The Department of Veterans Affairs released figures from a one-night census showing the number of veterans experiencing homelessness dropped 7.5% between January 2023 and January 2024, compared to the same 12-month period for the prior year. (VA.gov)
WASHINGTON — Veteran homelessness dropped in 2023 to its lowest level since the Department of Housing and Urban Development started tracking numbers in 2009 through an annual census.
The Department of Veterans Affairs released figures from HUD’s one-night census showing the number of veterans experiencing homelessness dropped 7.5% between January 2023 and January 2024, compared to the same 12-month period for the prior year.
The number of homeless veterans declined from 35,574 to 32,882, according to HUD’s point-in-time survey, an annual one-night nationwide count.
The figure represents an 11.7% decline since 2020 and a 55% drop since 2010, the VA said.
Many veterans were placed in rental housing through a HUD-VA voucher program that provides veterans a rental subsidy based on income and offers them assistance from a case manager in applying for disability compensation and obtaining health care and other benefits.
“I resisted asking for help for a long time. I didn’t trust the system and got caught up in the day-to-day struggle of homelessness,” said Navy veteran David Crassweller, 62, of Los Angeles who found housing through the rental voucher program in 2023 after being homeless for 18 months.
Yet some advocates for the homeless have criticized the one-night count for failing to capture the scope of homelessness in the nation. The count overlooks people living with friends, in their vehicles and cycling in and out of temporary shelters.
This is a transient population that cannot be counted in a one-night sweep of parks and homeless encampments, said Kyle Bush, an Air Force veteran who serves as an outreach worker with U.S. Vets, a nonprofit that helps veterans find and maintain housing in the Los Angeles metro area, which has the highest homeless population in the nation.
But the VA pointed to the number of veterans it housed through its partnership with HUD.
In fiscal 2024, nearly 90,000 veterans found rental housing, which set a yearly record, the VA said.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said though there is need for more progress, the agency has implemented effective solutions for moving homeless veterans quickly into housing and giving them the assistance that they need to keep it.
The Legal Services for Grant Program, for example, was established to help veterans at risk of homelessness to qualify for benefits, resolve financial problems and avoid eviction, the VA said.
The VA also has ended a policy that disqualified veterans from low-income housing based on their disability compensation.
“We must continue investments in stable housing, which are critical to the health and well-being of veterans and their families,” said Xavier Becerra, the Health and Human Services secretary.
