GAO Report Criticizes VA Homeless Veteran Program
The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, released a report in March 2026, evaluating federal programs designed to house homeless veterans. The report specifically examines the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program and the Tribal HUD-VASH pilot and evaluates their work.
According to House.gov, the GAO is “the investigative arm” of Congress and the congressional “watchdog.” According to House.gov, the GAO supports the Congress in “meeting its constitutional responsibilities” and helps to improve the accountability of the federal government. When the GAO issues a report like the one discussed here, it’s based on findings after a critical period of review.
GAO Report Criticizes VA Homeless Veteran Program
The report includes a discussion of the VA homeless outreach program, which relies on a partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the VA called HUD-VASH. Under this program, HUD provides rental vouchers while the VA provides case managers to help veterans maintain their housing and access healthcare.
The GAO found that a chronic shortage of VA case managers undermines these efforts. In fiscal year 2024, more than 25 percent of VA medical centers reported vacancy rates of 20 percent or higher for these essential positions.
Annual turnover for case managers remained as high as 26 percent from 2020 through 2024.
A critical lack of data further complicates the situation for homeless veterans. The VA identified 174,045 instances between 2020 and 2024 where eligible veterans did not receive a referral to the housing program. The agency failed to document the reason for this lack of referral in 151,296 of those cases.
The VA documentation gap accounts for 87 percent of the total figure and prevents the government from determining whether the failure stems from a lack of vouchers or a lack of staff.
Many ask why the VA is failing in this area, especially after an extensive push to end veteran homelessness.
Tribal HUD-VASH Pilot Program Also Evaluated
The GAO report also reviews the Tribal HUD-VASH pilot, which serves American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. While the program has supported over 1,100 veterans since 2016, the GAO found that HUD lacks a formal evaluation plan and has not established measurable goals or a data analysis strategy to demonstrate the pilot’s effectiveness.
Why is the VA failing at such basic steps as creating an implementation plan? Why the admin failures? According to the GAO, “VA has faced challenges hiring and retaining enough case managers. The report says factors contributing to vacancies included staff burnout and employee turnover.
All eight sites GAO visited “described periods of high turnover and persistent vacancies. The effects of insufficient staffing include reduced services for veterans and delays in admitting new participants.”
The GAO report includes two recommendations to address these administrative failures. It advised the VA to implement a mandatory system for tracking why eligible veterans do not receive housing referrals, specifically noting when a lack of staff is the cause. It also directed HUD to create a formal evaluation framework for the Tribal pilot with clear objectives.
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
