Returning Vets: GI Bill Failing Them

Returning Veterans:

GI Bill Earns Dunce Cap 

 

 I found this story in today’s @issue section of the Atlanta Journal- Constitution.   The author is Ellis Henican who is a columnist for Newsday.   He makes a point that returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan arrive to an ugly surprise – the highly touted education they were promised is still limping along essentially at World War II rates of funding compared to actual costs of an education.   The GI Bill is failing them and failing us for the promises we make for our heroes that go off to war.

He says what too many of us have been saying for it not to be true:  Our members of Congress from both parties are constantly saying how much they support our troops, yet once again, they shortchange our warriors when they come home.    Read the excerpts and then go back to the link above and read the entire article:

Returning Vets find GI Bill earns dunce cap

by Ellis Henican 

Newsday

Published on: 11/30/07

They’re coming home, the lucky ones are, pulling their lives back together after harrowing times in the war zone.   And the GI Bill is there to help them, same as it was for “the greatest generation,” who returned to civilian society after World War II.

Um, well, not exactly.

American vets now coming back from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are facing an ugly surprise — and I don’t just mean the iffy health care at their local VA hospital. The educational benefits that sounded so alluring in those upbeat recruiting ads? They don’t come close to covering the real costs of college.

“Four hundred dollars? Are you kidding?” Army Reserve Spc. Sheila Pion said of her monthly stipend. “Just my textbooks cost $410.”

A seven-year reservist back home in Long Island City, N.Y., and attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Pion served at an Army hospital in Kuwait, tending to wounded soldiers. “It was important duty,” said Pion, 24. “I was happy to do it. But the whole point of me joining the military was to pay for my education. And the educational benefits are nothing like they lead you to believe.”

(…)

Under today’s GI Bill, regular-service combat vets get $1,101 a month, far less for fighting members of the National Guard and Reserve. No one’s going to Harvard or Columbia on that kind of money. And even to qualify, today’s soldiers are required to deposit $100 a month into their own education fund, months or years before they ever get a nickel back.

“A combat tax,” the troops have starting calling these paycheck deductions.

(…)  Read the rest at the link, please.

 ”Supporting the troops”

should be more than just a slogan!

______________________________________________________

Note:  After posting this an hour or so ago, I came across this related information. 

Did you know that the “No Child Left Behind” act now carries a provision that requires primary schools (your child’s high school for example) to provide detailed contact information for every child in the school to military recruiters?

Military recruiters can blitz youngsters with uninvited phone calls to their homes and on-campus pitches replete with video war games. This is all possible under a little noted part of the law that requires schools to provide the names, addresses (campus addresses, too) and phone numbers of students or risk losing federal aid. The law provides an option to block the hard-sell recruitment – but only if parents demand in writing that the school deny this information to the military.

It is in the recruitment of lower middle class students, focused on minority blacks and Hispanics, where the education card is pushed hardest in order to meet the recruitment goals to fill the ranks of our military.  These are the kids most likely to see an educational opportunity as a blessing and also the most unlikely to realize that it will not be enough to get them a real education.  It is these recruits that are in most need that later find the GI Bill failing them most dramatically.

Oldtimer

 

Shelters take many vets of Iraq, Afghan wars

Excerpts from a Boston Globe Article By Anna Badkhen,

As more troops return from deployments, social workers and advocates expect the number of the homeless to increase, flooding the nation’s veterans’ shelters, which are already overwhelmed by homeless veterans from other wars.

No one keeps track of how many of the 750,000 troops who have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 are homeless. 

Peter Dougherty, director of homeless programs for the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, said 300 veterans of these conflicts have asked the agency for help finding shelter in the last 30 months.

“It’s a major problem that’s not going away anytime soon,” said Cheryl Beversdorf, director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in Washington.  Beversdorf’s agency has helped 1,200 homeless veterans of the current wars.

This reflects only a fraction of the total number of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, said Amy Fairweather, who works with Iraq war veterans at Swords to Plowshares, a private organization based in San Francisco that assists veterans. Last year, her agency’s five shelters in California helped 250 such veterans, she said.

Oldtimer”s comment:  Read the entire article and find out what is really happening to our returning heroes.

Stand Down – Faith Hope Love Charity

I received an invitation from Stand Down FHLC, Inc. that I would like to pass on to you.

Stand Down FHLC, Inc operates out of Palm Springs, Florida.   It was founded in 1994 and opened its doors in 2000.  

