Homeless Veterans: A Shameful National Problem - Part 2

The first part of the series focused on the demographics of the homeless veteran population and the many programs available through the VA. This final installment will focus on the homeless veterans in New Jersey, the criticisms of the VA programs, and the outlook for the future on this important national issue.

Homeless Veterans in New Jersey

The problem of veterans and homelessness is a problem here in my home state of New Jersey. The VA estimates that there are approximately 7 or 8,000 homeless veterans in New Jersey at this point.

The state runs a program called Veterans Haven which is a facility for homeless veterans which focuses on psychological, social, and vocational rehabilitation (www.newjersey.va.gov). The facility is located in Camden County halfway between Atlantic City and Camden in a town called Winslow.

The Veterans Haven program has three phases. Each phase lasts between 3 to 6 months. The phases are:

1.     Treatment

2.     Self- Reclamation

3.     Community Reintegration

In each state, challenges exist in the problem of homelessness on every level not just in the veteran population. The issue of homelessness in New Jersey is multiplied by the high housing cost, the high standard of living cost, and the lack of affordable housing for people in lower income brackets.

These variables further complicate the housing needs of the veteran population due to the requirements they may have for physical disabilities and other continuing care requirements. New Jersey has received some grant money to improve the housing situation for veterans, but the need is always there for better access to housing.

A transitional housing community for homeless veterans was built recently in Camden, and more are in the planning stages. The VA also has a voucher program for housing as part of the “Section 8” program available for veterans as well. Some other sites run by the state tout that they have 200 beds for transitional housing, but most are available for up to one year at the maximum. What is that veteran going to do at the point where their stay in transitional housing expires?

Additionally, having the 200 beds for transitional housing is great, but when you have 8,000 homeless veterans in New Jersey it is clear that more needs to be done.

 The “Stand Down” events have also been held in New Jersey with fairly good reception and turnout in the past. In a place like New Jersey with such heavy population density those events are critical in order to connect with necessary services to ultimately get them off the streets and into a home of some kind.

Observations

When I first decided to write an article for a blog about this problem with veterans being homeless it was because it upset me that the same people who fought for our freedom were deprived of their own when they returned to America. I am still upset by the situation but some of that is tempered by the many VA programs available which I was unaware existed.

Homelessness is an overall issue which upsets me because I believe it represents the failure of a democratic society. Nobody living in America should be denied the basics of food, clothing, and shelter; not in a country with all the resources that we have available.

An observation I had going into this project was that I would find that the potential solution was the need for more transitional housing. I knew prior to my research that the complex nature of the veteran population with regard to physical or psychological issues, substance abuse, or even the need for vocational training were all long term barriers to acclimate them back into society.

I assumed that these barriers or requirements for rehabilitation services would lend themselves to best be addressed through access to transitional housing. I was wrong in my assumption, though not that more accessible transitional housing is not needed because it is a desperate need in some states. I was wrong because the real need area to potentially resolve this shameful problem is the need for permanent housing and better access to support services for our veterans.

Unfortunately the capability of expanding the access to permanent housing and the support services needed based on the current levels of homelessness in the veteran population has no easy solutions. The voucher program is a good idea, but it does not reach enough of the target group of homeless veterans. The foreclosure sale program is great in theory, but has some issues in the execution, and will by no means resolve the problem by itself.

The ray of light here is the dedication and vigilance of the VA in aggressively targeting this issue and providing a number of programmatic alternatives to resolving it. The VA and by extension the federal government also continues to spend a large amount of money on addressing the homelessness in the veteran population. Therefore the issues does not continue because of lack of appropriate funding.

I also observed a true dedication to resolving this matter from the VA and many of the non-profit organizations involved on the grassroots level. That level of dedication is instrumental in making the strides necessary to truly eliminate this problem in the future.

Moreover, in my research I found several criticisms of the VA, which in fair balance I should include in this commentary. The most prevalent criticism being the incredible amount of paperwork needed to enter the VA system in order to receive the benefits of these programs.

This criticism is increasingly problematic due to the widespread mental illness, physical disability, and substance abuse issues in this population. It is unreasonable to require that much paperwork under the circumstances. The service centers would require huge staffing increases to provide the assistance needed to help the veteran through that paperwork process.

The VA and the corresponding state level programs for veterans housing and other services have a set of deadlines in place. Many times the veteran will struggle through the application process only to be told that the deadline had already passed, which means a wait time to be able to submit the application again for services that are desperately needed.

The backlog of applications for benefits at the VA is a criticism that is widely reported in the media. Some veterans wait over a year just to get a decision on their benefits from the VA, and it often requires an additional four months to get the first benefits payment into their account. The VA has promised to end the backlog by 2015, but it is the most persistent criticism of the agency at this point.

The final criticism has to do with the lack of staff in certain locations. The staffing need at the VA for clinicians such as psychiatrists and psychologists has been well documented in the mainstream media. It is an issue that the VA is very diligently trying to correct.

The End Analysis

Some of these criticisms are fair and some of them are not. I understand that every government program is going to have “red tape” and paperwork. I also can concede that part of the reason the benefits backlog got so piled up is that the VA expanded the criteria for eligibility for benefits, which in turn resulted in a huge increase in applications from veterans.

The deadlines for the application process for temporary housing or other urgently needed services could be revised to be reviewed on a “rolling basis” without strict deadlines. That is one potential solution to expedite the process for those veterans who are in dire need of support services.

The problem of homelessness with veterans is not going to be solved overnight. It is a devastating consequence of the warfare that these men and women survived. They face a whole new battle for survival at home. The fact that veterans sleep on the streets is a very sad and frustrating situation to describe it lightly. The fact that anyone should have to live that way in America is another issue entirely.

I look ahead with hope that the VA will meet their goal of resolving this issue of homelessness by the end of 2015. The programs they have put in place have certainly made progress toward that goal.

I also hope that these programs could serve as a model for the approach to resolve the larger issue of overall homelessness in America in the future. The success of the VA approach to homelessness could be a viable test study for a government and non-profit/private foundation joint effort to resolve the homeless crisis in our country.

No veteran should serve in warfare and come home without a home. My hope is that will become a problem of our past, and that our veterans will get the support they need from a grateful nation.  In the end, that is the least we should do for these brave and women who have sacrificed to preserve and protect the freedom and liberty that we all hold so dear.