{"id":15611,"date":"2017-12-07T01:03:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T01:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/07\/va-reverses-course-wont-alter-homeless-program-funding\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:46:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:46:06","slug":"va-reverses-course-wont-alter-homeless-program-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2017\/12\/07\/va-reverses-course-wont-alter-homeless-program-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"VA reverses course, won’t alter homeless program funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans Affairs officials on Wednesday reversed course on plans to dramatically alter how funding for homeless veterans programs is handled, promising \u201cabsolutely no change in the funding\u201d until fiscal 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, veterans advocates had been upset over plans from department leaders to shift funding previous restricted to homeless housing vouchers \u2014 specifically, the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing program \u2014 to general purpose money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VA leaders said the move would allow regional directors more flexibility to push money into what they saw as top local priorities. But advocates worried that could lead to ignoring homeless veterans outreach and assistance in favor of other budget gaps, undoing years of progress addressing the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The estimated number of homeless veterans dropped from more than 74,000 individuals in 2010 to fewer than 40,000 in 2016. In 2017, the number rose by almost 600 veterans after seven years of decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin in October, officials from the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans said they objected to \u201cany conversion of special purpose homeless program funding for any purpose,\u201d calling it potentially \u201ccatastrophic\u201d to progress made in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t