Stand Down FHLC  is a multi tiered program that assists & supports male veterans who are struggling with addiction & have become homeless as a result of that struggle.   More than 800 veterans have received support from their program.

It operates a 15 bed facility dedicated to homeless veterans and provides 30 – 60 days of residence, food, treatment by staff psychologists, and transportation to the nearest VAMC for substance abuse, medical, and dental treatment.

  Here is their invitation:

Hold the Date:  

Saturday November 10, 2007

Faith*Hope*Love*Charity, Inc.

presents its first Preeminent

“Take Flight Award Banquet”

 Honoring our Military (Past & Present) 

Crown Plaza – West Palm Beach

1601 Belvedere Road

West Palm Beach, FL 33406  

Meet and Greet Distinguished & Celebrity Guests

 Incredible Silent Auction

Exquisite cuisine

Fantastic Entertainment

Contact Dr. Crockett Or Ms. Rainford

For Additional Information

(561) 968-1612 ext. 13/10  or at Ccrockett@standown.org. 

This is how you minister to Heroes

Click for All homeless Veteran Posts

Program for homeless N.H. vets could close

Program for homeless N.H. vets not funded
 

Something is wrong here.  

Something is very wrong!  

We seem to be backing up.   The article below is just one of many like it.   Federal funds in support of our homeless are drying up, and even worse, many homeless veterans that have found shelter are themselves cast out onto the streets.  At least Liberty House is determined to keep up the fight for our veterans.   Our government doesn’t seem to really care.   To paraphrase: “We cut the funds, but it is local yokels that decide where the remainder is used.”   

I’ve seen some of the inside workings of these interagency counsels.  It is kind of like, “they cut our funds for band-aids.  Which wound needs the dressings the most?  Where are the screams coming from?    Do we save that arm or let that leg go?   It is a fact of life that there are no good choices when there isn’t even close to enough money to go around and people are in serious trouble everywhere you look.    So they prioritize, hoping that HUD will not cut funding for the vets.    When an application has 6 choices and HUD chooses to fund the first 5, they are in effect saying, “the homeless veterans on the list are not worth our money”.   Even the VA shortchanges our homeless vets - they allocate only a net of $1.37 a day per homeless veteran.  

Find the rest of this story here

Program for homeless N.H. vets could close 

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 14, 2007

CONCORD – A temporary home for homeless veterans in Manchester will lose its entire federal budget next year, officials said Tuesday. Liberty House received $150,000 over the past three years from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, founder Don Duhamel said. But the money wasn’t included in the proposed federal budget. “We’re fighting for our life,” Duhamel said. “We’re going to have to go out and beg and whatever and find other sources.”Liberty House was at the bottom of Manchester’s six-item, $881,000 HUD application. The agency funded the first five requests and awarded them $723,000. It also set aside $82,000 for emergency shelters. “We don’t pick and choose the projects to receive funding in any local community,” HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said. Those are chosen by local interagency committees, he said. Liberty House didn’t make the cut. “There’s only so much money that HUD gives,” said Paul Crawford, chair of Manchester’s board that reviews potential federal homeless programs. “We’ve been waiting for six months to hear. It wasn’t until the federal budget for the last year was done that we could find out.” Mary Sliney helped coordinate the city’s applications. She said outside experts in homelessness reviewed the proposals and ranked them.Liberty House has 10 beds for homeless vets and recently started letting another two sleep on couches, Duhamel said.

“I’ll be damned if we’re going to close our door,” he said. “We’re taking them off the street and sending them back out there as taxpayers. We want to get them a job, an apartment, have them walk out of here as taxpayers and living a clean life.”

Duhamel pointed to the growing number of Iraq war vets as a reason to keep funding his program.

“They are giving us a hard time and this is when they need us the most. With this kind of war and all these brain injuries, they’re going to be hurting for the next 20 years,” he said.

Sliney agreed that veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan need attention. 

“This is a critical time as we’re looking at the folks who are the new veterans from our current wars,” Sliney said. “This is something we need to pay attention to.”

Oldtimer’s comment:

Wave more than just flags ’cause…

 Heros are out there too.

For all homeless Veteran Posts

Homeless Veterans Want to Be Remembered on Memorial Day

By: AMVETS
Published: May 22, 2007 at 06:48
 

Memorial Day was established as a day of remembrance in honor of Americans who have lost their lives while serving their country.  But Joe Lansford of Alexandria believes that Americans should also use the occasion to remember living veterans in Indiana and across the country who struggle with homelessness because of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ failure to provide them with timely healthcare and disability payments when they completed their military service. 

