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ABOUT HOMELESSNESS AMONG 

VETERANS

• VA and its federal, state, local, and

nongovernmental partners recognize 

that ending Veteran homelessness is 

not a single event in time, but rather a 

deliberate ongoing effort toward achieving 

and maintaining the goal of ending 

homelessness among Veterans.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and

Urban Development’s annual point-intime estimate of America’s homeless 

population found that fewer than 40,000 

Veterans were experiencing homelessness 

(including those living on the street or in a 

shelter, temporary safe haven, or any place 

unfit for habitation) on a given night in 

January 2016. The January 2016 estimate 

found just over 13,000 unsheltered 

homeless Veterans actually living on the 

streets, a 56 percent decrease since 2010.

• VA’s National Center on Homelessness

Among Veterans (NCHAV), established in 

2009, works to promote recovery-oriented 

care for Veterans who are homeless or at 

risk for homelessness by developing and 

disseminating evidence-based policies, 

programs and best practices.

• The Domiciliary Care for Homeless

Veterans program has been providing 

medical services to disadvantaged 

Veterans since the close of the Civil War. 

• The National Call Center for Homeless

Veterans (1-877-4AID-VET) is staffed by 

trained responders providing support and 

resources to Veterans and their families 

who lack secure housing. Live chat with 

trained responders is available at the 

Veterans Crisis Line website.

VA RESEARCH ON 

HOMELESSNESS: OVERVIEW

• VA research looks at the causes and risks of

homelessness among Veterans, and ways to 

prevent Veterans from becoming homeless. 

• Researchers help develop interventions

to improve homeless Veterans’ health 

and provide resources and training to 

professionals working on their behalf. 

• VA researchers have helped VA

implement the Housing First approach, 

which aims to get homeless people into 

safe, stable housing even if they are still 

coping with substance use or mental 

health issues. 

SELECTED MILESTONES AND 

MA JOR EVENTS 

1987 – Initiated the Northeast Program 

Evaluation Center (NEPEC) to serve 

homeless Veterans

1991 – Established that, in Vietnam 

Veterans, there does not appear to be a 

causal relation between homelessness 

and military service, including exposure 

to combat

2013 – Determined there is an association 

between homelessness among Veterans 

and childhood problems such as abuse 

and family instability

2015 – Learned that 30 percent of female 

and 9 percent of male homeless Veterans 

have children in their custody

2015 – Found that Veterans who had 

been discharged from the military for 

misconduct had dramatically higher rates 

of homelessness than those who left under 

normal circumstances

RECENT STUDIES: SELECTED 

HIGHLIGHTS

• VA’s Housing First mode of care

enables people who have not yet 

achieved sobriety or are still exhibiting 

symptoms of mental health problems 

to receive permanent housing through 

government-funded rental vouchers. A 

survey of nearly 100 VA employees, taken 

by researchers at the Birmingham VA Medical Center, found that front-line staff faced 

challenges in housing homeless Veterans 

quickly because of difficult rental markets, 

the need to coordinate with local public 

housing authorities, and a lack of available 

funds for move in costs. They also found, 

VA research on 

HOMELESSNESS

Being homeless, or being at risk of homelessness, is one 

of the most difficult problems any Veteran can face. VA 

has made ending Veterans’ homelessness a top priority. 

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VA research looks at the causes and risks of 

homelessness among Veterans, and ways to 

prevent Veterans from becoming homeless. 

however, that 80 to 90 percent of Veterans housed in this program were able 

to remain in that housing. (Psychiatric 

Services, May 1, 2014)

• Many people living on the 

streets prioritize having a mobile 

phone, to give them an identity and 

a way of communicating with the 

world. Researchers from VA’s Center 

for Healthcare Organization and 

Implementation Research in Bedford, 

Massachusetts, interviewed 109 

Veterans in a variety of that state’s 

homeless programs. They found that 

89 percent of those surveyed owned 

a mobile phone, and 76 percent used 

the Internet. Of those with phones, 93 

percent were interested in receiving 

either text messages or phone calls 

about upcoming medical appointments, 

and 88 percent wanted to be asked by 

phone if they would like to schedule 

an appointment if they had not been 

seen by a health care provider in over a 

year. (Telemedicine Journal and E-Health,

September 2014)

• VA medical centers that have 

successfully implemented Housing 

First share several significant 

characteristics, according to 

Birmingham VA researchers. The leaders 

of successful medical centers join 

front-line staff in the work of finding 

acceptable housing; elevate people 

knowledgeable about homelessness 

into senior leadership positions; and 

work to resolve logistical challenges. 

They also help ensure that work 

groups dealing with homelessness are 

properly aligned and integrated into 

their organizations. (Journal of General 

Internal Medicine, December 2014)

• Both male and female Veterans 

are at greater risk for homelessness 

than their non-Veteran counterparts, 

although the disparity has declined 

over time. According to researchers 

with the VA Connecticut Health 

Care System and Yale University, this 

disparity is most prominent among 

Veterans of the all-volunteer force—

those who signed up for the armed 

services after July 1, 1973, when the 

draft was eliminated. The researchers 

stated that Veterans appear to have 

many of the same major risk factors for 

homelessness as other adults, with the 

strongest and most consistent ones 

being substance abuse, severe mental 

illness, and low income. (Epidemiologic 

Reviews, 2015)

• Homeless Veterans are infected 

with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, 

at least three times more often than 

the rest of the U.S. population. A 

study led by researchers at the VA 

Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System 

repeatedly visited three Los Angeles 

shelters to provide AIDS testing, results, 

and follow-up if necessary to Veterans 

and other residents. The team believes 

that given the high costs and health 

risks of untreated HIV infection, the 

program’s cost of $48.95 per client 

tested is cost-effective and could 

significantly reduce HIV rates among 

homeless Veterans. (American Journal of 

Public Health, January 2015)

• Veterans who had been discharged 

from the military between 2001 and 

2012 for misconduct had dramatically 

higher rates of homelessness than 

those who left under normal circumstances, a study by researchers with VA’s 

Salt Lake City Health Care System and 

NCHAV has found. Overall, 1 percent 

of VA patients were homeless at some 

point within a year of their discharge, 

but 5.4 percent of those discharged 

for misconduct fell in that category. 

Misconduct is defined as a discharge 

related to drug use, alcoholism, offenses 

against the military code of conduct, 

infractions of the law, or other misbehaviors. (Journal of the American Medical 

Association, Aug. 25, 2015)

For more information on VA studies 

on homelessness and other key topics 

relating to Veterans’ health, please 

visit www.research.va.gov/topics

HOMELESSNESS

Updated Setember 2016 • For a digital version of this fact sheet with active links to sources, visit www.research.va.gov/topics