The Secretary’s War on Homelessness

Three strangers approach a slender man curled up on the sidewalk. They ask his name. He squints into the early-morning sunshine.

"I'm Paul," he quietly replies, rising to his feet, his finger stuck between the pages of a hardbound book he's been reading. He offers his other hand. "And you gentlemen are ..."

Paul, the men soon learn, is a veteran, a former sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He stands out among the others living on this particular Las Vegas side street. His clothing is clean, his hair neat, his face shaven, his fingernails dirt-free and trimmed. He is soft-spoken and articulate.

He appears to be here by some kind of mistake. Paul is one of hundreds of homeless veterans living and sleeping on the streets of Las Vegas, and one of the tens of thousands of former military men and women across America seeking shelter at night under bridges or in cardboard boxes, tents, sleeping bags or abandoned cars.

Recent VA surveys estimate that more than 100,000 U.S. military veterans are homeless on any given night - a situation VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has vowed, like no other Washington official before him, to correct. "The current estimate for 2010 is that 107,000 veterans remain homeless - a decrease of 18 percent from 2009, and down from 195,000 six years ago," Shinseki said at the 50th American Legion Washington Conference in March. "It's a start, but that's not good enough. We need a full-court press to keep driving those numbers down. It is unacceptable for a single veteran to spend the night on the streets of America."

Shinseki unveiled an ambitious plan last November to eradicate homelessness among veterans within five years. Speaking to more than 1,200 service providers at a VA summit in Washington, the secretary backed up his promise with a pledge to spend $3.2 billion during fiscal 2010 in a move toward fulfillment of the goal. Of that, $2.7 billion would be earmarked for medical services and $500 million for housing programs.

"I know that a goal of zero homeless veterans is ambitious, but a high target is necessary so that everyone puts in their best efforts," Shinseki said.

In the past, VA has been largely reactive in its efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans. Shinseki's approach is to prevent veteran homelessness before it happens. He is enlisting private, civic and government partnerships to help. More than 4,000 agreements have been made between VA and other government entities, faith-based groups, veterans service organizations and community programs.

A Holistic Approach. Shinseki says the different reasons for veteran homelessness call for different strategies. Situational homelessness - such as an unexpected loss of job and income - can sometimes be mitigated simply by providing housing and job training until the veteran is employed again. Chronic homelessness caused by substance abuse or physical or mental conditions demand different and more complicated strategies.

"Effectively addressing homelessness requires breaking the downward spiral that leads veterans to homelessness," Shinseki told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in October. "We must continue to improve treatment for substance abuse, TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). We must provide better educational, vocational and employment opportunities, and more opportunities for safe and hospitable housing. Early intervention and prevention of homelessness among veterans is critical. We have to do it all. We can't afford any missed opportunities."

Marcia Evans, a nurse and homelessness coordinator for the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in Las Vegas, works daily with veterans organizations and other groups to try to put roofs over the heads of veterans on the streets, who range in age from their 20s to their 90s and have unique conditions that set them apart from the non-veteran homeless population.

"It's quite a task to sort out the needs of individual veterans," Evans says. "A program that works to re-integrate one homeless veteran may be totally wrong for, and not work for, another veteran. We may have a handful of issues to sort out before we commit to a plan of action. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all strategy."
To her, Shinseki's goal is noble but unlikely to be met in the five-year time frame. A veteran who abuses alcohol or drugs is not a good candidate for job training until the abuse issues are settled, Evans says. On the other hand, a veteran who has lost his or her job or has been evicted from a residence is often an excellent candidate for a jobs program. VA is also facing a growing population of female veterans on the streets - about 4 percent in Las Vegas, Evans says - which often means the problem is compounded.

"With homeless female veterans come children," Evans says. "Historically, VA has not had resources to serve expanded veteran families. Stand-downs are an excellent example. In the past, veterans came alone for the food, clothing, medical treatment, job leads ... Today, an increasing number of male and female homeless veterans bring with them their families."

In Las Vegas, one of the nation's fastest-growing cities over the past 20 years, the number of homeless veterans has likewise climbed. So too has the number of community professionals and programs providing support. Twelve years ago, when Evans first arrived, three people staffed VA's homeless program, and the staff often depended on friends and family for items like toothbrushes and soap. Overnight beds for veterans were scarce.

Today, the program has 278 transitional beds, 10 contract beds and permanent HUD housing to work with. The staff, too, has grown to more than 20, as has the caseload.
"The homeless population we see today is becoming ever more complex and chronic," Evans says. "In the old days, even though we did not have the resources we needed, it was relatively simple to work with our homeless veterans. It took Vietnam veterans nearly 10 years to find their way to the streets. Today Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enter the homeless population almost as soon as they are discharged. And the OEF-OIF veterans come to us with more complex issues."

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is not optimistic that the VA secretary's goal can be met. The mayor and his administration have struggled for years to reduce the homeless population in the city. He says he's reached the conclusion that the best approach is to force homeless people to accept the principle of in loco parentis, Latin for "in the place of a parent."

"We have implemented a 10-year plan, and I'm afraid progress has been slow and incremental," Goodman says. "If you are asking me (to tell you) we've helped thousands of people into housing, I would be lying."

Still, like Shinseki, Goodman lists the problem of veteran homelessness among his top priorities.

"We have partnered with a number of local people and organizations to provide housing for veterans interested in going into them," Goodman says. "We have U.S. Vets, a nonprofit national organization that provides housing, job training and counseling for veterans. There are plenty of opportunities out there for veterans interested in taking advantage of them."

Still, the problem will persist as long as homeless veterans refuse assistance, he adds. "There are chronically resistant veterans who no matter what you do - you could offer them the moon and the stars - and they would not walk from there to here and accept the services. It is a frustrating thing to me. The city has done a remarkable job in helping those who want to help themselves."

Paul, the veteran who spends his nights on the sidewalks of Las Vegas, concurs. "I'm living on the streets because I prefer to live on the streets," he says. "If I didn't want to be here I wouldn't be here. I'll leave the streets when I am ready, but I'm not ready. Nope, I'm not quite ready."

James V. Carroll is photo editor for The American Legion Magazine.