While VA is lauding its progress in creating a haven for homeless veterans on its West Los Angeles campus, lawmakers are concerned about ongoing delays in the project and the unprecedented level of secrecy required of contractors. There also are reports of drug dealing, overdoses and unchecked crime from veterans living on the campus.
The site is the intended home of the proposed National Center for Warrior Independence, which would provide housing and other resources to as many as 6,000 homeless veterans.
Use of the campus, deeded to the federal government in 1888 for an old soldiers’ home, has been the focus of extensive debate and litigation. Over the years, VA sold off more than one-third of the 600 acres, so only 388 acres remain today. VA has also entered into a number of renewable leasing agreements allowing private organizations to: operate a private school, run a parking lot, operate an oil well and, in the case of UCLA, build a baseball stadium. In 2011, a group of veterans filed a lawsuit alleging VA was in breach of its fiduciary responsibility by using portions of the land for purposes other than caring for disabled veterans.