A little insight into how the VA/Obama is ending veteran homelessness.

- There's a new program called SSVF - supportive services for veteran families. Basically, SSVF will pay for up to 12 months of rent on an apartment. It will pay for rent if you receive an eviction notice. It will pay for just the security deposit and first month of rent if that's all you need.

- Most organizations who received SSVF grant money (millions and millions of dollars) are setting a maximum of 5 months that they'll pay for.

- Rationale is that this is cheaper than HUD-VASH (Section 8) which pays the lion's share of rent for an indefinite amount of time. The cutoff creates incentive for whoever is utilizing SSVF to get a job or otherwise increase their income to a point where they can take over paying rent.

- This fucks disabled veterans in urban areas, where disability benefits cannot cover the costs of living.

- There's a LOT of pressure to get these guys using SSVF. 2015 is coming up. The fact that it ends after 5 months is brushed over. They call it a program for "PERMANENT" housing. However, a lot of these people are going to end up homeless again soon after the SSVF payment period expires.

- Disabled veterans are still fucked. HUD-VASH only takes guys directly off the streets now. If you are anywhere but a street, you have to wait for local PHA's section 8 to gain stable, permanent housing.

SSVF is a great program for a specific kind of person. It's already helped and will continue to help a lot of people. It's going to put a big dent in homelessness. But it's also being used to inflate numbers. Guys are being put into housing by people who are keenly aware it's not going to last for them. Most of my guys are disabled and between 60-70. They are fucked.