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Panel: California housing grants and pilots reduced veteran homelessness but face funding and maintenance gaps
Summary
HCD and nonprofit witnesses told the Assembly committee that state-funded housing programs and pilot grants have helped reduce veteran homelessness in California but that program sustainability and building maintenance threaten current gains.
Panelists from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, CalVet and nonprofit providers described statewide housing efforts that officials said helped reduce veteran homelessness by roughly 45 percent but are vulnerable to funding uncertainty and capital-maintenance shortfalls.
Jennifer Seager of the Department of Housing and Community Development summarized state housing programs for veterans. She said AB 639 (creating the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program) and Proposition 41 funding have supported multifamily projects and that to date HCD awards have funded 6,683 new units to serve veterans. Seager also described Homekey Plus (Prop 1) and said roughly $2 billion of that allocation will be administered by HCD, with about half reserved for veteran permanent supportive housing.
Robert Storer of US Vets and Stephen Hernandez of Nation's Finest described on-the-ground program operations. Storer described prevention and early-intervention programs on community college campuses and peer support; Hernandez described a service profile in Sacramento in which many SSVF participants are older, have low monthly incomes and cannot afford market rents.
CalVet summarized two grant pilots the department funded to expand on-site services: the Veterans Support Self Reliance (VSSR) pilot, which placed services inside permanent supportive housing for high-acuity veterans (enrolling about 420 veterans across selected sites), and the California Veterans Health Initiative (CVHI), a statewide effort to expand no-cost community-based outpatient counseling via grantees and associate clinicians. A CalVet report cited early VSSR results: missed medical appointments fell 81%, emergency-room visits dropped by half, medication adherence improved and specialty-care use rose.
Nonprofit operators warned that capital maintenance problems and shrinking operational grants can force bed losses. Stephen Hernandez said Nation's Finest lost transitional beds after building leaks and flooding. He urged state attention to operating dollars and building repairs, noting capital upkeep is generally not eligible in many grant programs.
Ending: Witnesses asked the Legislature to preserve and stabilize funding streams for both capital and services, to expand culturally competent behavioral-health access in Homekey projects targeted to veterans and to maintain close coordination with HUD VASH and county partners so vouchers and support services continue to function.
