Federal agencies lack adequate data on the characteristics and needs of homeless women veterans on a national, state, and local level. VA does not have the information needed to plan services effectively, allocate grants to providers, and track progress toward its overall goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015.
Findings:
The number of women veterans identified as homeless more than doubled, from 1,380 in fiscal year 2006 to 3,328 in fiscal year 2010. Although these data are not generalizable to all homeless women veterans, the General Accounting Office identified that almost two-thirds were between 40 and 59 years old; more than one-third had disabilities; and many resided with their minor children.
Homeless women veterans were not always aware of veteran housing services, which posed a significant barrier to access. Women veterans waited an average of 4 months before securing HUD-VASH housing. Without referrals for shelter or temporary housing during these waits, homeless women veterans may be at risk of physical harm and further trauma on the streets or in other unsafe places.
Lack of housing for women with children is a significant barrier to accessing veteran housing.
Homeless women veterans also cited safety concerns about housing, and some programs indicated incidents of sexual harassment or assault on women residents in the past 5 years. To ensure that women veterans are safely housed, the Secretary of VA should determine what gender-specific safety and security standards are needed, especially for those serving both women and men.
For more information, contact Daniel Bertoni at (202) 512-7215 or bertonid@gao.gov.
The President released his fiscal year (FY) 2013 Budget Proposal, which included a proposed funding level of $2.231 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants– 17 percent higher than the final FY 2012 level. The $2.231 billion would include:
$286 million for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program;
$5 million for the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program; and
$1.94 billion for the Continuum of Care program, including:
Renewing existing projects;
$8 million for HMIS; and
$22 million for new projects and CoC planning.
Congress will also hold hearings on the proposal and will begin drafting its own appropriations proposals. The National Alliance to End Homelessness will kick off the FY 2013 McKinney Appropriations Campaign with a massive letter-writing effort to Members of Congress urging their support for the Administration’s request. We hope you will participate!
For the first time in decades, the State of Connecticut is making a historic investment in revitalizing over 14,000 units of public housing. In addition, the Governor has proposed funding for 150 additional rental assistance certificates for scattered site supportive housing.
“Updating the state’s housing portfolio will help to bring market pressures to bear to make housing more affordable…and not only for public housing residents, but for entire neighborhoods”, says Carol Walter, Executive Director of the Coalition. “This is a pivotal time for Connecticut, as we desperately need the jobs that this investment would create.”
It is estimated that this proposal may yield some 6,700 construction, trade and related service jobs. Some individuals in emergency shelter are unemployed or underemployed construction workers. “This measure could help to stabilize household income, which means putting some folks back to work and potentially preventing some families living on the edge from becoming homeless” Walter states. The economic downturn has led to significant job losses in Connecticut, particularly among construction and service workers.
“The Governor is putting a down payment on economic vitality in our communities. Now its up to mayors, business people, public housing authorities and community leaders to maximize these investments and creatively finance them to get the lowest possible cost per unit so that this has the greatest impact,” Walter adds, “what happens on the ground is critical.” The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness intends to work with community plans to end homelessness to ensure that state investments are targeted wisely and brought on-line as quickly as possible.
The reorganization of housing assistance programs within the new State Office of Housing within DECD is intended to streamline and coordinate such services. Rental assistance, emergency and domestic violence shelters, Residences for Persons with AIDS and others would be consolidated. CCEH will work with the administration to make sure that this goes smoothly and results in a housing-based system response to homelessness in Connecticut.
More than 390,000 calls were made to United Way’s 2-1-1 assistance line last year. Housing and shelter were the number one reason people called, including almost 52,000 requests for help from people searching for a place to live.
Families, children and individuals sleeping in Connecticut’s homeless shelters Wednesday night will be the focus of CT Counts 2012, the annual Point-In-Time Count. Scheduled to take place Wednesday January 25th, this yearly “census” of homelessness is a tally of homeless people on one night and forms a profile of what is usually an invisible population.
High unemployment and a lack of affordable housing is expected to be a key factor in what experts expect will show an emergency shelter system that is stretched beyond its reasonable limits. Most concerning, according to Carol Walter, Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, the organization that conducts and analyzes the count, is the increasing number of young children sleeping in Connecticut shelter and transitional housing programs.
But Walter adds that there is plenty of hope for reversing this trend, despite rising numbers.
“We can end homelessness in our state in this decade” she said. “We know how to target housing and just the right services to families and individuals to either prevent their becoming homeless or assure that if they do become homeless they return quickly to stable housing.” Walter added, “We can prevent the devastating consequences that the experience of homelessness has in the lives of young children. We can do it in a humane, effective and cost efficient manner which will ultimately save taxpayers money.”
Effective programs include rental assistance, eviction and foreclosure prevention, security deposit guarantees, and supportive housing. Supportive housing is permanent, affordable and independent rental housing for individuals and families who have experienced long term homelessness.
The Point-in-Time Count is organized by the CT Coalition to End Homelessness, with the help of service providers within the State’s seven Continuum of Care. The count is funded by: the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, the CT Housing Finance Authority, the Melville Charitable Trust, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Community Fund of Greater New Haven, the CT Office of Policy and Management, and the CT Departments of Social Services, Children and Families, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Corrections and Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch.
The report examines homelessness between 2009 and 2011, a period of economic downturn in the nation. Despite the fact that the number of homeless people was essentially unchanged between 2009 and 2011, there is much reason for concern. Holding the line on homelessness between 2009 and 2011 was a major accomplishment of federal investment and local innovation, the failure to sustain this early recipe for success threatens to undermine progress now and in the future.
