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U.S. NEWS Saturday 3 November 2018

Officials: U.S. veteran homelessness declines 5 percent

By JULIE WATSON also providing them a case
Associated Press manager and clinical care
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The services.
number of homeless vet- The old way required treat-
erans across the U.S. de- ment for mental health is-
clined more than 5 per- sues and drug and alcohol
cent over the past year af- addiction before being
ter a slight rise in 2017, the able to qualify for a home.
departments of Housing Officials attributed the
and Urban Development small uptick in 2017 largely
and Veterans Affairs an- to the high cost of housing
nounced Thursday. in Los Angeles, which has
The decrease shows the the second-largest home-
federal government is less population in the U.S.
making progress in its near- and the largest homeless
ly decade-long efforts, veteran population.
but the problem poses a HUD said veteran home-
challenge in areas such as lessness decreased from
California where the cost 2017 to 2018 in California.
of housing is high, officials Veterans Affairs Secre-
said. tary Robert Wilkie said he
The number of homeless plans to visit Los Angeles
vets dropped to about this week to meet with lo- Marine veteran Shaun Tullar poses for a portrait in front of the Veterans Village of San Diego
38,000 — about half of cal officials and charities Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in San Diego.
those counted in 2010, to discuss what further sup- Associated Press
according to an overall port is needed in their ef-
count of the homeless tak- forts.
en in January. He would like to see an
As many as 64 communi- even bigger drop in the
ties and three states — numbers.
Virginia, Delaware and “It’s not good enough, but
Connecticut — effectively it is better,” Wilkie said of
ended veteran homeless- 2018 numbers.
ness. Veterans Affairs is working
That means all homeless to identify vets who may
veterans in those areas have lost contact with the
had been offered homes, agency after years of living
even if some didn’t ac- on the streets, Wilkie said.
cept them. Marine veteran Shaun Tul-
Homelessness among fe- lar, 33, said many vets do
male veterans fell by 10 not realize what the VA
percent from just a year can do for them.
ago. Tullar was experiencing
“Our nation’s approach to post-traumatic stress from
veterans’ homelessness is his time in combat in Af-
working,” Housing and Ur- ghanistan when he be-
ban Development Secre- gan using drugs after his
tary Ben Carson said. brother, a fellow Marine,
The Obama administration was killed in that country in
in 2010 set a goal of end- 2012.
ing veteran homelessness Tullar became homeless
by 2015, but Carson said and cycled in and out of
the Trump administration jail on drug charges un-
will not set a specific date til finding help through a
to reach that goal. program behind bars that
“The date would be as connected him with the
soon as possible, I don’t VA.
think I could be more spe- He now lives at Veterans
cific than that,” he told re- Village of San Diego, is so-
porters. ber and working toward
Officials largely credit the finishing a college degree.
progress to an approach He hopes to one day own
started under the Obama a farm.
administration. “A person cannot address
It centered on a program fully any emotional needs if
called the HUD-VA Sup- their basic needs of safety,
porting Housing Program, food, water and shelter are
which Congress boosted not met,” he said, adding
funds for in 2008. that thanks to the support
It gives homeless veterans he’s been given, “I have a
permanent housing while very bright future.”q