Department of Veterans Affairs aims to prevent & end homelessness of heroes

The Department of Veterans Affairs permanently housed 46,552 homeless veterans in 2023 — surpassing the calendar year goal to house 38,000 Veterans by 22.5%—and said its 2024 goals include efforts to prevent and end veteran homelessness.

Specifically, the VA will place at least 41,000 veterans experiencing homelessness into permanent housing; ensure that at least 95% of those housed do not return to homelessness; and 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 the Biden administration, whose efforts have caused the number of homeless veterans to fall 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. “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,” said 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) boot camps, 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’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.