VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
Bryan Smith
Arch 215: Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning
December 12, 2016
Veteran Homelessness Anyone that has walked along a city street has probably been approached at one point or another and has been asked if they have spare change. People react differently in this situation almost instinctively. Some ignore the question altogether and move past as if it never happened, others feel the need to explain why they do not have any change to give as if the guilt is too heavy for them to bare, and then there are some that are extremely generous and give their change to the person in need every time they have some to give. These people either feel good about themselves after fulfilling their …show more content…
“About 53% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities, compared with 41%of homeless non-veteran individuals.”2 Many of the disabilities that these veterans have are a result of their service and therefore are new to them. This means that they have to relearn how to live a normal life again while dealing with these disabilities, all the while having no place to call home on cold nights. If being disabled and homeless were not enough of a struggle for them, “half suffer from mental illness; two-thirds suffer from substance abuse problems; and many from dual diagnosis.”2 These are very important facts because they attribute a large effect on the systems that need to be implemented in parallel with the housing resolution. These systems may include rehabilitation and educational facilities, access to medical care, and transportation to these …show more content…
One might think that because these people served in the military, they had a job at one point and they are afforded resources and compensation from the VA and they would be correct in assuming so. The catch is, that even though the resources are available, they are not reaching the massive amounts of people in need. “The VA served more than 92,000 homeless veterans in 2009. With an estimated 500,000 veterans homeless at some time during the year, the VA reaches 20% of those in need, leaving 400,000 veterans without supportive services.”2 With only 20% of the veterans in need receiving help, the logical conclusion would be that the Veterans Administration needs to increase its size and efforts to influence a better percentage of the half a million homeless veterans.
This may be easier said than done. The VA health care system is the largest public health care system in the United States as it is. As of 1987, it included 172 hospitals, 229 outpatient clinics, 117 nursing homes, 16 domiciliary facilities, and employed more than 200,000 people. The annual expense was near $10 billion in tax payer’s dollars to operate the provided facilities. It also included 103 specialized alcoholism programs and 51 specialty drug dependence programs. If the VA health care system is so extensive, what was stopping the homeless from receiving
Bryan Smith
Arch 215: Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning
December 12, 2016
Veteran Homelessness Anyone that has walked along a city street has probably been approached at one point or another and has been asked if they have spare change. People react differently in this situation almost instinctively. Some ignore the question altogether and move past as if it never happened, others feel the need to explain why they do not have any change to give as if the guilt is too heavy for them to bare, and then there are some that are extremely generous and give their change to the person in need every time they have some to give. These people either feel good about themselves after fulfilling their …show more content…
“About 53% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities, compared with 41%of homeless non-veteran individuals.”2 Many of the disabilities that these veterans have are a result of their service and therefore are new to them. This means that they have to relearn how to live a normal life again while dealing with these disabilities, all the while having no place to call home on cold nights. If being disabled and homeless were not enough of a struggle for them, “half suffer from mental illness; two-thirds suffer from substance abuse problems; and many from dual diagnosis.”2 These are very important facts because they attribute a large effect on the systems that need to be implemented in parallel with the housing resolution. These systems may include rehabilitation and educational facilities, access to medical care, and transportation to these …show more content…
One might think that because these people served in the military, they had a job at one point and they are afforded resources and compensation from the VA and they would be correct in assuming so. The catch is, that even though the resources are available, they are not reaching the massive amounts of people in need. “The VA served more than 92,000 homeless veterans in 2009. With an estimated 500,000 veterans homeless at some time during the year, the VA reaches 20% of those in need, leaving 400,000 veterans without supportive services.”2 With only 20% of the veterans in need receiving help, the logical conclusion would be that the Veterans Administration needs to increase its size and efforts to influence a better percentage of the half a million homeless veterans.
This may be easier said than done. The VA health care system is the largest public health care system in the United States as it is. As of 1987, it included 172 hospitals, 229 outpatient clinics, 117 nursing homes, 16 domiciliary facilities, and employed more than 200,000 people. The annual expense was near $10 billion in tax payer’s dollars to operate the provided facilities. It also included 103 specialized alcoholism programs and 51 specialty drug dependence programs. If the VA health care system is so extensive, what was stopping the homeless from receiving