Homelessness

Veterans are generally believed to be about one-third of the homeless population in the United States; on any given night, up to 250,000 of an estimated 600,000 homeless persons living on the streets or in shelters may be veterans. Virtually all of these veterans are men, many of whom suffer from mental illness or drug and alcohol problems. The capacity of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs to serve these homeless veterans, however, falls far short of the demand for such services. Further, VA services for homeless veterans are nonexistent in many areas of the country. Every VA medical center is required to assess the needs of homeless veterans, determine the availability of VA and other services in its area, and establish plans to meet those needs in coordination with public and private providers. VA has not done these assessments and has yet to set specific target dates. If VA is to address the medical and social needs of homeless veterans nationwide, existing substance abuse, mental health, and housing programs will need to be substantially expanded and enhanced. VA may need to open new beds, hire more staff, contract with private providers of health care/housing, and either renovate buildings or allow private homeless groups to do so to provide temporary housing. In an era of tight federal budgets, however, increasing services for the homeless could force cutbacks in services to other veterans.

GAO found that: (1) in two of the eight locations reviewed, VA staff coordinate with federal, state, local, and private organizations that deal with homeless veterans and have a strong personal commitment and management support to help the homeless; (2) VA has a wide range of facilities and programs to help homeless veterans in these locations; (3) in one location, VA has no outreach program for homeless veterans because it has no facilities in the immediate area; (4) in another location, VA staff believe homeless efforts are futile because VA and community homeless programs are filled to capacity; (5) VA interaction with homeless-care providers at other locations depends on many diverse factors; (6) current VA programs do not adequately meet the needs of homeless veterans; (7) VA staff seldom monitor discharged veterans' progress after their release from VA inpatient facilities; (8) VA has not compiled the comprehensive inventory of homeless veterans' needs as required; and (9) VA is developing guidance for its medical centers and regional benefits offices to determine homeless veterans' needs and issue action plans by 1995.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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