For the first time, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have published the most authoritative analysis of the extent and nature of homelessness among veterans.
According to their assessment, nearly 76,000 American veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009, the latest year for which reliable statistics are available, while roughly 136,000 veterans spent at least one night in a shelter during that year.
The report explores in depth the demographics of veterans who are homeless, how the number of veterans compares with others who are homeless and how veterans access and use the nation’s homeless-response system.
HUD’s report, “Veteran Homelessness: A Supplement to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress” is available online at http://www.hudhre.info/documents/2009AHARVeteransReport.pdf. “More veterans are moving into safe housing,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, “but we’re not done yet. Providing assistance in mental health, substance abuse treatment, education and employment goes hand-in-hand with preventive steps and permanent supportive housing.” Last June, President Obama announced the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, including a focus on homeless veterans. That report, “Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” puts the country on a path to end chronic homelessness by 2015 and to end homelessness among children, family and youth in the general population by 2020.
The administration’s strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness in America can be read online at http://www.usich.gov/PDF/OpeningDoorsOverview.pdf.
Key findings of the latter report include these facts: More than 3,000 cities and counties reported 75,609 homeless veterans on a single night in January 2009; 57 percent were staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program; the remaining 43 percent were unsheltered.
Also: Veterans represent approximately 12 percent of all homeless people counted nationwide during 2009. During a 12-month period in 2009, an estimated 136,000 veterans, or about one in every 168 veterans, spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. The vast majority of sheltered homeless veterans (96 percent) experienced homelessness alone while a much smaller share (4 percent) was part of a family.
Sheltered homeless veterans are most often white men between the ages of 31 and 50 and living with a disability. In 2009, twice as many poor Hispanic veterans used a shelter at some point during the year compared with poor non-Hispanic veterans. African-American veterans in poverty had similar rates of homelessness.
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