Homeless Veterans Research

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in January of 2014 there were 49,933 homeless veterans across the United States. In 2013 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study saying that 22 veterans die of suicide every day, or one veteran kills himself every 65 minutes due to either post traumatic stress disorder, or just because of guilt. Both of these statistics say that the way we treat veterans is clearly not good enough. Veterans do not receive the praise and the respect that they deserve because there are too many homeless veterans, veterans are killing themselves at a rate that is too rapid, and people just assume that because of their previous uniform they have killed and slaughtered babies, which

Imagine one making a huge decision to leave family, friends, and a familiar lifestyle to go serve and protect their country for months or years at a time. Imagine one risking their life and putting forth their time just to come back to no home, money, or health care while have developed a mental illness. The government promises all of these benefits one may never see and they end up on the streets without a home finding ways to cope which may lead to addiction. A study shows that “There are estimated to be about 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night with about 1.4 million others at risk of becoming homeless, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans said, citing government statistics” (Shaw). Many of America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and many other wars. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served their country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone. Homeless veterans all across America come from different backgrounds and homelessness does not discriminate against gender. These veterans, including males and females, suffer from homelessness due to: being unemployable; suffering economic hardships; battling substance abuse, and lacking proper legal aid. Yes, there are plenty of resources out there to assist the homeless veterans that may help some but there are still too many veterans living on the streets.

According to the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 62,619 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2012. The good news is that the estimate represents a 7.2 percent decline from the 2011 estimate and a 17.2 percent decline compared to the 2009 estimate ("Veterans," 2013). Although progress is being made, there is much to be done. There are veterans with the same needs as the general homeless population, but also veterans with severe physical and mental health disabilities, related to their service, that necessitate permanent housing with supportive services.

More than a half million veterans in the United States are homeless at some time, and on any given night more than 300,000 are living on the streets or in shelters.

According to the study done by Wenzel and Caskey of the Medical Care Journal, homeless veterans do not utilize medical, psychiatric and substance abuse services offered by various government sources including the VA. Some of the factors affected why Veterans are not seeking out care include age, distance to a clinic, severity of the illness, perceived treatment need, access to care, and whether they had received any sort of engagement or encouragement about the subject. One solution that could greatly increase the odds of Veterans seeking out and obtaining help for these factors would include changing the stigma and culture surrounding these factors such as mental illness and addiction. Policies must be changed in how the mental health providers initiate intervention, create a positive platform and support system for treatment and follow through without delay initiating care will greatly change the culture related to mental illness and addiction surrounding

In conclusion, the population of the homeless veterans has gone up over the decades due to many problems or disorders that can develop, but there are many programs and support systems trying to reverse this problem. Programs and support systems are being put in place so there will be a lower amount of homeless veterans. Homeless veterans population can be seen over the years, even from the Vietnam-era and more recently from Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In the recent wars with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were exposed to traumatic events come back from combat are different from who they were before. The traumatic events that the veterans were exposed to have an effect on them when they come home and try to transition back to the

An issue that has been around for decades which still remains in the United Sates today is homelessness among veterans. Vanessa Turner has a story that needs to be heard by many. As a homeless veteran, Turner joined the U.S. military in 1997 and later, proudly advanced to the rank of a sergeant. In 2003, Turner suffered from a traumatic injury while serving in Iraq. In suffocating 130-degrees fahrenheit heat, Turner fell into a coma and nearly died of heart failure. Immediately, she was brought to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., treated, and released with a pending medical discharge. After Turner’s release, both her and her daughter had no residency and no permanent health care plan. In attempt to make a stable living to sustain herself and her daughter, they often temporarily moved between family to friends’ apartments, never actually having a place to call home. In an effort to receive help from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center was very frustrating; she was told she had to wait months simply to get medical attention. Again when Turner requested for her belongings to be shipped back from her unit’s base in Germany, they told her she had to obtain transportation to Germany at her own expense, which she was unable to do because of the amount of money that it would cost, unfortunately resulting in not getting her property back. Vanessa Turner is just one of many homeless veterans who are

Day in and day out we think of the 21st century as evolved, yet in this day and age there are a large number of homeless veterans that roam our streets and overcrowd our shelters. They suffer from mental illness, struggle with substance abuse, and reintegration into society. Most veterans believe that because they fought for our country, they are entitled. That may seem to be a myth, but it is definitely true. Many depend on the Department of Veterans Affairs to save the day; only to be disappointed by the lack of consideration for those who served our country, and the amount of hoops that have to be jumped in order to receive services. Veteran homelessness is a huge problem in America, and though the Department of Veterans Affairs has set programs into place, there are a series of factors that contribute to the problem with no solid solutions.

The Housing Urban Development (HUD) released a report; called the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) this report has facts about the homelessness among veterans. “Hsu, 2014 talks about how the AHAR shows there is a 10 percent of veterans are living on the streets at any giving night”. (p. 18) “Larger number of homeless veterans’ dwell in residential, emergency, and traditional housing that is available to the veterans that is in need.” (HSU,2014(p. 18)

This article paints a disproportionate picture regarding the Veteran population of having a significantly higher probability to be homeless than non-Veteran by exclaiming, “At one point in time in 2014, 36 % of homeless Veterans were unsheltered compared with 30 % of non-Veterans” (Byrne, Montgomery, and Fargo 2016).

Did you know, in January 2015 there were nearly 48,000 homeless veterans in the United States? In 2014, there was an estimated 50,000, 2,000 more than 2015. In the past three years, the average reduction was at least 5,000 (Military Times), meaning during the year of 2015 not enough was done to help these veterans off the streets. Considering these people fought for this country, I think we as a country should be doing more to keep these people off the streets. In order to do this, citizens as well as the government need to come together and conduct a plan that is going to make those numbers drop a lot faster, and get all of the veterans off the streets. Health care, housing, and job training are three main things that play a major role in

Veterans constitute approximately 11-12% of all homeless adults in the U.S. but only 9.7% of the total U.S. population.

Homeless vets often have PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI). PTSD is often confused for TBI because they have some of the same symptoms. Both of these conditions can cause depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, irritability, aggression, and an increase in social isolation. Although they have many similarities TBI has some differences such as memory loss, migraines, seizures, problems with language, and trouble making easy decisions. Because TBI is a little different veterans with it need different treatment than PTSD patients. Having existing substance abuse or a mental illness is a strong predictor for someone to become homeless after being discharged from the

The purpose of this study will be to describe the causes of homelessness among adult women veterans age 35-54. Post traumatic experiences can have an everlasting effect on women veterans integrating into society. The consequences are an unhealthy and unsafe lifestyle for the women veterans who raised their right hand to serve and protect. This problem is worth addressing because of the growing number of women joining the military service and then returning home after their contractual obligation is completed.

As we present research on interventions utilized to assist United States Veterans who are experiencing homelessness, it is best to begin by re-emphasizing determinants such as combat, trauma inflicted by wartime events, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), isolation, unemployment, and substance abuse are potential factors of homelessness (Donovan & Shinseki, 2013). Disorders and Traumatic experiences may follow veterans after departing military services that produce distinctive challenges. Veterans is an at risk population that is apt to undergo psychiatric illnesses and are need of access to tailored resources and information that will offer a supportive environment that is absent alcohol, clean housing that is safe and secure, along with