Michigan Veterans Community Action Teams Project (MiVCAT)Region 8 Service Area Initial Stakeholders Meeting13 October 2015

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Meeting Objectives

Introduce the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency

Introduce Altarum Institute & the Veterans Community Action Teams Project

Share plans for the community assessment

Focus on challenges and solutions

Summarize findings and prepare for next steps

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What is the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency?

The single state entity responsible for the coordination of Michigan’s efforts to serve Veterans

The mission of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) is to serve as the central coordinating point, connecting those who have served in the United States Armed Forces and their families, to services and benefits throughout the State of Michigan

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Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency:Vision

Put Michigan on the path to becoming the most Veteran-friendly state, by:

Providing the advice and assistance Veterans need as they transition through the chapters of their lives;

Creating a “no wrong door” customer service culture; and

Advocating for and on behalf of Veterans and their families.

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Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency: Organization

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Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency: Services Available to Veterans

• One Stop Shop– Michigan Veterans Resource Service Center

• MichiganVeterans.com• 1-800- MICH-VET• Michigan Veterans Trust Fund

– Benefits Counseling• A geographically dispersed network of accredited service officers • 205 service officers statewide (county, VSO, state)

– Education • Veteran Resource Representatives (University and College Campuses)• Veteran Friendly Educators

– Employment• Accelerating the pathway from service to career• Veteran Friendly Employers

– Healthcare• Increase awareness of service connected health issues - presumptive diseases, PTS• Break down the barriers that prevent Veterans from receiving healthcare

– Quality of life• Veteran Justice – Treatment Courts• Woman Veteran Programs

• Michigan Veterans Health System– D. J. Jacobetti and Grand Rapids Homes for Veterans

• Community Pilots – Veterans Community Action Teams (VCAT)

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MVAA Initiatives & Programs: the Numbers

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MVAA Priority:Increase Rate of Fully Developed Claims

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MVAA Priority:Improve Per Capita GDX in Michigan

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Michigan Veteran Community Action TeamsCommunity Pilots

• Two initial Michigan Veteran Community Action Teams (MiVCAT) pilots in 2013

– Regions 4 and 10

• Four pilots were initiated earlier this year

– Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9

• Expanding in FY16– Regions 1, 2, 3, and 8

• Connect service partners together to improve coordination and collaboration

• “No Wrong Door”• Community directed goals and

objectives

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What are MVAA’s Plans?

MVAA plans are to: • Implement the no wrong door concept among State agencies • Assist the regions with support to increase and sustain

collaboration efforts among service providers at the federal, state and local levels

• Increase Veteran engagement through the Michigan Veteran Resource Service Center, providing local referrals to VCAT members to Veterans and family members who connect

• Establish a Regional Coordinator who acts as the liaison from the MVAA to federal, state and local Veteran support organizations and serves as a member of the VCAT leadership team as the MVAA representative

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Veterans in MI

The Need• Michigan is home to the 11th largest Veterans population in the country• Michigan Veterans receive capita federal spending ranked at 48th out of 53 states

and territories • Additional resources will be required to help Veterans find employment as thousands

of them return home to Michigan annually for the next few years• A lot of the younger Veterans are having a hard time transferring their skills to civilian

workplaces• Veterans nationwide are doing better than those in Michigan. In 2014 the national

unemployment rate for Vets was 6.2% and the unemployment rate for Michigan Vets was 7.3% as reported in the most recent American Community Survey (2013)

• More than half of Michigan’s 658,469 Veterans are not officially counted in the labor force. Only about 44 percent of our Veterans are in the workforce

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Michigan’s Veteran PopulationSome Basics

Michigan’s Veteran population is one of the largest in the United States, ranking 11th in 2014

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Michigan’s Veteran PopulationSome Basics

The U.S. Veteran population is older than the general U.S. population.

In Michigan, nearly three quarters of Veterans are aged

55 or older.

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Michigan’s Veteran PopulationEra of Service

Michigan’s Veteran population is older than that of the U.S. Veteran population as a whole, with a significantly higher proportion of Vietnam Veterans residing in the state.

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Veteran Population by CountyRegion 8

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GDX 2014 Growth in Region 8

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GDX Total and by Category of SpendingRegion 8

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Era of Service

10%15%

36%10%

9%

20%

Percent of Veterans By Era of Service in Region 8

Post 9/11Gulf War I EraVietnam EraKorean War EraWW IIOther

Source: American Community Survey 3-year estimates 2011-2013

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18 to 34 years

35 to 54 55 to 64 65 to 74 75 and up0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

7%

25% 23%22% 24%

32%34%

17%

10%7%

Percent Distribution of Veteran and Non-Veteran Adults by Age Group in Region 8

Veterans

Non-vet-erans

Age groups

Perc

ent o

f pop

ulati

on in

eac

h ag

e gr

oup

Source: American Community Survey 3-year estimates 2011-2013

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Less than high school

High school graduate

Some college Bachelor's degree or

higher

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

7%

34%

38%

21%

11%

31% 33%

24%

Percent Distribution of Veterans and Non-Veterans Age 25 and Over by Educational At -

tainment in Region 8

Veterans

Non-veterans

Educational attainment

Perc

ent o

f pop

ulati

on in

eac

h ca

tego

ry

Source: American Community Survey 3-year estimates 2011-2013

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Region 8 Economic and Social Indicators

Indicator Veterans Non-VeteransUnemployment rate 11% 10%Experienced poverty-level income in the past 12 months (age 18 and over)

