The Department of Veterans Affairs says it has permanently housed 38,847 homeless veterans through October of 2023 — surpassing its calendar year goal to house 38,000 veterans two months early.
Through October, VA said it has also engaged with 34,498 unsheltered veterans to connect them with the housing and resources they need, exceeding its calendar year goal by 123%; ensured that 96.2% of veterans housed have remained in housing, its calendar year goal by 1.2%; and ensured that 93.1% of the veterans who returned to homelessness have been rehoused or are on a pathway to rehousing, exceeding its calendar year goal by 3.1%.
“More than 38,000 veterans now have the safe, stable homes that they deserve — and there’s nothing more important than that,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement. “While we met our goals for 2023, we’re not stopping here. We’re going to keep pushing — through the end of this calendar year and beyond — until every veteran has a safe, stable place to call home in this country they fought to defend.”
According to VA, in 2022 alone, it housed more than 40,000 formerly homeless veterans, prevented more than 17,700 veterans and their families from falling into homelessness, and helped nearly 191,700 additional veteran families who were experiencing financial difficulties to retain their homes or avoid foreclosure.
VA’s efforts to combat veteran homelessness are grounded in reaching out to homeless veterans, understanding their unique needs, and addressing them, Monica Diaz, executive director of the VA Homeless Programs Office, told reporters during a roundtable session on Tuesday.
"The more the veteran engages in our system, I find this a success. If the veterans are engaging in our system, they know where to go,” she said.
Diaz said the efforts are built on the evidence-based “Housing First” approach, which prioritizes getting a veteran into housing, then providing them with the wraparound support they need to stay housed, including health care, job training, legal and education assistance, and more.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s most recent “Point-In-Time” survey, conducted in January of this year, approximately 33,000 veterans nationwide are without stable housing on any given night. However, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by 11% since early 2020 and by more than 55% since 2010, according to VA.
VA also said it has also made progress in combating veteran homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area, providing 1,464 homeless veterans with permanent housing thus far this year — which is the most of any city in America and on pace to exceed VA’s calendar year goal for 2023. Last year, VA provided 1,301 permanent housing placements to formerly homeless veterans in LA, the most of any city in America.
For more information about VA’s efforts to end veteran homelessness, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