Lansford, a 52-year-old Vietnam Navy veteran who helped evacuate Americans and Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon, was homeless several times after he left the service in 1980 and lived a wretched existence in everything from makeshift tents to abandoned buildings as he struggled with alcoholism and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). “When I left the service, they didn’t give me any kind of medical evaluation,” he said. “They just handed me my discharge papers and my final check.  It took the VA more than 20 years to figure out I had PTSD.”  And even after doctors diagnosed Lansford with PTSD six years ago, 21 years after he completed his military service, it took the VA another two years to approve his disability pension.“The VA rejected my application for disability the first time, even though several doctors said I had PTSD,” Lansford said.   “These delays are one reason why so many veterans end up homeless.”Indeed, according to VA’s own statistics, more than 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.(…)
“Members of Congress should do veterans a favor this Memorial Day and study the recommendations for reform that were provided to them by AMVETS last year,” said Tom McGriff, AMVETS’ national commander. “I would also encourage members of the public to write their congressmen and encourage them to read the report and to take action on the recommendations that were made to them.”

A leader since 1944 in preserving the freedoms secured by America’s Armed Forces, AMVETS is the only veterans service organization that represents members of every branch of the military, including the National Guard and Reserve. AMVETS provides support for veterans and the active military in procuring their earned entitlements as well as community services that enhance veterans’ quality of life. More information on AMVETS can be found at http://www.amvets.org/

Oldtimer’s Comment:  I applaud the AMVETS for all they do! 

FACT: 43% of Homeless Males Over 25 are Veterans!

Fact:  If military service were not a causal factor in veteran homelessness, only 27% of homeless would be veterans! 

In a previous post I’ve documented sources for several statistics relevant to homeless veterans.  The data in that post has been carefully researched and represent a significant improvement from my earlier attempts.  These new statistics include the percent of the total male homeless over 25 that are veterans (43%).    Let me present a couple of relevant charts for those of us who are more visually oriented.

The chart at the left shows that veterans make up 11.7% of the total US population 18 or older. 

 The figures are documented in the document linked above.

Our total population is 301.9 million and 74.6 percent of us are 18 or older, old enough to enlist.  That works out to be just over 225 million, male and female.

The veteran count, also documented in the link above, includes both wartime and peace time living veterans.

                                                                                                                                              

The chart at the left is the same except only the male populations are charted.  

I’ve chosen to use this chart as it more reasonably represents the age and demographics of homeless veterans. 

We also get to compare similar demographics between charts.   Less than 1% of veterans under 25 are homeless.  Less than 0.3% of homeless vets are women.

 The total US Male population 25 and older is 93,800,000.   The total male veterans 25 and older is 24,910,000.

Male Veterans Make Up 27% Of  Male Population Over 25.

                                                                                                                                                       

43% of Homeless Men Over 25 are Veterans!

The chart at the left shows that male homeless veterans make up 43% of the male homeless over 25.  The data is documented in the previous post link above.

If the homeless veterans were representative of the US male population, you would expect that the last two charts would look very similar. 

You would expect the male homeless veterans to represent about 27% of the homeless population. 

Veterans are grossly overrepresented  in the homeless population.

                                                                                                                                                

The Department of Veterans Affairs says this about the homeless veterans:

“Although many homeless veterans served in combat in Vietnam and suffer from PTSD, at this time, epidemiological studies do not suggest that there is a causal connection between military service, service in Vietnam, or exposure to combat and homelessness among veterans.”

The VA Claims “No Causal Connection To Service”

OK, I think the charts above put the lie to that statement.  If there were no causal relationship, the homeless veterans would total less than 123,000 instead of the 200,000 that are homeless on any given night and the pie charts would look essentially the same.  It is my opinion that PTSD and substance abuse problems acquired while in service play a major role in the lives of homeless veterans.  

The VA goes out of its way to try to acquit PTSD and combat service as causal effects.  Why do that do that?  Why even bring it up at all?  Could it be that they know that military service is a factor to homeless veterans (big time)  but do not want to pay for it?  Smoke screens that try to let us believe they have considered those things and found them not a factor?   Well….  something is a factor and it is time the VA took its head out of the sand!

I call on our Congress to get to the bottom of this and fix it. 

These are men and women that put on uniforms and took up arms in service to our country and so far our country has been too cheap to treat them as the Heroes that they are.

Oldtimer:  Click for All Homeless Veteran Posts.  

“Houseless and Homeless Not Same Thing”

Houseless and Homeless Same?  Not exactly. 

