“[The Department of Veterans Affairs] made several upgrades to its Status Query and Response System (SQUARES) during the pandemic, which is allowing the agency to connect homeless veterans with services more quickly than ever before.
SQUARES is a cloud-based application that gives both VA homelessness program employees and external service providers — such as shelters, food banks, state and local organizations and non-profits — a place to verify a veteran’s identity and eligibility.
Previously, veterans had to provide their proof of service before they could begin to receive VA services through the department’s homelessness program, said Thomas Guido, senior director of VA’s digital transformation center…”
“The application integrates with the Master Veteran Index and the VA-DoD Identity Repository, meaning SQUARES users can access those databases in one place.
The department also built eligibility rules into the system itself, eliminating the need for a subject matter expert to manually apply VA rules to determine whether a veteran can receive specific services, Guido said.
‘There’s much more going on than just providing access to the data,’ he said. ‘It’s actually packaging that in a way that’s most useful in a very streamlined and intuitive way for those providers.’…” Read the full article here.
Source: From months to minutes: VA platform connecting homeless veterans with services more quickly – By Nicole Ogrysko, April 27, 2021. Federal News Network.
