VA Expands Program Aiding Homeless Veterans

VA allots $600 million more to veterans program

Sailors with the USS Constitution serve Thanksgiving dinner to at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Nov. 28, 2013.
PETER D. MELKUS/U.S. NAVY

By Leo Shane III

Stars and Stripes

Published: January 14, 2014

Great idea, VA!

Various booths offer aid to veterans and less fortunate during the Department of Veterans Affairs' Annual Stand Down Against Homelessness Oct. 19, 2012, at the North Charleston Armory.

GEORGE GOSLIN/U.S. AIR FORCE

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials will spend $600 million to continue the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, community grants they say are key in ending homelessness among veterans.

The new pledge commits $300 million each in fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015 for the grants, which are designed to provide a safety net for low-income veterans struggling with permanent housing.

VA awarded $300 million in grants last summer as part of the program. Officials said the money helped more than 39,000 veterans and 23,000 of their family members.

Advocates have said the direct support to outside nonprofits and the program’s “housing first” model have been key in helping homeless veterans. Many of the aid recipients are veterans who are not yet homeless, but could end up on the streets without intervention.

The department has set a public goal of ending veterans homelessness by the end of 2015.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development annual point-in-time count released in November, the number of homeless veterans across the country dropped to 57,849 in January 2013, down about 20,000 from four years earlier.

Department officials said the success of the SSVF program made continuing it an obvious choice, but officials wanted to publicly commit the fiscal 2015 money as well to provide continuity and planning for the larger homeless effort.

In a statement, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said partnerships with community groups are key in helping all veterans.

“We are making good progress towards our goal to end veterans’ homelessness,” he said, “but we still have work to do.”

More information about the program can be found at www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp.

VA Expands Homeless Programs, Agent Orange Listed Ships

VA News and Notes By Jud Powell Little River County Veteran's Service Officer Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 11:56 AM CDT We learned last week that the Veterans Administration has updated the list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships that operated in Vietnam, adding more ships and expanding i nformation for others. There are now 285 ships on the list. The list can help Vietnam-era Veterans find out if  they qualify for presumption of Agent Orange exposure when seeking disability compensation for related diseases. Last Friday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the award of nearly $300 million in grants that will help approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk Veterans and their families.  The grants have been awarded to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, VA is awarding grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide services to very low-income Veteran families living in -- or transitioning to -- permanent housing. The SSVF program supports VA’s efforts to prevent at-risk Veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who have recently fallen into homelessness. Thanks to the SSVF grants, those community organizations will provide a range of services that  promote housing stability and play a key role in connecting Veterans and their family members  to VA services such as mental health care and other benefits. Community-based groups can  offer temporary financial assistance on behalf of Veterans for rent payments, utility payments,  security deposits and moving costs. This is the third year SSVF grants have helped Veterans and their families find or remain in their  homes. Last year, VA provided about $100 million to assist approximately 50,000 Veterans and  family members. In 2009, President Obama and Secretary Shinseki announced the federal government’s goal to end  Veterans’ homelessness in 2015. The grants are intended to help accomplish that goal.  According to  the 2012 Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness, homelessness among Veterans has declined 17.2  percent since 2009. Through the homeless Veterans initiative, VA committed over $1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to strengthen programs that prevent and end homelessness among Veterans. VA provides a range of services to  homeless Veterans, including health care, job training, and education. More information about VA’s homeless programs is available at www.va.gov/homeless.  Details about  the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program are online at www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp.