Running head: THE RETURN FROM SERVICE

The Return from Service: Problems Faced by Military Veterans in America

Emma Hogan
First Colonial High School
Legal Studies Academy
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Abstract

This paper explores the causes and possible solutions for homelessness among U.S. Military

veterans. It takes an in depth look at the way mental illness, drugs and alcohol abuse, disability,

lack of job training, and reputation among employers contribute to homelessness. Despite the

multitude of organizations that work to help veterans, homelessness and unemployment are still

major issues. This paper explores the reasons for this and possible solutions are presented.

Court cases and pending legislation relating to veteran benefits and veteran homelessness are

discussed as well.
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The Return from Service: Problems Faced by Military Veterans in America

Many of the men and women who have put their lives on the line to fight for our freedom

are ending up homeless, living on the streets. Military veterans are at a higher risk to experience

homelessness than civilians (J. Fargo, et al, Prevalence and Risk of Homelessness Among US

Veterans, January 26, 2012). This should not be the case. While there are many programs and

laws in place to help veterans with the transition from military to civilian life, homelessness

among veterans is still very prevalent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development estimates that around 39,471 veterans are homeless. Of that 39,471 approximately

50% suffer from a mental illness, and 70% deal with alcohol or substance abuse ("FAQ About

Homeless Veterans," n.d.). The lack of coordination between private and public organizations

aimed at ending veteran homelessness prevents veterans from receiving all the help available to

them.

Causes of Homelessness Among Veterans

There are many programs and benefits available for military veterans, but the risk of

homelessness among them is still unacceptably high. Some of the main causes of homelessness

for veterans are mental illness, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, drug and alcohol abuse,

disability, and lack of job training (J. Fargo, et al, Prevalence and Risk of Homelessness Among

US Veterans, January 26, 2012).

Mental Illness

Many veterans returning from service suffer from a mental illness that was developed as

a result of their time in combat. This mental illness can create problems for the veteran in trying

to adjust to civilian life, and can lead them to turn to drugs and alcohol to try to deal with the

problem. Mental illness can hold them back from finding and maintaining jobs, and as a result,
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many end up on the streets. The most prevalent mental illnesses among homeless veterans are

depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder ("FAQ About Homeless Veterans," n.d.).

Edward Dunne, a service officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington

state, and a veteran himself, said that among the homeless veterans he works with, the majority

suffer from some sort of mental illness. He believes the VA does not provide nearly enough

benefits and services to veterans, and said “They need more counselors and therapists as well as

mental health care benefits” (E. Dunne, Personal communication, October 29, 2017).

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Many military veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and in many cases it

can seriously hinder their ability to transition back into civilian life upon return from service.

Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) include flashbacks, emotional numbing,

and hyperarousal. In most cases the patient must experience symptoms for at least one month

before a diagnosis can be made. Those who suffer from PTSD often have difficulty retaining

healthy relationships, and remaining employed or even finding employment at all. In severe

cases it has been shown to lead to depression and substance abuse and even made people more

likely to engage in criminal behavior. The two main treatments for PTSD are psychotherapy and

medication ("PTSD: National Center for PTSD," 2007).

Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Many of the veterans who suffer from mental illness, or even physical disabilities and

injuries, turn to substance and drug abuse to try to cope with the problem. It can be easy for

those whose injuries are treated with strong prescription narcotics to become dependent on the

drugs and develop addictions (Foundation, "Veteran Substance Abuse," 2016). About 70 percent

of homeless veterans have a substance abuse problem (M. Cunningham, M. Henry, & W. Lyons,
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Vital mission: Ending homelessness among veterans, 2007). Substance abuse can hinder a

veteran´s ability to seek help or treatment. Many shelters do not allow drugs or alcohol, which

can push away those seeking help who have substance abuse problems. The VA offers addiction

and alcoholism screenings, medical detoxes, outpatient treatment, and residential inpatient

treatment ("Does the VA Do Enough to Help Drug Addicted Veterans?," 2015). While there are

many programs and opportunities for these veterans to seek help and get treatment, many of

them are unable to, and have no one to push them in the right direction. Because of this, it is

very important that more programs and restrictions be put in place to prevent them from turning

to drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms.

