HOUSING FOR VETS
Closely linked to the criminal justice system is the homeless population. A 2016 report found that approximately 8.6 percent of Florida’s homeless population are veterans. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, seventy percent of homeless Veterans nationwide have substance abuse problems, and fifty percent suffer from serious mental illness. Nationally, an estimated 132,847 veterans were living in an emergency homeless shelter or transitional housing in 2015. This accounts for one out of every 163 veterans in the U.S. or one out of every 11 veterans living in poverty. Listed below are resources available for Veterans seeking housing.
Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program
http://www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp
State, local, and tribal governments and nonprofits receive capital grants and per diem payments to develop and operate transitional housing and/or service centers for Veterans who are homeless.
Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)
http://www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp
For very low-income Veterans, SSVF provides case management and supportive services to prevent the imminent loss of a Veteran’s home or identify a new, more suitable housing situation for the individual and his or her family; or to rapidly re-house Veterans and their families who are homeless and might remain homeless without this assistance.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)
http://www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp
Through public housing authorities, HUD provides rental assistance vouchers for privately owned housing to Veterans who are eligible for VA health care services and are experiencing homelessness. VA case managers may connect these Veterans with support services such as health care, mental health treatment, and substance use counseling to help them in their recovery process and with their ability to maintain housing in the community.