Mission

The Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative is 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. This is achieved through strategically improving and coordinating their access to services, reducing barriers to care, and influencing policy.

Vision

Veterans and their family members living in Los Angeles County will know where to access the services and care they need for a successful transition from military to civilian life. A comprehensive and coordinated system will welcome, introduce, and connect service members, veterans, and their families to a seamless infrastructure of resources.

Code of Ethics

  • Maintain responsibility to the veterans, service members, and military families living in Los Angeles County  
  • Maintain open communication and information sharing
  • Create shared solutions acknowledging the highest priorities
  • Combined accomplishments and goals
  • Collaborative coordination of seminars, symposia, workshops, and community events
     

Values

Intentionality 

We serve and inform with intention and purpose. We use community feedback and research to support our mission and goals.

Service

We are committed to serving Veterans and their families as they have served us.

Communication

We aim to share information and create common goals among all in-network veterans service organizations.

Collaboration

We create shared solutions to fill the gaps that hinder our veterans and their families from successfully reintegrating back into the community.

Collective Impact Model

Utilizing the collective impact approach, Southern California Grantmakers (SCG) serves as the backbone organization of the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative (LAVC). The LAVC seeks to maximize high-quality supports for veterans by aligning efforts to develop collective solutions.

The Collective Impact Model encompasses the following components:

  • Common Agenda: Shared understanding of the problem and the approach to and action plan to solve it
  • Ongoing Communication: face to face meetings over a sustained timeframe to develop and maintain trust
  • Mutually Reinforcing Activities: collaborate and support aligned activities with a shared goal.
  • Backbone Support Organization: centralized infrastructure (staff, process, and procedures)
  • Shared Measurement System: a common set of indicators that monitor impact, track progress, and identify gaps

 

 

Upcoming Events & Working Groups

LAVC Meetings

The Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative meets on the second Wednesday of every month. Please click the link below to register for upcoming meetings.

Register

Working Groups

This group was developed to serve as a community hub to improve access to assistance for all veterans as well as increase communication, collaboration and service delivery improvement among service providers. This working group also works collaboratively to promote social change and introduce innovative solutions to address the needs of veterans in Los Angeles County.

Co-Chairs

The Women Veterans Working Group consists of community outreach professionals, social workers, and policy advocates from veteran service organizations, public agencies, and community groups across Los Angeles County. This working group strives to develop strategies to ensure that the needs of female veterans are understood and met within the community.

Co-Chairs

The Families & Children Working Group includes military spouses, adult children of military families, social workers, and family advocates. The working group focuses on heightening awareness and impacting policy related to the concerns and needs of military-affiliated (connected) children and their families.

Co-Chairs

The Housing & Homelessness Working Group consists of VA-contracted agencies, housing authorities, individual nonprofits and organizations working with homeless veterans. With thousands of veterans sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles and hundreds of agencies working with homeless veterans throughout the county, this group works to solve systemic issues, influence policy, and educate and rally providers toward more coordination and better services.

Co-Chairs

The Legal and Re-Entry Working Group consists of lawyers, legal professionals, policymakers, public counsel, and Veteran Affairs (VA) legal teams. The working group focuses on policy objectives, education, identifying laws affecting veterans and service delivery, building capacity with legal professionals to work with veteran clients in Los Angeles, and organizing to solve large-scale legal barriers facing veterans with criminal or legal issues.

Co-Chairs

The Behavioral Health Working Group consists of agencies, social workers, family therapists, and practitioners who provide behavioral health support to veterans and their families throughout Los Angeles. The working group centers on identifying the unique needs and challenges of veterans, increasing their access to behavioral health care, and recognizing best practices for veteran treatment.

Co-Chairs

The Recreation Working Group strives to educate and explore how recreation can be utilized and accessed by the veteran community to a) assist with healing, coping, reintegration, and improving quality of life; b) develop best practices, and c) heighten awareness regarding the impact of recreation on Los Angeles’ veteran community.

Chair

Rudolph Andrade Rudolph.Andrade@jvs-socal.org

The Higher Education Working Group consists of admission coordinators, and veteran resource center contacts from community colleges, trade schools, and universities across Los Angeles County. This working group strives to develop and share best practices with schools, and develop an agenda of work items that can drive a better educational experience for veterans in Los Angeles.

Chair

Cesar Gonzalez CRG@cslanet.calstatela.edu

This working group educates employers, develops best practices for service providers, and identifies veterans in need of meaningful employment.

Co-Chairs

The Health Care Working Group is currently educating veterans about healthy strategies to promote a balanced and healthy lifestyle utilizing the whole health model.

Co-Chairs

The Faith-Based Working Group consists of chaplains, rabbis, clergy, and pastors who seek to learn, educate, and share best practices for working with veterans and military families in their respective communities. This working group differs from the others because it is not centered around a specific need, but encompasses communities already working with veterans. Many of the faith-based members work together in other working groups.

Chair

Dr. Kathy Cash kathy.cash@va.gov

The Policy Working Group of the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative (LAVC) is dedicated to analyzing and addressing how policies and legislation affect the veteran community in Los Angeles. This group brings together stakeholders, including veterans, policymakers, advocates, and service providers, to identify key policy issues and legislative proposals that impact veterans' access to resources, benefits, and services.

Chair

The mission of the Aging Veterans Working Group will be to support the men and women who have served our nation by comprehensively addressing their evolving needs as they enter the later stages of life. This group is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for aging veterans and ensuring that they receive the respect, care, and services they deserve.

Chair