VA seeks nominations for Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans

At every given night, there are approximately 40,000 homeless Veterans who are sleeping in the streets or temporary shelters, unable to secure long-term and stable homes for them or their families. This is unacceptable. No one, especially those who fought for their country in uniform, should ever have to worry about having a roof over their head.

This is why the Biden-Harris administration and Secretary Denis McDonough considers tackling Veteran homelessness one of the top issues facing our country today. While Veteran homelessness has decreased dramatically in the past decade, one homeless Veteran is one too many, and that’s why VA remains committed to making sure that all Veterans and their families are able to secure a safe and stable place they can call home.

The VA cannot do this work alone, which is why we are calling for dedicated individuals to be a part of our Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans. This Committee reports directly to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, advising him of the needs of homeless Veterans, the effectiveness of VA programs to tackle Veteran homelessness, and ways that we can better serve this community in need.

The Committee captures some of the most pressing issues affecting homeless Veterans with recommendations focused on the delivery of services to Veterans, immediate housing, data collection, outreach, health care and delivery of benefits and other services.

Given the multidimensional nature of the causes of homelessness and the challenges that homeless Veterans face, we are seeking nominees for the Committee from diverse backgrounds and expertise who can provide unique perspectives and innovative ideas on how to solve this issue.  Expertise considered valuable for Committee members include:

1. Advocacy for Veterans and Veteran-related issues
2. Advocacy of homeless Veterans
3. Community-based providers of services to homeless individuals
4. Previously homeless Veterans
5. Experts in the treatment of individuals with mental illness
6. Experts in the treatment of substance use disorders
7. Experts in the development of permanent housing alternatives for lower income populations
8. Experts in vocational rehabilitation

Given its role in addressing one of nation’s top priorities, the committee has an outsized role not just in VA programs and operations, but in our nation’s overall effort to understand and address homelessness across the country. The diverse voices that are part of the Committee ensures that recommendations to the Secretary address the many facets of homelessness and understanding the root of a crisis that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans. But most importantly, the work this Committee does will have a direct impact on the lives and well-being of more than 250,000 homeless Veterans and their Families and Survivors.

Nominations for membership on the Committee must be received no later than Friday, April 8, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

For more details, please visit the Notice of Solicitation or www.va.gov/advisory. Any further questions, please contact the VA Advisory Committee Management Office at vaadvisorycmte@va.gov. In the subject line of the email, please add “Solicitation for Homeless Veterans”.