Homeless Veterans

MLA Outline

The outline of the paper are as follows;

Introduction

Risk Factors for Veteran Homelessness

Vietnam Service and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Veterans among Homeless Women

The Changing Proportions of Veterans Among Homeless Americans

Characteristics Of Homeless Veterans And Non-Veterans

Services For Homeless Veterans

Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs)

Toward Eliminating Veteran Homelessness

Introduction

Most societies consider veterans of military service a special subgroup by virtue of the sacrifices they have made and the often extraordinary risks they have incurred in defense of their nation. As a result, governments make particular benefits and services available to them and the public takes responsibility for assuring the well-being of this special group of citizens. It is thus a matter of concern that veterans are represented in great numbers among homeless Americans.

Risk Factors for Veteran Homelessness

The first national study of homelessness among U.S. veterans was based on survey data gathered in 1987. Forty percent of homeless men reported past military service, compared with only 34 percent of men in the general population. Further analyses confirmed that veterans were 1.4 times as likely to be homeless as other men, and that approximately 200,000 were homeless on any given night. (Winkleby, 93)

This finding was replicated in two subsequent studies, one based on data from the Shelter-night survey in the 1990 census, the other on a 1996 national survey. While the gap has diminished, veterans are still twice as likely as non-veterans to be homeless, by these measures of the 1990s. This risk is far higher than was observed among veterans of the Vietnam era and before. (Tessler, 17)

Vietnam Service and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

These findings seem counterintuitive to many homeless service providers who assist Vietnam veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A number of studies have found that while there are high rates of Vietnam service and PTSD among those who are homeless, these rates are no higher than those found in non-homeless, low-income veterans. Available data indicate that among veterans, just as among other men, the antecedents of homelessness include poverty, social isolation, and substance abuse. Thus Vietnam military service does not seem to be an especially strong predictor of homelessness, although it is quite common among homeless men. (Seibyl, 53)

Survey data from homeless veterans themselves lend some support to these epidemiological findings. For example, among those who had always had a home previously, an average of 12.5 years elapsed between military discharge and their first homeless episode. When asked to name particular aspects, the most common response was not combat exposure, but that military service had increased their substance abuse. (Rosenheck, 1023)

Veterans among Homeless Women

Between 3.1 percent and 4.4 percent or homeless women were veterans, according to data from the 1996 survey and from a large clinical program conducted in the late 1990s in eighteen U.S. cities—a program not under the auspices of the Veterans Administration (VA). This seemingly small proportion is actually quite substantial given that only 1.2 percent of all American women are veterans. Thus their statistical risk of homelessness some three to four times greater than that of their non-veteran peers ...