Lowering the rate of homelessness among Veterans

      It has been 6 years since President Obama set his goal to end homelessness among all veterans. As the year is coming to a close he announced that with the current efforts being made it has decreased 47% in the United States. Deputy assistant secretary for special needs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ana Oliva, is unsure of when this crisis would be completely eliminated. The latest point-in-time count showed there were about 40,000 homeless veterans left to house and 13,000 of those veterans live on the streets.

     Austin is the latest of about 30 cities and counties to meet goals. They housed 682 veterans in a little over two years and are able to house veterans within 90 days of identifying them. Of those veterans who are permanently housed 13% have dropped out of the program. In the future, Oliva would like to take note of the amount of veterans who dropped out of the program because of a positive change. It will help the VA assess the reasons for people leaving the assistance program.  Oliva believes they are on the right path and with support they can achieve President Obama’s goal.

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