The
New London Day reports 135 veterans' families sought help with housing from the Veterans Administration in Connecticut, up from just 15 families three years ago. This reflects the national trend, which is an 86% since 2009.
The nature of the homeless veteran is changing, too. Formerly, the typical homeless veteran was male and single and the those veterans are actually seeing a decrease in homelessness.
The article states returning veterans face a number of factors, including:
- a tight economy
- scarcity of transitional housing
- health issues
- post-traumatic stress disorder
In the article, Linda Schwartz, commissioner of the state Department of Veteran Affairs, explains the VA is moving toward expanding their services to focus more on women veterans, saying, "People in the business of providing for the homeless have known for a long time that women veterans with children are an underserved population. The difference is, there are many more of them than there were in the past, and it is growing every day."
