San Francisco Homeless Veterans Case Study

In “L.A.'s grim homeless data": What can be done? by The Editorial Board argues the several homelessness problems. The reasons given in the article to support the homeless data are the percentage increase, loss a job, and lack of action. The percentage of homeless people in the county, which should be going down, instead has gone up 12% since 2013, to 44,359 today. In addition even though, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has vowed to house all the city's homeless veterans by the end of this year, it turns out there are still 4,400 of them in the county.

This November, “Mary Jane” may become legalized in California. “California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, will be on the November 8, 2016, ballot in California as an initiated state statute...A "yes" vote supports legalizing recreational marijuana for persons aged 21 years or older under state law and establishing certain sales and cultivation taxes (“California Proposition 64”). Experts are worried about how the passing of this proposition may negatively affect California students. They’re concerned because they’ve heard about “Mary Jane’s” bad reputation. After she was legalized in Colorado in 2013, the number of students using marijuana increased and academic performance declined (Colwell and “The Legalization

Veterans are the men and women that have spent a part of their lives sacrificing and serving our country in the various branches of the military. These are people that should be honored because their sacrifice ensures the very freedoms that we get to enjoy here in the United States. Unfortunately, veterans are confronted with a serious problem when they leave the military that hurts their well being and pursuit of happiness. Veterans are 50% more likely to become homeless than American citizens and on any given night there are around 75,000 veterans sleeping on the streets (Garofalo, 2011). The social problem is that homeless veterans are at a higher risk for suicide than those who are not homeless. To understand this social problem, one must

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

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.

Last year, New Orleans was the first city to announce it achieved finding housing for every homeless veteran on the street. This year, cities in Texas should be able to say the same, say that they will not look the other way for people who have served, they will not look the other way for those that need their help. With the right programs and funding, Texas could do more to help homeless veterans, like provide a bed for each one on the street, or have enough shelters and outreach programs so those in need can find adequate help. After all, one on the street is one too

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

It is impossible to get an accurate number of homeless veterans due to their transient nature. It is speculated that during any given night there can be as many as 40,000 homeless veterans (NCHV.org, 2013). Although the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) yearly assists about 25% of veterans in need this leaves about 300,000 veterans seeking assistance elsewhere (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Currently the VA has a program to help disadvantaged, at-risk, and homeless veterans live in supervised group homes while working for pay. Veterans in the program work about 33 hours per week, with approximate earnings of $732 per month, and pay an average of $186 per month toward maintenance and up-keep of the residence (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009).

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that close to 50,000 veterans are homeless on any given night (2015).

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

About 1.5 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at-risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), nearly 200,000 American Veterans are homeless on any given night (Rieckhoff). NCHV - the resource and technical assistance center - reported that the number of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) - (OEF) veterans are becoming homeless much more quickly than Vietnam veterans. As the war in Iraq and Afghanistan continues the number of homeless veterans increases. The next generation of American Veterans is on its way home, and tens of thousands more will return from combat over the years to come. Upon returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan thousands of veterans are facing a new nightmare, the risk of homelessness.

According to Donovan, S and Shinseki, E.K. of the American Journal of Public Health, the suggestion to combat this issue is to reenforce intervention strategies of certain government organizations that work and to funnel federal resources to those strategies (Donovan, 2013). One of the main factors for why people are homeless is due to the mental and physical illness and substance abuse. Effective intervention strategies must be achieved in order to combat homelessness and to ensure veterans are receiving aid they deserve. An example of improving intervention would be to increase investment in effective, evidence-based programs utilizing such as the Housing First model created by the VA which helps assist veterans with access to health care, employment and other supportive services that promote long-term housing stability, reduce recidivism and improve quality of

These individuals are considered ill individual’s which need health care, training, and rehabilitation. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki had previously designed a 5-year plan which could possibly end the epidemic of homeless veterans. The joint effort of work between the US Government, businesses, veteran service organizations, and private sectors they would make the solutions work. This epidemic is a nation tragedy, which means all organizations, government, and the rest of society should help move it towards

United States., Congress., Senate. (2007). Looking at our homeless veterans programs: how effective are they?: hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, second session, March 16, 2006. Washington: U.S.