Supportive Services for Veteran Families
Contact Information
Tammy Randazzo, Director
For information, or to make a referral, please contact us at:
Phone
Hours of Operation
Monday - Friday (Holidays Excluded)
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Supportive Services:
Through the SSVF Program, VA aims to improve very low-income Veteran families' housing stability. Grantees (private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives) will provide eligible Veteran families with outreach, case management, and assistance in obtaining VA and other benefits, which may include:
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Housing search & placements
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Health care services
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Daily living services
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Personal financial planning services
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Transportation services
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Housing stability planning
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Fiduciary and payee services
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Legal services
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Child care services
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Housing counseling services
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In addition, grantees may also provide time-limited payments to third parties (e.g., landlords, utility companies, moving companies, and licensed child care providers) if these payments help Veterans' families stay in or acquire permanent housing on a sustainable basis.
KI BOIS SSVF Locations
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Muskogee
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421 W. Broadway, Muskogee, OK 74401
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Ada
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710 E. Main, Ada, OK 74820
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McAlester
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125 E. Choctaw, McAlester, OK 74501
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Ardmore
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117 B St. SW, Ardmore, OK 73401
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Poteau
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219 Kerr Ave., Poteau, OK 74953
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Overview & Background
The Veterans Administration has been authorized to offer community-based grants through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, which will provide supportive services to very low-income Veteran families in or transitioning to permanent housing. Funds are granted to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who will assist very low-income Veteran families by providing a range of supportive services designed to promote housing stability.
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Estimates for Veteran homelessness have dropped substantially in the past five years. However, despite the success of VA Homeless Services and its community partners, to end Veteran homelessness, VA must continue to assist families transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing and prevent at-risk families from becoming homeless. In 2010, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that 13 percent of impoverished individual Veterans become homeless at some point during the year. In 2009, the American Community Survey estimated that 1,356,610 Veterans lived in poverty.
Shallow Subsidy
The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Shallow Subsidy service provides rental assistance to very low-income and extremely low-income Veteran households who are enrolled in SSVF's Rapid Rehousing or Homeless Prevention projects. Veterans will have already received rental assistance via traditional SSVF projects (Rapid Rehousing or Homeless Prevention) but remain rent burdened and do not have access to public funded subsidized housing.
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Under the Shallow Subsidy service, SSVF grantees provide rental assistance payments to landlords on behalf of the Veteran household. The rental assistance is at a fixed rate every month, regardless of changes in the Veteran household's income or monthly rent amount. SSVF will offer light case management services to the Veteran Families enrolled.
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For KI BOIS SSVF's Shallow Subsidy service, the maximum amount of rental subsidy that can be provided on behalf of the Veteran household is up to 50% (during the Pandemic) and then up to 35% (after the Pandemic) of the local rent reasonableness. The Veteran will be responsible for the remaining portion.
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Veteran households will not undergo a full recertification while they are receiving a shallow subsidy but verification will be verified every 90 days. At the end of the 24 month shallow subsidy period, however, the Veteran household may be re-certified, and the fixed rental assistance amount would be updated at the current rent reasonableness.
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KI BOIS Community Action started their Shallow Subsidy services in November. According to Tammy Randazzo, KI BOIS SSVF Director, "There is a great need in our rural area for immediate access to subsidized housing, especially for our Veterans on a fixed income, and this funding and iniative will help many Veteran Families in our 24 counties."