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Evaluation of the Veterans Emergency Fund

Evaluation of the Veterans Emergency Fund

Audit and Evaluation Division – Veterans Affairs Canada
March 2021

Evaluation Results

1. Relevance and Need

There is a continued need for the Veterans Emergency Fund (VEF) as Veterans continue to look to VAC for assistance during times of financial crisis. The VEF aligns with Government of Canada priorities and federal roles and responsibilities. The fund meets Veteran’s immediate needs, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, but longer term needs can require additional supports.

2. Performance and Efficiency/Economy

The program area has demonstrated a commitment to program governance, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The program’s quality assurance function is a best practice within the department.

VEF requests are administratively burdensome for decision makers due to the use of Client Service Delivery Network (CSDN) decision dockets. Despite this, VEF payments are generally being made within the 48-hour service standard.

The use of decision dockets limited the evaluation team’s ability to collect client data, especially data used in gender based analysis (GBA+). However, the program appears to be utilized by a segment of the Veteran population who are at greatest risk for well-being.

3. Opportunities to improve the Program

The use of CSDN decision dockets to document VEF decisions results in administrative burden, a lengthy business process, and difficulty analyzing VEF data. There is an opportunity to improve efficiency by implementing system changes that reduce the steps required to document decisions and to provide program management easier access to program data.

There is an opportunity to review current GBA+ data collection and make system changes where appropriate to enhance analysis of VEF clients.

There is an opportunity to provide more detailed eligibility information on the VAC website to better inform Veterans about program requirements.

4. Unintended Impacts

The evaluation determined that, in some instances, community services are referring Veterans to the VEF rather than addressing the Veteran’s needs through their own programs. This has the potential to place strain on the VEF over the long term if more organizations take a “hands off” approach to providing services to Veterans.

Recommendations Management Responses and Action Plans
Recommendation 1 It is recommended that the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management implement measures to reduce the administrative burden on decision makers by exploring system changes to simplify the VEF process. With respect to Recommendation 1, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management will:
  1. Work in collaboration with Policy, Centralized Operations Division, Field Operations, and Finance to:
    1. Review current practices to identify steps in the VEF application process that can be eliminated or enhanced to reduce the administrative burden for the decision makers;
    2. Analyze the gathered information and implement changes to streamline the administrative process for decision makers in the existing system as an interim measure;
  2. As a result of the information collected above, work with Policy, Field Operations, OSD, IT, Communications, ATIP and NLU to:
    1. Define system specifications to implement VEF decision making into GC Case;
    2. Commence the implementation of the VEF decision making process into GC Case;
    3. Design and implement a training plan to provide continued guidance and updates to staff regarding VEF program information and GC Case implementation.
Recommendation 2
It is recommended that the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management implement system changes to improve the capture of program performance data and to better capture GBA+ data/program recipient demographic data.		 With respect to Recommendation 2, the Director General, Service Delivery and Program Management will:
  1. Work in collaboration with BIU, Policy, Research, Enterprise Data, and Field Operations to:
    1. conduct research and analysis of VEF client population to gain a greater understanding of the current VEF data being captured from a GBA+ and demographic lens; and
    2. determine what information already exists and modifications required to enhance program performance data and client characteristics.
  2. Work in collaboration with BIU, OSD, IT and ATIP to:
    1. commence the process of adding a VEF guided form to MVA that would allow the easy retrieval of application/client data and aid the program implementation in GC Case.

Program Description

  • The Veterans Emergency Fund (VEF) was established on April 1, 2018 to provide financial support to Veterans, their families, or their survivors whose well-being is at risk due to an urgent and unexpected situation.
  • The VEF provides eligible recipients with up to $2,500 per year in tax-free social assistance payments for necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, medical care/expenses (not otherwise covered by other programs or insurance), or expenses required to maintain safety and shelter.
  • Veterans do not need a service-related disability to apply for assistance. Any of the approximately 640,000 Canadian Veterans, their families, or their survivors who are facing a financial crisis/emergency that threatens their health and well-being are eligible to apply to the VEF.

About the Evaluation

Scope and Methodology:

  • The VEF evaluation was conducted as part of VAC’s 2019-24 Departmental Evaluation Plan in accordance with Treasury Board’s Policy on Results.
  • The evaluation goal was to inform decision makers on the need for the program and its level of ongoing funding; to determine the performance, usage, and results of the program; and to examine governance over the program’s first three years.
  • Evaluators assessed the relevance, performance, effectiveness, economy, and efficiency of the VEF over the period April 1, 2018 to August 30, 2020.
  • The evaluation was conducted between February 2020 and October 2020.

Constraints and Limitation:

  • The VEF is a relatively new benefit implemented in April 2018. It is still early in the program life cycle, limiting year-over-year trend analysis.
  • VAC’s CSDN system limited the evaluation team’s ability to access historical data and affected the evaluation team’s analysis. To mitigate, the evaluation team supplemented CSDN data with data collected by the program area and VAC’s Finance Division.
  • Travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic limited fieldwork. To mitigate, a survey of frontline employees was conducted to build on information gathered through in-person interviews.
  • VEF recipients were not contacted as part of the evaluation. However, results of interviews conducted with VEF recipients by VAC’s Business Intelligence Unit and subsequent analysis were reviewed as part of the evaluation.

Evaluation Report

Evaluation of the Veterans Emergency Fund - March 2021

 
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