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FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO THE SHELTER -- "When
I came back I isolated myself a lot because I
didn't
want people to think I was crazy."
For more information about homeless veterans, use
the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=homeless&op=and
Story here...
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.c
fm?newsid=19848161&BRD=1281&PAG=
461&dept_id=635049&rfi=6
Story below:
-------------------------
From the battlefield to the shelter
By Alexandra Sanders, Mariana Stebbins and Victor
Zapana, Special to the Register
When Johanna Montalvo, 35, returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq in
2006, the drug habit she says she acquired in the military got her kicked
out of her house. She has since cleaned up. But she is still living in a
homeless shelter.
Montalvo is one of at least 100 homeless veterans in New Haven and more
than 260,000 homeless veterans across the nation, city and federal
officials said.
Her story is not new: one in 70 U.S. veterans has experienced
homelessness. In Connecticut, it is one in 30, according to the National
Alliance to End Homelessness.
And veterans are more than twice as likely to become homeless than other
civilians, statistics released by the Alliance indicate.
Officials predict more veterans will become homeless, especially as
thousands return from Iraq and Afghanistan, and they see a new issue
emerging: the increasing number of — and lack of services for — homeless
women veterans like Montalvo.
In March, the Department of Veterans Affairs reported a drop in the number
of homeless veterans nationally on any given night to 154,000 — suggesting
a total number of about 266,000 for this year. Partnerships between the VA
and community-based agencies have caused a drop of about 25 percent in the
number of homeless veterans on any given night since 2003, the VA reports.
But the numbers go against the upward trend in homeless veterans rates
that previous years suggest. National statistics show that in 2006, the
most recent year with reliable data, 3.3 percent of all Connecticut
veterans were homeless, up from 3.1 percent in 2005.
The percentage was more than double the 2006 national homeless rate of 1.4
percent of all veterans, which had increased steadily since 2004. In 2006,
estimates put the number of homeless veterans at 330,000.
Although many experts stress no reliable studies have been published with
the number of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, some estimate that
number could be as high as 10,000 to 15,000, or about 1.3 percent of all
soldiers who have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.
The percentage has rapidly approached the 1.4 percent average homeless
veteran rate in seven years, while in other recent U.S. wars, the
percentages start nearing the average rate in the span of 10 to 20 years,
statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness suggest.
“For Vietnam vets, it took nine, 10 or 11 years for them to really be
homeless,” said Amanda LeClair, executive director for Homes for the
Brave, a Bridgeport transitional living facility that tends to veterans.
“But what we are finding with younger vets is that they’re reaching that
point a lot faster.”
Dr. Laurie Harkness, director of the VA Errera Community Center in West
Haven added: “We have vets now coming back a year later and are already
homeless.”
RISK FACTORS
A November 2007 report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness also
suggested several risk factors that could cause an increase in Iraq and
Afghanistan homeless veterans, including more difficult adjustments to
civilian life because of longer tours of duty, compared to veterans of
previous wars.
LeClair said there are not many young vets showing up at her agency. But
soon, she said, “those numbers will rise.”
In May, 52 new homeless veterans sought help at the VA Errera Community
Center, while last year agency officials had to send out teams to find the
veterans.
“There is definitely something peculiar going on,” Harkness said.
Factors that predict homelessness among veterans are the same as those for
the general population. Scarce affordable housing and difficulty in
finding and keeping competitive jobs are the two main factors, according
to Joy Kiss, executive director of Homes for the Brave.
“The job pool is already small,” said Donald J., 48., a vet who has been
living at the Emergency Shelter Services Inc., formerly Immanuel Baptist
in New Haven, since he was released in June after five years in prison for
drug-related charges. “It is even harder as an ex-con.”
Incarcerations also can increase veterans’ difficulty in finding jobs and
their likelihood of becoming homeless. According to a 2004 report by the
federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, 10 percent of prisoners in the
country report having been in the military.
“The average stay here is creeping toward a year,” said Allison
Cunningham, executive director of Columbus House shelter in New Haven,
where five beds are paid for by the VA. “The cost of living is high and
the waiting list for Section 8 (housing) is long.”
Those factors are further complicated by substance abuse and mental health
problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which
often originate in or are exacerbated by the service.
PTSD is one of the most devastating of those. “There is hyper vigilance,
but if you are driving down I-95 looking for IEDs (improvised explosive
devices) you will get (hurt),” said Kate Kelly, a social worker for the
homeless team at the VA’s Errera Community Center.
Many choose not to turn to the VA, trying to avoid the stigma still
connected to mental illness. “There are men and women out there who don’t
want to associate with the VA,” said Gabor Kautzner, an Iraq veteran who
works at an outreach program for combat veterans who return from Iraq and
Afghanistan. “They want to be cops or firefighters and you can’t with a
history of mental illness.”
“When I came back I isolated myself a lot because I didn’t want people to
think I was crazy,” said James Murphy of Bridgeport, who served in combat
in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.
Murphy disconnected from his wife and son and spent six months on the
streets of New York City before he returned to Connecticut and was
diagnosed with PTSD.
Although the military debriefs soldiers upon discharge, many of them leave
unaware of all of their benefits.
“The VA does a good job of getting the information out there. But the
timing and the way it’s done misses the point,” said Kautzner. “They shove
everything down your throat that you’re supposed to do.”
