The House of Representatives on December 8 adopted by a vote of 335-78 the National Defense Authorization Act, which included the “Veteran HOUSE Act of 2020” (H.R.2398). Introduced by Representative Scott Peters (D-CA), the “Veteran HOUSE Act” allows chronically homeless veterans who received an “other than honorable” (OTH) discharge to participate in the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. NLIHC supports this expansion of HUD-VASH, which could provide permanent supportive housing assistance for an additional 1,000 chronically homeless veterans.
HUD-VASH provides housing vouchers and case management services to veterans experiencing chronic homelessness. Currently, in order to qualify for these vouchers, veterans must be eligible for VA medical benefits, which automatically excludes many veterans with an OTH discharge. HUD-VASH utilizes a Housing First model and is a vital tool for reducing veteran homelessness. According to HUD’s annual Point-in-Time count, the program is credited with reducing veteran homelessness by nearly 50% since 2010.
Learn more about the bill at: https://bit.ly/30sLV39