5 Key Facts About Homeless Veterans
From: End Homeless
By: Joy Moses
This article from End Homeless site, is from last November.
It discusses the progress we are making in America to insure every veteran that has served our country, has a safe and comfortable place to live.
We at Roark-Sullivan have been working toward this end since 1981. Now in our 40 year, we continue to provide shelter, casemanagement and guidance to those who served us.
We will not waiver from our mission.
In November, the nation takes a day off to honor its veterans. In recent years, the homeless services world has held these sentiments all year long: diligently working to secure permanent housing for everyone who has served our country.
Below are five key facts about these efforts, and the remaining barriers on the road to finally ending veterans’ homelessness in America.
#1 Dramatic Drops in Veteran Homelessness are Associated with Housing First and Increased Government Investments
Within a decade (2010-2019), America’s number of homeless veterans was roughly cut in half. The reduction from 74,087 to 37,085 veterans experiencing homelessness far exceeded the progress realized by chronically homeless individuals and all other subpopulations.
During this period, various actors joined a fight to end veterans’ homelessness. They included the Obama Administration; members of Congress from both sides of the aisle; and a broad, bipartisan group of mayors, governors, and county officials from across the country.
Two ingredients are associated with their success: 1) Housing First and 2) investments in veteran-specific programs.
The HUD-VASH program adopted Housing First strategies in 2012. The approach, an internationally recognized best practice, has proven effective for veterans—reducing housing placement waiting times from 223 to 35 days, improving retention in permanent housing, and reducing emergency room trips. Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF), which began in 2011, complements these efforts. It offers rapid re-housing (which stabilizes over 70 percent of participants in permanent housing) and prevention services.