Homeless veterans can be described as people that have served in the armed forces but are living without access to proper and secure accommodation. Many veterans suffer from various mental health conditions like anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by extreme emotional trauma. The causes of homelessness among veterans could include disabilities caused by mental illness or physical injury, substance abuse, family breakdown, and joblessness. Veterans are more likely to experience mental illness, and this puts them at high risk of experiencing homelessness. Various policies have been passed to address homelessness in in the specific state of Virginia and the entire United States. This paper analyses the effect of the HUD-VASH poliy to address homelessness among veterans by showing its advantages and drawbacks.
Current Policy Approach
The current policy approach for addressing homelessness among veterans involves a collaboration between the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The VA department is charged with integrating life-long healthcare services to veterans through outpatient clinics and medical centers located in different parts of the country. The organization strives to support other veteran needs like education assistance, home loans, life insurance, disability compensation, and vocational rehabilitation (“United States Department of Veteran Affairs”, 2020). The U.S. Department of HUD was established in 1965 to develop and execute various policies dealing with homelessness. The coalition between the department of VA and HUD was established in the year 1992 and was referred to as the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veteran Administration (HUD-VASH). The establishment of the department was supported with Section 8 of the Constitution that allows for the provision of housing vouchers to eligible vulnerable homeless veterans. There have been various improvements in the policy through an increase in the level of funding.
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The state of Virginia adopted a 100-day challenge to end homelessness among veterans in four communities. The initiative involved a coalition between community organizations, the federal and state government, local partners, and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) (National Alliance to End homelessness, 2018). The governor made the initiative through a program called Coordinating Council on Homelessness in the form of year-long planning to address homelessness in Virginia.
Current Policy Goals
The HUD-VASH is a federal program that had the goal of using housing vouchers from the HUD along with the VA supportive services to help veterans. The program strived to help veterans find permanent housing for themselves and their families. The program provided rental assistance vouchers for veterans that were eligible to the VA medical care services and were experiencing homelessness. The program meant that veterans could access mental health treatment, health care services, and substance abuse counseling to help with their recovery. The program became highly active in the year 2008 where it set the objective to end homelessness among veterans by the year 2015 (Cusack & Montgomery, 2018). The program also strived to provide permanent housing to veterans and help them decrease their usage of hospitals, homeless shelters, and correctional facilities.
The main target of the Coordinating Council on Homelessness in Virginia was to achieve a near-zero target on homelessness among veterans. The program was aimed at addressing homelessness in several cities throughout the Virginia area. The policy was implemented with the assistance of the HUD-VASH program that provided housing vouchers to homeless veterans. Throughout a coordinated effort, the program identified every veteran experiencing homelessness by name and implemented efforts to realize a housing placement. The system ensured that there was appropriate housing provided to veterans that matched their needs. Throughout the placement program, various providers connected with the veterans and provided additional support, employment assistance, and medical support to address mental illness (Kertesz et al., 2017). The program thus aimed at addressing veteran homelessness by solving the housing problem as it was the most significant issue.
Description of Population
The number of homeless veterans in the Virginia area and the United States population has been declining over the years. According to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (2020), 37,085 veterans were homeless in January 2019 compared to 37,878 in January 2018. The 2.1% decrease in homeless veterans has been associated with nationwide funding assistance programs. The total number of veterans experiencing homelessness has also declined by approximately 50% since the year 2010 (“United States Department of Veteran Affairs”, 2020). The number of homeless veterans in the Virginia area has also been declining. The total number of homeless people in the Virginia area was estimated to be 5,957, and 395 veterans were homeless as of January 2020 (“United States Interagency Council on Homelessness”, 2020). The given statistics shows that various federal, state, and local initiatives have been effective in solving the issue of homelessness.
Veterans face multiple problems like unemployment and mental health issues that ultimately lead to their state of being homeless. Unemployment among veterans is twice the national average value (Lowman & Sheetz, 2021). The military background of veterans makes it difficult for them to easily interact with civilians. Additionally, some veterans can experience a disability that impacts their ability to find employment. Veterans that have been separated from the military service for long are more likely to find employment due to additional training and networking opportunities.
