WASHINGTON — Seven programs that help homeless veterans would remain eligible for federal funding for another year under legislation filed Tuesday by Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village.
The programs are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Brownley’s legislation, the Helping Homeless Veterans Act, would not allocate money for the programs but would reauthorize the programs and make them eligible for funding for another year.
“I feel very, very strongly that no one who has valiantly served our country should be living on the street,” Brownley said. “I think that is unacceptable.
“I introduced this bill to make sure the funding was there for all of the various important programs that are in place to help eliminate the amount of homeless veterans on our street and hopefully fund housing for all of them.”
Brownley has made veterans’ issues a priority since she began serving her first term in the House of Representatives this year. She serves on the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and is the top Democrat on the veterans’ Subcommittee on Health.
The seven programs that would be reauthorized under Brownley’s bill are the Health Care for Homeless Veterans program; Acquired Property Sales for Homeless Veterans program; Therapeutic Transitional Housing component to the Compensated Work Therapy program; Incarcerated Veterans Transition program; Homeless Veterans Reintegration program; Grant and Per Diem Program for Homeless Veterans with Special Needs; and Supportive Services for Veteran Families program.
An estimated 13 percent of the homeless people in Ventura County are veterans, according to statistics released by the county in January. The statistic translates to 1,774 homeless people in the county, 230 of them veterans.
Programs like those that would be reauthorized under Brownley’s bill benefit homeless veterans in Ventura County and across the country, the congresswoman said.
“We have a moral obligation to ensure that each and every man and woman who served our country receive our support upon their return to civilian life,” Brownley said.
Issues: 113th Congress, Affordable Housing, Veterans' Affairs