Many think so, but they are different and overlap.   Many think that if you have a roof over your head – housed that is (shelter, rooming house, somebody’s couch) then you are not homeless.   They think you are homeless only if you live outside, on the streets.  They are wrong. 

If you don’t get the difference, think about it until you do.  Read the words of the homeless veteran below and see if anything clicks.   The old saying, “home  is where the heart is” is quite valid and true.  Just because a homeless person is in shelter or sleeping on a friend’s couch, or living in a cheap motel, doesn’t mean he or she is not still homeless. 

They may be housed and homeless at the same time.  This is a big issue and a terribly sore spot with the homeless.  To them there is a world of difference; almost fighting words!   There are homeless veterans and houseless veterans, two different levels of homeless, but don’t say that someone housed cannot be homeless.  The houseless veteran is one that sleeps in a doorway or back alley or along some creek bank somewhere.   The homeless veteran covers that and also the housed that cannot make a home out of their accomidations.

Definition

From Wikipedia:  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines the term “homeless” or “homeless individual or homeless person” as — (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: A) supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.

Definition 1) covers the unhoused homeless and 2) covers the housed homeless.  There are others, including those living in cars, campers, paid motel rooms/flop houses, rooming houses, bus terminals, transit cars, and couch surfing that kind of blur whether they are covered at all or included in C). 

Most homeless census counts do not count the homeless that are able to score time in a motel or hotel as homeless, although usually they get that brief stay for only a few days or a week.  Most homeless census counts also do not count homeless in transit (those at bus or train stations or actually in transit), even though some live in the metro transit systems for years.   The result is an undercount. 

 Comment from a Homeless Vet in Ohio on homeless and houseless:

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: homeless
One entry found for homeless.
Function: adjective
: having no home or permanent place of residence
- home·less·ness noun

 ”Today, my mother and I had the “homeless” conversation for the first time ever. It was terribly brief. I had mentioned having spent the last year as a homeless veteran. She said that I have never been homeless — I was staying with [my last host] until I moved into her house.  I told her that being homeless and being houseless are not the same thing.  She said she didn’t have time to discuss it and walked away.

“Yes, there was a roof over my head and there is still a roof over my head at her house; however, it was crystal clear from the moment I was told that I could move in — both places — that I was allowed to stay for a while, transient, short term, not permanent or anything close to it. I was permitted a temporary stay in someone else’s home, permitted to “make myself at home”, but never permitted to make the home my home.

“It was clear from day one — this is temporary, it had better not last very long, or a day will arrive when my belongings are moved out for me.  My last host placed them safely covered and well hidden (from the road) on his front porch. “

(Oldtimer’s note, he was recently moved out – van loaded up and transported elsewhere by his parents – wore out his welcome – their home was not his home and he was homeless even there – housed homeless in his parent’s home.)

“Maybe some people really do have to be homeless for a while to understand that houseless and homeless are not the same thing. “Houseless” and “homeless” frequently overlap, but they are not interchangeable synonyms, not at all.  No, my mother really has zero clue what spending a year without a place where I was welcome to stay permanently has done to my psyche.  “Coming back” from this might be a little easier if my family had the slightest clue where I “went”.  Yeah, I think it is going to take me a while.”

Elsewhere in his blog he says this: “Housed-homeless”, it seems like such a strange concept, but there’s probably more of us “couch surfing” veterans than anyone is counting as “officially” homeless .

He has an interesting blog.  Go visit.

Click here for All Homeless Veteran Articles

Homeless Veterans – Facts By the Numbers

Published Statistics Vary Greatly 

I’ve seen a lot of statistics that vary from source to source all over the place.  Most of them not referencing their source, many of them not being specific on the definitions or the exact group being cited.  I’m going to attempt to put down some numbers that come from trusted sites and clarify the statistics as best I can.    Links are to sources.  We will try to make sense of these numbers in a later post – stay tuned.

The total population of the United States: 

As of May 19, 2007: 301,875,007.  Source US Census Population Clock.  If the number above doesn’t agree it is because we have a net gain of one person every 11 seconds.  

By Census Bureau sex and age, 49% are male, 51% female, 74.6% (225,200) are 18 or older, 48% (114,900,000) male over 18, 52% female over 18.   The total male population over 25 is 92,800,000 men.

The total population of veterans:

 (Includes Peacetime Veterans): 26,403,000, of which 24,810,000 are men and 1,593,000 are women as of census 2000. 

The total population of wartime veterans:  

(Wartime Only):  19,157,000 of which  18,073,000 are men and 1,084,000 are women as of 2004.   

