Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) introduced three bills to help eradicate veteran homelessness nationwide.
“Our nation’s heroes should never be living on the street, period,” said Congresswoman Brownley. “While we have made important strides in the fight to eradicate veteran homelessness, it is imperative that we continue to build on this progress and accelerate these successful efforts so that we can finally end this crisis once and for all. Our country’s brave men and women put their lives on the line to defend our nation and the least we can do in return is ensure they can find and sustain permanent housing for themselves and their families.”
The “Homes for Veterans Act” would encourage landlords to rent to veterans by providing them with a tax credit when they accept HUD-VASH vouchers. The “Helping Homeless Veterans Act” would re-authorize and make permanent vital VA and Department of Labor (DOL) programs that help keep our veterans off the streets. The “Homeless Veterans with Children Reintegration Act” would direct DOL to prioritize assisting homeless veterans with dependent children within the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
Homes for Veterans Act
The Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines HUD housing vouchers with VA supportive services to help veterans who are homeless, and their families, find and sustain permanent housing. The Homes for Veterans Act would provide a tax credit (in the amount of 10% of the HUD-VASH voucher) to landlords who accept HUD-VASH vouchers. This would help offset the landlord’s cost of complying with HUD-VASH regulatory requirements, incentivize landlords across the country to accept HUD-VASH vouchers, and provide long-term stable housing for veterans and their families, who may otherwise be priced out of their area because the market rent exceeds the value of the HUD-VASH voucher.
Read more about the bill here.
Helping Homeless Veterans Act
This legislation would reauthorize and make permanent several programs that provide transitional housing, employment assistance, and supportive services. These include:
- Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) program
- Acquired Property Sales for Homeless Veterans program
- Therapeutic Transitional Housing component to the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program
- Incarcerated Veterans Transition program
- Homeless Veterans Reintegration program
- Grant and Per Diem Program for Homeless Veterans with Special Needs program
- Supportive Services for Veteran Families program
Read more about the bill here.
Homeless Veterans with Children Reintegration Act
This legislation would direct DOL to prioritize homeless veterans with dependent children within the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, which provides important wrap-around services necessary to support a veteran with children.
This bill would also require DOL to study access to shelter, safety and other relevant services for homeless veterans with dependent children. This information will help us understand the problem and identify opportunities to resolve issues facing homeless veterans with children.
Read more about the bill here.
Issues: 116th Congress, Veterans' Affairs