How Veteran Homelessness Is Dropping Amid A Record Surge

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) Homelessness rates in the U.S. and among Veterans are on two very different trajectories, according to the U.S. Department of housing and Urban Development (HUD) Point-in-Time (PIT) Count.

As overall homelessness in the nation surged to a record high in 2024, Veteran homelessness reached its lowest point since counting began in 2009.

We invited Ken Mueller, operations liaison for business intelligence in the VA Homeless Programs Office (HPO), to join the“Ending Veteran Homelessness” podcast to help us understand where we stand and why.

The PIT Count captures the number of people, including Veterans, who experience sheltered and unsheltered homelessness in January of each year.

Between 2023 and 2024, the count showed a nearly 8% decrease in Veterans experiencing homelessness, dropping from 35,574 Veterans to 32,882.

Unfortunately, Veterans were the only group that saw a decrease. Homelessness across the board was up 18% with families experiencing homelessness rising by nearly 40% and unaccompanied youth jumping by 10%.

The big question is why homelessness among the Veteran population continues to decline.

Mueller sees several reasons why Veterans aren't seeing the same spike. A big factor is that ending Veteran homelessness is a bipartisan issue with broad support, so the necessary financial resources have been allocated to the cause.

But he believes success is due to more than funding. A lot has to do with our unique approach.

In the past few years, we have implemented a philosophy called One Team, which focuses on breaking down siloes so we can work together more efficiently. After Veterans are housed, we provide wraparound services, such as health care, mental health care and employment services, all of which make it more likely for Veterans to succeed in their housing placement.

Mueller's new role in HPO exemplifies One Team. As the bridge between HPO on the national level and staff working directly with Veterans, he makes sure that new policies and procedures effectively trickle down to the local level. He also conveys local feedback to the top so we can adjust and ensure field staff get the support they need to work as effectively as possible.

One Team also extends beyond VA to our community partners, putting an emphasis on combining resources to reach and house as many Veterans as we can.

“We don't necessarily have the authority to do everything that we need to do to get Veterans off the street, but with those community partners and working together as One Team, we're able to accomplish a lot,” said Mueller.

For the past few years, we have also set ambitious goals for the number of Veterans housed, number of unsheltered Veterans reached and percentage of Veterans kept in housing.

“We can hear the excitement of people coming together and working together to try to meet these goals,” said Mueller.“When you have meaningful goals that are achievable, you push. You stretch it a little bit.”

By meeting these goals, we can ensure we're housing Veterans more quickly than they're entering into homelessness, allowing the number to steadily drop.

However, the secret to our success goes beyond the numbers. Through it all, we remember that Veterans are unique individuals and that it's critical that each Veteran has a voice and a choice in their path out of homelessness.

“The Veteran is part of this, a very important part of this, and their choice needs to be heard and worked into what we're doing with our different strategies,” said Mueller.“It's not just the numbers but how are we helping change the lives of those Veterans.”

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