VA Surpasses Goal of Housing 38K Veterans
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), announced that it has surpassed the goal of placing 38,000 Veterans into permanent housing. In February 2022, Secretary Denis McDonough announced VA’s new goal to place at least 38,000 homeless Veterans into permanent housing by Dec. 31, 2022. The Department reports that 40,401 veterans were housed in response to the Secretary’s challenge.
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) commends VA and communities across the country for this achievement. Of note, 110 of 140 VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) achieved their local goals due to consistent top-down engagement from VA leadership, the implementation of Housing First practices in all VA programs, dedicated training and technical assistance, and the support of pandemic-era funding and flexibilities granted by Congress.
“NCHV praises VA leadership for partnering with communities across the country to improve the permanent housing placement rate for veterans,” said Kathryn Monet, the CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
“We look forward to seeing continued progress on aggressive housing goals that are connected to the Federal benchmarks and criteria on ending veteran homelessness and the application of lessons learned in all communities. In some cases urgency can perpetuate existing inequities and disparities – we encourage VA to analyze this initiative through an equity lens and utilize lessons learned to inform efforts to achieve targeted universalism in outcomes for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.”
Moving forward, we look forward to continued efforts to sustain this progress and build a better future for our nation’s veterans.