The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced a goal of placing 38,000 homeless veterans into permanent housing by the end of 2023.
That is the same number of homeless veterans VA committed to finding housing for in 2022. Executive Director of the Veteran Health Administration’s Homeless Programs Office Monica Diaz said permanent housing was found for over 40,401 homeless veterans last year, exceeding the VA’s goal of finding housing for 38,000 veterans by 6 percent.
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“One homeless veteran will always be one homeless veteran too many,” she told reporters during a roundtable session on Wednesday.
Diaz said of veterans housed by VA in 2022, 2,443 returned to homelessness at some point last year. But, she said with the help of VA staff and community partners, 86% of those veterans were rehoused or on a path to rehousing by the end of the year.
Diaz also said there are several reasons why veterans may return to homelessness after being placed into permanent housing, such as financial hardship and illness.
“And of those who return to homelessness, we are committed for at least 90 percent are rehoused or on a path to rehousing by the end of 2023,” she said.
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VA is also committed to engaging with at least 28,000 unsheltered veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services such as health care, job training, legal and education assistance, Diaz said. This goal represents a more than 10% increase in the number of unsheltered veterans reached during 2022.
The annual Point in Time count, held early last year by VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, showed there were 33,136 veterans who were experiencing homelessness in the United States — down from 37,252 in 2020.
“We are making real progress in the fight to end Veteran homelessness, but even one Veteran experiencing homelessness is one too many,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement. “We will not rest until every veteran has a safe, stable place tocall home in this country they fought to defend.”
VA also announced specific goals for combating veteran homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area. VA set a goal of proving permanent housing to 1,500 homeless veterans in LA during 2022, but fell short of that number, placing 1,301 vets into permanent housing.
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LA has the largest number of homeless veterans of any city in the country. Diaz said this year VA is committed to providing at least 1,500 permanent housing placements to and conducting at least 1,888 engagements with unsheltered veterans to help them obtain housing and other wraparound services.
For more information about VA’s comprehensive efforts to end Veteran homelessness, visit here. Veterans who are at risk of homelessness can contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.