Disability

Veterans who suffer from disabilities as a result of their time in service can have

tremendous difficulty finding jobs. Employers would much rather hire someone who is young

and healthy than a disabled veteran who may need certain accommodations that other employees

do not require. The Department of Veterans Affairs has found a solution to this by offering

incentives and tax credits to employers who hire and train veterans who were disabled in service

(Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration, n.d.). “Title I of the

Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits private and state and local government employers with

15 or more employees from discriminating against individuals on the basis of disability”

("Veterans and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): A Guide for Employers," n.d.).

Many states also implement laws that give tax breaks to employers who hire disabled veterans;

however, these laws are not always able to help disabled veterans. In order to receive these

benefits, veterans have to disclose their disabilities to employers. Among employers, there is
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often a stigma associated with hiring veterans who suffer from a disability or mental illness.

Veteran Shari Franey said:

I think recruitment's in the media more often now, and employers want to be able to say

they are 'veteran friendly' just like they want to say that they're 'eco-friendly,' that they're

'green.' It's just a fad and how long it's going to happen, I don't know. (Goldstein,

"Service stigma: Disabled or not, veterans face job challenges," 2012)

Of the 131,900 veterans between the ages of 21 and 64 with a service-connected disability rating

of 70% or higher, only 25% are actually employed ("Employment Data for Veterans With

Disabilities," 2017). Employers often do not understand what resources they have access to for

accommodating veterans with disabilities or what rights disabled veterans have, and because of

this, the laws in place to protect them are not as effective as they could or should be. (Rudstam,

H.H., Strobel Gower, W., Cook, L., 2012)

Lack of Job Training

One of the biggest issues that plays into veterans not being able to easily find

employment after military service is the lack of job training that can be translated into

qualifications for a civilian job. A study done by University of Southern California Center for

Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families found that veterans tend to have

unrealistic expectations about “jobs they may qualify for, the level at which they will enter the

civilian workforce, how easily they would find employment, and how much they would be

compensated” (Bustamante, 2015). Veterans leave military service at high ranking positions,

and then enter the civilian world expecting to begin a new career at an equally high position with

similar pay. The reality is that many of the military training and experience does not translate
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well into the civilian world, and many veterans feel as if they have to completely start over. One

service provider from Volunteers of America said:

I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of times … the military [instills] a lot of

confidence and so if [a newly discharged veteran] exits at an E7 or E8, … they come in

with the expectation, ‘Well, that’s what I should be getting in the civilian world,’ and

that’s the mindset that really trips them up. (Kintzle et al., n.d.)

The transition into civilian employment can be very difficult , and veterans need more help with

the process than what they are currently getting.

Benefits Available to Veterans

Some of the benefits available to veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs

include "disability compensation, education and training services, employment services, health

care, life insurance, home loans and housing-related assistance, memorial benefits, pension, and

benefits for spouses, dependents, and survivors" ("Benefits for Veterans," n.d.).

Disability Compensation

Veterans with a current physical or mental disability or who had an injury or disease in

service are eligible for disability compensation. Eligible veterans with disabilities can receive up

to $3,458.06 per month of untaxed benefits ("2017-18 VA Disability Rates | Military Benefits,"

2017). Despite the benefits available, there can still be difficulty getting the resources needed for

those with disabilities. Steven Rivera is a military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

and who had personal experience with the difficulty of getting his benefits from the Department

of Veteran Affairs. He had enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 and served for nine years before

leaving the service honorably. He suffered from mental illness which resulted in drug addiction.

When he filed his disability claim the Department denied it. Being lost in the system made his
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life even more difficult. It was not until he found a program in New Jersey called Community

Hope that he finally got the help he needed. From there he was able to enter a short-term

residential recovery program through the Department of Veterans Affairs where he worked at a

cafe on campus and was able to be clean from drugs and alcohol. While benefits are available to

veterans, it can take a long time to get them or can be very difficult to do so (Wilborn T, A link

to ending veteran homelessness, 2012).