Veterans under age 25:   0.8% (153,000) are men and 0.3% (58,000) are women.

Total estimated spending for veterans:

 (Dollars in 2004):  $62.0 Billion for 2004 ($234 per veteran).

Where veterans Served:

By Service 2002 :  WWII 4,762,000;   Korean 3,733,000; Vietnam 8,293,000; Persian Gulf War 3,573,000;  Peacetime 6,461,000.  

Homeless veterans:

There are 200,000 homeless veterans on any one day, up to 400,000 during any year; 97% of the homeless veterans (194,000) are male, and 3% (6,000) female on any one day.  These are the VA’s best estimates.  No one is really counting.  56% (112,000) are African American or Hispanic.  

Of these 45% (86,000) suffer from mental illness and (with considerable overlap) 73% (146,000) suffer from alcohol and substance abuse. 

Total US homeless population:  

2005 Estimate:  Approximately 744,313 people homeless on a single night.  This includes 56% in shelters, 44% unsheltered; 59% single adults, 41% in families (98,452 families counted); 23% chronically homeless (171,200 disabled and long term or repeatedly homeless ).   The 172,000 chronically homeless use up 50% of the services. 

Of the total homeless population, 66 % (491,000) are males;   93% (456,700) of homeless males are 25 or older;  41% (201,000) of the males are employed as compared to 27% (68,300) of females.

Calculated Results: 

43% of homeless males 25 and older are veterans.   How do I arrive at that value?   The number of homeless males 25 and over is 456,700 and the number of homeless male veterans is 194,000.   I beleive this is as valid as the counts that make up the data.   There are less than 1% veterans under 25 and about 0.3% homeless women veterans.      

27% of all males over 25 are veterans but 43% of all homeless males are veterans.   There is a disconnect here, the percentages should be about the same.   This 27% calculation uses 24,910,000 male veterans 25 and over and 92,823,000 US males 25 and over.    

Stay tuned – work in progress - this post will be updated and a new post will massage and chart these numbers. 

Click for All Homeless Veterans Articles

Veterans Protest Over ‘Lack Of Care’ Outside Of LA’s VA

The group Citizens For Veterans’ Rights estimates there are between 15,000 and 24,000 homeless veterans living in Los Angeles County. 

Veteran:  “We ask the people behind those gates, ‘open those gates.’ Give that service and give a home to the homeless veteran.”   (Picture from VA Web site)

Find the rest of this story here
March 16, 2007LOS ANGELES — Veterans marched outside the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center on Friday in protest of what they said is a lack of care being provided to aging veterans and soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Between 70 and 75 veterans and supporters marched “to draw attention to policies at the West Los Angeles VA that have led to the deaths of veterans,” said organizer Keith Jeffreys.(…)   During the protest at San Vicente and Wilshire Boulevards, veteran Jay Handle said more medical and social services need to be provided to the men and women returning from war.  “We have a major problem here that hasn’t been recognized nationally, and the major problem is those gates are locked to the people who are standing out here every day,” Handle said.  “We ask the people behind those gates, ‘open those gates.’ Give that service and give a home to the homeless veteran.”The group Citizens For Veterans’ Rights estimates there are between 15,000 and 24,000 homeless veterans living in Los Angeles County, Jeffreys said.   In the 2005 Homeless Count, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated Los Angeles County has more than 15,000 homeless vets.“It’s an enormous burden for Los Angeles County to bear so we look at it not only as a local issue but we need changes made VA-wide, starting with Washington,” Jeffreys said.“We have to roll up our sleeves here and quit talking about making changes and really make changes.”Comment:  This particular hospital recently made the news for removing the wrong testicle from a veteran during cancer surgery.
HEROES need our help more than ever!Oldtimers Comment:  Click here for all Homeless Veterans Articles

Injured Troops Struggle to Get Health Care

Injured Troops Struggle to Get Health Care

Well, this isn’t a homeless veteran’s story, but it could be for the reasons illustrated here, so I’m adding it to that series anyway.  The problems illustrated in this report on the National Public Radio (NPR) caught my eye.  Our injured troops, our returning heroes, are not being treated right and many of them end up homeless just because of what seems to be an arbitrary system of handing out disability rankings.   

I know the people that work and serve to doctor and care for our toops care about the injured.   But there is a bureaucratic snafu when people are severly injured and sometime mentally disabled  but denied their claims unfairly and then the VA has such a backlog they can’t handle the flood of troops coming to them.  Our Heroes are just not being treated right!

