{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://scottpeters.house.gov/press-releases/rep-peters-leads-letter-to-san-diego-va-director-about-unused-housing-vouchers-for-homeless-veterans", "Rep. Peters Leads Letter to San Diego VA Director About Unused Housing Vouchers  for Homeless Veterans", "2023-12-13", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "CA", "Scott H. Peters", "P000608", "scottpeters.house.gov", "scottpeters", "https://scottpeters.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Representative Scott Peters (CA-50), along with Congressmembers Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Mike Levin (CA-49), and Juan Vargas (CA-52), sent a letter to Dr. Frank Pearson, Director and CEO of VA San Diego Healthcare System, to ask why hundreds of housing vouchers for homeless veterans have gone unused. According to a recent report by The San Diego Union-Tribune, of the 949 Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers received by the County of San Diego this year, 336 had gone unused as of early October.\n\nThe letter states, \"To address veteran homelessness, we must ensure that no vouchers go unused.\"\n\nThe letter asks Pearson to respond to several questions so that the Congress members can better understand the root causes of the problem as they work to craft solutions. Questions include whether the quality, location, and affordability of units prevent VA from referring enough veterans to fully use San Diego\u2019s allotted housing vouchers and what recommendations local VA leaders have to further reduce veteran homelessness.\n\nAfter seeing the Union-Tribune report, Terra Lawson-Remer, Vice-Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, reached out to Rep. Peters seeking his help in finding answers.\n\n\"We are doing everything possible to remove the barriers to housing for veterans, including connecting them to vouchers within a week, but when there was an issue, Rep. Peters immediately stepped up for San Diego County. He secured the support of his colleagues and their actions will help us get the response from Veteran Affairs that we need to improve the services we\u2019re delivering to unhoused veterans,\" said Supervisor Lawson-Remer, \"I am thankful we have partners representing us in Washington, D.C., who understand the importance of the challenges we face at the local level and move urgently on our behalf.\"\n\nFull text of the letter below:\n\nDear Dr. Pearson,\n\nAs members of San Diego\u2019s congressional delegation, we are writing to inquire about the Housing and Urban Development-Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. Established in 2008, the HUD-VASH program provides housing vouchers and case management services for veterans experiencing homelessness. This program is particularly important to San Diego County, which is home to over 250,000 veterans, one of the largest concentrations in the country.[1] However, the San Diego Union-Tribune recently reported that of the 949 HUD-VASH vouchers the County of San Diego received this year, 336 were unused as of early October.[2]\n\nData collected by San Diego County show that from August 2022 to July 2023, referrals from the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) to the County of San Diego averaged approximately 13 per month. We recognize that VASDHS recently partnered with a non-profit organization, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), and that this partnership has led to a marked increase in referrals\u201436 per month in August, September, and October of 2023 on average. However, to address veteran homelessness, we must ensure that no vouchers go unused.\n\nVA has made significant strides in reducing veteran homelessness in recent years. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of homeless veterans in San Diego decreased from 659 in 2018 to 317 in 2020, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH).2 However, since the pandemic, homelessness among San Diego veterans rose to 473, according to a 2023 RTFH survey, a 49% increase from 2020.2 In Congress, we are fighting to restore authorities granted to VA during the pandemic to increase transitional housing payments and provide homeless veterans with clothing, hygiene items, transportation, and more.\n\nTo better serve veterans in our region, we are requesting that VASDHS provide written responses to the following questions:\n\nVASDHS has stated that a major barrier to increasing referrals to the County is the region\u2019s lack of quality, affordable units in desired locations.2 Please describe these issues in greater detail, including any challenges unique to the County compared to other public housing agencies in the region.\n\nHow many homeless veterans in the region have applied for a HUD-VASH voucher but have not yet been issued one?\n\nFamilies issued a HUD-VASH voucher have at least 120 days to search for a housing unit before the voucher expires. Please describe how this time limit affects HUD-VASH voucher utilization, and whether VASDHS has worked with local public housing agencies to pursue potential for flexibility in the amount of time before a voucher expires.\n\nWhat is the average amount of time between a veteran receiving a HUD-VASH housing voucher and securing housing in San Diego County?\n\nWhat recommendations do local VA leadership have to continue the region\u2019s progress in further reducing veteran homelessness?\n\nThank you for your ongoing work to better the lives of San Diego\u2019s veterans, including those who struggle with homelessness. We look forward to hearing from you and working on a path towards achieving our goal of functional zero.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://scottpeters.house.gov/press-releases/rep-peters-leads-letter-to-san-diego-va-director-about-unused-housing-vouchers-for-homeless-veterans"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.565834041684866, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}