Eliminating veteran homelessness by 2015

In 2009, President Obama and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki set an ambitious goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015. But is Congress fully committed to doing everything it possibly can to assist in accomplishing this task?

In 2013, two important pieces of legislation were introduced in the House and Senate: H.R. 897 and S. 287. The aim of both bills is to alter the Department of Veterans Affairs’s (VA) definition of a “homeless veteran,” in order to increase eligibility for veterans and their families to receive benefits.

{mosads}Although both bills share the same ideals regarding the expansion of the definition of a “homeless veteran,” S. 287 includes multiple sections that were established by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The sections added to the bill would help bridge the gap in services.

Where are these bills now? Well, H.R. 897 has been sitting in a House subcommittee for well over a year, while the S. 287 has been unanimously passed by the Senate and referred to the House for further action.

Searching for answers as to where these two pieces of legislation were going, I contacted the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on Health. A staff member informed me that S. 287 was not being considered for a vote because there are no mechanisms in place to measure the effectiveness of the current VA programs.

This could not be farther from the truth.

In 2008, the VA partnered up with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and created the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program. Each year since its inception, Congress has increased funding for this federal program in order to decrease the homeless veterans population.

Furthermore, HUD-VASH has adopted an evidence-based best practice known as Housing First.

According to a report to Congress on homeless veterans, “Housing First is a program that focuses on substance abuse and mental health, which provides permanent housing first and then provides services as needed.”

Why would Congress need to test an evidence-based practice that has received an increase in funding every year? It would appear that there is more to this than meets the eye. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that in 2013, Congress was the least productive in history and constantly battling over ideologies that do not pertain to passing key legislation.

The staff member also informed me of an oversight hearing within the next three to four months to address the issue of homeless veterans. This is great; however, we are approaching the 2015 deadline and no significant legislation has been enacted to directly target the homeless veteran population and their families.

Another important aspect that needs to be addressed regarding why S. 287 will not go up for a vote in the House is due to the cost of implementing this bill.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that S. 287 would cost $845 million over a four-year period. This may seem like an exorbitant amount to spend when our country is facing a tough financial crisis. However, consider this:

According to HUD, the annual cost to taxpayers to allow a homeless individual to stay homeless is roughly $40,000. The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report estimates that there were 23,140 unsheltered homeless veterans on the streets. Now, I am no mathematician, but it appears taxpayers are contributing more than $925 million annually, or more than $3.7 billion over a four-year period, to allow these homeless veterans to remain homeless.

This does not make sense. Why would we keep spending more than four times the funds not to help homeless veterans rather than pass legislation that would actually help this oppressed population?

In an effort to provide a viable solution to the underlying issue regarding these two pieces of legislation, I propose that the language and sections of S. 287 be integrated into H.R. 897.
I am doubtful that our Congress will collectively come together and produce a piece of legislation that provides viable solutions for eliminating veteran homelessness by 2015. Therefore, a call to action needs to be taken to help those who sacrificed life and limb so that others could embrace the true meaning of freedom.

Archiable is a U.S. Marine Corps Iraq War veteran and a graduate student at the University of Southern California.