Number of Utah's homeless veterans has declined since 2005

A report released this week by the National Alliance to End Homelessness shows that the number of homeless veterans on any given night in Utah dropped from 585 in 2005 to 530 in 2006.

"My hope is that some of those veterans have actually made the transition from homelessness into a facility where their life is a little more stable," said Terry Schow, head of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs.

Schow cautioned that the numbers are only estimates; past figures from VA officials in Utah have been as high as 1,600 veterans annually throughout the state who are identified as homeless. Schow said the homeless can be very mobile, often transient and difficult to accurately track among Utah's approximately 160,000 veterans.

"One homeless vet is too many," Schow said.

Still, some are encouraged by the decrease shown in the report.

"I think that's a reflection of at least one of our housing projects," said Jonathan Hardy, director of the State Office of Community Services.

Hardy was referring to the Sunrise apartment complex, located at about 500 West and 600 South in Salt Lake City. It's a newer, 100-bed facility that sets aside 20 beds for previously homeless veterans who qualify for the subsidized housing under the direction of the Salt Lake County Authority and the VA.

With a limited number of beds available to homeless veterans in Utah, there is a "gap" in services, said Michael Tragakis, a staff psychologist with the Health Care for Homeless Veterans program. Tragakis is focusing on veterans with families or formerly incarcerated vets.

"Those areas we'd like to serve better," Tragakis said.

Collaboration, he added, continues to take place among people who specialize in treating substance abuse and mental health issues; helping vets get a job, disability entitlements and pensions; and getting vets into a transitional housing program.

The VA has what it calls the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program, which provides housing for vets for up to two years while they work toward getting off the streets for good. In fiscal year 2005, the program spent about $67 million to house about 8,000 veterans on any given night, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

It's estimated that at least 23 percent and as high as 40 percent of the country's homeless population is made up of veterans and that in 2006 "on any given night" there were about 195,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. About 30 percent of that population is considered chronically homeless, meaning they're harder to track and treat for problems that contribute toward being homeless.

The NAEH's Homelessness Research Institute and the VA report there are already hundreds of homeless veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Some "troubling" indicators that suggest the number may keep rising are the high cost (relative to pay) of rent returning vets are paying for housing, combined with a large number of combat veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or who have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.

More information about homeless veterans and the latest report can be found at www.endhomelessness.org.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com