Why are Veterans Justice Programs aligned under Homeless Programs?

By Madolyn Gingell, LCSW, National Coordinator, Legal Services for Veterans, Katie Stewart, LCSW, National Coordinator for Veterans Justice Outreach, and Matthew Stimmel, PhD, National Training Director for Veterans Justice Programs

March 23, 2026

You may have noticed from our homepage that VA’s Veterans Justice Programs are a part of VA’s Homeless Programs.

But have you ever wondered why?

On the surface, justice involvement and homelessness don’t seem like they go together—that they’re two separate topics. However, they’re more connected than you realize.

It’s all about risk factors

Involvement with the criminal justice system is a strong risk factor for a wide variety of negative outcomes, homelessness first and foremost. Having a history of incarceration is one of the strongest predictors of future homelessness among men and Veterans with legal involvement have a six times higher risk of homelessness compared to Veterans without legal involvement.

But it’s also about risks for suicide, other forms of early death, and overdose.

At VA, we want to prevent that.

Meeting Veterans in criminal justice settings

Outreach is the cornerstone of VA’s Veteran Justice Programs (VJP), and for good reason. It’s not enough to wait for Veterans to raise their hands and seek out services. In many cases, they’re unable to do that if they are in an incarcerated setting.

So, if we’re going to be successful in reducing their risks of homelessness and suicide, we need to be proactive and go into criminal justice settings. Concretely, our Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists and Health Care for Re-Entry Specialists go into jails and prisons to meet and assess Veterans.

Connecting Veterans to care

Of course, outreach isn’t an end in itself. The point is to help Veterans in those circumstances access all the services and benefits they have earned and need, especially those related to housing, medical care, mental health and substance use treatment. VJP specialists do just that, assessing Veterans wherever they are in the justice system and linking them to the full spectrum of responsive services VA provides.

Over the long term, our goal is to reduce the impact of risk factors and boost the protective factors that help guard against some of the most negative outcomes for these Veterans.

Access to legal services

Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness often face legal issues that make it difficult for them to obtain or maintain stable housing. The Legal Services for Veterans (LSV) Program, a component of VJP, aims to increase access to legal services for eligible Veterans through the award of legal service grant funds and by promoting pro bono medical legal partnerships and VA-affiliated legal clinics through the Veterans Health Administration.

View more information on the current legal service grantees and pro-bono on-site legal clinics.