The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans — an American 501 nonprofit organization governed by a 17-member board of directors is a resource and technical assistance center for some community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for homeless veterans. NCHV also serves as a liaison between care providers, the U.S. Congress and the executive branch agencies. Under a technical assistance grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor, NCHV provides guidance and information about program development, administration, governance and funding to all of the nation's homeless veteran service providers.
VA's Plan to end veteran homelessness in five years
On Nov. 3, 2009, at the "VA National Summit Ending Homelessness among Veterans," then-Secretary of Veterans AffairsEric Shinseki unveiled his department's comprehensive plan to end homelessness among veterans, stating:
Many of you have been working the issue of veteran homelessness for a long time – as members of the Interagency Council on Homelessness or the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans or the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans.... I'm the newcomer here today, so let me reiterate that this is not a summit on homeless veterans – it's a summit to end homelessness among veterans. That's our purpose. President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness among veterans within the next five years.
Upon the summit's conclusion, NCHV published a detailed account of Shinseki's address and the proposed five-year plan, titled On August 5, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor announced 23 grants totaling $5,436,148 to provide homeless veterans with job training aimed at helping them succeed in civilian careers. The grants are being awarded by the department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service through the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. The grants announced in August 2011, are the first of a possible four years of annual awards contingent upon satisfactory performance and congressional appropriations.
Legislation
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans testified at a May 9, 2013 hearing in favor of the bill To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the definition of homeless veteran for purposes of benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, which would expand the definition of "homeless veteran" to include veterans and their dependents fleeing from violent home environments.
