LOS ANGELES - Civil rights lawyers today criticized a plan to renovate buildings for homeless veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.
A coalition representing homeless vets sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs two weeks ago, alleging the federal agency failed to provide housing at the medical facility for vets suffering from mental disorders.
The VA today announced plans for modernizing three buildings to be used for long-term therapeutic and homeless care programs at the West Los Angeles campus.
Attorney Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California said the master plan "remains merely a plan, with no firm commitments for any project."
The VA's announcement "makes no commitment to adding permanent supportive housing on the campus, despite the availability and under- utilization of existing buildings that could be readily converted to permanent supportive housing for at least some of the 2,500 chronically homeless vets in Los Angeles," he said.
But Donna M. Beiter, director of the VA's Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, said the master plan "builds on VA's progress to end veteran homelessness and ensures that land use at West Los Angeles will continue to put the needs of veterans first -- now and into the future."
She said the West Los Angeles campus is "a sacred and peaceful place for veterans to heal, and VA is committed to ensuring veterans and their families
receive the care and benefits they have earned."According to the ACLU/SC, many homeless vets lack access to the 387-acre VA campus donated more than 100 years ago to provide shelter and support to service members.
The lawsuit -- which, according to the ACLU, is the first of its kind -- seeks to compel federal officials to use the campus to care for and house mentally disabled vets.
"Homelessness itself exposes veterans to further trauma that itself can both cause and aggravate PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other disorders," the lawsuit states.
Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18333087?source=rss
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