The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new set of policy changes that will help expand assistance for veterans under the HUD-Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, and improve their access to supportive housing developments. Veterans experiencing homelessness often receive VA benefits as a result of an injury or illness that was acquired or worsened during military service.

Before this change, these benefits were considered income when determining eligibility for certain supportive housing developments—causing some veterans to exceed the income threshold for these programs. HUD’s policy changes will help more homeless veterans with service-connected disability benefits gain access to these housing developments.

The changes include requiring a higher limit on income eligibility for the program and adopting an alternative definition of income. Additionally, HUD awarded $20 million to public housing agencies to continue to improve the HUD-VASH program. According to a statement by HUD, the HUD-VASH Program is a vital resource to house veterans experiencing homelessness.

HUD-VASH pairs rental assistance through housing vouchers targeted to veterans experiencing homelessness from HUD with case management and other supportive services provided by VA; since the program’s inception, HUD-VASH has assisted more than 200,000 veterans to exit homelessness and obtain permanent affordable housing.