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HOMELESS VETERANS STATISTICS Department of Veterans Affairs United States Army United States Navy United States Marines United States Air Force United States Coast Guard Most Often Asked Questions Concerning Homeless Veterans

FROM THE NATIONAL COALATION FOR HOMELESS VETERANS

http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm#facts

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 Press 1 on your keypad to reach trained VA Mental Health Professional who can assist 24 hours, seven days a week.

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.

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.

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.

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.