News

Nov 11, 2026

On Veterans Day, California honors and serves veterans, investing in services and expanding opportunities

What you need to know: California is home to one of the largest populations of veterans in the country. Since 2019, California has made significant investments in veteran housing, mental healthcare, earned benefits, and long-term care, strengthening services and expanding opportunities for the state's nearly 1.5 million veterans and their families.

ANTALYA, TÜRKİYE– On Veterans Day, Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted the state's work since 2019 to support California veterans and their families. Working across the whole of government, California has expanded access to affordable housing and mental healthcare, protected earned benefits, modernized long-term care, and expanded education opportunities to support the nearly 1.5 million veterans who call this state home.

California has more military bases, more active duty, among the largest National Guard, and one of the largest veteran populations in the nation — and we're determined to show up for each and every one of them. From expanding housing and healthcare to protecting hard-earned benefits, we've made significant investments to strengthen the systems that serve our veterans and their families. This work is about more than what we've accomplished today. It's about building a California that continues to stand behind its veterans for generations to come.

Governor Gavin Newsom

⭐ Strengthen mental health and health services by expanding access to community-based, veteran-centered healthcare, providing tens of thousands of veterans with no-cost clinical appointments.

⭐ Modernize long-term care by improving information and clinical infrastructure across eight Veteran Homes and building a new 240-bed skilled nursing and memory care facility.

⭐ Expand veteran housing and homeownership by creating thousands of new affordable housing slots and helping hundreds of thousands of veterans purchase homes.

⭐ Connect veterans to earned benefits by providing support and assistance in filing claims, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new or increased benefits for veterans and their families.

⭐ Protect veterans and their families against predatory companies and targeted federal actions.

⭐ Support military families by expanding access to Paid Family Leave and childcare.

⭐ Expand educational opportunities for veterans and their families by providing tens of thousands of veterans with college credit for their real-world experience.

"Veterans and their families deserve a system of care that recognizes their experiences, understands their needs, and supports them throughout their lives," said California Veterans Affairs Secretary Lindsey Sin. "Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California has made considerable progress in expanding access to housing, health care, earned benefits, and long-term care. These investments have strengthened our ability to meet veterans where they are and connect them with the resources and opportunities they've earned."

More than $10.5 billion has been invested across state government to support servicemembers, veterans, and their families to:

🦅   Strengthen mental health and health services

• Transforming California's mental health systems with Proposition 1's $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond, approved by voters in 2024, for housing, services, and treatment for veterans and people experiencing homelessness.
• Establishing the California Veterans Health Initiative in 2022 to expand access to veteran-centered behavioral healthcare through community partners by supporting and building capacity to provide 100,000 free mental health appointments over three years — regardless of age, period or type of service, discharge status, or disability rating.
  • As of October 2026, participating organizations were averaging more than 5,500 no-cost clinical appointments for veterans and their families each quarter.
• Investing $4.7 million to improve veteran access to clinical trials for psychedelic-assisted therapy. More information on the newly opened Request for Applicants can be found here.

🦅   Modernize long-term care

• Eight CalVet-operated Veterans Homes across California serve more than 1,500 residents and provide a range of services to support aging veterans and those with specialized care needs.
• Completed deployment of the CalVet Electronic Health Record system across all eight Veterans Homes, significantly modernizing clinical and administrative infrastructure and strengthening the quality and continuity of care provided to veteran residents.
• Advancing construction of a new 240-bed skilled nursing and memory care facility at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville to replace the current Depression-era building and provide modernized living environments and specialized care for veterans with skilled nursing and memory care needs.

🦅   Expand veteran housing and homeownership

• Financing over 6,500 housing units, including 3,418 designated for veterans, through the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program.
• Creating almost 3,000 affordable homes, with over 800 specifically reserved for veterans, through 57 Homekey+ projects. Homekey+ funding, including more than $2.1 billion in Prop 1 funding, is available for local communities to build permanent supportive housing with wrap-around services, with approximately 50% of the funding set aside for projects serving veterans.
• Supporting nearly 450,000 veterans in purchasing homes through the CalVet Home Loan Program.
• Creating the Veterans Support to Self-Reliance pilot program to support veterans aged 55 and older experiencing or at risk of homelessness by pairing permanent supportive housing with nursing care, behavioral health services, medication management, peer support, and other individualized assistance.
• Maintaining lending capacity and supporting future generations of eligible veterans pursuing homeownership in California through Proposition 1-authorized funding for a $1.25 billion bond.

