Homeless veterans in the United States

Homeless veterans are men who have served in the armed forces who are homeless or living without access to secure and appropriate accommodation.

Background

Many of these veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that often occurs after extreme emotional trauma involving threat or injury. Causes of homelessness include:[1]

Demographics

Estimates of the homeless population vary as these statistics are very difficult to obtain. The overall count in 2012 showed 62,619 homeless veterans in the United States of America.[2] In January 2013, there were an estimated homeless veterans in the U.S., or 12% of the homeless population.[3] Just under 8% are female.[4]

Aid

Many programs and resources have been implemented across the United States in an effort to help homeless veterans. Among the prominent are:

HUD-VASH, a housing voucher program by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Administration, gives out a certain number of Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers to eligible homeless and otherwise vulnerable U.S. armed forces veterans.

Department of Veterans Affairs

On November 3, 2009, United States Secretary Eric K. Shinseki spoke at the National Summit on Homeless Veterans and announced his plan.

Along with President Barack Obama, Shinseki outlined a comprehensive five-year plan to strengthen the Department of Veterans Affairs and its efforts to end veteran homeless.. The goal was to end veteran homelessness by 2015, but because of budget constraints that has now been pushed to 2017.[5] The plan focused on prevention of homelessness along with help for those living on the streets. The plan would expand mental health care and housing options for veterans, and would collaborate with:[6]

In 2009, call centers were established in order to assist homeless veterans to gain assistance. As of December 2014, of the 79,500 veterans who contacted the call center, 27% were unable to speak to a counselor, and 47% of referrals lead to no support services provided to the homeless veteran.[7]

In a study published in the American Journal of Addiction, it found that there was indeed a link between both trauma of mental disorders that came upon the veterans studied and the substance abuse they partook in.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Reeve Vanneman (1 March 2006). "Causes of homelessness". Sociology 498: Homelessness. University of Maryland. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Alvaro Cortes; Meghan Henry; RJ de la Cruz; Scott Brown; Abt Associates (November 2013). "The 2012 Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness" (PDF). Office of Community Planning and Development. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Meghan Henry; Dr. Alvaro Cortes; Sean Morris; Abt Associates (2013). "The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress" (PDF). Office of Community Planning and Development. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Lessons Learned from the U.S. Department of Labor Grantees: Homeless Female Veterans & Homeless Veterans with Families" (PDF). Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Syracuse University. October 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Obama Administration Delays Deadline To End Chronic Homelessness Because Of Budget Constraints". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  6. ↑ "Remarks by Secretary Eric K. Shinseki". Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. United States Department of Veterans Affairs. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Kellan Howell (3 December 2014). "Despite first lady’s vow to end veteran homelessness, VA fails miserably". Washington Times. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
    Lauren Gilger; Shawn Martin; Angie Holdsworth; Amanda Kost (11 December 2014). "VA ignoring homeless vets? Report finds hotline designed to help homeless vets often fails them". KNXV (Phoenix, Arizona). Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Edens, Ellen L.; Rosenheck, Robert A.; Kasprow, Wes; Tsai, Jack (11 August 2011). "Association of substance use and VA service-connected disability benefits with risk of homelessness among veterans.". The American Journal on Addictions (American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry) 20 (5): 412–9. doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.2011.00166.x. Retrieved 12 February 2015.


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