ACLU faults VA plan for homeless vets in LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Civil rights lawyers are criticizing a plan adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs after a lawsuit claimed the VA was failing to house homeless vets at a sprawling Los Angeles campus intended for that purpose.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mark Rosenbaum says the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center master plan released today does not include any commitment to care for vets who need permanent homes after traumatic wartime experiences.

The VA announced Tuesday that its plan would call for the renovation of three buildings for homeless vets.

But Rosenbaum stressed that the actual document released a day later identified those buildings as only being candidates for potential renovation.

VA spokesman Joshua Taylor says that terminology was used because the renovations require approval and funding from Congress.