Homelessness | Syracuse Journal of Law & Civic Engagement

Saving Money by Providing Free Homes for Homeless?

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes ran an interesting story about municipalities that are providing free homes to the homeless in order to save money.

Reported by Anderson Cooper here is how the story began:

Giving apartments to homeless people who’ve been on the streets for years before they’ve received treatment for drug or alcohol problems or mental illness may not sound like a wise idea. But that’s what’s being done in cities across America in an approach that targets those who’ve been homeless the longest and are believed to be at greatest risk of dying, especially with all of this cold weather.

They’re people who once might have been viewed as unreachable. But cities and counties affiliated with a movement known as the 100,000 Homes Campaign have so far managed to get 80,000 of them off the streets. Local governments and non-profit groups do most of the work. The money comes mostly from existing federal programs and private donations, and there’s evidence that this approach saves taxpayers money.

As a veteran of the Marine Corps, I have had the opportunity to do many interesting things that many people do not get to do. I have been to the island of Iwo Jima, the DMZ in Korea, and of course I was also deployed to Iraq to participate in combat operations. After all, that is what Marines do. However, once one chooses to end their active duty service a variety of issues become a factor when trying to make your way in civilian life. This Blog is intended to highlight those issues and discuss current developments as it relates to veterans. Many of those who haven’t served only really see a handful of issue that get highlighted in the media such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), unemployment, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). But with two wars winding down in Iraq and Afghanistan and the older vets of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, getting older the number of people relying on services and support has grown larger. Additionally, the type of issues that affects veterans has become more complex.
One question that comes to my mind is what do we do with everyone? Here are some interesting statics from the Veterans Administration website:

• In fiscal year 2011, 476,515 Veterans with primary or secondary diagnosis of PTSD received treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and clinics.
• Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was implemented on Aug. 1, 2009, VA has provided educational benefits to 773,000 Veterans and their family members, amounting to more than $20 billion in benefits.
• Every year since 2009, VA has completed a record breaking 1 million claims representing over $59 billion in payments to Veterans and their families. VA is building a strong foundation for a paperless, digital disability claims system
• The 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, prepared by HUD, estimates there were 62,619 homeless Veterans on a single night in January in the United States, a 7.2 percent decline since 2011 and a 17.2 percent decline since 2009.

These statics are interesting because of the sheer volume of veterans the VA is processing for its various benefits programs. Also, the money involved is a big issue, between education and disability alone there is nearly 80 billion dollars in spending. These issues will be explored further in later posts but in general it is worth noting what kind of numbers we will be talking about. As a veteran I am of the opinion this is money well spent and it has helped me out a lot in achieving my educational goals. But I also know several veterans that start school on the VA’s dime and never finish or do anything productive. Is this a waste of taxpayer money? A question we will take up in a future entry.
Another issue to think about is the transition from active duty military to regular civilian is difficult even for those who do not have disabilities or PTSD. The military is a very close-knit society that has its own rules and regulations, many of which are markedly different than that of the civilian world. From my own experience I can say it took me years to be able to walk and talk on a cellphone at the same time (its against Marine Corps Orders to do that). While that’s more of a humorous example, a more pointed one is that I was an Infantryman and as such did not work with females in any capacity. I have never had a female boss, nor have I ever had to work with a female on a work project or task. I mention this because the civilian world is very different; women are often in leadership roles, or work place equals and it can be an adjustment, particularly when its something you have never had to do. Granted, I adjusted just fine (or at least I think I did) but that isn’t always the case. What should be done about those that can’t?

Veterans Issues are plentiful and over the coming weeks and months I hope to establish a good foundation for people to understand the breadth and complexity of problems and adjustments that face today’s patriots that have sacrificed to serve our great country.