Homelessness Among US Veterans

In 2009, President Barack Obama and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, set out to eliminate veteran homelessness within a six year time frame (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2015). While they may not have succeeded in eliminating veteran homelessness by 2015, their plan has certainly set things in motion. In January 2015 there were a reported 47,725 homeless veterans in the United States. This is a four percent decrease from 2014 (The State of Homelessness In America, 2016). In that same year a Point-In-Time count was taken in the State of Oregon, which showed there were a total of 1,467 homeless veterans (Homelessness in Oregon, 2015), of which, in a street survey conducted in Marion County, twenty-six homeless identified

Theodore Walther, a previous veteran who was homeless after his service, wrote an article about his life living on the streets, and the flaws in the efforts to aid veterans out of homelessness. “This is the problem with social services in general: they are all too temporary and lack the follow-through necessary to solve real, long-term problems… they offered no comprehensive housing program, no job training or retraining only transitional housing and encouragement to get out there and scare up a job” (Walther ¶11). Job training is a crucial aspect of a service program to get these veterans out of the state they are in. Job training would reduce the number of veterans that are homeless since they would be able to get jobs that would not only pull themselves out of the streets, but also allow them to have access to more social services. Theodore Walther also says “once you’ve been out on the street for a prolonged period, say a couple of years or more, whatever skills you once had are gone or severely diminished and your ability to deal with everyday social situations is compromised” (Walther ¶24). This proves that the idea of veterans civilian skills dwindles as they are not being used as they serve in the military. Since the problem here is easily established, it should not be difficult to also establish a solution. While the

In spite of having many advantages, veterans over-represent in the homeless population. The question “Why?” begs an answer. Forty years have passed since the Vietnam Conflict ended and homeless veterans became a representative image in American society. Surprisingly, it appears there are no studies on the factors contributing

There have been stories of hardship, stories of how people have overcome, how they have beaten the odds; but how many of those stories been of veterans and their struggle with homelessness? The stories that are shown of homelessness do not show the full extent of what those people go through. This is shown in Michael’s case, a veteran who resided in Los Angeles, a man who lived under a bridge for ten years. Michael had become ashamed of his appearance and situation, at first he would resist those who offered him help. Although it seems like it would be easy for one to accept the help that he was in need of, it is not easy for those who have been completely dependent on themselves for such an extended period of time. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has done a great deal to try to assist those in situations similar to Michael 's, but they do not have enough of an outreach to help all of those in need. Furthermore, it is impossible to know the exact number of veterans in need of assistance, and that is including the approximated amounts, they are not able to help all of those in need. However, in recent years the president has gotten involved to assist in the fight against veteran homelessness. The VA and other such programs that are aimed to help veterans have helped in a variety of areas including: general and specialty physical and mental care, rehabilitation programs, treatment programs, specialty clinics, community living centers, transitional housing,

Thirteen percent of all of the homeless in the United States are reported to be veterans (Hoffler, Dekle & Sheets, 2014). Because of this issue veteran suicide rates are much higher than the general population as are the rates for veterans substance abuse (McCarl 2103). Behavioral health needs and housing are currently the two of the largest needs that are facing veterans at this time. The VA has housing programs and a large funding source though each VA may have differing program structures the VA itself is lacing in outreach programs and psychoeducational programs for homeless veterans. Also Homeless veterans themselves underutilize the services available to them. (Gabrielian, Yuan, Rubestein, Anderson, Gelberg 2013) This homeless veterans

Karl Malantes explains in an emotional interview with CNN that, “When the peace treaty is signed, the war isn’t over for the veterans, or the family. It’s just starting” (“Veterans Quotes”) Homelessness for soldiers who are lucky enough to return home is a huge epidemic in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, they estimate about 50,000 veterans are currently homeless (“FAQ About Homelessness”). The official definition of homelessness states “an individual who lacks housing or that must reside in a private or public that provides accommodations” (“What is the Official Definition of Homelessness”). Veteran Homelessness is correlated with gender and race, it has a great amount of causes including

In political news this week, some news journals are making an effort to show what some veterans have to go through. 84 year old war veteran twins say “it’s hell” after their home foreclosed. Clifford and Gary Koekoek survived living under Nazi occupations and fighting in the Vietnam jungles. But, today they say they are living in “hell” and sleeping in their car since their home was foreclosed in California around October. Clifford and Gary were born in the Netherlands, and grew up under the Nazi rule before retreating to the US. Both brothers worked in Hollywood and then served their country at war. The twins never married or had kids because of what they saw in the Holocaust. "All my life, I've seen people killed, tortured, loved ones taken

