Veterans & Homelessness

It wasn’t that long ago that homeless veterans were a hidden population. Every Day Centre or Direct Entry Accommodation project in the country had one (or more) but 10 years ago, nobody joined the dots or asked why so many veterans were living chaotic lives with multiple and complex unmet needs.

As a Probation Officer I remember having a conversation with a newly qualified colleague who had just had her first encounter with a veteran subject to a Probation Order. The man who had served 16 years in the Army and had struggled to make the transition back to the civilian community both psychologically and physically, and had until recently, been living in trench he had dug for himself rather than sleep rough on the streets in the City. He told her that pride was the motivating factor behind his reasoning and said that… 

“I’m not homeless; I am living tactically”

He said he had used the skills he had gained whilst serving, to tactically situate himself where he could not be seen by the general public. He was for all intents and purposes an ‘Invisible man’

 Many of the individuals who access support from Forward Assist report similar experiences of sleeping and living in ‘shell scrapes’ and ‘home made shacks’. I recall working with a Veteran who served for 10 years, was suffering from adjustment issues and had a diagnosis of PTSD. He was living in a small tent when he referred himself to our service. With the help of a solicitor that provides ‘pro- bono’ legal advice to our veterans it was established that the eviction that led to his becoming homeless was for all intents and purposes illegal and with the help of a supportive local authority Housing Manager we managed to get him re-housed very quickly with SSAFA providing essential household furnishings.

 The other veteran was a former member of the Parachute Regiment and had been medically discharged after serving 6 years. He was living in a garden shed following the breakup of his marriage when we heard about his plight. A visit by our crisis team confirmed the situation and as a ‘stop gap’ emergency measure the man was accommodated over the weekend in a local Bed and Breakfast Hotel. This was followed up with face to face contact with the local authority housing department and they took over the cost of accommodating him in the hotel until suitable accommodation could be found.

In the interim, the veteran had weekly contact with our Outreach team who liaised with the council and other support agencies to ensure a robust package of support was in place and some weeks later he was offered a local authority two bedroom flat which he accepted. Again SSAFA were superb and very quickly provided essential electrical goods to allow this man to once again re-establish himself in the community. The above scenarios could quite easily have had a different outcome and one that would have cost society a significant amount of money if the veterans, both had past involvement with the Criminal justice System, had re-offended. As one guy said,

“Its difficult to accept help when you feel so ashamed.”

 Many years ago I managed a Day Centre for the homeless and on winter nights we would carry out ‘street outreach’. I know from experience that at least 6% or more of the rough sleepers that we encountered were former service personnel. They were generally the individuals that the homeless sector staff had given up on and deemed as unresponsive and not worthy of the effort to cajole back off the streets and into some sort of emergency accommodation.

The housing workers at that time held a similar view stating that it was a pointless exercise helping veterans as they always chose to return to the streets anyway. Sometimes it was because they could not connect with a civilian case worker and other times it was because they were evicted because of their unruly behaviour and failure to comply with house rules or simply because they never paid their rent. Either way, everyone seemed to have given up on them. For many their engagement with mainstream services was usually followed by a ‘Wild West’  ‘Saloon Door’ exit! Rejection is a painful emotion.

Thankfully things have changed in recent years with numerous ‘veteran specific’ accommodation projects and support groups stepping up to address this gap in service delivery. Sadly, even today there is no accurate data on how many Veterans remain homeless, are sofa surfing, have drug and alcohol dependency issues and/or have involvement with the Criminal Justice System. All of which can severely impact on future employment opportunities and life chances.

So what does happens to veterans when they make the transition back to the community after a spell in the Armed Forces? Well the lager service charities will tell you that 95% make the transition really well and settle down, get a job and get on with the rest of their lives and do not come to the attention of welfare services. That’s not to say they do not experience difficulties its just that they don’t end up coming to the attention of Social services , the Criminal Justice System, Mental health services, or drug and alcohol addiction specialists. Personally, after 12 years working in the sector I think 70% of veterans successfully transition and 30% struggle to adjust to civilian life.

In my experience many veterans live lives perpetuated by a series of unfortunate events that quickly lead to ever decreasing options and opportunities. The problems usually manifest themselves in one or more of the following; relationship breakdown, social isolation, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, debt, poor mental health and physical health, involvement in the Criminal Justice System, exclusion from mainstream services and long term unemployment.

 Even now, when former service personnel present themselves as homeless they are not, in many cases, classed as in need of priority housing. Those with a physical disability, quite rightly have preferential treatment, especially if that disability is a direct result of their service. Unfortunately the majority of the veterans we work with have invisible wounds. PTSD, adjustment disorder, survivor guilt , moral injury , undiagnosed TBi’s depression or other mental health related problems.

In Summary, we all have a collective responsibility to support those we have put in harm’s way. However we need to be a little more proactive in identifying veterans at first point of contact to stop them from slipping through the welfare safety net. We can do this by insisting all organisations ask the question;

‘Have you served in the British Armed Forces?’

Not everyone identifies with the term Veteran, especially women. If you work in the caring profession ask your organisation to include it on your data collection sheets. If you are an employer do you know how many of your staff served in the military? if you don’t then ask… the question?

By doing so you would be affording researchers a golden opportunity to collect data on the veteran community but also opening doors to a variety of funding and support that veterans are both entitled and deserve.

 Tony Wright CEO