Another city has no homeless vets?

#Middlebury #Veterans

In a recent press release, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that Little Rock, Ark., had joined the list of three states and 65 towns that had conquered veteran homelessness. The list of those locations goes back to 2015, and the page announces, “The following jurisdictions have announced an end to Veteran homelessness as of Dec. 19, 2018.” The actual facts raise questions, however.

Take New Orleans. The mayor issued a statement in 2015 saying it was the first city in the nation to end veteran homelessness. OK. How are they doing now? At the end of 2018, the VA health center there held a Stand Down for homeless veterans. The director said that the VA has made significant progress, but there was more work to do. They still have homeless veterans.

In 2015, the governor of Virginia said they would work to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2017. The homeless number was cut in half, which is a major milestone. But fast-forward to the January 2018 Point in Time Count (PIT). The numbers were not zero.

In late 2017, the mayor of Atlanta was quoted as thanking all those who helped make it possible. The assumption, since his quote is on the list of cities that conquered veteran homelessness, is that there were no more homeless veterans in Atlanta. Two months later, on the day of the PIT, there were 96 unsheltered homeless veterans there.

It’s to be expected that when people move around, the number of homeless will shift. But to include these locations on a list of those purporting to have achieved zero homelessness, when they currently have homeless, is to skew the numbers. They might once have been down to zero, but they’re not there now.

© 2019 King Features Synd. Inc.