American homeless veterans are becoming more prevalent in the United States. Research will show that American veterans are an overrepresented population among the homeless in the U.S. A homeless veteran is an individual who lives on the streets, in abandoned buildings, vehicles, encampments, shelters, or transitional housing (Veterans Today, 2013). As a matter of fact, homeless veterans do not have a permanent residence under their control. Homelessness in general includes those who fit what Martha Burt, et al. (2004) called “street homeless”, which they defined as single adults who spend a lot of time on the streets; and the “chronically homeless”, which they defined as “being disabled and either continuously homeless for a year or more or having at least four homeless episodes during the last three years.”

In this month’s blog I want to focus on the Veteran’s that are homeless. Researching the number of homeless veteran’s left me in an appalled state, the numbers are astounding. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, “Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Senator from Hawaii, Hon. Daniel K. Akaka, who brought to our attention that, “of the Vietnam Era veterans, there are more homeless veterans today than there were casualties in the entire Vietnam War” (Looking at our homeless veterans programs: how effective are they, p.3), which, according to a 2008 update, was a reported 58,220 casualties (Vietnam War Casualties, 2012). Michael Blecker, Executive Director, Swords to Plowshares, said it best in the 2006 Committee of Veterans’ Affairs United States Senate hearing, when he stated, “we have a national obligation to prevent what happened to our other generations of war veterans” (Looking at our homeless veterans programs: how effective are they, p.4). A step in the right direction was to obtain the perspectives of the veterans themselves, as it isn’t just housing issues that are causing our veterans to become homeless. There are many problems and barriers these veterans come across that lead them to living in shelters or on the

Researchers have found that the military service alone is associated with homelessness, but it may be associated with other factors that contribute to homelessness. According to Woolsey and Naumann (2015), the study proposed to seek and synthesize evidence from studies and reports related to homeless veterans, requested by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office, Chief Evaluation Office, and the Veterans’ Employment and training Services to be published by the end of 2014. With a central focus on identifying the risk factors for homelessness among veterans. Under those circumstances, the literature review encountered risk factors for homelessness among veterans, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, lack of access to stable housing and employment

The failure of the United States government to sufficiently care for their men and women in the military can be seen in the number of homeless veterans. In fact, the U.S. Housing and Urban development (H.U.D.) reports there are over 39,000 members of the armed services living on the street (2016). The main causes of vagrancy among veterans include lack of housing, jobs, and access to health care (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, n.d.). Men and women ex-soldiers run a higher risk of becoming homeless if they are: suffering from a mental illness or substance abuse problem; lack support systems; or are disabled (Ainslie & Cooper, 2016).

It is common for war veterans to return home with physical and emotional damage from the traumatizing sights they’ve seen and terrible places they’ve been. It is also common for women to return home with MST (Military Sexual Trauma). This occurs when a woman has been raped or assaulted by another person in the military. When these women return from duty, they suffer greatly. Many of them become homeless. Two dozen female veterans were interviewed, and of them, 16 said they were assaulted in the service. 53% of homeless female veterans experiences MST.

Is this the fix for homelessness in the veteran community? It is a start, but until we tackle this problem with good, solid plans and solutions, this problem will continue to grow. We need to focus more funding on the mental and physical health issues that seem to be the overwhelming cause of homelessness in veterans. The trend is to just find a place for these people, whether that place be a shelter or actual long-term housing. But until we address the underlying causes of chronic and temporary homelessness, the amount will grow exponentially. As a country, our elected officials seem to find monies for a variety of projects and social programs, but what about taking better care of our veterans? Yes, we do give our veterans health care,

By stratifying by gender, female veterans were used in a study by Elbogen, et al. (2013). Females in the methodology were oversampled to ensure adequate representation. Veterans were surveyed using the Dillman survey methodology, which involves multiple and varied contacts to maximize the response rate. Elbogen, et al. (2013) used the following steps to ascertain data for the study: At baseline, participants were first sent an inductor letter about the upcoming survey. Four days later, they were sent an invitation by mail, which contained commemorative postage stamps as an incentive and instructions on how to complete a 35-minute confidential Web-based survey. Sixteen days after the invitations were mailed, potential participants were sent postcards thanking