Stats & Facts

Most Often Asked Questions Concerning Homeless Veterans

Who are homeless veterans?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly five percent being female. The majority of them are single; come from urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About one-third of the adult homeless population are veterans.

America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF), and the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served our country for at least three years, and one-third 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 and 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 flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.

Why are veterans homeless?
In addition to the complex set of factors influencing all homelessness – extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income and access to health care – a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse, which are compounded by a lack of family and social support networks.

A top priority for homeless veterans is secure, safe, clean housing that offers a supportive environment free of drugs and alcohol.

Although “most homeless people are single, unaffiliated men… most housing money in existing federal homelessness programs, in contrast, is devoted to helping homeless families or homeless women with dependant children,” as is stated in the study “Is Homelessness a Housing Problem?” (Understanding Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives, Fannie Mae Foundation, 1997).

Doesn’t the Department of Veterans Affairs take care of homeless veterans?

To a certain extent, yes. VA’s specialized homeless programs served more than 92,000 veterans in 2009, which is highly commendable. This still leaves well over 100,000 more veterans, however, who must seek assistance from local government agencies and community- and faith-based service organizations.

Since 1987, VA’s programs for homeless veterans have emphasized collaboration with such community service providers to help expand services to more veterans in crisis. These partnerships are credited with reducing the number of homeless veterans by more than half over the past six years. More information about VA homeless programs and initiatives can be found here.

What services do veterans need?

Veterans need a coordinated effort that provides secure housing, nutritional meals, basic physical health care, substance abuse care and aftercare, mental health counseling, personal development and empowerment. Additionally, veterans need job assessment, training and placement assistance.

NCHV strongly believes that all programs to assist homeless veterans must focus on helping them 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 best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves.

Government money, while important, is currently limited, and available services are often at capacity. It is critical, therefore, that community groups reach out to help provide the support, resources and opportunities most Americans take for granted: housing, employment and health care.

VA has approximately 4,000 agreements with community partners nationwide. These types of partnerships have demonstrated that 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 collaborative programs are afforded more services and have higher chances 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 issue.

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 your community for homeless veterans.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Homeless Veteran Fact Sheet

DEFINITIONS, DEMOGRAPHICS AND ESTIMATED NUMBERS

What is the definition of homeless?

PL100-77 signed into law on July 22, 1987 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

For purposes of this chapter, the term 'homeless' or 'homeless individual or homeless person' includes -

(1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (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; or

(C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

Who is a veteran?

In general, most organizations use the U.S. 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 the type and length of military service. To see details of eligibility criteria for VA compensation and benefits, view the current benefits manual here.

Demographics of homeless veterans

"The Forgotten Americans-Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve" – released Dec. 8, 1999, by the U.S. Interagency Council on the Homeless (USICH) – is the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC), which was completed in 1996 and updated three years later. You can download the NSHAPC reports at http://www.huduser.org/.

Veteran Specific Highlights:

23% of homeless population are veterans

33% of male homeless population are veterans

47% Vietnam Era

17% post Vietnam

15% pre Vietnam

67% served three or more years

33% stationed in war zone

25% have used 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% white males compared to 34% non-veterans

46% age 45 or older compared to 20% non-veterans

Service needs:

45% help finding job

37% finding housing

How many homeless veterans are there?
Accurate numbers community-by-community are not available. Some communities do annual counts; others do an estimate based on a variety of factors. Contact the closest VA medical center's homeless coordinator, the office of your mayor, or another presiding official to get local information.

A regional breakdown of numbers of homeless veterans, using data from VA's 2008 CHALENG (Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups) report, can be found here.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Incarcerated Veterans

In January 2000, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released a special report on incarcerated veterans. The following are highlights of the report, "Veterans in Prison or Jail": Over 225,000 veterans were held in U.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 20% 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 60% of incarcerated veterans had served in the Army.

Among state prisoners, over half (53%) of veterans were white non-hispanics, compared to nearly a third (31%) of non-veterans; among federal prisoners, the percentage of veterans who were white (50%) was nearly double that of non-veterans (26%).

Among state prisoners, the median age of veterans was 10 years older than that of other prison and jail inmates.

Among state prisoners, veterans (32%) were about 3 times more likely than non-veterans (11%) 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 35% of veterans in state prison, compared to 20% of non-veterans, were convicted of homicide or sexual assault.

Veterans (30%) were more likely than other state prisoners (23%) to be first-time offenders.

Among violent state prisoners, the average sentence of veterans was 50 months longer than the average of non-veterans.

At year-end in 1997, sex offenders accounted for 1 in 3 prisoners held in military correctional facilities.

Combat veterans were no more likely to be violent offenders than other veterans.

Veterans in state prison reported higher levels of alcohol abuse and lower levels of drug abuse than other prisoners.

Veterans in state prison were less likely (26%) than other state prisoners (34%) to report having used drugs at the time of their offense.

Nearly 60% of veterans in state prison had driven drunk in the past, compared to 45% of other inmates.

About 70% of veterans, compared to 54% of other state prisoners, had been working full-time before arrest.

Incarcerated veterans were as likely as non-veterans to have been homeless when arrested.

Stats and Facts were received from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website. http://www.nchv.org