Number of homeless veterans drops 18 percent - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Number of homeless veterans drops 18 percent

An 18 percent drop in the number of homeless veterans over about two years gives hope to the secretary of Veterans Affairs that he’ll be able to keep a pledge made last year to end homelessness among veterans within five years.

Speaking at a national symposium on homelessness, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the current estimate of homeless veterans is down from about 250,000 a decade ago, a sign that this “national shame” can be solved through coordinating government programs.

His remarks came Tuesday at the National Forum on Homelessness Among Veterans, where he and other Obama administration officials spoke with people who run homeless programs about interagency cooperation.

But seeing progress is not the same as declaring victory. “We need to do more together, and we need to do things faster, better and smarter,” he said. “We are in a tough fight. I know it, you know it.”

VA spent $3.5 billion on homeless programs in 2010 and is asking for $4.2 billion for 2011, with 85 percent of the money earmarked for health care, Shinseki said.

With 152 medical centers and 57 regional benefits offices, VA is “structured, poised and capable” of both preventing homelessness and rescuing those who are homeless, Shinseki said.

“I believe that the costs of prevention are, over time, far less than the costs of caring for those who have slipped into the ranks of the chronically homeless,” he said.

Preventing homelessness requires medical care and mental health services, he said, adding that aggressive diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues is a key part of VA’s plan.

There is reason for optimism, he said, noting that a national homeless call center has received 13,000 calls since it was created in March and that 18,000 veterans and families of veterans have been provided permanent housing through VA and Housing and Urban Development Department programs.

Also, 29,000 homeless veterans have had their paperwork processed for disability compensation, and 3,000 have been admitted to long-term nursing care facilities for veterans, he said.