Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new set of policy changes that will help more veterans receive assistance under the HUD-Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program and improve their access to supportive housing developments.
Veterans experiencing homelessness often receive VA benefits as a result of an injury or illness that was acquired or worsened during military service. 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. HUD’s policy changes will help more homeless veterans with service-connected disability benefits gain access to these housing developments. Additionally, HUD awarded $20 million to public housing agencies to continue to improve the HUD-VASH program.
“No veteran should ever have to experience homelessness, but when they do, they should not face barriers to getting help they deserve,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “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.”
The HUD-VASH Program is a vital resource to house veterans experiencing homelessness. HUD-VASH pairs rental assistance through housing vouchers targeted to veterans experiencing homelessness from HUD with case management and other supportive services provided by VA.
VA homeless program staff at local VA medical centers identify veterans experiencing homelessness and refer them to public housing agencies who issue vouchers to eligible veteran and their families. VA staff provide case management and other “wrap-around” supportive services to assist the veteran household to find and enter rental housing, retain housing, and connect to health care, employment, and other supports.
“The days of a veteran having to choose between getting the VA benefits they deserve and the housing support they need are finally over,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “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 is expanding access to HUD-VASH for veterans by:
Requiring public housing agencies (PHAs) that administer HUD-VASH to set the initial income eligibility for veterans at 80 percent of Area Median Income, rather than 50 percent of Area Median Income. The use of this higher initial income eligibility threshold is currently optional and many housing agencies have already adopted the higher threshold, but HUD is now making this increase mandatory.
Adopting an alternative definition of annual income for applicants and participants of the HUD-VASH program that excludes veterans’ service-connected disability benefits when determining eligibility. This alternative annual income definition could be adopted by other housing subsidy programs to determine income eligibility.
HUD has been working with the U.S. 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. HUD will also encourage state and local governments to make corresponding changes in their subsidy programs to ensure that all veterans experiencing homelessness have access to supportive housing.
The revised HUD-VASH operating requirements also include additional policy changes that will improve the administration of the HUD-VASH program. This will allow PHAs the authority to:
Make non-competitive awards of project-based HUD-VASH contracts to housing projects or units on VA facilities that serve HUD-VASH families;
Approve Exception Payment Standards as a Reasonable Accommodations up to 140 percent of the Fair Market Rent;
Set a separate minimum rent policy (including a zero minimum rent) for HUD-VASH participants.
In addition to these policy changes, HUD awarded $20 million available for additional administrative fee funding to 245 public housing agencies in 43 states currently administering HUD-VASH. With this funding, PHAs are encouraged to expand their housing search assistance to support veterans, expand landlord recruitment for the program, offer incentives and retention payments, help veterans with security deposits, and provide landlord-tenant mediation activities.
Since the program’s inception, HUD-VASH has assisted more than 200,000 veterans to exit homelessness and obtain permanent affordable housing. The HUD-VASH program has been the cornerstone in reducing the number of veterans experiencing homelessness by more than 50 percent since 2010.