🦅   Support underserved veterans in accessing benefits and closing disparities

• Hosted Tribal Veteran Mental Health Summits in 2025 and 2026 to bring together tribal leaders, Native American veterans, behavioral health providers, and government partners to honor Native American veterans and identify opportunities for collaboration to address the unique behavioral health and suicide-prevention needs of Native American veterans.
• Supported LGBTQ veterans discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to update their records and access education, health, burial, and other benefits available to honorably discharged service members
• Established a cross-department outreach structure in 2025, connecting Veterans Services, Women Veterans, Minority Veterans, and Communications to improve coordination and expand opportunities to reach veterans who may not traditionally connect with state services.
• Increased webinars, workshops, and community events for underserved populations by 20%.
• Surveyed thousands of women veterans across all 58 counties to gather insights into challenges related to benefits access, health and behavioral health, housing, economic security, safety, and caregiving.
• Helped more than 800 veterans and family members take steps toward naturalized citizenship, supporting those who served the nation and are pursuing their path to becoming U.S. citizens.

🦅   Connect veterans to earned benefits

• Strengthened the statewide benefits assistance network, which helped file more than 317,000 claims, generating an estimated $736 million in new or increased federal benefits in fiscal year 2025–26.
• Strengthened County Veterans Service Office capacity, providing additional funding in the 2026 Budget Act and signing legislation to ensure more veterans can receive knowledgeable assistance in their communities.
• Served more than 12,000 veterans through the California Transition Assistance Program educates separating service members and veterans about their earned benefits and connects them with local service providers.
• Eligible veterans can add the word "VETERAN" to the front of their driver's license or ID card to signify their military service. This designation provides easier access to veteran benefits and privileges without the need to carry a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.

🦅   Protect veterans, their families, and access to their well-deserved benefits

• Supporting LGBTQ servicemembers discharged as a result of President Trump's ban on trans servicemembers from the military by providing critical housing, employment, and transition-to-civilian-life support.
• Strengthening reproductive care for veterans after the Trump administration imposed one of the most severe abortion bans in the country through the Veterans Affairs system. California is ensuring that veterans have greater access to the full spectrum of health benefits they are owed, including abortion care.
• Cracking down on predatory financial actors and fraudulent claims assistance companies targeting veterans and service members navigating the federal benefits system.
• Helped veterans and their families replace military and federal records, restore access to prescriptions and benefits, and connect with county and emergency resources during wildfires and other disasters. During the Los Angeles wildfire response, CalVet's regional network assisted more than 1,000 veterans and family members.

🦅   Support military families

• Implementing the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood Plus program to expand access to civilian childcare for military families.
• Ensuring military families have access to Paid Family Leave by expanding the definition of "covered active duty" to include stateside missions, extended training, or activation as part of the National Guard or Reserve.
• Reducing the burden on military-connected pupils and their families, the state publicly recognizes and designates specific public schools as California Purple Star schools.
• Creating a new state income tax break for military retirees and their surviving spouses, allowing them to exclude up to $20,000 of their income each year from state income taxes.
• Improving property-tax relief processes for disabled veterans and surviving spouses.

🦅   Expand educational opportunities for veterans and their families

• Expanding Credit for Prior Learning to allow veterans and working Californians to turn real-world experience into college credit. This statewide push is expected to benefit 250,000 people — including 30,000 veterans — and generate billions in long-term economic gains by speeding up time to degree and cutting costs.
• Extending eligibility for the Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship Program to dependents of a member of the United States Armed Forces who maintains California as their state of legal residence.
• Waiving tuition fees at California public colleges and universities for children and spouses of qualified veterans through the CalVet College Tuition Fee Waiver Program (https://us.list-manage.com/MqAkcSCFDfc?e=ad974c4bf8&c2id=d413becc102531d8f67a44f85f1cd163).
• Ensuring students relying on the CalVet College Fee Waiver or the federal GI Bill can complete their degrees efficiently (https://us.list-manage.com/oXWai0xw4Ra?e=ad974c4bf8&c2id=d413becc102531d8f67a44f85f1cd163) and fully use these benefits by granting priority enrollment at California Community Colleges, California State Universities, or the University of California.
• Extending eligibility for in-state tuition for dependents returning to a public higher education institution to finish their degree, even if the Armed Forces member has been transferred out of state or has retired from active duty.

More information about support services for veterans is available at calvet.ca.gov (https://us.list-manage.com/1AXkKtxUHIV?e=ad974c4bf8&c2id=d413becc102531d8f67a44f85f1cd163).

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