Comment: The following story was broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) there is a link at the bottom for the audio and for the rest of the story.  Everything below except for my comment was written by by Joseph Shapiro.

Photo by Eamon Coyne

Tim Ngo (center) suffered a serious head injury while serving in Iraq.
The military recognizes him as only “10 percent” disabled, which makes
him ineligible for continued military health care.
Above, Ngo stands with his girlfriend, Ani Cerghizan (left),
and his mother, Hong Wyberg.

“I don’t fully think they were prepared for the length of time this war is going to last. They had no idea of how many injuries or the type of injuries that were going to come out of this.” Hong Wyberg, Mother of Tim Ngo, who sustained a serious head injury in Iraq.

“It’s counterintuitive. Why are the number of disability retirees shrinking during wartime?” Mark Parker, Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel

When service members are forced to leave the military by war injuries or illness, they face a complex system for getting health and disability benefits. Sometimes, health care gets cut off when new veterans find they need it most. Some retired soldiers and their families say they are worried that the Pentagon won’t spend enough money to give the injured the care they deserve.

’10 Percent Disabled’

Tim Ngo almost died in a grenade attack in Iraq. He sustained a serious head injury; surgeons had to cut out part of his skull. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he learned to walk and talk again. When he got back home to Minnesota, he wore a white plastic helmet to protect the thinned-out patches of his skull. People on the street snickered, so Ngo’s mother took a black marker and wrote on the helmet: U.S. ARMY, BACK FROM IRAQ. On this much, everyone agrees.

But here is the part that is in dispute: The Army says Tim Ngo is only 10 percent disabled. “I was hoping I would get at least 50 or 60 or 70 percent,” Ngo says. “But they said, ‘Yeah, you’re only going to get 10 percent’… And I was pretty outraged.”

When a service member is retired for medical reasons, the military’s disability rating makes a difference. If Ngo had been rated 30 percent disabled or higher, he would have gotten a monthly disability check instead of a small severance check. He also would have stayed in the military’s health-care system. Instead, Ngo enrolled with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Typically, there’s a waiting period for the VA.

Comment: This sounds like a cop-out for the VA. A way to save money at the expense of our returning heroes.

In October, while he was uninsured, Ngo had a seizure, caused by his war injury. He remembers being outside and blacking out; he fell to the ground on the driveway. “My girlfriend was freaking out because she didn’t know what to do,” Ngo says. “She didn’t know if I was going to die because I had hit the wrong side of my head.” An ambulance took Ngo to the nearest emergency room for treatment. It cost him $10,000. Ngo says that today, the bills for the incident are still unresolved.

Read the rest of this story here

Homeless Veterans – Overview of the Problem

I’ve recently posted a Homeless Veterans – Summary article which I have retitled and copied to a special page titled “Homeless Veterans – Overview of the Problem” (see the links above my banner).   I’ve added to it a link that pulls all of the Homeless Veterans series together,  more than 50 articles.   It is also copied below.

I invite you to come back and read this series.  It is an eye-opener.   The one thing you should gain is an understanding of how massive the problem is and how underfunded the VA allocations are for helping our Heroes sleeping on our sidewalks for lack of government help.    Veterans make up only 1/17 of the US population but 1/3 of the homeless population.   Considering male veterans, it is even worse.  Male veterans make up 43% of the homeless adult male population.  Something is dreadfully wrong.

If our government took care of our men and women who have served us in war so well, then the overall homeless problem could be reduced by 40% overnight. With 40% less to feed and clothe, our so generous secular and religious homeless service organizations could cope with the rest of the homeless problem so much better.

Read the complete overview here (reprinted below).

Find all the Homeless Veteran articles here (85 to  date)

There is a Problem and the VA is not stepping up to the plate to address it.

It should be obvious by now that our homeless veterans are not being served well at all.  If the homeless veterans were properly cared for by our country, the total homeless population would fall by more than 40 percent over night.

Homeless services would then have sufficient funding to move many of the rest of the homeless off the streets into transitional housing with services that bring them back into the working population.   It would be a dream come true.  If only our country would step up to the plate, homelessness in our country would be virtually eliminated.  If only….

Lets Summarize the Homeless Veteran Situation.

750,000 total homeless count in U.S
400,000  veterans are homeless at some time in a  year
200,000 veterans homeless in any one night

27% of our male U.S. population are veterans but:
43% of all homeless males are veterans – why?

7688 beds funded by the VA for homeless veterans
192,312 sleeping elsewhere – shelters, grates, creekbeds, back alleys.    We have Heroes sleeping on sidewalks in every big city.

