MPR is obligated to respond in a timely manner to requests from homeless shelters on behalf of homeless veterans. The following procedures apply:
One fax machine in the Mail and Data Input Section (MDIS) is dedicated to Homeless Veteran cases. The various facilities that send Homeless Veteran requests to MPR are told to use the dedicated Homeless Veteran fax line, 314-801-9201, and to indicate clearly on the cover sheet that this is a Homeless Veteran request. If a Homeless Veteran fax is received at some other machine, send it to MDIS and clearly show on the routing slip that this is a Homeless Veteran case. If an e-mail request indicates that it is on behalf of a Homeless Veteran, the appropriate response is to tell the requester to send a fax to 314-801-9201.
When MDIS enters a Homeless Veteran request in the Case Management and Reporting System (CMRS), "Homeless Veteran" is selected in the Source of Request field and CMRS assigns a priority level of "Medium."
If the request asks for only the separation document, the level of complexity is "Separation Doc." If the requester asks for more than a separation document, the level of complexity is "Others."
In the search units and the Staging Area, Homeless Veteran cases are placed in priority search batches, with purple search request forms.
In the cores:
Homeless Veteran cases (which have a purple search request form attached to the record) are to be worked before any routine requests. Response time for sending the separation document is within ten workdays.
Sort pre-processing cases according to priority level and request the records for any Homeless Veteran requests first.
NOTE: If a core technician "discovers" a Homeless Veteran request among the "routine" cases because the Homeless Veteran source was mistakenly not selected during data entry, the case should be worked without further delay as described below.
Provide the complete response, even if the requester asks for more than the separation document.
The separation document is usually just faxed. Obtain the Homeless Veteran fax cover sheet through the "Case Management System" toolbar. Click on "Get Form," then "Miscellaneous and Unnumbered Forms," then "Homeless Vet Fax Cover." It is especially critical for the technician to begin with a photocopy of the separation document that is as readable as possible because some loss of image clarity is expected when the customer receives the fax.
If the technician is unable to fax the separation document because of equipment or transmission failure, the technician should use a different fax machine and report the problem to the coach right away.
If the requester asks, the technician will mail the separation document, and also, if asked, will provide a certified copy. The separation document is almost always faxed first, but it is possible that the requester will ask for only a mailed separation document.
When a Homeless Veteran request asks for more than the separation document, it is usually sufficient to send the remainder of the reply, such as copies of several other documents, by mail. At the time the separation document is faxed, be sure to add a note to the fax cover sheet to say that the remainder of the reply (or the copy of the separation document if that is the only thing to be mailed) will follow by mail. The technician may make the effort to mail the additional documents quickly, just to get the case completed and/or because the requester has asked for a fast turnaround, but otherwise the ten-day requirement does not apply to these additional documents.
When the reply is made by fax only:
| (1) | The technician will notify the coach that the fax has been sent and the request status has been changed to "Case Completed." |
| (2) | The coach will make the appropriate CMRS request status entries by selecting "In Dispatch" to show that the case is out of the core, and "Closed" to show that it is out of the Center. Making these status changes will insert the current date in the "Out of Core" and "Out of Center" fields. |
When anything is to be mailed after transmitting the fax, the support staff will wand the bar code on the envelope to log the case out of core. Thus, you do not need to ask the coach to make the status change. Just be sure to send the envelope to the support staff immediately when the separation document is the only thing you are mailing.
The technician will place the photocopy of the separation document in the core’s "Homeless Veteran" box.
Messengers will pick up the separation document copies in the "Homeless Veteran" box and deliver the copies to MDIS.
MDIS will scan each separation document into the separation document database and destroy the photocopy.