Current policies addressing selected social problems

The Obama Administration had pledged to end veteran homelessness, an interesting pledge given the myriad of complex reasons why people become homeless. But they were able to make progress towards that objective. The White House announced in 2016 that it had be able to cut veteran homelessness by 47% as of 2016 (Zoroya, 2016). The number living on the street was reduced 56% during the 2010-2016 time period. This was the result of a number of different approaches, which highlight the way that policy is addressed in this area.

The project to end veteran homelessness was the result of a coordinated effort by two departments, the Bureau of Veteran Affairs (VA) and Housing & Urban Development. The VA cites three components of its plan: conducting outreach to seek out veterans in need; connecting homeless and at-risk veterans with housing solutions; and collaborating with various government agencies, employers, housing providers and nonprofits to expand employment and affordable housing options for veterans (VA, 2017). The fundamental logic of these pillars is that the VA essentially serves as a coordinating body. Its strengths lie in a) its ability to identify at-risk and homeless veterans, through its various programs that serve them and b) its extensive reach and connections with other bodies.

Some other basic facts that contribute to the types of strategies used are that homeless veterans are disproportionately African-American or Hispanic, that younger veterans are more likely to be homeless, and that many suffer from mental illness and substance abuse (NCHV, 2017). Part of the issue in the past has been that policy was not guided by evidence. The Obama Administration was in part able to win these gains by actually using evidence in its decision-making. In the 1990s, for example, Congress cut funding for veterans with substance abuse issues, despite evidence showing no correlation between disability payments and substance abuse (Frisman & Rosenheck, 1997) -- an example of certain factions in Congress using their ignorance and hatred as a weapon against this disproportiantely minority group.

Working with other agencies is a valuable component of Obama-era policy because of the strong connections between veteran homelessness and substance abuse and mental health services. Those factors were predictors of homelessness and admittance to care programs for homeless veterans in one 1995 survey (Wenzel, et al., 1995). In other words, significant gains were made in the fight against veteran homelessness simply by tackling some of the factors -- predominantly mental illness and substance abuse -- that are known contributors to the problem. Further, one can posit that minority veterans are more susceptible to homelessness when they come from lower socio-economic starting positions; white veterans likely suffer just as much from these issues, but where there starting positions in life are better they might be able to retain homes.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) works with the VA on VA Supportive Housing (VASH), also known as the HUD-VASH program. This program provides vouchers that deliver rent assistance in private housing for veterans who are eligible for VA health services and are experiencing homelessness. There are both grant and per diem components to this plan. The VA works with over 600 different agencies that strive to place homeless veterans, and these have access to 14,500 eligible beds, which can serve as temporary housing until a permanent placement can be found. There are a variety of smaller programs that also contribute to the total overall strategy to identify veterans in need and to provide them with housing.

The Obama Administration set its objective as ending veteran homelessness by 2015. That, obviously, did not occur, though the gains made were significant. The Trump Administration does not have a target for veteran homelessness, and policy proposals send mixed messages. Veterans' Affairs is to see an increase in its budget of 6% in Trump's proposed budget, but most of this is earmarked towards health services (Rein, 2017). Health services are, however, one of the areas where increased funding can reduce vulnerability among veterans. That said, other proposals such as the elimination of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, are likely to hurt homeless veterans -- especially given the high percentage of homeless that are veterans (McDermott, 2017). The mixed signals with respect to funding indicate either a shift in strategy or a lack of strategy but without associated targets it is presumed that the people working at the VA and HUD will continue with their current strategy, under whatever budgetary constraints or surpluses they might find. The Council is responsible for coordinating the efforts of 19 different federal agencies that are working on different components of the problem. Without this coordination, efforts to combat veteran homelessness will be much less organized and therefore less likely to be effective. For example, the Council gathers information about what works in some areas, and communicates that to others, so that state and civic governments can define and follow best practices (McDermott, 2017).

The population covered by the current policy approach is all homeless and at-risk veterans. These are the veterans who either have experienced homelessness, or they have at-risk issues like mental illness or substance abuse that would make it difficult to retain their current housing. All races are eligible for the programs if they are veterans. Males and females are both eligible, though the population of homeless veterans is overwhelmingly male so that is where most of the attention goes. Efforts are focused on younger veterans, who are more likely to be homeless. Key is the agencies who are able to identify when someone who they see for housing, addiction or mental illness is a veteran -- usually they are found looking for solutions to a problem, and veteran status is identified later, which gets them into these programs.