Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announcing it is changing a set of policies that had excluded disabled veterans from receiving subsidized housing designated for them:
“This is an overdue and much welcomed policy change. Raising the income eligibility threshold and excluding service-connected disability benefits is undoubtedly a good move that’ll have a big ripple effect in Los Angeles County.
Locally, our efforts to house some of our most vulnerable veterans will be dramatically improved because more veterans will qualify. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the Los Angeles County Development Authority, and our federal Veterans Affairs partners are expected to immediately implement this change so that we can move more veterans from our streets and into homes.
Each brave man and woman who has served this country deserves to draw down every bit of support they’ve earned with a lot of sacrifice. Morally, this federal policy change was the right call.”