News From the Cause
Homeless Female Vets Double In Population, Seek Employment Help (The Huffington Post)
February 03, 2012
The fact that many homeless female veterans are middle-aged, divorced, unemployed and single mothers is more than just research on paper for Jennifer John. It's the reality the 42-year-old homeless veteran has struggled with for six years.
John lives in a U.S. Vets-funded women's long-term living center in Long Beach, Calif., where she pays rent that's partially subsidized. She lives with her teenage daughter and has been homeless since 2006.
During that very window of time, the homeless female veteran population has more than doubled, a new study says.
Using "limited VA data," the Government Accountability Office report suggests that the number of homeless veteran women has risen from 1,380 in 2006 to 3,328 in 2010.
The study acknowledges the fact that the number of women veterans has doubled from 4 percent of all veterans in 1990 to 8 percent today.
The report states that the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has committed to ending homelessness among all veterans by 2015 and funds several programs to house homeless veterans, needs to take specific actions to improve housing.
"While the VA is taking steps--such as launching an outreach campaign--to end homelessness among all veterans, it does not have sufficient data about the population and needs of women veterans to plan effectively for increases in their numbers as servicemembers return from Iraq and Afghanistan," the report states.
The GAO suggests the VA collect more detailed data on homeless female veterans, improve transitional housing while they await government homes and tailor safety and security standards for homeless female veterans.
Officials from the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development “generally agreed” with the recommendations from the GAO, according to the report.
Veteran homeless counts, however, have never been an exact science. The Army Times points out that the data aren't representative because "no government agencies consistently track homelessness among female veterans, which raises questions about the VA's ability to help those women." Click here to view more
