The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today it will begin awarding more than $400 million in grants under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (SSVF) to 266 non-profit organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Oct. 1 of this year.

SSVF funding provides thousands of low-income Veteran families around the nation with access to case management and other assistance to rapidly re-house Veterans who become homeless or prevent Veterans from becoming homeless.

“Helping Veterans exit homelessness and remain in stable housing is more important now than ever,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “The Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program remains a vital resource to ensure that every Veteran has a safe and stable place to call home, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In fiscal year (FY) 2019, SSVF served 105,156 individuals, including 70,524 Veterans and 20,608 children. As a result of these and other efforts, Veteran homelessness has been cut in half since 2010’s launch of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Since then, VA’s homelessness programs and targeted housing vouchers provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development have placed hundreds of thousands of Veterans and their family members into permanent housing or helped to prevent them from being homeless.

This year’s grant recipients competed for funding under a Notice of Fund Availability published Dec. 5, 2019. The funding will support SSVF services in fiscal year 2021 which begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2021.

Visit VA homeless SSVF to view the list of 2020 grantees and to learn more about the program.