Veterans also experience mental health problems due to their military experience. Problems like anxiety disorders and PTSD impact their ability to function well at a job or with their family and friends. The symptoms of mental illness can begin slowly and advance over time to become quite severe. Mental illness ultimately results in housing challenges after one cannot sustain employment. Many veterans are thus likely to be at risk for homelessness due to their disabilities, substance abuse problems, and PTSD. The use of community programs can be used to address the different challenges that veterans face.
Funding Levels
The HUD-VASH program has experienced multiple challenges in experiencing budget cuts over the years. While the program was initiated in the year 1992, it remained largely ineffective due to a minimal allocation of funds to assist with the program. The program was revamped in the year 2008, where it increased additional funding through the voucher initiative. The HUD set aside approximately $75 million for 10,000 new vouchers from the year 2008 to 2013. However, $50 million was made available for 7,500 vouchers in the year 2011. The program has since encountered massive budget cuts and a decrease in the number of vouchers. The program had $50 million funding and 6,000 new vouchers for the year 2020 (“National Housing of State Housing Agencies”, 2020). While the program has been largely effective, the massive changes in the funding of the program have led to multiple challenges in meeting the needs of homeless veterans.
Impact of Policy on Veterans
The HUD-VASH policy and the Virginia Coordinating Council (CoC) program strived to meet the needs of homeless veterans. The Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement (CAHP) initiative ensured that veterans got appropriate housing. The initiative reached four communities and was able to house approximately 462 veterans in approximately 100 days (“National Alliance to End Homelessness”, 2018). The initiative has continued to collaborate with the HUD-VASH programs, where it provides vouchers to homeless veterans. The benefit of the program is that homeless veterans that face multiple challenges like proper housing, unemployment, and poor mental health are likely to get supportive services and permanent housing for themselves and their families.
The HUD-VASH has impacted homeless veterans by equipping them with various medical support services. The program adopted an evidence-based approach that involved housing-first where the veterans could be removed from their traditional housing to better housing after completing treatment and showing continuous sobriety (Kertesz et al., 2017). Many homeless veterans have benefited from the program as they have received extensive support and recovery for problems like mental health and substance abuse. The HUD-VASH program has enrolled the largest percentage of veterans. By the end of the year 2020, the program had allocated approximately 100,570 housing vouchers to nearly 80,000 homeless veterans (Kertesz et al., 2017). Many veterans have managed to get permanent housing through the initiative.
Effectiveness of Policy in Meeting the Needs of Veterans
The main initiative of the policy is that it strives to address the issue of homelessness by focusing on housing first. Homeless veterans that face multiple issues of clinical recovery and challenges in housing benefit by being given vouchers that should help with their housing needs. The policy has thus been effective in providing permanent housing to many veterans. Kertesz et al. (2017) observed that the housing-first approach by the HUD-VASH has been useful in providing permanent housing to a large number of veterans. The program was found to have served more than 85,000 veterans and assisted them to have permanent housing. However, the program was found to experience multiple housing challenges when implemented under real-world conditions. The program still requires significant additional investments to further support the veterans after receiving permanent housing.
The HUD-VASH program still experiences several challenges in accurately meet most of the challenges that most veterans face. According to Cusack and Montgomery (2018), the HUD-VASH program has strived to improve the housing conditions of most veterans. However, the program still faces several challenges as most veterans experience housing challenges. Some of the barriers to housing access include difficulty in the procedures, a lack of communication, and the lack of adequate and affordable housing stock. Most homeless veterans that have received permanent housing also continue to experience multiple problems like housing maintenance. Joining the veteran program was also found to be challenging to veterans that failed to comply with program rules, experienced mental and substance abuse problems, and had poor access to resources. There was a need to improve the HUD-VASH program by focusing on the implementation at the local level to ensure that assisted veterans would integrate better with their communities.
A significant percentage of veterans entering the HUD-VASH program leave prematurely. According to Gabrielian et al. (2019), approximately 25% of HUD-VASH participants usually exit the program and return after approximately a year after experiencing homelessness. The authors observed that the most pressing challenge that the veterans faced was that they did not have adequate social skills to help them navigate through the program. Social skills were identified to be a critical determinant of whether one would exit the program prematurely. The program was also found to be biased in providing support to housing while neglecting other problems that most homeless veterans face. For instance, homeless veterans may require additional training to assist them in finding employment. Money management training could also useful to the veterans as it could assist them in housing retention.
