VA Launches New PSA on Suicide
Prevention for Veterans
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2071
Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Veterans
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Who are homeless veterans?
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
says the nation's homeless veterans are mostly males (four percent are
females). The vast majority are
single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45 percent suffer
from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems.
America's
homeless veterans have served in World War I, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam
War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom
(Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom,
or military's anti-drug cultivation
efforts in South America. Forty percent of homeless veterans served during
the Vietnam Era. More than sixty-seven percent served our country for at
least three years and thirty-three percent were stationed in a war zone.
Roughly 56 percent of all homeless veterans are African American
or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 12.8 percent of the
15.4 percent of the U.S. population respectively.
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.
How many homeless veterans are there?
Although accurate numbers are impossible to come by; no one keeps national
records on homeless veterans. The VA estimates that 107,000 veterans
are homeless on any given night, and approximately twice that many
experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out
of
every three homeless men, which are sleeping in doorways, alley, or box in
our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this
country. According to the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers
and Clients (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and The
Urban
Institute,
1999). Veterans account for twenty-three percent of all homeless people in
America.
Why are veterans homeless?
In addition to the complex set of factors affecting all homeless, extreme
shortage of affordable housing, livable income and access to health care. A
number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of
family and social support networks.
A top priority is secure, safe, clean housing, which offers a supportive
environment that is free of drugs and alcohol.
While "most homeless people are single, unaffiliated men, most housing money
is existing in federal homelessness programs. In contrast, is devoted to
helping homeless families or homeless women with dependant children."
According to "Is Homeless a Housing Problem?" in (Understanding
Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives, published by Fannie
Mae Foundation in 1997).
Doesn't the Department of Veteran Affairs take care of
homeless veterans?
To a certain degree, yes. According to the VA's specialized
homeless programs served more than 92,000 veterans, however, who
experience homelessness annually and must seek assistance from
local government agencies and community- and faith-based service
organizations. In its November 2007 "Vital Mission"
report, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that
up to about half a million veterans have characteristics that
put them in danger of homelessness. These veterans may
require supportive services outside the scope of the VA homeless
program. The years since it
began responding to the special needs of homeless veterans, its homeless
treatment
and assistance network has developed into the nations largest provider of
homeless services, service more 100,000 veterans annually.
With an estimated 260,000 veterans homeless at some time during the year,
the VA reaches 100,000 of those in need, leaving 160,000 veterans who must seek assistance from local government agencies and service
organizations in their communities.
Since 1987, the VA's programs for homeless veterans have emphasized
collaboration with community service providers to assist in expanding
services to
more veterans in crises. This partnership is credited with reducing the
number of homeless veterans on any given day by more than forty percent
since
2005. For more information about VA homeless veterans programs, go to
http://www.va.gov/homeless/
What services do veterans need?
Veterans need a coordinated effort that provides secure housing and
nutritional meals, essential physical health care, substance abuse aftercare
and
mental health counseling, and personal development and empowerment.
Veterans also need job assistance, training and placement assistance.
NCHV strongly believes that all programs to assist homeless veterans must
focus on helping veterans reach the point where they can obtain and sustain
employment.
What seems to work best?
The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are
community-based, nonprofit, "veterans helping veterans" groups. Programs
that
seem to work feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in
structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are
succeeding at bettering themselves. Because government money for homeless
veterans is currently limited and serves only one in ten of those in need.
It is critical that community groups reach out to help provide the support,
resources and opportunities most Americans take for granted; housing,
employment and healthcare.
There are about 250 community-based veteran organizations across the country
that have demonstrated impressive success in reaching homeless
veterans. These groups are most successful when they work
in collaboration
with federal, state and local government agencies, other homeless providers,
and
veteran service organizations. Veterans who participate in these
programs have a higher chance of becoming tax-paying, productive citizens
again.
What can you do?
- Determine the need in your community. Visit
with homeless veteran providers. Contact your local mayor's office
for a list of providers.
- Involve others. If you are not already part of
an organization, pull together a few people who might be interested
in attacking this issues.
- Participate in local homeless coalitions.
Chances are there is one in your community. If not, this may be the
time to start bringing people together around this critical need.
- Send a financial donation to your local homeless
veteran provider.
- Contact your elected officials and discuss what
is being done in you community for homeless veterans.
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Veteran Fact Sheet
DEFINITIONS, DEMOGRAPHICS AND ESTIMATED NUMBER
What is the definition of homeless?
PL 100-77, signed into law on
July 22, 1987, and known as the "McKinney Act," provided a definition of
homelessness that is commonly used
because it controls the federal funding streams.
Excerpt from PL100-77: Sec.
