Everywhere there is a homeless population, it is likely some of the homeless are veterans.
The problem is getting well-deserved attention recently from the Department of Veterans Affairs. About 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.
The VA is pledging $3.2 billion toward its five-year goal of curbing the number of homeless vets. Part of the motivation is attributed to the fact that those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan become homeless much more quickly than other vets have.
As with most initiatives to fight a problem, focusing on prevention makes much sense. The new VA commitment adds $400 million to its efforts to prevent homelessness ...
Vietnam Veterans of America applauded the government's newly announced goal but cited a need 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; eliminate a backlog in providing compensation to veterans too ill to work; and pay attention to the needs of female veterans ...
Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)
