John h. Kuhn | va greater los angeles health care | veterans affairs

John H. Kuhn was appointed Deputy Medical Center Director, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) in April 2023. John Kuhn, LCSW, MPH is the Deputy Medical Center Director at the

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. As the Deputy Medical Center Director, Mr. Kuhn has been given responsibility for overseeing the Community Engagement and Reintegration Service

(CERS), which cares for Veterans experiencing homelessness, and has oversight of the implementation of the West Los Angeles Campus Master Plan.  Previously, he led the development and launch

of the Supported Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, VA’s homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing initiative. SSVF’s ground-breaking work on operationalizing evidence-based

rapid re-housing and targeted homeless prevention helped VA cut homelessness among Veterans by half. SSVF launched shallow subsidies, an intermediate-term rental support, to bring more

housing into affordability in high-cost markets. Using diversion/rapid exit strategies, known as Rapid Resolution, SSVF pioneered family reunification strategies helping Veterans connect

with family and friends to find safe, affordable housing. SSVF was the first VA program that offered Veteran families child-care, provided assistance to families when the Veteran leaves the

household, and offered additional aid to victims of domestic violence. SSVF led the development of SQUARES, an online tool allowing providers to determine the eligibility of Veterans and

instantly enroll them. SSVF played a central role in providing aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing one of the first federal policies on March 13, 2020 that led to emergency

hotel/motels placements for 40,000 homeless Veterans. SSVF also began health care navigation services and expanded legal assistance to address some of the barriers faced by homeless and

at-risk Veterans during this health emergency. For more information about SSVF initiatives, go to https://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf/ssvf-initiatives. Mr. Kuhn’s data-driven innovations earned

the program significant support from Congress where under his leadership, SSVF’s budget increased from $60 million in FY 2012 to $750 million in FY 2023. Earlier in Mr. Kuhn’s career he led

the development of one of the first Veteran-specific housing projects in the nation, a 150-unit building at Commonwealth Ave in the Bronx (1992). Later, running homeless services in New

Jersey, Mr. Kuhn launched a public-private partnership known as MAVERIC that started Veteran managed and staffed businesses that included a golf driving range, a construction business (which

created new housing for Veterans), catering services, a thrift store, and a greenhouse.  Mr. Kuhn has received local and national recognition for this work including the National Coalition

for Homeless Veterans’ Federal Partnership Award, Mutual of America’s Community Partnership Medal, The NJ Hospital Association’s Health, Research and Education Trust's Hospital Award

for Community Outreach, acknowledgement by the former Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee who had the Flag of The United States flown over the Capitol in his honor, co-winner of

VA’s Robert L. Jesse Award for Excellence in Innovation, and twice receiving the Federal Executive Board’s Supervisor of the Year. Mr. Kuhn has a BA from Brown University, a MSW from

Columbia University and an MPH from Rutgers University. He has been working with the homeless for over 30 years.