VA, through its Homeless Programs Office, serves as the backbone of the federal response to Veteran homelessness. VA has undertaken an unprecedented campaign to make sure every Veteran has permanent housing. This campaign has led to great progress; according to the results of the annual Point-in-Time Count, homelessness among Veterans decreased by more than 56% between 2010 and 2025.

When delivering supportive services to Veterans and their families, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs providers are required by law to ensure Veterans meet certain eligibility criteria. To determine Veterans’ eligibility for homeless assistance, VA uses the definition of homelessness stated in The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as Amended by S. 896, The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009.

This legislation defines “homeless,” “homeless individual,” and “homeless person” as any of the following:

• An individual or family without a full-time or adequate nighttime residence.
• An individual or family with a full-time nighttime residence that is not intended to be a regular place for people to sleep, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground.
• An individual or family living in a shelter (including a hotel or motel) designated as a temporary living arrangement.
• An individual residing in a place not meant for human habitation or exiting an institution where they temporarily resided.
• An individual or family who will imminently lose their housing, including housing they own, rent, or live in without paying rent or are sharing with others, as well as rooms in hotels or motels.
• An individual or family who is fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions in their current housing situation.
• An unaccompanied youth and homeless families with children and youths.

Each day, many Americans begin to experience homelessness. Over the course of a year, hundreds of thousands of Americans could start to experience homelessness for the first time—many of whom are Veterans.

To continue to drive down the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness each year, VA and our partners need to not only prevent Veterans from becoming homeless whenever possible but also house more Veterans each year than those who become homeless (i.e., have outflow exceed inflow).

Most people with acceptable options for permanent housing do not choose homelessness. Persuading some Veterans to move from the streets into housing takes time and persistent engagement by caring, trained professionals. Outreach workers across the country already know many of these Veterans and work to earn their trust. Thanks to their efforts and best practice approaches, the number of unsheltered Veterans is diminishing.

We know what works and we have the right tools for the job. Learn about 7 Essential Elements to End Veteran Homelessness.

Not every community will end Veteran homelessness at the same time, but we’re not going to rest until every Veteran has a place to call home.

At VA, outreach to homeless and at-risk Veterans falls into two buckets:

• Traditional Outreach (e.g., paid advertising, events, press releases, articles, video, social media): Effective for reaching Veterans at risk of homelessness and mobilizing secondary messengers.
• Direct Service Outreach (i.e., case management staff reach out to Veterans in the context of direct patient care): Effective for reaching literally homeless Veterans living in encampments and shelters.

Homeless Veterans have unique barriers to communication: no TV, telephones, internet, transportation, or mailing addresses. Addressing these unique barriers often requires clinical staff going out into the community to the sheltered and unsheltered settings where homeless Veterans live. You’ll also need to mobilize secondary messengers such as the general public, homeless service providers, Veteran organizations, first responders, and others who may encounter homeless and at-risk Veterans.

VA’s tools for outreach include:

• The National Call Center for Homeless Veterans: 24/7 hotline and live chat.
• Homeless Veteran Stand Downs: 1- to 3- day resource fairs.
• Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV): direct service outreach to Veterans who are not currently receiving services and engaging them in treatment and rehabilitative programs.
• HCHV Community Resource and Referral Centers: one-stop access to community-based, multiagency services to promote permanent housing, health and mental health care, career development, and access to VA and non-VA benefits. 
• Veterans Justice Outreach: direct service outreach to Veterans in jails.
• Health Care for Reentry Veterans: direct service outreach to Veterans in prisons. 

VA provides a variety of services through these programs, including access to permanent housing; physical and mental health care; intensive case management; and referrals to other social supports, such as legal, benefits assistance, and employment services. All these services promote stability and help Veterans increase their skill levels and income and develop greater self-determination on their path to permanent housing.

No, but it will be a major triumph. Ending unsheltered homelessness is a moral imperative: Life on the streets puts Veterans’ health at risk and can lead to premature death. The day when no Veteran is living on the street will be a historic milestone in our service to Veterans, and we will celebrate that success as an important achievement.

A sufficient supply of affordable permanent housing is necessary to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans. The prevalence of Veteran homelessness in communities with high rental costs suggests that there is not a sufficient supply of affordable housing in every community. Sufficient supply can be achieved only with full funding of VA’s programs at the requested levels and with the development of additional housing stock through low-income housing tax credits, project-based vouchers through the HUD-VASH program, VA’s Enhanced-Use Lease Program, the funding of the National Housing Trust Fund, and local housing initiatives.

Progress to date demonstrates that when new resources are invested in proven solutions, and when existing programs adopt best practices, ending Veteran homelessness is possible.

Continuum of Care (CoC) partners must serve all people experiencing homelessness, including Veterans ineligible for VA homeless programs and services. Both VA and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development encourage communities to make connections at the local level between CoCs and VA medical centers to identify and connect Veterans with housing and services offered by CoC-funded providers. Other federal agencies are involved, too, including the U.S. Department of Labor, which funds programs to connect Veterans with employment.

If you have a space you’d like to rent to a Veteran, consider participating in the HUD-VASH or Supportive Services for Veteran Families programs, which have helped tens of thousands of Veterans and their families overcome the challenges of homelessness and lead independent lives. To learn about the benefits and steps to get started, check out our landlords page.

VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program (GPD) awards grants to community-based agencies to create transitional housing programs and offer per diem payments to Veterans. The purpose is to promote the development and provision of supportive housing and services to help homeless Veterans achieve residential stability, increase their skill levels and income, and develop greater self-determination. You can read more on the GPD page.

VA has allocated unprecedented resources to ending Veteran homelessness, but we can’t do it alone. First responders, community service providers, faith groups, and Veterans service organizations provide a critical link between Veterans and the resources they may need to secure safe, stable housing. VA can connect the Veterans you encounter every day with a variety of services to get them back on their feet. Individuals can also help by spreading the word through personal networks, handing out materials, or supporting a “Stand Down” event to offer food, clothing, and health screenings to local Veterans. To find downloadable and print-ready items to share, visit our Get Involved page.

Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) provides funding to local VA medical centers (VAMCs) through its Contract Residential Services, which contract with community-based agencies to provide short-term residential treatment for Veterans in need of immediate housing while they look for permanent housing and additional care and services. Another aspect of HCHV is the Contract Residential Treatment program, which places Veterans with serious mental health diagnoses into quality, community-based supportive housing. Entities can learn more about providing these services to homeless Veterans by contacting their local VAMC and speaking with the HCHV liaison or homeless services coordinator.

A Veteran can begin the process by using VA’s Upgrade Wizard which will require the Veteran to answer a series of questions. The tool will then provide customized, step-by-step instructions on how to apply for a discharge upgrade or correction. If the application goes through and discharge is upgraded, the Veteran will be eligible for VA benefits earned during their period of service. Visit VA’s Upgrade Wizard and click the “Get started” button to begin.