Homeless encampment outside the West L.A. Veterans Affairs facilities on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021.
Following decades of grievances, the federal government on Thursday changed a policy that disqualified some disabled veterans from receiving subsidized housing.
The new policy raises the limit on how much income a veteran can earn to qualify for housing assistance through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s supportive housing program.
Before the adjustment, some veterans who received full disability benefits did not qualify for subsidized housing because their benefits were considered compensation and made their “income” too high.
Veterans advocates criticized the policy for hurting those who needed housing the most.
The announcement comes amid a 7% increase in veteran homelessness, according to federal data. Advocates say the policy change could help ease the crisis.
The policy became a flashpoint in Los Angeles, which has the largest homeless population in the country; a large tent encampment outside the sprawling Veterans Administration campus is known as "veterans row."
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“The days of a Veteran having to choose between getting the VA benefits they deserve and the housing support they need are finally over,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “This is a critical step forward that will help Veterans nationwide — and bring us one step closer to our ultimate goal of putting an end to Veteran homelessness for good.”
Critics of the previous policy said it directly contributed to decades of veteran homelessness, a term 14 homeless veterans described in a federal complaint filed in 2022 as an “oxymoron.”
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In making the announcement, HUD said it would also award $20 million to public housing agencies to improve the supportive housing inventory.
HUD’s policy change was announced three days into a nonjury trial that could decide the fate of the VA campus in Los Angeles, which has been at the center of a fight over veteran homelessness for decades.
The gated complex near the affluent neighborhoods of Westwood and Brentwood includes a medical center, a research facility and housing units.
The nearly 400-acre campus was donated by deed to the VA in 1887 as a “soldiers home” for disabled volunteer service members.
By the 1920s, 4,000 veterans were housed on the property. Residential use declined in the 1960s, and a decade later an earthquake forced officials to close the main hospital and evict 1,000 residents to make way for a new facility.
Buildings were left to deteriorate over the years as homeless encampments gradually began to pop up outside the campus. The stretch of tents, some displaying the American flag, drew the ire of local leaders and service members alike.
“Veterans who have served our country should never have to choose between housing and their disability benefits,” Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday in an emailed statement.
A 2011 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California argued the Los Angeles VA should do more to develop housing on its property. The federal government settled the lawsuit in 2015 and agreed to build 1,215 housing units within five years.
Currently, 233 are open and nearly 500 more are expected to be available by January, according to the VA.
A group of disabled veterans experiencing homelessness filed a new complaint in 2022 over the continued lack of housing on the campus.
In December, a federal judge ruled that the VA has a fiduciary duty to house homeless veterans on the Los Angeles campus.
“Every year vets stay on the street, they die, and they deteriorate,” said Mark Rosenbaum, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
Rosenbaum said of the policy change that it was "unfortunate it took a lawsuit from veterans for HUD to do the right thing."
VA spokesman Terrence Hayes said that the change was not directly tied to the Los Angeles case but that rather it reflected the department’s commitment to ending veteran homelessness nationally.
“No matter where veterans are, if we have homeless veterans, we are committed to them,” he said.
About 1,834 homeless veterans were counted in Los Angeles this year, compared with 2,696 last year. Throughout Los Angeles County, homelessness among veterans dropped 23% this year, from 3,878 in 2023 to 2,991.
More than 35,500 veterans experienced homelessness across the U.S. last year, according to federal data. Totals for this year are not available yet.
In the Los Angeles region, the VA provided nearly 1,800 veterans with permanent housing last year and set the goal of housing 1,605 more this year.
As of April, more than 90 veterans had been housed, Hayes said.
“We won’t stop until every veteran has a safe and secure place to call home,” he said.
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