We are going to see a huge number of vets experiencing homelessness when Jane and Johnnie comes marching home from the Bush bash.
At present, they will easily overwhelm what little we can offer them; this help is greatly needed. Let's hope politics don't get in the way - again - of actually assisting those who laid their lives on the line for us...
Shinseki cites plight, plan to help homeless veterans
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Department of Veterans Affairs laid out Tuesday an ambitious five-year goal of curbing the number of homeless veterans, pledging $3.2 billion to an issue that is more rapidly affecting those who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars than by any from past conflicts.
"No one who has served this nation as veterans should ever be living on the streets," VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said.
"In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets," Shinseki said. "This plan is different. It aims as much, if not more, on preventing as it does on rescuing those who live on the streets."
Roughly 131,000 of the nation's 24 million veterans may be homeless on any given night, and about twice as many are homeless each year, according to VA estimates. About 3 percent of homeless vets served in Iraq or Afghanistan, but a 2007 study by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that they become homeless faster than do other veterans. While homeless Vietnam veterans first spent, on average, five to 10 years trying to readjust to society, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans can end up homeless within 18 months, the study said.
Government officials and homeless experts worry that the number of homeless veterans could climb another 10 to 15 percent in the economic downturn.
"The economy's hitting our people very hard. Unemployment rates are over 12 percent now," said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"Mortgage foreclosure rates around military bases is four times the average. And it's hard to keep a job if you're getting deployed every 12 months if you're a national guardsman."
The new VA commitment adds $400 million to its current efforts to prevent homelessness.
Eighty-five percent of the funds will go toward health-care costs, an acknowledgement that homelessness is often secondary to health problems, especially mental health issues and substance abuse.
The department will expand current partnerships with the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other federal, state and community veterans programs. It will also assist veteran-owned businesses in qualifying for federal contracts and surviving the downturn.
Shinseki invited thousands of government, nonprofit and faith-based homelessness experts and advocates to Washington this week to tackle the issue, which he vows to fix during his tenure.
"I'm the newcomer here today, so let me reiterate that this is not a summit on homeless veterans, it's a summit to end homelessness among veterans," he said. "That's our purpose."
Vietnam Veterans of America applauded the goal. But Richard Weidman, head of policy and government affairs, added, "There are additional things that we think need to be addressed to be successful in achieving that goal, although it's a good start."
Weidman cited a need for the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department to do more to diagnose and treat post-traumatic stress disorder; improve treatment for substance-abusing veterans, who comprise about a third of the homeless veterans population; and eliminate a backlog in providing compensation to veterans too ill to work. Fresh attention to the needs of women veterans, who comprise an increasing portion of the homeless veterans population, would also be a boon, he said.
"If you add those other elements, you're never gonna get to zero, but we can do a hell of a lot better than we are doing," Weidman said.
Shinseki -- a former Army chief of staff who once clashed with the Bush administration over its Iraq war policy -- has earned praise for his tough approach to reviving a department described as moribund by lawmakers.
"We've seen responsiveness from the VA that we haven't seen in the past," said Terry Howell, an editor at Military.com, a veterans news and social-networking site.
"They're quick to try new and interesting approaches to solving the issues that they're facing right now," Howell said.
VA's bold goal: Eradicate homelessness among veterans in 5 years
November 3, 2009 9:32 p.m. EST
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has set a very ambitious goal -- eradicate homelessness among veterans.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- VA Secretary Eric Shinseki says, "I am here to end veteran homelessness"
- An estimated 131,000 veterans are homeless, according to the VA
- One observer worries Shinseki doesn't realize how "intractable" VA bureaucracy is
- Backlogs in veterans claims is cited as a major problem
"My name is Shinseki, and I am here to end veteran homelessness," VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said Tuesday in a speech to the National Summit on Homeless Veterans.
But Shinseki indicated the challenge in meeting his goal by adding, "I learned long ago there are never any absolutes in life, and a goal of zero homeless veterans sure sounds like an absolute."
The plan unveiled by Shinseki includes trying to leverage existing education and jobs programs, boosting the ability of veteran-owned businesses to compete for federal contracts and spend an additional $3 billion on medical services and homeless programs.
An estimated 131,000 veterans are homeless, according to the VA. That is an improvement from 2003, when the number was as high as 196,000. But the secretary warned that given the ailing economy, the number could increase by as much as 10 percent to 15 percent in the next five years.
The VA plans to focus its new efforts on preventing the problem.
"Our plan enlarges the scope of VA's efforts to combat homelessness," said Shinseki in a news release. "In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets. Our five-year plan aims also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless."
The department plans to expand the recently passed educational grants program for veterans who served after September 11, 2001, to include not just college but vocational programs as well, according to VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts.
Details of plan
Steps that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki plans to take: -- Leverage existing education and jobs programs
-- Boost the ability of veteran-owned businesses to compete for federal contracts
-- Spend an additional $3 billion on medical services and homeless programs
-- Expand educational grants to include not just college but vocational programs as well
The VA will also try to win more federal contracts for veteran-owned businesses, encouraging other agencies to exceed the minimum goal of 3 percent of contracts to veteran-owned small businesses. The increase, the VA believes, will also help employ more veterans since "veterans hire veterans," Shinseki said.
In addition, it is increasing the amount of vouchers for public-financed housing, adding 10,000 more vouchers in 2010. The plan also calls for more programs to aid transition from prison and psychiatric facilities, as well as a renewed call to treat veterans' psychiatric conditions.
Read more about the VA's ambitious goal
Veterans' groups contacted after the speech were generally pleased that the secretary was focusing the attention but unsure how he would achieve such an ambitious goal.
"General Shinseki is a soldier and treating this like a military operation and in the military you have to have hope for your missions," said Justin Brown of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Shinseki was a four-star general in the Army.
Brown said he thought Shinseki's aim to get better coordination between the VA and federal departments, including Labor and Health, was a good start.
But others were more pessimistic that Shinseki could change the VA bureaucracy.
"This secretary is going to be a good leader, but we don't think he or the president has quite gotten a hold of how intractable the bureaucracy is inside the VA," said Rick Weidman, executive director for policy and government affairs at Vietnam Veterans of America.
Weidman said one problem not mentioned Tuesday that would help, more than many of of the other programs, is reducing the backlog in processing veterans' claims that delays much-needed medical and other benefits.
The VA recognizes backlogs are a problem, said spokeswoman Roberts.
"The backlog is a top priority at the VA and at the forefront of the secretary's mind," she said.
Toni Reinis at the Los Angeles organization New Directions said the announcement Tuesday showed that Shinseki had "real leadership," but she worried that lack of funds and leadership at the local level would make instituting change difficult.
The problem, she said, is sometimes not in the VA's control.
Reinis said her group's center, which helps 700 homeless veterans a year gain employment, housing and proper medical and psychiatric care in a residential setting, has lost a lot of money because of state budget cuts. The county cut the center's mental health funding by 55 percent, which is a "significant" amount, Reinis said.
Efforts to expand have been met with opposition, as in the case of a seven-year effort in California's San Fernando Valley to build a new treatment center that has been opposed by local communities.
"The VA was behind it, but the neighbors don't want those people in their neighborhood," Reinis explained.
