The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on September 24 that between October 2023 and August 2024, the department housed more than 43,000 veterans experiencing homelessness, surpassing its goal to house 41,000 veterans by one month before the end of the fiscal year. The VA’s efforts are built on the Housing First approach, which prioritizes getting a veteran into housing, then providing or connecting them with the services and support they need to stay housed, including access to health care, job training, legal and education assistance, and more.
Through this approach, the VA has ensured that over 96% of the veterans housed during the last fiscal year have not returned to homelessness and has engaged 38,476 unsheltered veterans to ensure they have access to housing and other services and necessities.
The VA permanently housed nearly 87,000 veterans between 2022 and 2023. As a result of these efforts, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the U.S. has been lowered by over 4% since early 2020 and by more than 52% since 2010. The VA also made significant progress combating veteran homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area, providing 1,647 homeless veterans with permanent housing over the last fiscal year and contributing toward a nearly 23% reduction in veterans experiencing homelessness in the city between 2023 and 2024.
Preventing and eliminating veteran homelessness is a top priority for both the VA and the Biden-Harris administration, which has taken considerable steps this year to combat veteran homelessness. Such initiatives include the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness releasing the federal government’s first ever framework for homelessness prevention, awarding the VA more than $800 million in grants through its Supportive Services for Veteran Families and Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem programs, and ensuring veterans receive housing assistance under the HUD-VA Supportive Housing program through HUD and VA policy changes, among other notable actions.
Read the VA announcement at: https://tinyurl.com/yc6vuekj
Learn more about Housing First at: https://bit.ly/3TP2Tpk