Placer County officials believe just a few dozen veterans remain in the foothill community’s homeless population, and the local agency has a new program to help those former troops find places to live.
The Placer County Housing Authority earlier this month began offering $1,000 bonuses to landlords who agree to rent to homeless veterans. The money is meant to give an extra incentive to California landlords to help them overcome any reservations they might have about renting to a homeless person.
“Some landlords don’t feel comfortable taking someone who’s facing homelessness — the incentive can give the landlords reassurance,” said Derrick Oliveira, an officer in the Placer County Veterans Service Office. “Veterans make good tenants. There’s some misconception that homeless folks may not make the best tenants, but homeless veterans do make good tenants, and we’re just trying to show landlords how seriously we take this.”
Placer County’s homeless outreach program currently lists 45 registered homeless veterans, county spokeswoman Katie Combs Prichard said. Veterans’ advocates in the area believe there may be many more who fly under the radar.
Homeless veterans are a top priority among government agencies both because of the veterans’ service to their country and because they are often eligible for federal benefits that can help them cover rent.
In this case, the money for the landlord incentives is tied to the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, or HUD-VASH program. The number of homeless veterans in the U.S. declined by almost 50% between 2010 and 2020, falling from 74,087 to 37,252.
Nonetheless, the problem of veteran homelessness persists in the Sacramento area. A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report released in 2021 estimated that 646 homeless veterans reside in Sacramento County, 75.5% of whom sleep outdoors or in their vehicles. The number has more than doubled since 2016, when HUD data reported 308 homeless veterans in the county.
The Biden administration a year ago released a joint statement committing to “a multi-phased whole-of-government effort that will ultimately help us end Veteran homelessness.”
As part of this effort, the Biden administration has prioritized programs like HUD-VASH. Geared toward helping homeless veterans find and maintain permanent housing, HUD-VASH pairs rental assistance vouchers with additional resources like health care services and mental health counseling.
Max Baumgartner, president of the nonprofit organization Sacramento Stand Down, contends the number of homeless veterans in Placer County might be much higher than the official list shows.
“There are a lot more out there than we know about,” Baumgartner said. “They have ways of keeping themselves discreet, and, if they don’t communicate with anybody, if they don’t let anybody know, nobody knows.”
For veterans to enter the county register and qualify for related benefits, they must make the decision to report themselves. Some remain reluctant to come forward, Baumgartner said.
“There’s a lot of help out there, it’s just that [homeless veterans] don’t reach out to it, because they don’t know, or some of them don’t trust people,” Baumgartner said. “Some of them just don’t want help, no matter what.”
Baumgartner and Oliveira said homeless veteran in the Sacramento area tend to be men of various ages. Recently, Baumgartner said noticed an influx of younger veterans, many of whom had become accustomed to instability and might be reluctant to trust government resources.
Baumgartner voiced his support for programs like Placer County’s HUD-VASH incentive initiative, but stressed the importance of the county providing support for veterans beyond housing.
“When we get these veterans in our program, they’re working with case managers and they’re working with people that are going to help them sustain their living condition and improve their condition,” Baumgartner said. “So, if they do get an apartment, what is it going to take for them to keep it, and not rely on the government or other people to pay for it?”
