CNN: Study: Many of homeless are vets

Study: Many of homeless are vetsStory Highlights

"Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people," the report says. Veterans need proper housing and supportive services, organization head says. California, Louisiana, Missouri, Washington have most homeless veterans. Half a million vets are at high risk for homelessness, report found

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States are military veterans, although they represent only 11 percent of the civilian adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

Vietnam veteran Joseph Schlactur is among the U.S. homeless.

On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness Research Institute found.

"Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people," the report said.

"This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general population."

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, which includes the Homelessness Research Institute as its research and education arm, planned a press conference Thursday to discuss the study's findings.

"These findings highlight the need to provide veterans with the proper housing and supportive services to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place," said Nan Roman, the organization's president. "If we can do that, then we can greatly reduce the number of homeless veterans in general."

The states with the highest number of homeless veterans include Louisiana, California and Missouri, according to the research. Washington, D.C., also had a high rate.

Don't Miss

U.S. government touts 20,000 fewer homeless

About 44,000 to 64,000 veterans are classified as "chronically homeless" -- homeless for long periods or repeatedly.

Other veterans -- nearly 468,000 -- are experiencing "severe housing cost burden," or paying more than half their income for housing, thereby putting them at a high risk for homelessness.

The rates of the burden of housing costs were highest in Rhode Island, California, Nevada and Hawaii, but Washington, D.C., had the highest rate, according to the organization.

To reduce chronic homelessness among veterans by half, the report concludes housing coupled with supportive services should be increased by 25,000 units, and the number of housing vouchers for veterans should be increased by 20,000.

Some veterans, like Jason Kelley find themselves in a catch-22, not able to find a job because of the lack of an apartment, and not being able to get an apartment because of not having a job, The Associated Press reported.

"The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world," AP quoted Kelley as saying in a phone interview. In addition, he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, according to AP. Kelley served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard.

A new Gallup poll released by Fannie Mae showed that nearly a quarter of veterans, or 24 percent, report having been concerned they may not have a place to live. Eighty-six percent of poll respondents believe homelessness among veterans is either staying at the same level or increasing.

In addition, 61 percent of poll respondents believe veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are at least as likely to become homeless as veterans of previous wars.

The poll of 1,005 veterans was conducted September 4-October 17 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Source: CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/08/homeless.veterans/index.html

Some veterans, like Jason Kelley find themselves in a catch-22, not able to find a job because of the lack of an apartment, and not being able to get an apartment because of not having a job, The Associated Press reported.

I've found myself in this situation. I have a better understanding because of what I went through. Minimum wage is NOT ENOUGH for people to dig themselves out of a hole with. Hell, $8.00 an hour is hard as hell to survive off of if you don't have friends around to room with. Yet, there's a little thing called Welfare that these guys should take a look at. I don't know the restrictions or whatnot, but if you're a vet, I say you're a shoe in. Crack ****es get welfare, why can't war veterans?

They ought to apply for Government jobs. They get a huge advantage in points applied to their KSA's.