Veteran services report high satisfaction, expand outreach to encampments and SGU veterans

Christina Rost, director of Veteran Services, presented three measures that track access, service quality and action toward benefits. Rost said 27% of residents served in 2025 were new to the office and that the department's survey showed 96% of respondents reporting they received the services they needed. "96 percent of veterans survey respondents reported that they received the services they needed," Rost said.

Rost also reported that in 2025 thirty percent of veterans who engaged with the office applied for at least one qualified benefit, up from prior years. She highlighted targeted outreach—claims clinics and specific outreach to Special Guerrilla Unit (SGU) veterans following new state eligibility—and a joint‑powers veteran outreach social worker who joins encampment outreach teams to identify and connect veterans to services. Commissioners asked whether the county had reached an ‘effective end’ to veteran homelessness; Rost said the county is very close and described benchmarks (pathway out within 90 days) tied to the homeless veteran registry.