The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced that it is expanding the HUD-Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. This will change the way that benefits are calculated so that veterans experiencing homelessness will not be pushed out of qualification due to a perception of higher income.
“Veterans experiencing homelessness often receive VA benefits as a result of an injury or illness that was acquired or worsened during military service,” HUD explained. “Before this change, these benefits were considered income when determining eligibility for certain supportive housing developments — causing some veterans to exceed the income threshold for these programs.”
The policy change announced Thursday is designed to “help more homeless veterans with service-connected disability benefits gain access to these housing developments,” the department said. “Additionally, HUD today awarded $20 million to public housing agencies to continue to improve the HUD-VASH program.”
The program changes have two key provisions. First, they will require public housing agencies (PHAs) that administer HUD-VASH to “set the initial income eligibility for veterans at 80% of area median income” versus the current threshold of 50%. A higher initial income eligibility threshold is optional at the moment and some PHAs “have already adopted the higher threshold, but HUD is now making this increase mandatory.”
Second, the changes implement an alternate definition of annual income for both HUD-VASH applicants and participants “that excludes veterans’ service-connected disability benefits when determining eligibility,” HUD explained. “This alternative annual income definition could be adopted by other housing subsidy programs to determine income eligibility.”
HUD acting secretary Adrianne Todman added that tailored support for veterans will be an important step for lower-income, former service members to receive housing assistance.
“No veteran should ever have to experience homelessness, but when they do, they should not face barriers to getting help they deserve,” Todman said in a statement. “This policy change will ensure that veterans who are receiving the disability benefits they earned through service and sacrifice can access the housing assistance and supportive services they need to resolve their homelessness.”
VA Secretary Denis McDonough added that some veterans may have been put in a position of choosing housing over other key types of assistance, if the housing assistance imperiled their ability to receive them due to income thresholds.
“The days of a Veteran having to choose between getting the VA benefits they deserve and the housing support they need are finally over,” 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.”
HUD also revealed that it has been working with the Department of the Treasury to “determine the effect of the alternative income definition for HUD-VASH participants seeking housing subsidized by Low Income Housing Credits.” Treasury is expected to soon offer guidance on its findings. HUD will also encourage any relevant state programs to align themselves with the new HUD-VASH standards outlined in these changes.
“Every veteran deserves a roof over their head, and the Biden-Harris Administration is doing everything we possibly can to end veteran homelessness,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said. “Today’s actions reflect President Biden and Vice President Harris’s commitment to breaking down barriers to housing so that every veteran gets the benefits they have earned.”
Thursday’s announcement coincides with the third day of a nonjury trial in California stemming from a lawsuit against the VA, according to reporting from the Los Angeles Times. An attorney in that suit, Mark Rosenbaum, told the outlet that the change was welcome but “years overdue.”
“It shouldn’t take a lawsuit and a federal judge’s ruling that a cruel and insane policy that has kept our most disabled veterans on the streets instead of in housing is unlawful and discriminatory to finally bring it to an end,” Rosenbaum said.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D), who represents a portion of Los Angeles County in the U.S. House of Representatives, credited the development to Todman.
“I think she moved on it more,” he told the L.A. Times.
