VA's One Team approach aims to end Veteran homelessness
The Department of Veterans Affairs has intensified its commitment to ending Veteran homelessness through what it calls the One Team Operational Framework, a coordinated approach designed to connect every homeless Veteran to the specific resources most likely to help them achieve stable housing. Rather than focusing solely on the volume of services delivered across disconnected programs, this framework aims to unite VA offices, community partners, and VA-funded organizations around shared outcomes and a common goal: ensuring that every homeless Veteran is known by name and connected to appropriate interventions.
According to the latest Point-in-Time Count data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Veteran homelessness has decreased 56.1 percent since 2010, representing significant progress over more than a decade. However, an estimated 32,495 Veterans still experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2025, underscoring both the achievements made and the substantial work that remains. The VA's National Homeless Program Manager emphasizes that while immediate shelter, healthcare, employment services, and other resources provide essential support, delivering services alone is not sufficient to end Veteran homelessness entirely.
This coordinated approach affects all Veterans experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, regardless of disability rating or geographic location. The framework recognizes that homelessness stems from complex, interconnected factors including limited affordable housing, stagnant wages, health challenges, and gaps in community resources that have developed over decades. No single program or organization can address these systemic issues in isolation, which is why the One Team framework prioritizes alignment across multiple agencies and community stakeholders.
The One Team Operational Framework operates through four key elements that foster coordinated action across the VA and among VA-funded organizations, community partners, and other stakeholders. The framework is built on the principle that Veterans should not need to become experts at navigating VA and other systems simply to access help. Instead, services are coordinated across programs and partners to make it easier for Veterans experiencing homelessness to access the right support at the right time, with success measured not by organizational metrics but by whether fewer Veterans experience homelessness and whether those who do are connected to the resources they need most.
For disabled veterans, this shift toward coordinated care is particularly significant because many face compounding challenges that require multiple forms of support simultaneously. A disabled Veteran experiencing homelessness may need healthcare for service-connected conditions, mental health services, employment assistance tailored to their limitations, and housing that accommodates their disabilities. The One Team approach aims to eliminate the burden of navigating these systems separately, instead creating pathways where different programs work together with the Veteran's overall stability as the shared priority.
Veterans currently experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing housing should contact their local VA Medical Center and ask specifically about homeless services and the HUD-VASH program, which combines housing vouchers with VA supportive services. Those already enrolled in VA healthcare can speak with their social worker or patient advocate about housing assistance programs. Veterans not currently enrolled in VA healthcare can call 1-800-698-2411 or visit their nearest VA facility to begin the enrollment process and inquire about homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services available in their community.
The success of this framework ultimately depends on communities measuring progress not by how many services they provide, but by whether each individual Veteran moves closer to permanent stability. Veterans should advocate for themselves within these systems, request supervisor involvement when services fall short, and remember that the goal is coordinated support tailored to individual circumstances rather than one-size-fits-all program requirements.