Va Announces Homeless Program Per Diem Awards
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has identified recipients of up to $8 million in per diem awards as part of VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program. Recipients are community and faith-based organizations, as well as state and local governments that provide critical services to homeless veterans.
The 44 separate awards will help offset the operating expenses of existing programs that provide supported housing or services for homeless veterans in 25 states.
The awardees were selected in a competitive process from approximately 150 applications. VA provides separate grants for capital projects involving new construction or renovation of existing facilities.
Seven awards were to providers in five states VA had targeted as areas where homeless veterans’ needs are most underserved. The selected programs are located in Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
Although VA did not receive any applications from programs affiliated with Indian tribal governments — also one of VA’s targeted groups — several awardees do provide service to Native American veterans.
The selected programs will receive up to $26.95 per day for each eligible veteran provided care. Approximately 30 percent of the award recipients are faith-based providers.
In addition to the grant and per diem program, VA administers special health care assistance programs that offer clinical outreach, case management and rehabilitation programs for homeless veterans and conducts outreach to provide benefits counseling and referrals to other VA programs.
In the past nine years, VA’s Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program has awarded nearly 315 grants totaling $63 million to public and nonprofit groups to establish transitional housing and service centers and to purchase vans to pr
The entire program has awarded grants to organizations in 48 states and the District of Columbia. With the addition of this per diem award, the program now supports nearly 7,000 beds that are available to homeless veterans.