11302
General definition of homeless individual:
(a) In general
For purposes of this chapter, the term "homeless" or "homeless individual"
or "homeless person" includes the following:
1.) An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
residence.
2.) An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
A.) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to
provide temporary living accommodations including (welfare hotels,
congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the
mentally ill).
B.) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals
intended to be institutionalized.
C.) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as
regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.
Who is a veteran?
In general, most organizations use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
eligibility criteria to determine which veterans can access services. Eligibility for VA benefits is based upon discharge from active military
service under other than dishonorable conditions. Benefits vary according
to
factors connected with type and length of military service. To see details
of eligibility criteria for VA compensation and benefits, view the current
benefits booklet at
http://www1.va.gov/opa/publications/benefits_book.asp
Demographics of homeless veterans.
"The Forgotten Americans-Homelessness: Programs
and the People They Serve"
Released December 8, 1999, by the Interagency Council on the Homeless, is
the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients
(NSHAPC), which was completed in 1996, and updated three years later. You
can visit
http://www.huduser.org/
and download the NSHAPC reports.
Veteran Specific Highlights:
23% of homeless population are
veterans
33% of male homeless population are veterans
47% served Vietnam Era
17% served Post-Vietnam
15% served Pre-Vietnam
67% served three or more years
33% were stationed in war zone
25% have use VA Homeless Services
85% completed high school/GED, compared to 56% of non-veterans
89% received Honorable Discharge
79% reside in central cities
16% reside in suburban areas
5% reside in rural areas
76% experience alcohol, drug, or mental health problems
46% are white males compared to 34% non-veterans
46% age 45 or older, compared to 20% non-veterans
Services needs cited include:
45% help finding jobs
37% finding housing
How many homeless veterans are there?
Accurate number community-by-community are not available. Some communities
do annual counts, others do an estimate based on a variety of factors.
Contact the closest Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center's Homeless
Coordinator or the office of your mayor or other presiding official to
obtain
local information.
The Urban Institute, in conjunction with the 1996 National Survey of
Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC), expressed the following:
2.3 million to 3.5 million people experience homelessness in America each
year. By taking 23 percent
of that range, that would indicate there are
between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans who are homeless
at some point during
the year.
To get full "Helping America's Homeless" report published by The Urban
Institute Press in 2001, visit
http://www.urban.org/
Incarcerated Veterans
In May 2007, The Bureau of Justice
Statistics released a
special report on incarcerated veterans.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/vsfp04.pdf
The following are highlights of the report, "Veterans
in Prison or Jail":
Over 225,000 veterans held in Nation's prisons or jails in 1998.
- Among adult males in 1998, there were 937
incarcerated veterans per 100,000 veteran residents.
- 1 in every 6 incarcerated veterans was not
honorably discharged from the military.
- About twenty percent of veterans in prison
reported seeing combat duty during their military service.
- In 1998, an estimated 56,500 Vietnam War-Era
veterans and 18,500 Persian Gulf War veterans were held in State and
Federal prisons.
- Nearly sixty percent of incarcerated veterans
had served in the Army.
- Among state prisoners, over half (fifty-three)
percent of veterans were white non-hispanic, compared to nearly a
third (thirty-one percent) of non-veterans, among Federal prisoners,
the percentage of veterans who were white (fifty percent) were
nearly double that of non-veterans (twenty-six percent).
- Among state prisoners, the median age of
veterans was ten years older than other prison and jail inmates.
- Among state prisoners, veterans (thirty-two
percent) were about three times more likely than non-veterans
(eleven percent) to have attended college.
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Veterans are more likely than others to be in prison
for a violent offense but less likely to be serving a sentence for drugs.
- About thirty-five percent of veterans in state
prison, compared to twenty percent non-veterans, were convicted of
homicide or sexual assault.
- Veterans (thirty percent) were more likely than
other stare prisoners (twenty-three percent) to be first-time
offenders.
- Among violent state prisoners, the average
sentence of veterans was fifty months longer than the average of
non-veterans.
- At year-end in 1997, sex offenders accounted for
one in three prisoners held in military correctional facilities.
- Combat veterans were no more likely to be
violent offenders than other veterans.
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Veterans in state prisons reported higher levels of alcohol abuse, lower
levels of drug abuse, than other prisoners.
- Veterans in state prison were less likely
(twenty-six percent) then other state prisoners (thirty-four
percent) to report having used drugs at the time of their offense.
- Nearly sixty percent of veterans in state prison
had driven drunk in the past, compared to forty-five percent of
other inmates.
- About seventy percent of veterans, compared to
fifty-four percent of other state prisoners, had been working
full-time before arrest.
- Incarcerated veterans were likely as
non-veterans to have been homeless when arrested.
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