THE DRUG CONNECTION
Veterans also face an additional challenge in the prolonged separation
from support of family and close friends. That was how Montalvo, a native
of Puerto Rico, said she got involved with drugs. Away from her family in
Iraq, she gave in to peer pressure to fit in.
“I would go out with other soldiers and they would offer me coke and
insist,” she said.
Montalvo, who had never experimented with drugs before, although both her
parents were addicts, soon started using cocaine on weekends.
When her father died, Montalvo started using crack.
“Soldiers would rent rooms to get drunk and high,” she said.
Montalvo’s drug use got her in trouble and she served a year and a half in
military confinement.
Montalvo is not an exception. According to the Department of Veteran
Affairs, about 70 percent of homeless veterans suffer from substance
abuse. There is also a considerable overlap between substance abuse and
mental health problems.
A veteran who would only give his initials as I.F. was arrested at age 17
for smoking marijuana on the Waterbury Green. The officers gave him an
ultimatum: jail or Vietnam. He served four years in Vietnam. I.F., now 54,
has struggled with addiction throughout his life. He has been homeless
since 2000, and has sought VA help on and off.
FEMALE VETS
A VA-endorsed 2008 Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and
Networking Group report predicts an increase in homeless female veterans.
Women make up about 4 percent of homeless veterans. But counting them is
not easy.
New Haven City Hall Special Projects Director John Huettner — an expert on
New Haven homelessness — said he has received calls from veterans who are
mothers with dependent children looking for housing help.
According to some studies, women veterans are up to four times as likely
to become homeless.
Experts point to a slew of reasons why they are more susceptible to
homelessness than male veterans.
Women tend to earn less money, for instance. According to the National
Alliance report, female veterans are more likely than male veterans to
experience a severe housing cost burden.
And, “military sexual trauma rates are higher among women,” added Kelly.
Also, because the military only consists of 15-20 percent women, there are
fewer women veterans and fewer services available. There are many more
transitional houses for males, which will cause a gap when more women
veterans start returning. This may pose some problems for support
agencies.
“Many homeless women find couches (with family or friends)... and it’s
unbearable for some with PTSD being in open spaces or shelters,” said
Kelly. The VA has women’s groups and special services for women, including
access to an ob-gyn, but housing for women is scarce.
“There is always a waiting list for women,” said Montalvo, who had applied
to several different housing facilities before moving to Beth-El Shelter
in Milford temporarily. Grants are helping the VA, along with other local
organizations, prepare for an influx of women veterans in the future.
The federal VA has 11 sites with specialized case management, outreach and
residential care programs for homeless women veterans. And for the general
homeless veteran population, VA officials have many support programs in
terms of funding and health care.
But VA officials said that more can be done. According to the CHALENG
report, VA officials said that one way they could improve services for
Iraq and Afghanistan homeless veterans is creating more programs for women
veterans and their families.
HELP IS AVAILABLE
The federal Department of Veterans Affairs says it will be able to handle
the problem of homelessness: “This is a national tragedy that can ... be
addressed,” said a release issued by the West Haven’s Veterans Affairs
medical center. But the Department of Veterans Affairs provides services
for only about one-third of the total homeless veteran population each
year, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
Aside from substance-abuse treatment, the VA offers veterans myriad other
services. The VA reached out to Vietnam veteran James Murphy when he was
homeless and unemployed.
“I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know what until I came (to the
VA) and was diagnosed with PTSD,” he said. After receiving treatment and
making significant progress, Murphy got back on his feet and was offered a
job from the VA as a peer counselor. He now runs treatment groups for more
than 180 veterans.
The VA “doesn’t want what happened to the Vietnam veterans to happen to
them,” said Kautzner, citing the VA’s policy of having a follow-up
schedule of 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and 180 days.
Homes for the Brave in Bridgeport reaches out for homeless veterans who
haven’t yet sought help. After they leave the shelter, specialists follow
up to ensure a good transition.
“The problem that the VA is running into is that the services are only as
effective as the next step,” said Harkness. “Even after transitional
housing, they need support. The shortfall is funding.”
“There are just not enough appropriate places to house our homeless
veterans,” a statement issued by the Errera care center says.
Numerous local organizations are in the process of building more housing
for veterans. Homes for the Brave currently has one transitional all-male
housing facility and plans to build a similar one for women. Also,
Columbus House recently received a $22,500 grant to renovate a building on
Howard Avenue for homeless veterans. Yale University is also building one
ownership unit and one rental unit for Iraq veterans in collaboration with
Common Ground.
The city of New Haven is working in cooperation with these programs using
the Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s 10-year plan to end homelessness.
The issue is being recognized on a national level as well. The U.S. House
of Representatives approved a bill last week called the Homes and Heroes
Act; it would allocate $200 million for housing and services for veterans
and would require 20,000 rental vouchers a year for low-income housing for
veterans. It would also authorize $1 million for grants to nonprofit
groups, which can provide housing for veterans.
However, the Connecticut VA only has enough beds for 2 percent of the
homeless veteran population, partially because of the lack of funding.
“We are trying to ask companies who made money off the war to help the
veterans now,” said Harkness, who noted there is a sign at her center that
says, “The price of freedom is visible here.”
Alexandra Sanders, Mariana Stebbins and Victor Zapana are New Haven
Register interns.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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