How Does VA Help Homeless and At-Risk Women Veterans?

By Shawn Liu, National Homeless Program Manager, VHA Homeless Programs Office

April 8, 2026

Women Veterans can face many challenges when returning to civilian life, including raising children on their own, dealing with the psychological after-effects of events such as military or sexual trauma, or employment and housing barriers. Without intervention, these and other issues can put women Veterans at greater risk of homelessness.

In response, VA has built the largest integrated network of homeless assistance programs in the country.

VA also strives to address the individualized needs of women throughout its specialized programs for homeless Veterans. Every VA Medical Center and regional benefits office also has a dedicated advocate to make sure women Veterans get the health care and benefits they’ve earned through service.

Permanent Housing Programs

“Permanent housing” describes places such as apartments or houses that Veterans could rent or own, often with financial subsidies to help make the housing affordable. It also includes situations where Veterans are reunited with family and friends.

Although all of VA’s homeless programs support women Veterans in obtaining permanent housing in one way or another, there are two programs that get the most attention:

• Supportive Services for Veteran Families, or SSVF
• Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing, or HUD-VASH

Supportive Services for Veteran Families

The SSVF Program awards grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives that will provide prevention and/or rapid re-housing services to very low-income Veterans and their families residing in or transitioning to permanent housing.

The SSVF Program continues to serve a high proportion of women Veterans, due in part to the greater number of households with children served with prevention assistance.

• In FY 2025, SSVF assisted 91,005 Veterans. Of those served, more than 14,264 or 16% were women Veterans.
• In FY 2023, SSVF helped keep families together, serving 33,263 children.

HUD-VASH

HUD-VASH is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and VA to provide subsidized permanent housing with VA-supported case management, targeted primarily toward long-term homeless Veterans.

With HUD-VASH, a housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the local public housing authority on behalf of the participating Veteran. The Veteran then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program. The case management services facilitate the attainment of the Veteran’s recovery goals. The HUD-VASH Program is for the most vulnerable Veterans, and provides special services for women Veterans, those recently returning from combat zones, and Veterans with disabilities.

• In FY 2025, HUD-VASH assisted 93,560 Veterans. Of those served, 12,195 or 13% were women Veterans.

Interim Housing Programs

“Interim housing” basically temporary housing where Veterans experiencing homelessness can stay while on their journey to permanent housing.

In VA, interim housing usually takes two forms:

• Transitional housing provided by the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program.
• Emergency shelter provided by the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Contracted Residential Services (CRS) program

Grant and Per Diem

The Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program funds community-based agencies providing transitional housing or service centers for homeless Veterans. The program provides homeless Veterans, including women Veterans and women Veterans with dependent children, with the transitional housing resources needed to facilitate treatment and stabilize them clinically and/or economically, as well as immediate housing support services. Through the program each year (as funding is available), VA offers grants that may fund up to 65 percent of the project for the construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities, or to purchase van(s) to provide outreach and services to homeless Veterans.

• In FY 2025, GPD grantees served 24,968. Of those served, 1,667 or 7% were women Veterans.

Health Care for Homeless Veterans Contracted Residential Services

HCHV CRS funds community-based agencies providing transitional housing or service centers for homeless Veterans. The program provides homeless Veterans, including women Veterans and women Veterans with dependent children, with the transitional housing resources needed to facilitate treatment and stabilize them clinically and/or economically, as well as immediate housing support services. Through the program each year (as funding is available), VA offers grants that may fund up to 65 percent of the project for the construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities, or to purchase van(s) to provide outreach and services to homeless Veterans.

• In FY 2025, HCHV CRS providers served 11,382 Veterans. Of those served, 749 or 7 % were women Veterans.

Veterans Justice Programs

Since criminal justice involvement and the transition from incarceration to community living are both risk factors for homelessness, VA’s Veterans Justice Programs has created two programs to serve justice-involved Veterans.

Veterans Justice Outreach

VJO works to prevent homelessness and avoid the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and extended incarceration among Veterans. This is accomplished by ensuring that eligible justice-involved Veterans encountered by police, and in jails or courts, have timely access to VHA mental health, substance use, and homeless services when clinically indicated, and other VA services and benefits as appropriate.

• In FY 2025, the VJO served 44,488 justice-involved Veterans. Of those served, 3,504 or 8% were women Veterans.

Health Care for Reentry Veterans

HCRV is designed to address the needs of incarcerated Veterans when it comes to re-entering their community. The goals of HCRV are to prevent homelessness, reduce the impact of medical, psychiatric, and substance use problems on community readjustment, and decrease the likelihood of re-incarceration for those leaving prison.

• In FY 2025, HCRV served 10,548 Veterans. Of those served, 398 or 4% were women Veterans.

Financial and Employment Support

Homeless Veterans Community Employment Services (HVCES) helps to improve employment outcomes for homeless Veterans, including women Veterans. HVCES staff ensure that a range of employment services are accessible to Veterans who have experienced homelessness, including chronically homeless Veterans. HVCES complements existing medical center-based employment services and are a bridge to employment opportunities and resources in the local community.

In FY 2025, nearly 15,000 Veterans were employed at exit from all VHA homeless programs and services.