FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMEDIA CONTACT
vapublicaffairs@va.gov
03/14/2024 11:00 AM EDT
WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced its 2024 goals in support of its efforts to prevent and end Veteran homelessness. Specifically, in fiscal year 2024, VA will:
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Place at least 41,000 Veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.
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Ensure that at least 95% of the Veterans housed in FY 2024 do not return to homelessness during the year.
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Engage with at least 40,000 unsheltered Veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services.
Ending Veteran homelessness is a top priority of VA and the entire Biden Administration. Thanks in part to VA’s efforts, the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by nearly 5% since early 2020 and by more than 52% since 2010.
“Even one Veteran experiencing homelessness is a tragedy,” said VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher, who announced these goals today at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center. “We’ve made progress in recent years in tackling this problem, but there’s still a long way to go — and that’s why we’re setting these aggressive goals. We will not rest until every Veteran has a safe, stable place to call home in this country they swore to defend.”
“Whenever we get into contact with a homeless Veteran, our first priority is to get them into the housing they deserve,” added Bradsher. “Then we work to provide them with the tools they need to stay housed — including health care, job training, legal and education assistance, and more. That’s how we’ll meet and exceed these goals in 2024.”
In recent years, VA has taken aggressive action to combat Veteran homelessness. In 2023, VA permanently housed more than 46,000 Veterans, expanded access to health care for homeless Veterans, expanded access to legal assistance for homeless Veterans, helped more than 145,000 Veterans and their families retain their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure, and awarded more than $1 billion in grant funding to help homeless Veterans. In partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, VA also convened 10 national HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) bootcamps, in which local VA homeless program staff with public housing agencies from across the country participated in intensive two-day workshops to improve coordination to more quickly rehouse Veterans. During 2023, the HUD-VASH program helped over 21,000 Veterans exit homelessness and obtain permanent affordable housing with supportive services.
VA also announced specific goals for combating Veteran homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area. During 2023, VA provided 1,790 permanent housing placements to formerly homeless Veterans in LA, the most of any city in America, and exceeded their local goal by over 19%. In FY 2024, VA will build on that progress by:
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Permanently housing at least 1,605 Veterans experiencing homelessness.
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Engaging with at least 2,184 unsheltered Veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services.
VA’s efforts to combat Veteran homelessness are grounded in reaching out to homeless Veterans, understanding their unique needs, and addressing them. These efforts are built upon the evidence-based “Housing First” approach. For more information about VA’s comprehensive efforts to end Veteran homelessness, visit VA.gov/homeless.
