A. HOMELESS VETERANS
The homeless veteran population is a major concern
of the VSOs. BVA believes no man or woman who would willingly
risk his or her life for this great nation should be homeless.
We encourage the members of these Committees to support programs
that provide resources for America’s homeless veterans. There
are several initiatives within the areas of employment, health
care, housing, prevention, and technical assistance that need
to be funded at their authorized appropriation level, at the very
least, as most of these programs are desperately under-funded.
Ending the cycle of homelessness, not simply producing "band-aid"
fixes, should be the aim of these Committees and Congress as a
whole.
Following are just a few of the many programs
that we believe need the support of these Committees:
Appropriations at an authorized
level for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
The capstone of employment efforts for homeless
veterans has been the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
(HVRP) of the Department of Labor (DOL), which has been authorized
at $15 million for FY2001.
Access to mainstream DOL programs
for homeless veterans
Mainstream programs are not reaching the homeless
veteran population. Homeless veterans have many barriers and complex
life circumstances which make them difficult to serve. The current
DOL-targeted program for veterans (2700 federally funded staff
positions, DVOP/LVER) should be but is not effective for homeless
veterans, except in a handful of locations across the nation.
Improvement of Service Members’
Transition Programs and Services
BVA is concerned about the number of recently
discharged service members that do not have adequate life skills
to reintegrate into civilian life and thus prevent them from becoming
at risk for homelessness. BVA supports 1) a proactive assessment
of all separating service members to determine those at risk,
and 2) training in life skills for such service members prior
to and for a period after release.
BVA commends Mr. Evans for introducing today
the Heather French Henry Homeless Veterans Act of 2001. We trust
in the traditional bipartisan spirit of these Committees that
each member will cosponsor this important piece of legislation.
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