Homeless veterans in the United States

Homeless veterans are persons 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:

• Disabilities - physical injury or mental illness
• Substance abuse - drug abuse or alcoholism
• Family breakdown
• Joblessness and poverty
• Lack of low cost housing
• Government policy

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. In January 2013, there were an estimated homeless veterans in the U.S., or 12% of the homeless population. Just under 8% are female.

Aid

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

• National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
• United States Department of Veteran Affairs
• United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
• The American Legion
• National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs

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. 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:

• The Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development
• Small Business Administration
• U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
• State directors of Veterans affairs
• Veteran Service Organizations
• National, state, and local social service providers and community groups

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.

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.