NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE: March 9, 2000

Washington, DC - "The Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] must earmark significantly more effort and funding for the quarter of the homeless who are veterans," Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said today. The money would be used to expand community-based services.

Evans spoke at a press conference with Heather French of Kentucky, Miss America 2000. "Reducing homelessness among veterans," he added, "will require a greater commitment and more resources. HUD confirmed in December that nearly a quarter of America’s homeless are veterans - twice the percentage of veterans in our general population. This is shameful."

Speaking to a joint hearing on homeless veterans' issues before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Subcommittees on Benefits and Health, Evans supported a call by French for Congress to earmark $750,000 of HUD’s homeless programs budget for veterans programs. The funding would take the form of a line-item appropriation to provide technical assistance to community-based homeless services providers and would allow them to expend their capabilities for homeless veterans. The funding would be provided to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), a nationwide non-profit organization with ten years of experience in aiding such groups.

The exhaustive survey Evans mentioned, Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve, was made public by HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo. It revealed that about one-half of homeless veterans served in the Vietnam War. "These veterans - 98 percent of them male - move in and out of homelessness depending on their circumstances, most of them trying hard to get jobs and normalize their lives," Evans said. "While veteran-specific programs funded by VA [the Department of Veterans Affairs] and the Department of Labor have had a significant effect, more is needed. It is time for HUD to step up to the plate."

Veteran-specific efforts are barely mentioned in the HUD report. "Less than three percent of the HUD homeless grant money goes to veteran-specific programs," Evans said. "With 24 percent of the homeless being veterans, scarcely five percent of the permanent housing programs focus on veterans’ needs. The numbers aren’t much better for transitional housing or emergency shelter programs. Clearly HUD needs to do more to meet the needs of homeless veterans."

According to the report, when homeless people get housing assistance and needed services, some three-fourths of those living in families and most of those living alone move from homelessness to an improved living situation after completion of the assistance program. Such services include health care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, education and job training, the report notes.

"What this means," Evans said, "is we can help veterans who are trying to work their way out of homelessness, but we must provide needed programs. Veteran-specific programs have an excellent track record. Yet these veterans programs rarely receive HUD grants. HUD is the major agency assigned responsibility and funding for fighting homelessness. Congress must task HUD with providing veterans programs a seat at the table. That is the point of this technical assistance grant."

Evans noted the need for increased availability of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health services, along with employment programs for homeless veterans. "Most homeless veterans," he said, "have sought help: 57 percent say they have used the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. The top priority of homeless people surveyed was to get a job, the first step to self-sufficiency. Nearly half worked at least part-time during the past month. Despite the personal problems many homeless veterans bear like war wounds, they are trying to once again become part of our nation's mainstream. We need to do more to help them achieve this goal."