The VA says homelessness is not related to military service, but:

Veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than civilians

You may think that homeless veterans served poorly in military, but:

95% of homeless vets have honorable discharges

The VA claims it has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country, but:

Total VA funding is only $1.37 per homeless vet per day.
VA funded beds provide for only 1 of every 26 homeless vets
VA funds only 7688 beds for 200,000 homeless veterans on any given night of the year.

Current (2007) grants cover only 1 bed per 192 mentally ill homeless veterans, and allocates only 14 cents a day per mentally ill veteran.  Fifteen states get none of these grant monies, 15 more get grants for one organization in the state, and 20 get the bulk of the funding.

The VA announced a 20% reduction in homeless vets over the last 6 years, but failed to say it was due to the way they count them.  The number they reported hasn’t changed in the last four years.  During the same period, more than 23% of our Vietnam vets died.

The mix of homeless veterans has changed in the last 9 years
1997             2006
Korea             1o%               4%           almost gone
Vietnam          42%              39%        dying out
Gulf War         10%              16%        rapidly increasing

Our Korean veterans are getting old and dying out
Our Gulf War veterans are increasing rapidly
Our Vietnam veterans have the largest homeless rate by far.

Fact:  If our country stepped up to the plate and provided for our homeless veterans,  the homeless population would fall instantly by 43 percent.

Note:  To find all of the more than 85 Homeless Veterans articles Click Here

I’ve made a few of the posts dealing with useful facts pages that are listed above the banner at the top of this site.   (where you found this one).

Heroes don’t deserve

to be treated like this!

Write your Congressman!

Oldtimer

Homeless Veterans – An Overview of the Problem

It should be obvious by now that our homeless veterans are not being served well at all.  If the homeless veterans were properly cared for by our country, the total homeless population would fall by at least one third over night.   

Homeless services would then have sufficient funding to move many of the rest of the homeless off the streets into transitional housing with services that bring them back into the working population.   It would be a dream come true.  If only our country would step up to the plate, homelessness in our country would be virtually eliminated.  If only….

Lets Summarize the Homeless Veteran Situation. 

750,000 total homeless count in U.S
400,000  veterans are homeless per year
200,000 veterans homeless in any one night
1/17 of our U.S. population are veterans but:
1/3 of all homeless are veterans
7688 beds funded by the VA for homeless veterans
192,312 sleeping elsewhere – shelters, grates, creekbeds, back alleys.    We have Heroes sleeping on sidewalks in every big city.

The VA says homelessness is not related to military service, but:

Veterans are 5 times more likely to be homeless than civilians

You may think that homeless veterans served poorly in military, but:

95% of homeless vets have honorable discharges

The VA claims it has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country, but:

VA funding is only $1.37 per homeless vet per day
VA funded beds provide for only 1 of every 26 homeless vets
VA funds only 7688 beds for 200,000 homeless veterans on any given night of the year. 

The mix of homeless veterans has changed in the last 9 years
                  1997             2006
Korea            1o%               4%           
Vietnam         42%              39%
Gulf War         10%              16%

Our Korean veterans are getting old and dying out
Our Gulf War veterans are increasing rapidly
Our Vietnam veterans have the largest homeless rate by far.

Fact:  If our country stepped up to the plate and provided for our homeless veterans,  the homeless population would fall instantly by 33 percent.

To view all the Homeless Veterans Articles, Click Here

VA Allocates $1.37 per Homeless Vet per day.

Maybe an egg biscuit and water?   What kind of Hero treatment is that?   It is little wonder that the VA can only host the homeless with a Stand Down once a year.   Let’s look at the facts as provided by the Veteran’s Administration:

 (This is a two day’s ration, about $2.60)

Photo by  Carey Tilden    

The Veteran’s Administration says this about its homeless program: 

“VA is the only federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to the homeless. It has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country.  More than 10,000 transitional housing units and 2,000 permanent beds case managed by VA staff are available for homeless veterans throughout the country.”

There is a back side to that in the same paragraph: 

“More than $200 million is dedicated to specialized homeless programs to assist homeless veterans, including grants and per diem payments to more than 300 public groups.”

And the VA says this on the homeless webpage:

“About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. On any given day, as many as 200,000 veterans (male and female) are living on the streets or in shelters, and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.”

Ok, lets see how this all adds up.   200 million funding per year, 400,000 homeless veterans per year and 200,000 homeless any one night.  That is $500 per year per homeless hero ($1.37 per day) spread across all programs including grants, per diem and 300 public groups .    

