The government not doing enough for the homeless veterans

The Government Is Not Doing Enough for the Homeless Veterans
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
The veterans stay in the streets without somewhere to call home, and this frustrates them. It is very unfair for people who risked their lives for America to suffer from traumatic stress disorder all for the US, and later to receive no assistance from anyone especially the government. There has been the trend for many homeless veterans who have been addicted to multiple drugs and alcohol abuse that has been repeatedly detrimental to their health. The Budget which was relocated during the era of Clinton term to cater for VA services related to mental fitness and drugs and substances abuse should be re-accessed and fully serviced. To serve the needs of veterans, logic dictates that the government defense forces and the veterans affairs should work together and closely. However, this has not been the case in the United States. This effort should be instituted by veterans’ affairs, companies, and local government.
Keywords: Veterans, homeless, local government, war, life
Thesis: Due to the lack of enough assistance from the US government veterans are facing increased homelessness, and they are not receiving the care they deserve.
It is strange and baffling to witness veterans who fought so hard and sacrificed their life wholly dedicating themselves to serve the US government at all cost live homeless life. Now one can never underestimate the suffering and negligence they face from the same government they fought so hard to protect (Perl, 2015).

Cases of attempted suicide, mental disorder, homelessness and utter desperation can best describe the state of veterans currently in this great nation and the expert on financial matters blames this on the ongoing economic crisis.
Veterans day is a day set to commemorate and honor the American soldiers who worked away from their country, loved ones and friends with hopes to complete their military responsibility and get home safe thereafter to a rewarding and well to do civilian life (Perl, 2015). This comes as a shock to majority veterans as after completing their military duties, they are left on their own and turns to streets for their shelter. The report from the department of veteran affairs indicates that most homeless population is comprised of veterans with a shocking figure of over 200000 veterans living in streets. The veterans stay in the streets without somewhere to call home, and this frustrates them. More information from the director of veterans who are homeless at the VA proves that they encounter around 100000 homeless veterans each year and this shows that government and its agencies are not meeting its responsibilities to those who have been of service to them (Brinkley, 2014).
It seems so unfair for someone who risked his life for America to suffer from traumatic stress disorder all for the US and later to receive no assistance from anyone. When they require assistance the most, they do not get it, and this is the feeling that frustrates the veterans on their return from war. They fight so hard only to return for a rude shock from the government. Most homeless veterans suffer the disability as a result of their service where each one of them was ready to give their life for the exchange of our wellbeing. This should be a reason enough for all of us including the government and civilians to come out and support veterans fully.
The Budget relocated during the era of Clinton term to cater for VA services related to mental fitness and drugs, and substances abuse should be re-accessed and fully serviced. This is for the wellbeing of the veterans and affiliates as the rise of the need for VA services related to mental disorders, and drug abuse seems unstoppable. Media report and surveys from different independent organization show that the rate of drug and alcohol abuse has increased indefinitely among those who served in Iraq while the army surgeon general enlisted a survey that suggested that more than 20 % of those who returned from Iraq acquired mental disorders immediately they left the military bases. This also has been the trend for many homeless veterans who have been addicted to multiple drugs and alcohol abuse that has been repeatedly detrimental to their health. To make things worse, several veterans with these drugs abuse problems have been jailed by the same people they fought so hard to protect. Instead of finding a friendly approach to these problems at least for these souls that have placed their lives at risk in the name of duty, deserve this small concession.
Key leaders, notably the former president Obama, chirped in attempt to eliminate these uncalled for sufferings and even formed a platform by the name Transition Assistance Program to cater for the veterans needs but later its proved futile as no major veterans benefited from this program (Fargo, Metraux, Byrne, Munley, Montgomery, Jones, & Culhane, 2012). George Washington must have looked into this when he declared that the willingness of the younger generation categorically youth to engage in any justified war, is greatly affected by their perception of the early veterans based on whether they were accorded the respect they deserved from the government this raging from ample compensation and full honors (Perl, 2015).