Education and Training

Military veterans have the Post 9/11 GI Bill which provides up to 36 months of education

benefits, including tuition and fees, monthly housing allowance, and annual stipend for books

and supplies, for pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees, flight training, non-college

degrees, and vocational and technical training. The Yellow Ribbon Program at participating

schools will make additional payments which the GI bill may not cover ("Education and

Training," n.d.). These services are especially helpful to military personnel who did not go to

college before joining because not having a degree can make it especially difficult to find

employment after their service.

Employment Services

The Department of Veterans Affairs provides services for helping veterans transition into

civilian life and prepare to find a new job or career. These services include help and guidance

with “job training, employment accommodations, resume development, learning job seeking

skills, or starting an independent business.” The Department of Defense, Department of Labor,

and Department of Veterans Affairs collaborated to create the Transition Assistance Program

(TAP), which informs veterans about the programs and services available to help them transition

and find jobs in the civilian world ("Benefits for Veterans," n.d.).
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Health Care

The Veterans Health Administration has become notorious for its excessively long

waitlists, access issues, and inability to provide care to every veteran who needs it. One report

showed that “As many as 238,000 veterans may have passed away before receiving care.” Part

of the problem is that, rather than reforming the system, every time a problem arises Congress

simply expands the health-care system. All this does is make it more complicated, leaves more

room for errors, and makes it more difficult for individual veterans to get the care they need.

Congress has expanded the health-care system to provide benefits to veterans without service-

connected injuries (Veterans' Readjustment Benefits Act , 1966) and to spouses and children of

veterans, and as a result, “the number of non-veteran patients has increased faster than the

number of veteran patients.” Veterans are forced to go to outside companies for certain benefits

that VA healthcare does not provide (O'Shea, 2016). Health care, especially mental health care,

is important for veterans to be able to recover from their time serving and make the transition to

civilian life.

Current and Pending Legislation

H.R.104- Helping Homeless Veterans Act of 2017, introduced in the House of

Representatives January 3, 2017, would make several Department of Veterans Affairs programs

permanent. This includes reintegration programs, which help veterans with the transition into

civilian life after service, along with other programs in place to help prevent homelessness and

assist those who are homeless (Brownley, n.d.). This legislation is important because it makes

these important services and programs provided by the VA permanent, securing benefits for

veterans.
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H.R.1993- Homeless Veterans Legal Services Act, introduced in the House on April, 6,

2017, will make the Department of Veterans Affairs provide funds for a portion of legal services

provided to homeless veterans by any chosen public or private organizations (Beatty, n.d.). This

legislation is important because it will force the federally funded Department of Veterans Affairs

to collaborate with other organizations, including private ones, to provide services to veterans.

There are many programs and services available to veterans already, but there are still so many

homeless veterans, partially due to the lack of collaboration between resources and service

providers.

Court Case

The case Walters v. National Association of Radiation Survivors was decided June 28,

1985 in the U.S. Supreme Court. The United States Veterans Administration wanted review of

the issue with 38 U.S.C.S. § 3404 which limited the fee an attorney or agent who represented a

veteran seeking benefits for death or disability to $10, claiming that it violated the due process

clause of the 5th Amendment. The Court concluded that the fee limitation does not violate the

Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. They came to this conclusion because it was

determined that by overturning the fee limitation it would take away from the goal of wanting the

veteran to get all of the benefits award without having to share the benefits with an attorney, as

well as complicating the process (Walters v. National Association of Radiation Survivors ).

Essentially, this case means that veterans do not get to freely hire attorneys to help them file

claims for benefits. This can be hindering for veterans who do not fully understand what

benefits they are eligible for, or how the process works. The problem, however, with changing

this law is that a large portion of the monetary benefits intended for the veteran could end up

going straight towards paying an attorney. A possible solution to this could be simply increasing
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the maximum payment, but requiring it to be paid before receiving the benefits. If the fee limit is

not taken away, it is important that veterans are thoroughly prepared and informed on how to

properly obtain all benefits they are eligible for.

