A sneak attack on homeless veterans
Since 2011, veteran homelessness has decreased 90% in New York City. The decline has been so steep that, in 2015, the federal government said that New York City had effectively ended chronic veteran homelessness.
However, in September, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, led by Secretary David J. Shulkin, tried to quietly hollow out the housing program that helped make this success possible, by reallocating $460 million dollars earmarked for homeless vets into a general fund.
The program, Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, or HUDVASH, is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the VA. HUD provides housing subsidy vouchers for veterans who are cared for by VA caseworkers, who can help address the causes of chronic homelessness. So far, the results have been outstanding: a 2017 VA study showed that veterans enrolled in HUD-VASH rarely returned to VA homeless programs.
The funding reallocation was a surprise, and, once revealed, it earned swift, bipartisan criticism by a Senate appropriations subcommittee, which strongly urged the VA stop the reallocation.
Following a hail of negative press coverage, Shulkin — the first VA secretary who is not a vet — issued a terse statement that promised “absolutely no change in the funding to support our homeless veterans.”
This episode raises serious questions about Shulkin’s leadership and the strategic direction of the VA. It remains to be seen if Shulkin is a just an unreliable ally for homeless veterans or a dedicated hatchet man.
In 2009, the VA implemented a comprehensive plan to end veteran homelessness in America. It remains a worthy, ambitious national goal, and, almost 10 years later, success has been significant. From 2010 to 2016 veteran homelessness in America declined 47%, from an estimated 74,000 veterans to about 39,000. Increased use of VA supportive housing was a critical catalyst for these gains.
HUD-VASH, started modestly under President George H.W. Bush, has grown into one of the most powerful tools to tackle chronic veteran homelessness, especially among the significant numbers of veterans who live with mental illness or addiction. As of April 2017, there are more than 87,000 HUD-VASH vouchers in circulation.
It’s counterintuitive, but often homelessness cannot simply be solved by a home. Figuratively speaking, the roof over a vet’s head is being held up by their own personal stability, not the cinder block in their walls.
Shulkin’s reallocation could have devastated the ranks of case managers who are integral to the success of this program, and are indeed required by the same federal law that makes the housing aid available.
Here in New York City, where an average of 115 to 120 veterans become homeless each month, HUD-VASH is the largest housing resource for homeless veterans. Nicole Branca, an assistant commissioner at the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services, says that a massive cut to HUDVASH, with its integrated social services, “would be devastating, especially since the program is geared toward our most vulnerable veterans” — causing an increase in veteran homelessness.
Shamed by the attempted reallocation, Shulkin denies that he ordered the end of any homeless programs, and that statement is literally true. However, regardless of his rearguard denials, it is also true that in the dead of night he authorized that $460 million could be siphoned at will out of a critical program that facilitates housing for homeless veterans.
As secretary, Shulkin has a right to set priorities, but he does not have the right to surreptitiously abandon the national goal of ending veteran homelessness and unilaterally erase hard won gains in New York City and all over America. If Secretary Shulkin really wants to end HUD-VASH, then he should promptly inform the public and present a competing vision, so we can have the debate.