Recommendation and Alternative Policies
The recommendation for improving the condition of homeless veterans should go beyond providing affordable housing. There is a need for additional policies that address several other challenges that homeless veterans face, like unemployment and mental illness. According to Lowman & Sheetz (2021), the provision of educational and sustainable employment can make a big difference for homeless veterans that continually face challenges with housing. Most of the veterans that are highly at risk for homelessness and unemployment. Some veterans could be employed but earn too little to meet their basic needs. There is a need for a policy based on a preventive approach to ensure that veterans can continually sustain themselves and earn sufficient income. The policy will be effective in ensuring that the veterans experience a reduced risk of being homeless and do not move to the state of being homeless. The program would also be sustainable in the long run as it ensures that the veterans would fully sustain themselves.
There is a need for additional policies to be implemented at the local level to assist with the integration of homeless veterans into their communities. Chinchilla et al. (2019) observed that community integration is a meaningful goal that would realize the success of supportive housing programs. Some of the permanent housing provided to the veterans remain socially isolated and often lack adequate community integration. The result is that veterans that receive assistance through the HUD-VASH program may not experience adequate community support that will make them integrate efficiently into society. Chinchilla et al. (2019) further observed that a decline in community adjustment among the veterans led to an increase in mental health problems, an increase in unemployment, and housing instability. Community integration policies should facilitate better social interactions and ensure their long-term recovery.
Homeless veterans continually face mental health problems, and there is a need to address the problem. Most homeless veterans are likely to experience various forms of mental illness. Their utilization of mental health services is also likely to be low due to the challenge of being homeless. Improving the welfare of homeless veterans should focus on addressing their mental health problems. The use of mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation programs among homeless veterans can help them improve their condition. As different programs strive to address the housing needs of veterans, it is imperative to consider the individual well-being of veterans. Addressing their mental health problems will ensure that they continually lead satisfying and productive lives at the new places of residence.
Conclusion
The given study highlighted the formulation of various policies like the HUD-VASH program and its effectiveness when implemented in Virginia. The policy was found to be effective in addressing most of the housing challenges that homeless veterans face. The initiative focused on hosing first and provided sufficient permanent housing to most veterans through the use of vouchers. However, the policy was found to still lack sufficient support to ensure that the homeless veterans can improve their mental health and become employed. The given challenges showed that there was a need to implement policies that would be sustainable in the long term. While the number of homeless veterans continues to decline, many veterans continue to experience problems with employment and mental health that makes them at risk of being homeless. A more sustainable approach in the future would involve solving employment and mental health problems.
References
Chinchilla, M., Gabrielian, S., Hellemann, G., Glasmeier, A., & Green, M. (2019). Determinants of community integration among formerly homeless veterans who received supportive housing. Frontiers in psychiatry , 10 , 472.
Cusack, M., & Montgomery, A. E. (2018). Barriers and facilitators to housing access and maintenance in HUD-VASH: Participant and staff perspectives. Social work in health care , 57 (6), 422-439.
Gabrielian, S., Hamilton, A. B., Gelberg, L., Hellemann, G., Koosis, E. R., Johnson, A., & Young, A. S. (2019). A protocol to develop and study the effectiveness and implementation of social skills training that improves supported housing retention for persons with serious mental illness. Contemporary clinical trials communications , 14 , 100344.
Kertesz, S. G., Austin, E. L., Holmes, S. K., DeRussy, A. J., Van Deusen Lukas, C., & Pollio, D. E. (2017). Housing first on a large scale: Fidelity strengths and challenges in the VA’s HUD-VASH program. Psychological services , 14 (2), 118.
Lowman, C. A., & Sheetz, R. L. (2021). VA Clinical Services: The Key to Achieving Stability and Sustainment for Homeless Veterans. In Clinical Management of the Homeless Patient (pp. 319-336). Springer, Cham.
National Housing of State Housing Agencies (2020). PIH Notice 2020-14: Availability of Funding for HUD-VASH Vouchers . https://www.ncsha.org/resource/pih-notice-announcing-availability-of-funding-hud-vash-vouchers/
National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2018). Ending Veteran Homelessness Virginia Statewide Collaboration. https://endhomelessness.org/resource/ending-veteran-homelessness-virginia-statewide-collaboration/
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