Can New Hampshire End Veteran Homelessness in Just 4 Years?

Ambitious timelines for ending homelessness are in, apparently. Nationally the timeline for eliminating veteran homelessness is five years, but New Hampshire recently released a state plan to end homelessness among veterans by 2014. It extends to veterans' families as well. New Hampshire also has its own 10 year plan to end homeless, which was released in 2006.

The New Hampshire Homeless Veterans Plan (pdf) focuses on outreach and education, treatment, prevention, housing and housing support services and community partnerships. It will create more affordable housing and offer housing vouchers and employment assistance — basically, anything and everything, which is good, since that's what it will take to wipe out homelessness among vets.

According to the plan's research, veterans and service providers are often unaware of the services that are already available to those who have served. Considering how common veteran homelessness is, it's disturbing that existing resources are going untapped. The outreach and education part of the plan will hopefully correct this. The plan also attempts to improve mental health services and substance abuse treatment, vital both to preventing homelessness and to transitioning out of it. According to the plan, "The VA estimates that about 45 percent of all homeless veterans are living with a mental illness and slightly more than 70 percent have alcohol or other drug abuse problems."

The plan will also establish a Veterans' Court to help alleviate the homeless-to-prison cycle among vets. The NH plan declares, "By establishing veteran-specific mental health and drug courts, veterans can receive treatment for their mental health concerns and substance abuse problems, and avoid the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness that often leads to additional problems such as homelessness." Woah, treatment for mental health and substance abuse instead of prison! Let's all take a minute to feel optimistic about NH's good sense, even if four years seems like an unrealistic timeline.

On the other hand, New Hampshire counted 428 homeless veterans last year, though it estimates the actual number could be as high as 600. The number of vets served by the state's emergency shelters has decreased from 600 in 1999 to around 250 in 2008. With a relatively small number of veterans and a decade of declining homelessness among veterans, maybe four years isn't such an impossible goal. In any case, the plan has some promising, much needed ideas.

And not a moment too soon. The plan comes as the New Hampshire National Guard and Reserves prepares to deploy more than 1,300 people —  the largest deployment in state history.

Photo credit: Ed Yourdon