Number of Homeless Vets Declined in 2011, Notes Veterans Lawyer

Jim Fausone

Veteran Disability Lawyer

 

President Obama and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pledged in 2010 to work together to end homelessness among veterans within five years.

 

A report which was released to Congress in December 2012 by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) found that the number of homeless vets has, indeed, dropped. 

 

According to the report, a 2011 assessment was done by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that found 67,495 veterans were homeless in January 2011 during a one-day count. That number was a 12 percent decrease from the same sort of one-day count a year ago, in January 2010. The USICH report points to an increase of funds for homeless assistance programs and an unusual level of cooperation and collaboration between multiple federal agencies as essential reasons for the lower numbers of homeless vets.

 

"Any decline in the number of homeless vets is a reason to applaud," said veterans lawyer James Fausone. "Here's hoping the joint efforts continue to help homeless vets and the numbers continue to decrease."

 

Studies indicate that higher concentrations of homeless vets are found in California, New York, Florida and Texas, in the urban areas of those states. Numbers for how many homeless vets reside in rural areas are harder to come by, as fewer services are available in rural areas and those homeless vets may less visible for any census undertaking. 

 

The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that homeless vets who are  Native American make up a large demographic; while Native Americans make up just 0.7 percent of the total number of U.S. veterans, they account for 2.5 percent of the veterans who are homeless.

 

Female veterans are also at a high risk for homeless, the study found. Women vets may return to civilian life that includes additional challenges, such as raising children as single parents, and some suffer from PTSD from military sexual trauma.  The VA has services geared specifically for women vets who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (SSVF), which awards grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives offering support to low income veterans and veteran families who live in or are transitioning to live in permanent housing.