VA Programs For Homeless Veterans

Veteran Administration serve hundreds of thousands of homeless and at-risk Veterans each year. Independently and in collaboration with federal and community partners, VA programs provide Veterans with housing solutions, employment opportunities, health care, justice- and reentry-related services and more. Learn more about these programs below and at VA's Programs for At-Risk Veterans and Their Families page.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)

This collaborative program between HUD and VA combines HUD housing vouchers with VA supportive services to help Veterans who are homeless and their families find and sustain permanent housing.
How It Works
Through public housing authorities, HUD provides rental assistance vouchers for privately owned housing to Veterans who are eligible for VA health care services and are experiencing homelessness. VA case managers may connect these Veterans with support services such as health care, mental health treatment and substance use counseling to help them in their recovery process and with their ability to maintain housing in the community. Among VA homeless continuum of care programs, HUD-VASH enrolls the largest number and largest percentage of Veterans who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness. At the end of FY 2019, there were 90,749 Veterans with active HUD-VASH vouchers and 83,684 vouchers in use.

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)

For very low-income Veterans, SSVF provides case management and supportive services to prevent the imminent loss of a Veteran’s home or identify a new, more suitable housing situation for the individual and his or her family; or to rapidly re-house Veterans and their families who are homeless and might remain homeless without this assistance.
How It Works
Through referrals and direct outreach, nonprofit agencies and community cooperatives use SSVF funding to quickly house Veterans and their families who are homeless and keep others from slipping into homelessness by providing time-limited supportive services that promote housing stability. Case management includes help securing VA and other benefits such as educational aid and financial planning. On August 1, 2019 VA announced $426 million in SSVF grants for FY 2020, providing access to SSVF services in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. During FY 2019, SSVF assisted over 105,000 individuals, including more than 70,500 Veterans, as well as over 20,600 children in over 10,500 households. SSVF also assisted nearly 9,500 women Veterans, or 13.4 percent of all Veterans assisted. 82 percent of those discharged from the SSVF program obtained permanent housing.

Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program

State, local and tribal governments and nonprofits receive capital grants and per diem payments to develop and operate transitional housing and/or service centers for Veterans who are homeless.
How It Works
VA funds an estimated 600 agencies that provide over 14,500 beds for eligible Veterans. Grantees work closely with an assigned liaison from the local VAMC. The VA GPD liaison monitors the services the grantees offer to Veterans and provides direct assistance to them. Grantees also collaborate with community-based organizations to connect Veterans with employment, housing and additional social services to promote housing stability. The maximum stay in this housing is up to 24 months, with the goal of moving Veterans into permanent housing. In FY 2019, over 23,000 Veterans entered GPD transitional housing, over 13,000 homeless Veterans exited GPD to permanent housing, and over 30,000 Veterans were served by GPD grants. Additionally, VA awarded approximately $30 million in fiscal year 2019 for a new GPD case management grant and VA awarded about $2.4 million to renew 11 special need grants for support services for homeless Veterans who have chronic mental illnesses, women Veterans and Veterans who must care for dependents under age 18.