According to a recent statistic conducted for a report on
Thursday,, more than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States
are war veterans, although they represent only 11 percent of the civilian adult
population.
On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept
on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the
Homelessness Research Institute found.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness, which includes
the Homelessness Research Institute as its research and education arm, planned
a press conference in the morning to discuss the study's findings.
The states with the highest number of homeless veterans
include Louisiana, California and Missouri, according to the research.
Washington, D.C., also had a high rate.
About 44,000 to 64,000 veterans are classified as
"chronically homeless" homeless for long periods or repeatedly.
Other veterans, nearly 468,000, are experiencing
"severe housing cost burden," or paying more than half their income
for housing, thereby putting them at a high risk for homelessness.
The rates of the burden of housing costs were highest in
Rhode Island, California, Nevada and Hawaii, but Washington, D.C., had the
highest rate, according to the organization.
In order to reduce chronic homelessness among veterans by
half, the report concludes housing coupled with supportive services should be
increased by 25,000 units, and the number of housing vouchers for veterans
should be increased by 20,000.