. IV. Administrative Details V. Next Meeting a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: June 12, 2013 July 10, 2013 September 11, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Margaret Thomas thanked everyone for coming and reminded everyone again about the survey and to pass along any information and ideas to CIR. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact Margaret Thomas at Margaret.thomas@usc.edu Wednesday, June 12, :30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA

22 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE COMMITTEE 1149 S. HILL ST., 11TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013 MEETING AGENDA 9:00 am Check-In 9:30 am Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director, CIR Margaret Thomas, Collaborative Coordinator, CIR 9:40 am Announcements and Review of Issues To Be Addressed in Working Groups 10:00 am Working Group Sessions Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re-Entry 11:00 am Review of Working Group Sessions 11:25 am Administrative Items & Closing Remarks Margaret R. Thomas 11:30 am Collaborative Meeting Adjourns

23 LOS ANGELES VETERANS COLLABORATIVE JUNE 12, 2013 MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome & Agenda Anthony Hassan, Director CIR and Margaret Thomas, Community Liaison, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. Discussed the current status of the survey and announced the approval of the Deloitte Pro Bono project. Announcements made regarding upcoming events and projects to include: Housing Authority Response Letter. Collette Arechavaleta from Deloitte was introduced. Additionally, Teri and John Kelsall with The Jonas Project presented to the group. II. III. Working Group Breakout Sessions The working groups then met for one hour. The working groups that convened were: Behavioral Health Career Advancement Families & Children Housing & Homelessness Legal & Re Entry Working Group Session Summaries All attendees then re convened to review the discussions from each working group. Groups were asked to think about what information from such a survey would help them the most. a. Behavioral Health Working Group Working on a set of criteria for providers to determine effectiveness for referral purposes. Putting together a resource list for those providers who are effective and responsive with their treatment. Introduced new members to the group. b. Career Advancement Working Group The group discussed the proposed purpose statement for the Collaborative as a whole to determine how we might create a purposeful mission statement for our group. We looked at gaps in our network/membership and determined that the biggest gap was employers/businesses and representatives from the transitional programs within the various branches of the military. Some ideas to address this gap were: Develop a "Speaker's Bureau" of Collaborative members to go out and speak at Trade/Professional Groups meetings or events about the benefits of hiring veterans. 1

24 Create an employer group or council to partner with the collaborative Create a virtual "binder" of resource information to issue to separating military members at the time of separation. Find out how we can get resource information on appropriate websites, such as ACAP Seek contacts within the various transition programs to find ways to provide educational and career counseling to discharging members during or soon after discharge. c. Families & Children Working Group Introduced new members to the group. Looking into what other resources the group could promote d. Housing & Homelessness Working Group Strategies for increasing housing capacity (willing landlords that will accept Section 8) Targeting the group: Apartment owners of LA o Advertise in the newsletter o Present at association meetings Provide education and outreach on the available programs Target Veteran owned property Develop a marketing campaign for Los Angeles o Use Hollywood celebrities Engaging returning Veterans and their families Ensure family members receive the information so they can help a Veteran in need o Educate on warning signs, provide resources for referral TAP Programs: Become a collaborative member in attendance at events o Educate Veterans on services other than VA services CalVet Home Loans: Re purpose to build affordable housing Develop an App that has all of the LA services for Veterans VOA laminated business cards o Have websites on card for Veteran to contact if needed o Handing out at TAP events, Yellow Ribbon events, etc. e. Legal & Re Entry Working Group Discussed the idea of working with the Behavioral Health working group on getting a Peer Specialist program going in LA. Meeting with Judge Wesley and Judge Greenberg went well. Will allow a Veteran Advocate in all LA county courthouses to assist veterans and service members with active infractions. Pilot program to be started at Metro courthouse. Citation clinic will be held July 10. Hosted by New Directions. IV. Administrative Details a. Upcoming Collaborative Meetings The Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of each month. The three upcoming meetings are as follows: 2

25 July 10, 2013 August 14, 2013 September 11, 2013 b. Closing Remarks Margaret Thomas thanked everyone for coming and reminded everyone again about the survey and to pass along any information and ideas to CIR. c. Collaborative Mailing List To join the Collaborative s mailing list, or any of the working group mailing lists, please contact Margaret Thomas at Margaret.thomas@usc.edu V. Next Meeting Wednesday, July 10, :30 11:30 am USC CIR Office 1149 South Hill Street, 11 th Floor Los Angeles, CA