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Rep. Nick LaLota, a Navy Veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced the Supporting Veteran Families in Need Act (HR 3186), a bipartisan bill that seeks to amend title 38, United States Code, to make permanent the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing.
“Veteran homelessness has become a crisis in our country that needs a responsible solution. My bill will seriously address this crisis while providing much-needed financial support for Veterans struggling to make ends meet,” said Rep. LaLota. “I am committed to working with all of my colleagues to support all of my fellow veterans. These heroes and their families sacrificed so much for this country, they deserve only the best.”
Rep. LaLota’s measure is co-sponsored by Reps. Dean Phillips of Minnesota; Josh Gottheimer and Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey; Jason Crow of Colorado; and Susie Lee of Nevada.
Last October, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the availability of funds for supportive services grants under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program.
The SSVF Program’s purpose is to provide supportive services grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who will coordinate or provide supportive services to very low-income veteran families who are residing in permanent housing and at risk of becoming homeless; are homeless and scheduled to become residents of permanent housing within a specified time period; or after exiting permanent housing within a specified time period, are seeking other housing that is responsive to such very low-income veteran family’s needs and preferences. SSVF delivers services using a housing-first approach that emphasizes permanent housing placement as the primary objective.
SSVF prioritizes the delivery of rapid re-housing services to homeless veteran households. Rapid re-housing is an intervention designed to help individuals and families quickly exit homelessness, return to housing in the community and avoid homelessness again in the near term. The core components of a rapid re-housing program are housing identification, move-in and rent financial assistance and rapid re-housing case management and services. These core components represent the minimum that a program must be provided to households to be considered a rapid re-housing program.
Rep. LaLota’s bill mirrors a similar measure, HR 492, introduced by former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to make permanent the SSVF program.
Click here for more information on HR 3186—Supporting Veteran Families in Need Act.