A dollar-thirty-seven a day.  No wonder the vets like being homeless so much – they are getting rich off the per diem!  Oh -wait - I forgot this isn’t 1807, it is 2007!    Hoo boy, what a rip. 

Wait… we are about to forget about the beds!  The VA’s  2005 VA CHALENG  report says 7688 beds, the VA’s PR report says 10,000 transitional (not permanent) beds and 2000 permanent beds.  So we give them the benefit of the doubt 12,000 beds. 

OK where are the other 188,000 homeless veterans going to sleep?   Oh, yeah right, down to only 16 vets per bed from the 25 using the other numbers.   Still ok for cold nights, cosy even. 

I read from several of the faith-based community providers that the VA gives them $30 a day to house a homeless veteran.   If that is the case, 200 million dollars would fund a total of 18,265 beds for a year, if no other programs used any of the money.   Still short about 181,000 beds, or else 15 vets per bed.  

But then, these are only Heroes that used to fight wars, not troops to be supported anymore.   After all, what have they done for us lately? A better question is, “what have we done for them lately?”  These men and women that served our country in time of war deserve 10,000 times better.

Our Heroes are still out there – just look in any alley and along any creek.   Forty three percent of all homeless men are veterans, virtually all overlooked by our country. 

We need to hold our heads down and cry!

Oldtimer’s Comment:  Click For All homeless veterans articles

Homeless Bedlam: 25 to the Bed!

Data taken from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.   The following table shows the number of beds funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program in each state compared to the estimated number of homeless veterans reported in each state. This information was taken from the 2005 VA CHALENG Report and tabulated and published by the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. 

AK              0              450
AL             42              816
AR             40           1,350
AZ           199           3,637
CA         1,875         49,546
CO           102           3,895
CT           103           4,675
DC             43           2,400
DE             15              500
FL            430          19,394
GA           165           5,715
HI            118             800
IA              56              615
ID              10              350
IL             136           2,243
IN             108          1,300
KS             47              620
KY           115              963
LA           150           10,897
MA          378            1,680
MD          241           3,100
ME              0               120
MI           139           2,910
MN            23              493
MO            82           4,800
MS             60           1,136
MT             17             247
NC           182           1,601
ND              0           1,000
NE             12              460
NH            36              350
NJ           142           6,500
NM           30              902
NV          201            4,600
NY          274          12,700
OH          261          1,898
OK            27             770
OR          159          6,940
PA          332          2,691
RI             23             175
SC           110         1,375
SD            42            165
TN          241         2,500
TX          233       15,434
UT          145           585
VA            86           911
VT            10            20
WA         167         6,567
WI          209           915
WV          41           357
WY          31           111
PR             0            75

TOTAL 7,688    194,254

YES!  You are seeing what you think you are seeing.  Less than 8000 beds for nearly 200,000 veterans.    

Government Standard?   25 Veterans per bed.    

Repeat after Me:  That Ain’t Right!   That Just Ain’t Right!

Our heroes deserve better than that.

Support All our troups – past present future

Click for all homeless Veteran posts
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Homeless Veterans Chart 1997-2006 Changes

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GOSPEL MISSIONS Veteran’s Survey -  1997  and 2006  

The original survey of more than 1,200 veterans was conducted in 1997  by 58 Rescue missions around the nation.   Today I asked the AGRM if they had any updated information and Phil Rydman, Director of Communications of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions in Kansas City was kind enough to immediately send me summary data for years 1990 through 2006 which was  collected in their extensive yearly surveys.   Data on veterans was collected beginning 1997.     

NOTE from Oldtimer:  The Data is from AGRM, the charts are mine.   

Where did you serve?

•                   1997             2006
• Korea            1o%               4%           
• Vietnam         42%              39%
• Gulf War         10%              16%

 

You can see that the Korean Veterans are now declining due to death and age, whereas the Gulf War veterans are increasing.   The year by year data (not shown here)  shows a sharp peak for the Korean homeless veterans in 1998 (16%) and a sharp decline beginning in 2002.    The year by year data also shows that the Gulf War homeless veterans had gradual increas to 2005, but then  a sharp jump (12% to 16%) in numbers from 2005 to 2006.

(The AGRM serves 32 million meals and provide 14 million nights of lodging each year.   What a blessing this organization is.  I thank them for collecting and sharing this data.)

These Heroes are still out there!  Support these troops too!

Oldtimer’s Comment:  Click For All homeless veterans articles