Homeless Veteran Families Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. BROWNLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding this afternoon, and I thank the ranking member of the committee for his support of a very, very important bill for our veterans, the Homeless Veteran Families Act.
As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I believe that it is absolutely critical that veterans and their families receive the housing support they need simply to get back on their feet.
Since 1994, the VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program has provided homeless veterans with community-based transitional housing and supportive services. This program funds community agencies that provide such services to homeless veterans.
In fiscal year 2017 alone, the VA funded 600 community sites that provided housing to more than 23,000 veterans through the use of over 12,000 transitional housing beds nationwide.
Unfortunately, many homeless veterans with children are unable to obtain transitional housing and the support assistance they need under the homeless grant program because housing providers only receive payments from the VA for the veteran but not for any minor dependents with their families.
Because housing a family requires more resources and beds, many housing providers have been unable to house homeless families without additional financial support. This problem has resulted in the lack of access to very needed supportive housing and services for veterans with children because the veteran is forced to choose between getting their own housing assistance and services or caring for their minor dependent child or children.
The VA has previously stated that approximately 8 percent of veterans who entered grant per diem housing programs, and who had a full assessment completed within 30 days prior to admission, had either full or partial legal custody of their children. This was estimated to be 2,500 children in fiscal year 2017.
No veteran should be forced to choose between housing and much-needed services or caring for their children. However, current law limits the VA's authority to reimburse housing providers for the additional costs associated with sheltering the dependent children of our homeless veterans.
My bill, which we are voting on today, would provide for a partial per diem for each minor child who is receiving services through this program. This partial per diem would be an amount equal to 50 percent of the daily cost of care. This would ensure that veterans and their children are able to obtain the housing and services needed to help them achieve residential stability; give them the opportunity to increase their skill level and income; and, ultimately, obtain greater self-determination and self-worth.
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Ms. BROWNLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, providing housing to our Nation's homeless veterans is an essential first step and critical to everything in a veteran's life, including getting the healthcare they have earned, taking advantage of veteran education benefits, getting a job, and having the quality of life they have earned and deserved--and what our country has promised.
Passage of this legislation will benefit veterans of all eras and their minor children who are struggling and suffering with homelessness.
My bill has over 300 cosponsors, which is indicative of the bipartisan support for addressing this important and time-sensitive issue. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I thank the chairman for bringing my bill to the floor.
Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. She was a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a very passionate supporter of our veterans.
After the hurricanes in Puerto Rico, she was kind enough to invite me. I saw her passion. We went through the VA hospital together, the outpatient clinics. I don't believe anyone in this Congress has more care for our veterans than her.
Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend for allowing me to speak and for his visit. And actually, that was the first time ever the Veterans' Affairs Committee had a hearing in Puerto Rico in more than 100 years. So we got two chairmen in Puerto Rico in the last 2 years, and I am happy to say that Mr. Roe and Mr. Takano were there this year.
And actually I have got good news. Finally, we got the money assigned for the new clinic in Arecibo and the new clinic in Ponce after that visit. So that is real good news. And we just received a VA deputy last week, and they are talking about expanding the services of the hospital, which is good.
Today I rise in full support of H.R. 95, the Homeless Veteran Families Act introduced by my colleague Julia Brownley of California.
Homelessness is, unfortunately, one of the challenges many of our veterans face upon separating from the Armed Forces. Consequently, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made ending homelessness part of their core mission.
Initiatives like the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, which funds community agencies that provide services to homeless veterans, facilitates tackling these problems head-on.
H.R. 95 builds upon this program by authorizing the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay partial per diem for children who are under the care of a homeless veteran. We need to keep in mind that homelessness can affect our veterans at any point, impacting not only their lives, but the lives of their children.
Recent estimates indicate that there are close to 82 homeless veterans in Puerto Rico, and we need to take this personally because they just can't move to another state. With us living on an island, we have got to have our community being served, and a program like Homeless Providers Grant and the Per Diem Program will help us lower this number to zero and will counter the inability of providers of these services to turn down helping a veteran because he or she has children under their care.
And I think that is the most important thing about this bill. It is not only the veteran themselves that suffers, it is the family that suffers with him or with her, and that is the reason I am a proud cosponsor of this bill.
I commend Congresswoman Brownley for her leadership on this issue, and, of course, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill. I think it is important to recognize that we all need to take care of these kinds of issues.
I thank Congressman Roe and Chairman Takano for visiting the island this year. I think this is the first time ever that Puerto Rico has received visits from two chairmen, and that means something for the more than 105,000 veterans registered on the island.
Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee.
I think this is a great bill. Homelessness is a huge problem in this country, and keeping our families together is a huge problem in this country. This, I think, will be some of the best money that we ever spend, if we can keep these families together. If a veteran is out there with their spouse and they are trying the best they can, they need these resources so they can keep that family unit together.
This bill should go through the House and the Senate unanimously. I think it will, and with over 300 cosponsors, I feel like it will.
I want to thank Congresswoman Brownley, who is a tireless supporter of veterans on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I thank her for bringing this up, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, H.R. 95.
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