Over the recent past, over two million members of the United States armed force quitted military department, and they embarked on civilian life which is marked by severe challenges including dehumanizing experiences in an attempt to adapt to the civilian lifestyle practices. This comes as a result of delayed compensations and complicated procedures in access to support provided by the Veterans affairs department leaving many other veterans who are not on the street barely sleeps fed, tired of life and struggling at least to keep a house to call their home. Veterans have more exposure to become homeless due to the post-traumatic stress disorder and low socioeconomic status they experience from the general public
Most poll research conducted by the various independent organization in America shows that majority veterans really face a hard time when settling back to civilian life. They mostly struggle as they undergo difficult time to find a decent job to cater for their families and other basic human wants (Tsai, & Rosenheck, 2015). Polls conducted on the Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans clearly showed that the effort employed by the US government in the bid to resettle them was of little or no use to them as they haven’t achieved much in their prospects for civilian employment. Majority of the veterans have adequate education and skills that translate to civilian job employment making them competitive in the job market, but they are met with frustration as many firms are afraid to work with war veterans citing their experience with ammunition and other killer weapons as unfit to work in a civilian-based environment. This leaves the civilians jobless and others homeless as they fail to raise funds to meet rents and other basic human needs (Fargo et al., 2012).
There have been several attempts by the federal government to help the veterans notably the -9/11 Gl Bill that has helped over a million veterans to go back to school to equip themselves with necessary skills to be competitive in the job market and many veterans consider this as a good opportunity to turn around their lives (Hamilton, Poza, Hines, & Washington, 2012). This, however, has been met by several challenges that are linked to the economic crisis and the ballooning effect in the country where resources put in place to ensure satisfactory services to veterans remains scarce. Also, misconceptions that assume every veteran has post traumatized experience, and the belief that veterans are only trained to take orders renders the employer unwilling to work with them.
Failed government agencies that were put aside to cater for veterans is another proof that the government is not doing enough for veterans. Take for instance the unsuccessful Pentagon-veteran affairs that worked so hard to come up with an integrated electronic health record that proved free and open source software solution that could be used to serve pentagons needs at low cost. Instead, the department chose to use another proprietary electronic health recording system that was so expensive, and by the time the organization failed as there were not enough funds to run the department. This was necessary for the transition from the military way of living to the civilian lifestyle which should be marked by the documented health records in the military department that ensures that injuries and conditions accrued are easily transferred to the veterans’ affairs department.
To better serve the needs of veterans, logic dictates that the government defense forces and the veterans affairs should work together and closely with the stakeholders from both state and local government but this has not been the case (Hamilton, Poza, Hines, & Washington, 2012). This is to say that military departments, federal agencies, and the VA hospitals should employ more ways to share and acquire information and services with both state and local partners in the bid to serve veterans more successfully through community-based care.
Another area that should be looked upon is understanding the demographics of the veterans’ population. This is for the purpose regarding the public policy and thanks to the Centre for a New America security that launched the veterans’ data project that was put in place to gather, integrate and analyze available data on veterans to predict their future and currents needs (Tsai, & Rosenheck, 2015). This effort should be instituted by veterans’ affairs, companies, and local government to inform their plans and develop programs in partnership with veterans’ affairs.
References
Brinkley, T. R. (2014). A Case Study of the United States Veterans’ Disability Compensation Policy Subsystem (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Fargo, J., Metraux, S., Byrne, T., Munley, E., Montgomery, A. E., Jones, H., … & Culhane, D. (2012). Prevalence and risk of homelessness among US veterans. Preventing Chronic Disease, 9.
Hamilton, A. B., Poza, I., Hines, V., & Washington, D. L. (2012). Barriers to psychosocial services among homeless women veterans. Journal of social work practice in the addictions, 12(1), 52-68.
Perl, L. (2015). Veterans and homelessness. (format according to the APA style)
Tsai, J., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2015). Risk factors for homelessness among US veterans. Epidemiologic reviews, 37(1), 177-195.