New federal policies should make more homeless veterans in San Diego County eligible for housing vouchers amid an increased number of people living on local streets who served in the military.
Two changes will allow residents to bring in larger amounts of money and still qualify for the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, known as VASH.
One policy prohibits the funds someone receives for a service-related disability from counting as income, while another broadens eligibility to include anyone making 80 percent of the area median income. The previous cutoff was 50 percent.
“This is a major win,” U.S. Democratic Rep. Mike Levin said Thursday at a press conference in Encinitas. “You literally saw housing projects built, and veterans in tents right outside of them, because their disability income put them over the cap.”
This year’s point-in-time count found 544 homeless veterans throughout the county. While that total wasn’t as bad as some counts from a decade ago, it still marked the third straight year of increases.
Officials have long credited VASH vouchers, which help cover rent, as a key part of the solution, yet in recent years hundreds have gone unused countywide.
There are many reasons why, including the region’s brutal housing market, and during the Veterans Village of San Diego’s Stand Down event earlier this month officials asked landlords willing to rent to people who’ve been homeless to sign an online form.
Levin and other members of Congress have also put pressure on the San Diego VA to boost participation in the VASH program and public data showed progress was being made even before the policy changes.
Peter Hunter, a deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Thursday that $20 million had further been set aside to boost voucher distribution, aid with security deposits, recruit landlords and help veterans find apartments.
“As a nation, we owe them more than just our gratitude,” Hunter added. “We owe them the support they need to thrive.”
Levin said the revised disability policy, which took effect Tuesday, had been in the works for years.
Officials estimate that thousands of homeless and low-income veterans nationwide should be newly eligible for vouchers, although it was not immediately clear what that number might be in San Diego County.
Thursday’s press conference also featured Isaac Estevez, a San Diego native who enlisted in the U.S. Army after the Sept. 11 attacks. His four years of service included deployments to South Korea and Iraq.
“I came back with ten fingers, ten toes, but the wounds that I faced were wounds you couldn’t see,” he said.
Estevez tried to self-medicate with drugs, which led to homelessness and jail time. He credits the VA, the nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless and VASH with pulling him back from the edge before his kidneys failed.
“Having my own place to call home …” Estevez paused, then added, “That’s changed a lot for me.”
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