The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that it will provide $1 billion in grants, funded through COVID-19 response legislation, including the American Rescue Plan, to state veterans homes.
Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, applauded the announcement today that State Veterans Homes throughout the country are set to receive $1 billion in grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The funding for these grants was provided through critical COVID-19 response legislation which he supported and helped to pass, including the American Rescue Plan Act, the CARES Act, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
"The last year has brought so much loss and suffering to residents of the New Hampshire State Veterans Home and their families, and we all mourn for the lives of those veterans who have passed," said Congressman Chris Pappas. "These VA grants - funded entirely through the American Rescue Plan, the CARES Act, and other COVID-19 relief legislation I was proud to support - are the reinforcements our state needs to ensure Granite State veterans get the care they have earned and that staff at facilities across the country get the resources they need to carry out their mission. I remain committed to fighting for every federal resource to help New Hampshire's veterans weather this storm and will continue to work with the State Veterans Home to ensure these funds get to them as fast as possible."
The grants being made by VA include:
- $500 million from the American Rescue Plan to provide grants through the current capital grant program for construction of State Veterans homes.
- $250 million from the American Rescue Plan for grants related to operating needs based on each state's share of total Veteran residents in nursing homes and domiciliary care.
- $150 million from the CARES Act for grants for capital needs for construction funds to modify buildings to prepare, prevent or respond in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.
- $100 million designated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, for grants for emergency payments to existing State Veterans Homes to prevent, prepare and respond to COVID-19.
State Veterans Homes are facilities that provide nursing home, domiciliary or adult day care services. They are owned, operated and managed by state governments and date back to the post-Civil War era when many states created them to provide shelter to homeless and disabled Veterans.
To participate in the State Veterans Home program, VA must formally recognize and certify a facility as a State Veterans Home. VA then surveys all facilities each year to make sure they continue to meet VA standards. VA does not manage State Veterans Homes.
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