On Saturday, tens of thousands of former members of the armed services will spend Veterans Day homeless — living on the streets or in vehicles or in shelters. And nowhere is the number of homeless vets larger than in Los Angeles County, where there are about 4,800 by the latest count, an alarming 57% increase over last year.
Given how desperate these veterans are for housing and services, it’s extremely troubling that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has taken $264 million that had been earmarked for services for homeless veterans who are placed into permanent supportive housing and put it into a general purpose fund.