 Release Date: November 8, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Homelessness Research Institute of the National Alliance to End Homelessness has released new research on the number of homeless veterans in the U.S., along with the causes of veteran homelessness. The report, Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans, also examines the impact of high housing costs among veteran renters and makes recommendations on how to prevent and end veteran homelessness. The report exposes a shockingly disproportionate representation of veterans among the homeless population. Veterans, who represent only 11 percent of the civilian adult population nationally, comprise 26 percent of the homeless population. In California, approximately 49,724 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2006, and 11 percent of all homeless veterans in the United States – 21,424 – live in Los Angeles. Nationwide, a total of 194,254 homeless veterans slept on the street, in shelter, or in transitional housing on any given night in 2006 and 495,400 were homeless over the course of the year, according to the analysis. These estimates, a compilation of point-in-time counts collected by local Veterans Affairs medical centers, provide data on every state in the country. “The solution to ending homelessness among veterans is much like the solution to ending homelessness for all people,” says Toni Reinis, Executive Director of New Directions, Inc., an agency that serves 600 to 800 homeless veterans annually. “The issues of PTSD, anxiety, depression, lack of a social network, and lack of marketable job skills including computer literacy and basic education, have caused chronic homelessness over the past decades. We know what it takes to end homelessness. What we need as a nation is the will to make it happen.” Ms. Reinis noted that Congress has passed bills aimed at strengthening veterans’ services in six major areas, but to date the only legislation that has been signed into law addresses the immediate health care needs of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (including mental health care and benefit claims) and restoring VA health facilities by adding $5.2 billion in FY 2007. A number of factors contribute to homelessness among veterans, including lack of income, physical health and disability, mental health and trauma, substance abuse, and weak social networks—but a lack of affordable housing in California and across the nation is the primary driver. “We therefore call on Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and our entire California Congressional Delegation to support funding increases for the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program which provides permanent housing subsidies and case management services to homeless veterans with mental health and addictive disorders. This program can significantly reduce and prevent homelessness for veterans by providing permanent and affordable housing linked with services,” Ms. Reinis added. Despite the perceived ubiquity of homelessness among veterans, most of the 23.4 million U.S. veterans do not have trouble affording housing costs. However, the analysis found that nearly half a million (467,877) veterans are extremely low-income and therefore severely rent burdened (paying more than 50 percent of their income towards rent). It is these veterans who often become homeless. In California, an estimated 73,669 veterans qualify as severely rent burdened due to rapidly increasing housing costs. New Directions provides drug and alcohol detoxification, intensive substance abuse treatment, and job training for homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area. The non-profit agency, located on the grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, also operates two houses for women veterans in Mar Vista, and has recently initiated a program called Operation Welcome Home, which is specifically targeted to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. |
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