WASHINGTON, DC - The Veterans' Affairs Committee today approved U.S. Senator Jack Reed's Zero Tolerance for Veterans Homelessness Act, which will help prevent veterans from becoming homeless.

Reed's legislation streamlines, enhances, and expands the assistance provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of becoming homeless.

The VA estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and more than 200,000 veterans experience homelessness each year. These numbers are expected to climb as more service members from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan return home.

"Our veterans have made great sacrifices to serve our country, and we must honor their commitment. When they return from the battlefield, they shouldn't have to battle on their own to get help and affordable housing. The Zero Tolerance for Veterans Homelessness Act will build on the existing infrastructure of agencies like the VA and HUD and merge housing programs and support services for veterans so that there is an integrated approach to address their risk of homelessness," said Reed, a former Army Captain. "There are already some excellent VA and HUD programs that are designed to help homeless veterans, and there are some great non-profits out there doing their part. But in order to be more effective, we need a comprehensive and coordinated approach and this bill will help all veterans, particularly the new generation coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan."

The Zero Tolerance for Veterans Homelessness Act will:

• Create a new Homelessness Prevention program that would enable the VA to keep at-risk veterans in stable housing and offer increased assistance to veterans who have fallen into homelessness.

• Authorize additional housing vouchers through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, VASH, program. This collaborative program provides homeless veterans with vouchers to rent apartments in the private rental market, as well as case management and clinical services at local VA medical centers. In this way, veterans receive the supportive housing they need to recover and thrive.

• Make it easier for non-profits to apply for capital grants through the VA's grants and per diem program to build transitional housing and other facilities for veterans. This would streamline the process for non-profit organizations to be able to use financing from other sources to break ground on new housing construction.

• Create a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within HUD. The Special Assistant would ensure that veterans have access to HUD's existing programs and work to remove any barriers. The Special Assistant would also serve as a liaison between HUD and the VA, helping to connect and coordinate the services the two departments provide.

• Establish a new Homeless Veterans Management Information System, to be developed by the VA, in consultation with HUD and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. This data collection system will be used to provide annual reports to Congress on the number of homeless veterans and the types of assistance they receive. This information will help illustrate how programs are performing and inform future policy.

• Require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with other agencies, to analyze existing programs and develop a comprehensive plan with recommendations on how to end homelessness among veterans. Establishing a plan with appropriate benchmarks will enable the VA to more easily track progress towards this important goal.

"Only by working together, across the federal government and in partnership with non-profits and local housing authorities, will we be able to comprehensively help homeless veterans and reach those in danger of becoming homeless. We owe it to America's veterans to ensure that they and their families have safe, affordable places to live, and we need to provide them with the services and benefits they have earned. Our brave veterans deserve nothing less," concluded Reed.

Senator Reed has been a strong supporter of housing assistance and homelessness prevention initiatives throughout his career. Last year, President Obama signed Reed's Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 into law. This legislation provides $2.2 billion for targeted homelessness assistance grant programs; increases current levels of funding for homelessness assistance grants by $600 million; and allocates up to $440 million for homelessness prevention initiatives. It also expands the definition of homelessness in order to help families on the verge of becoming homeless and reauthorizes federal homelessness aid programs for the first time since 1989.

Reed's bill passed the Veterans' Affairs Committee as part of a larger legislative package, which also included a bill introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senator Reed to provide targeted assistance to homeless female veterans and homeless veterans who have children. The overall legislation will now go before the full U.S. Senate for consideration.