38 U.S.C. § 2022 — Coordination of outreach services for veterans at risk of homelessness

(a) Outreach plan. The Secretary^*, acting through the Under Secretary for Health, must have appropriate officials from the Mental Health Service and the Readjustment Counseling Service of the Veterans Health Administration develop a joint outreach plan. The plan must coordinate the two Services’ outreach to veterans at risk of homelessness. It must especially address veterans being discharged or released from institutions after inpatient psychiatric care, substance-abuse treatment, or imprisonment.

(b) Matters to include. The plan under subsection (a) must include:
(1) Strategies to identify and work with organizations outside the Department^* that veterans use, especially veterans who have not traditionally used Department services, to improve outreach.
(2) Strategies to make mentoring programs, recovery-support groups, and other suitable support networks as available as possible to veterans.
(3) Suitable family-support programs or referrals to them.
(4) Ways to increase access to case-management services.
(5) Plans to make additional employment services available to veterans.
(6) Suitable referral sources for mental-health and substance-abuse services.

(c) Cooperative relationships. The plan must identify ways for the Department to enter formal cooperative relationships with organizations outside the Department. These relationships must help make services and resources as available as possible to veterans.

(d) Review of plan. The Secretary must submit the plan to the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans for review and consultation.

(e) Outreach program. (1) The Secretary must run an outreach program that gives information to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness. At a minimum, the program must provide:
(A) Information about benefits that the Department makes available to eligible veterans; and
(B) Contact information for local Department facilities, including medical facilities, regional offices, and veterans centers.
(2) When developing and running the program, the Secretary must consult, as far as practicable, with suitable public and private organizations. These include the Bureau of Prisons, State^* social-service agencies, the Department of Defense, and advocates for mental health, veterans, and homeless people. The consultation must be for:
(A) Help identifying and contacting veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness;
(B) Coordinating suitable outreach activities with those organizations; and
(C) Coordinating services for veterans with services provided by those organizations.

(f) Reports. (1) By October 1, 2002, the Secretary must send the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs an initial report evaluating the Secretary’s outreach activities for homeless veterans. This includes outreach about clinical issues and other benefits administered under this title. The Secretary must conduct the evaluation in consultation with the Under Secretary for Benefits, the VA central-office official responsible for the Readjustment Counseling Service, the Director of Homeless Veterans Programs, and the VA central-office official responsible for the Mental Health Strategic Health Care Group.
(2) By December 31, 2005, the Secretary must send those committees an interim report on outreach activities for homeless veterans. The report must include:
(A) The outreach plan under subsection (a), including implementation goals and time lines for particular facilities and service networks;
(B) A description of how the outreach program under subsection (e) was put into operation and is operating; and
(C) A description of how the program under section 2023 of this title was put into operation and is operating.
(3) By July 1, 2007, the Secretary must send those committees a final report on outreach activities for homeless veterans. It must include:
(A) An evaluation of the plan’s effectiveness;
(B) An evaluation of the outreach program’s effectiveness;
(C) An evaluation of the demonstration program under section 2023 of this title; and
(D) Any recommendations about extending or changing the plan, the outreach program, or the demonstration program.