HUD, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) announced on November 3 that new data show an 11% decline in veteran homelessness since early 2020 – the biggest drop in veteran homelessness in more than five years. The press release focuses on the ways that HUD, VA, and USICH are making progress on ending veteran homelessness using the evidence-based Housing First approach. Housing First is used by the VA in its two largest homelessness programs: Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH). These programs, which are seen as the gold standard for homelessness programs both domestically and abroad, have been instrumental in reducing veteran homelessness by 50% over the past decade.
Preliminary results of the 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count show that 33,136 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the U.S. on a single night in January 2022 – down from 37,252 in 2020. Overall, this represents a 55.3% reduction in veterans experiencing homelessness since 2010. The 2022 PIT Count is the first full PIT Count conducted since 2020, because many communities did not conduct unsheltered counts during the pandemic in order to stop or slow the spread of COVID-19.
The results from the PIT Count do not reflect the additional efforts to reduce veteran homelessness launched by VA, HUD, and USICH in 2022, including VA’s goal to rehouse 38,000 veterans this year. Through September 2022, the VA placed nearly 31,000 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing, putting the department on track to meet, and perhaps even exceed, its goal.
Housing First is central to the Biden administration’s nationwide “House America” initiative to address homelessness by leveraging historic investments provided through the American Rescue Plan. The VA’s homeless programs received $481 million in additional funding through the American Rescue Plan, including funding to expand the Shallow Subsidy Initiative, expand the SSVF program, address legal barriers to housing, and transform congregate transitional housing spaces into individual rooms with bathrooms.
Read HUD’s press release at: https://bit.ly/3NwvvPv
Learn more about Housing First at: https://bit.ly/3T2TFSM
Read NLIHC’s fact sheet on Housing First and veteran homelessness at: https://bit.ly/3sT5wbJ