An Overview of SCG’s Los Angeles County Veteran Peer Access Network (VPAN)
With more than 280,000 veterans, Los Angeles County has the largest population of veterans of all the counties in the United States. Veteran-serving organizations (VSOs) have long spoken about the need to reach veterans in need of services before they get to a place of despair. SCG’s Veteran Funders Group had long focused on how it could help support greater coordination between VSOs and other safety net providers to encourage more significant investment in LA’s veterans and Military Family population. In December 2017, SoCal Grantmakers convened LA’s leading VSOs, local government agencies focused on veterans, and philanthropy to discuss how stakeholders could collectively elevate veterans’ support in the city. At this meeting, Dr. Jon Sherin from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) proposed creating a veteran-to-veteran peer navigation system to help connect veterans to needed services.
In February 2018, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors passed a motion to study what it might take to establish a countywide peer network for veterans. By May, the LA County Health Agency had proposed a plan and appointed the DMH as the lead agency for this initiative and SCG as an ad hoc Steering Committee member. The Veteran Peer Access Network (VPAN) design process began in August and included input from the ad hoc steering committee and SCG’s Veteran Funders Group. Over the next several months, the blueprint and implementation plan for VPAN— the country’s first publicly funded support network for veterans and their families — were created.
Given the Veterans Funders Group’s expertise in grantmaking and veterans issues, LA County decided that SCG could be pivotal in implementing the initiative. On November 19, 2019, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion authorizing the Director of DMH to execute an agreement with SCG to “create a three-year public-private partnership focused on implementing services to veterans using a peer-to-peer model.” In this agreement, SCG would serve as the fiscal intermediary for VPAN and help foster veteran-focused partnerships and new funding opportunities for regional philanthropy.
In partnership with DMH program leadership, SCG hired subject matter experts who helped identify five Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that would build teams and provide Rally Points for the VPAN operations, provide programmatic support, lead the implementation of a referral tracking system, and identify state-of-the-art training programs for the VPAN teams. Cristina Garcia Barraza, a US Army Veteran with 24 years of service, including extensive experience with active duty, reserve, national guard, and veteran communities, joined SCG in the fall of 2020 and currently serves as SCG’s Director of Veteran Programs.
Additionally, SCG is the backbone of the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative (LAVC), a structured network of public, private, and government agencies working together to reduce suffering and improve the lives of veterans, service members, and military families in LA County. Using a collective impact approach, SCG helps build a community of veterans, partners, and stakeholders with the LAVC. In 2021, SCG hired US Air Force Reservist Aimee Pila-Bravo, MSW, as the Director of the LAVC.
SCG continues to envision a future where every Los Angeles County service member, veteran, and family member can easily find and access the wealth of support services available through VPAN, enabling them to live and thrive in the community. To realize this vision, SCG hopes to establish VPAN as the primary coordinating authority for veteran support in Los Angeles County. To enact this vision, SCG has created the infrastructure to improve veterans’ long-term access to wrap-around services — including, but not limited to, housing, mental health, substance abuse support, education, training, employment, benefits, and legal.
As of July 2023, these are the five community-based organizations (CBO) across five Supervisorial Districts to lead the efforts to provide services to veterans:
- Supervisorial District 1: Job. Vision. Success (JVS)
- Supervisorial District 2: Battleship USS Iowa
- Supervisorial District 3: Goodwill Southern California
- Supervisorial District 4: Battleship USS Iowa
- Supervisorial District 5: Job. Vision. Success (JVS)
Additionally, as of July 2023, the Board Of Supervisors approved the extension of VPAN for three more years.
If you have any questions regarding the Veteran Peer Access Network, please contact Cristina at cristina@socalgrantmakers.org.