The case Kennedy vs. Speer is a federal class action lawsuit that was filed in April 2017

by two army veterans Steve Kennedy and Alicia Carson. They are seeking relief for veterans of

Iraq and Afghanistan who developed mental illnesses or diseases while serving. They were sent

home early with less than honorable discharges because they were unable to continue serving.

This cut them off from certain benefits including the G.I. Bill and mental health benefits as well

as making it difficult to find employment. This case could potentially set the precedent for a

better system of sending soldiers home from war in a way where their mental illnesses or

disabilities acquired during service will not have such a lasting negative impact on their return to

civilian life.

What Can Be Done

Active Military Members

One of the best ways to reduce homelessness among veterans is to provide military

service members with the resources and training to prevent them from ever reaching that point.

Active duty members should have job training certifications that can be transferred into a civilian

job along with transition plans, increased access to counselors, and regular mental health

screenings after deployments.

Veterans

There are many benefits and programs available to help veterans, but the problem is still

bigger than it should be. In an interview with Edward Dunne, a service officer for disabled

veterans in Washington State and a former veteran himself, he said that, based on his experience
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working with homeless veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs, he believes the greatest

needs are more mental health benefits, counselors and therapists, and better funding priorities (E.

Dunne, Personal communication, October 29, 2017). Funding needs to be allocated with greater

emphasis on health care, particularly mental health care. One of the biggest underlying problems

associated with homeless veterans is mental health issues. Whether it is Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder, anxiety, depression, or anything else, it can be a major hindrance on the veteran’s life,

and the right care and supervision can help minimize this. In order to increase access to

resources and benefits, there needs to be multi-agency and community collaboration. Ideally

there should be one large network of resources within which organizations can work to provide

for every need, rather than having multiple agencies and groups trying to do the same thing, and

only helping a handful of veterans. Once this is accomplished, everything else will follow.

Organizations can work together to increase access to housing, provide more benefits, and

provide the needed care. There should also be a special network of employers who are willing to

hire and accommodate wounded veterans.

Public

The most important things that the public can do to help veterans is to raise awareness

about the issue as well as to work to change the reputation of veterans in the civilian workforce.

Many people, including military personnel, are not aware of how big the issue of veteran

homelessness is. Bringing attention to the issue will help push organizations to collaborate and

do more. Additionally it will bring the issue to the attention of employers. If more employers

are aware of the incentives for hiring veterans, then efforts can be made to better the reputation

of veterans in the workforce. This issue should be at the front of the congressional agenda

because it affects the heroes who risk their life to fight for our freedom.
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Conclusion

The military veterans who risk their lives to protect our country and our freedoms are currently at

a higher risk of being homeless than civilians are. This should not be the case. Military

members may suffer from injuries or mental illnesses, including Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder,which often push them toward alcohol and substance abuse, and then towards

homelessness. It can be very difficult for them to transition into civilian life. Much of the skills

they obtained in the Military cannot be translated into a degree or qualification for a civilian job,

and there is a stigma that makes employers hesitant to hire veterans, out of fear that a mental

illness or injury will affect their ability to work. These veterans are returning from war and

being left on the streets, unemployed and alone. There are programs that work to help veterans;

however, the issue still remains a big one. This is because there is a lack of communication and

collaboration between the many programs, and veterans can get lost in the system, making it

difficult and sometimes impossible to get the benefits they are entitled to, or even to understand

the resources they have to turn to. Military members need regular mental health screenings,

greater access to counselors, job training that can be applicable outside of the military, and

guided transition plans for life after the military in order to prevent homelessness from

happening. Veterans need better mental health care, increased access to support and benefits,

and follow up treatment and care to ensure that ongoing needs are met as well as multi-agency

collaboration to make sure no veteran slips through the cracks or gets lost in the system. The

best thing the government can do is to stop expanding the departments that help veterans, and

instead work on reforming the ones that currently exist.

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