Amy Davis

1
Using Military Benefits to Prevent Homelessness
in Women Veterans and their Families

• Amy Davis
• 14 October 2009
• Virginia Commonwealth University

2
Outline

• Definition of a Homeless Veteran

• Review of Literature

• Homeless Women Veterans At A Glance

• Risk Factors Benefits Health
• Services Available to Women Veterans

• Benefit Programs

• Solutions

3
Definition of a Homeless Veteran

• A Homeless Veteran is defined in two layers of
  definition
• First, a Veteran, for purposes of Title 38
  benefits, is a person who served in the active
  military, naval, or air service and was not
  dishonorable discharged. (12 U.S.C. 101(2))
• Second, Veterans are considered homeless
  if they (1) lack a fixed, regular, and adequate
  nighttime residence or (2) their nighttime
  residence is an operating shelter, institution,
  or public or private place not designated for use
  as a regular sleeping accommodation for human
  beings. (38 U.S.C 2002(1) 42 U.S.C 11302(a))

4
Review of Literature

• Women who have served in the military are up to
  four times more likely to become homeless when
  compared with women in the general population.
  (Rosenheck, 2003)
• Evidence on male Veterans vulnerability to
  homelessness suggests that women Veterans are
  more vulnerable to homelessness than women who
  have not served in the Armed Forces. (Gamache et
  al., 2003)

5
Homeless Women Veterans At A Glance

• Approximately 7,000 women Veterans are homeless

• Numbers are expected to increase as more women
  return from Iraq and Afghanistan

• Women Veterans are four times as likely to become
  homeless than their civilian counterparts
• 75 report sexual abuse
• Half suffer from substance or alcohol dependence
• One third have mental illnesses

6
Risk Factors Benefits Issues

• Compensation and Pension
• Child Care
• Homelessness and Housing
• Employment
• Education
• Incarceration

7
Risk Factors Health Issues

• Sexism and Sexual Harassment
• Sexual Trauma
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Domestic Violence
• War Zone Stress
• Substance Abuse
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Environmental Health Hazards
• Heart Disease
• Cancers

8
Services Available to Women Veterans

• Veterans Affairs (VA)
• Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR)
• Compensated Work Therapy (CWT)
• Incentive Therapy (IT)
• Therapeutic Printing Plants (TPP)
• Vocational Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)
• Residential Rehabilitation
• 48 CWT / Transitional Residences (CWT/TR)
• 875 Psychosocial Residential Rehabilitation
  (PRRTP)
• VA Women Veteran Residences

9
Services Available to Women Veterans

• Home Loan Guaranties
• VA Hospital Women Veterans Coordinators
• VA Hospital Gynecological Services
• VA Center for Women Veterans
• Advisory Committee on Women Veterans
• DOL / Job Placement Services (DVOPs LEVRs)
• American Legion Memberships
• National Emergency Fund
• Temporary Financial Assistance Program
• Hire Quality
• Persian Gulf Task Force
• The American Legion Auxiliary

10
Benefit Programs

• Post 9/11 GI Bill
• The Post 9/11 GI Bill provides financial support
  for education and housing to individuals with at
  least 90 days of aggregate service on or after
  September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged
  with a service-connected disability after 30
  days.
• Must have an honorable discharge
• Effective on or after August 1, 2009
• For differences in Post 9/11 GI Bill and MGIB,
  see attached table.

11
Benefit Programs

• Yellow Ribbon Program
• The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement
  Program is a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans
  Educational Assistance Act of 2008. This program
  allows institutions of higher learning in the
  U.S. to voluntarily enter into an agreement with
  VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed the
  highest public in-state undergraduate tuition
  rate.
• Must be a degree-granting institution
• The institution can contribute up to 50 of those
  expenses and VA will match the same amount as the
  institution.

12
Benefit Programs

• Transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits to
  Dependents (TEB)
• Any member of the Armed Forces (Active Duty or
  Selected Reserve, Officer or Enlisted) on or
  after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the
  Post-9/11 GI Bill will be able to transfer unused
  or all educational benefits to their spouses or
  children.
• Who is eligible?
• Service member with at least 6 yrs service and
  agrees to 4 additional years
• Service member who has at least 10 yrs service
• Service member becomes retirement eligible (20
  yrs service) between August 1, 2009 August 1,
  2013
• Eligible Dependents
• Spouse
• One or more of service members children
• Any combination of spouse and child
• Family members must be enrolled in DEERS (Defense
  Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System)
• Childs marriage does not affect transfer
• Divorce does not affect transfer

13
Benefit Programs

• Montgomery GI Bill
• Active Duty (MGIB-AD)
• The MGIB program provides up to 36 months of
  education benefits. This benefit may be used for
  degree certificate programs to include flight
  training, apprenticeships, and correspondence
  courses.
• Benefits are payable for 10 years following
  release from Active Duty
• 600 Buy-In Program Service members contribute
  additional 600 while on AD to receive up to
  5400 in additional GI Benefits
• Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR)
• The MGIB-SR program is available to Selected
  Reserve members to include Army, Navy, Air
  Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army National
  Guard, and Air National Guard.
• Benefits can be used for the same purposes as
  MGIB-AD

14
Benefit Programs

• Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP)
• Established as part of the Ronald W. Reagan
  National Defense Authorization Act (2005)
• Provides educational assistance to Reservists
  called or ordered to active duty in response to
  war or national emergency
• Reservists activated for at least 90 days after
  9/11
• Eligible for educational or increased benefits
• 600 Buy-In Program is an option under REAP

15
Benefit Programs

• Survivors Dependents Educational Assistance
  Program (DEA)
• DEA provides education and training opportunities
  to eligible dependents of Veterans who
• Died on Active Duty
• Died from service-connected disability
• Is MIA or captured in line of duty
• Is hospitalized/treated for total disability that
  is service-connected
• Spouse Eligibility
• 20 years from date of death of Veteran who died
  on AD
• 10 years from date of eligibility (other criteria
  listed)
• Child Eligibility
• Must be between ages of 18 26 unless education
  started at 18 will continue past age 26
• May not receive this benefit if child is active
  duty military

16
Benefit Programs

• Other Benefit Programs
• National Call to Service Program
• Student Work-Study Allowance program
• Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts
  (MyCAA)
• Marine GYSGT John David Fry Scholarship

17
Solutions

• A few Statistics
• More than 5 million Veterans, including 275,000
  homeless Veterans receive health care annually
• More than 70,000 Veterans receive specialized VA
  homeless services annually
• 500 organizations with 13,000 transitional
  housing beds available under Homeless Grant and
  Per Diem Program
• 40,000 Veterans seen through HCHV program, 4
  were female
• 2,000 operational beds through DCHV, 4.7 seen
  were female
• 15,408 Veterans admitted to GPD in 2007, 6.6
  were female
• There are 8 Women Veteran special needs GPD
  programs
• There are 8 Homeless Women Veterans Programs
  (HWVP)
• 11 of all Veterans treated in FY07 were women

18
Questions

• At the end of life we will not be judged by the
  number of diplomas we have received, how much
  money we have, how many great things we have
  done. We will be judged by I was hungry and you
  gave me something to eat, I was naked and you
  clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.
  Mother Teresa