8% 17%

Has some kind of disability

29% 16%

Source: American Community Survey 3-year estimates 2011-2013

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Altarum Institute & VCAT

As a 501c3 non-profit institute, Altarum has a mission to serve

•Altarum Institute• Organizational overview – health systems

research and consulting organization• Mission – Altarum serves the public good by

solving complex systems’ problems to improve human health through research, technology, and consulting

•Veterans Community Action Teams• VCAT was developed in 2008 by Altarum

Institute as part of an internally-funded Research & Development initiative

• Altarum Institute was selected to create the MiVCAT

Coalitions in San Antonio, TX and San Diego, CA were guided by the VCAT Model and are sustained by local Veteran leadership today

VCAT Vision

TTo develop a Veteran services system of care, characterized by a comprehensive network of service providers, empowered with processes,

information and tools, effectively ensuring that all Veterans who these providers encounter are accurately and quickly connected to the appropriate service

provider(s) and completely served

Project Objectives

Create a sustainable community collaborative, effectively implementing the “no-wrong-door” concept supporting Veterans and their families*

Complete a community assessment of needs, challenges, experiences, and recommendations for working collaboratively to serve Veterans

Achieve progress in effective collaboration and delivery of services along with benefits to Veterans

*The term “Veterans” will be used to mean “Veterans and their families” from here forward.

Veterans

Service Providers

Education

Health

Care

Employment

Training

Social

ServicesVocational

Rehabilitation

Family

SupportHousing

Care Giving

Independent

Living

Assistance

Veterans and Services ProvidersCan face a dizzying array of options to navigate

Veterans

Service Providers

Housing

Vocational Rehabilitation

Training

Independent Living Assistance Care Giving

Employment

Social Services

Health Care

Family Support

Education

VCAT

VCAT’s No-Wrong-Door approachSimplifies the process for all involved

Connect and Organize

• Identify and connect service providers

• Expand network – “friend of a friend” approach

• Create VCAT structure• Leadership• Workgroups

Educate and Network

• Share information about available services

• Look within the network for services that complement each other

Serve Veterans

• Leverage network connections in serving Veterans

• No Wrong Door• Warm handoff

Work together

to:

• Improve services by combining resources and

• Close gaps where Veterans are not served effectively

The VCAT Operational Process

VCAT Planning - Maturity Steps

From Stand Alone: “My organization is doing this…”

To Collaboration: “My organization is doing this and you are invited…”

To Coordination: “What should we do and how should we do it?”

To Integration: “What are we doing collectively and using the same processes and tools?”

MiVCAT Progress

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MiVCAT - Process

Form and Advance a VCAT Network• Assemble, expand and sustain a regional collaborative of community organizations to

implement the “no-wrong-door” concept supporting Veterans

Conduct Community Assessment• Provide decision support inputs to leaders for improving the Veterans service system

Facilitate Providers Working Together• Provide an automated collaboration environment for providers to work within - Podio

Conduct Veterans Leadership Forum• Conduct community-wide strategic planning, culmination with the engagement of

working groups

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Community Assessment

Altarum is conducting a community assessment in your region to compile information about the needs of Veterans, the gaps in service delivery, and areas of opportunity that exist within the region to work together to improve the well-being of Veterans and their families• Today’s breakout sessions• Service provider online survey• Service provider interviews• Veteran focus groups

Sources of information include:

A huge source of information is YOU!

The Process: Focusing on Challenges and Solutions

Today will be your first opportunity to participate

in the community assessment!

You can discuss challenges that service providers face

in this region as well as potential solutions.

Information shared will be instrumental in identifying

gaps and areas of opportunity to guide the

rest of the community assessment.

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The Process: Service Provider Online Survey

An online survey will be sent to all of you here today, as well as other key service providers in the region.

You’ll receive the survey in 1-2 days, and it will take about

30 minutes to complete.

The survey asks questions about the services you

provide, your network, and challenges you face in the

region.

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The Process: Service Provider Interviews

Altarum staff will be conducting interviews with key informants in

the region.

Interviews will be conducted within the next 1-2 months by phone or in-person.

These interviews will enhance findings

from today.

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The Process: Veteran Focus Groups

Altarum staff will conduct focus groups with Veterans

in this region.

The goal is to identify specific challenges that

Veterans face with service-delivery, as well as unmet

needs.

We will need your help in recruiting Veterans! There is a $50 incentive for Veterans

to participate.

Be on the lookout for more information early next year.

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What is going to be done with the information?

It is going to be summarized and shared with the community at the Veterans Leadership Forum (VLF) in Spring 2016

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How can assessments like this be used?

Community assessments in

West Michigan and Detroit Metro

raised concerns as how effective job

fairs have been for Veterans.

I see Vets that go through it [job fairs] and have

nervous breakdowns,

walking in because it is overwhelming, nowhere to start,

no welcoming committee, [no one

says] “Hey is this your first time at a

job fair?” Never even hear that.

OEF/OIF VeteranCoalitions have begun having

discussions about how to make job fairs or resource

fairs more Veteran friendly.

Coalition members can work together

to create more effective job fairs in their region. They

can develop a protocol for welcoming

Veterans and finding out why

they came and ask job fair sponsors to

follow it while providing volunteer support to make it

happen. 38

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Questions?

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Community Breakout Sessions

Wrap-up/Next Steps

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Please complete the feedback form. Thank you!

The community will be able to build on the work of this meeting by working together to address the issues identified today • Providers will learn about additional resources to help serve Veterans• Providers will establish new working relationships with other providers• Providers will have an opportunity to serve more Veterans or gain additional support if they

already have too many Veterans to serve• Thorough community work groups that will be created, providers will be able to fill service

gaps working togetherAltarum will work with you to complete the community assessment and share what is found so it can inform your work

How will the MiVCAT project help your community?