The Veteran Eviction Study
Stable housing is fundamental to mental and physical health, and eviction represents a major source of housing instability. The national eviction moratorium imposed during the pandemic recently ended, and housing experts are expecting a surge of evictions in the coming years. This surge could substantially imperil progress toward VA’s objective to eliminate Veteran homelessness. The proposed study fills major gaps in our understanding of how evictions affect homelessness and health for Veterans.
We will post updates and preliminary results when they are available. If you would like to be notified when new results are available, please email vhapughousingstudy@va.gov or call (206) 277-4797.
Thank you for your interest in VA research.
Summary of the Different Aspects of This Study
Below is a description of the various aspects of the study. We will provide interim updates on each portion of the study as they become available.
Data Set: Estimate the effect of evictions on Veterans’ health, housing outcomes and costs. We will match Veterans evicted from 2013-2027 to Veterans who were not evicted using propensity scores estimated on an extensive list of social and health risk factors. We will compare subsequent housing and health outcomes on the matched cohorts.
Working hypothesis: (H1.1) Veterans who were evicted were more likely to experience subsequent homelessness, diminished physical and mental health, and to generate more costs to the VA than Veterans who were not evicted.
Interviews: We will interview up to 30 Veterans evicted in the past 2-years to inform the survey.
Interview recruitment has started as of July 21, 2025.
Surveys: Conduct a prospective survey of evicted and non-evicted Veterans to estimate the association between evictions and patient reported outcomes. We will conduct a web-based survey of 500 Veterans with a 6-month follow-up. We will survey 250 evicted Veterans at a date proximal to their eviction, and 250 non-evicted Veterans with a high predicted probability of housing insecurity.
Working hypothesis: (H2.1) Veterans who were evicted will have less favorable patient reported outcomes than Veterans who were not evicted.
Human Centered Design Session: Design and pilot test an intervention to proactively reach Puget Sound Veterans with court fillings for eviction. Primary outcomes: a) requests for information on housing assistance from Veterans who received outreach, and b) acceptability of the pilot intervention by Veteran users and VA staff.
