Alumna Spotlight
Housing for Heroes: Finding Shelter for Veterans
By JESSICA SILBERMANN (SSW ’14)
on a single night in January, it is estimated that 57,849 veterans were homeless in the United states, according to the 2013 Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness, prepared by the United states Department of Housing and Urban Development. this number accounts for roughly one-third of the homeless men and women sleeping on the streets, in the very country under which they served. With the continued return of soldiers serving in operation enduring Freedom (oeF) and operation Iraqi Freedom (oIF) tours, there is an increasing concern that veterans with disabilities, including PtsD and traumatic brain injury (tBI), are more likely to become homeless. this is a battle that the U.s. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is fighting, but the efforts need to be strong and consistent. there are many obstacles that stand between the current reality of homeless veterans in America and the aggressive five-year plan put in place in 2009 by secretary for Veterans Affairs eric shinseki to end homelessness in the U.s. by 2015. Among those on the frontlines of this fight are social workers who work for the VA, like Ruth E. Batista (SSW ’04). Batista has been working at the new York Harbor VA since 2008, serving in several roles. Her first position was with the collaborative program administered by the U.s. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Veterans Affairs supportive Housing Program (HUD-VAsH) at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. HUD-VAsH falls under the guidelines and policies of section 8 housing and was first written into legislation in late 2007. In her role as an intensive case
manager with HUD-VAsH, Batista helped homeless veterans find and maintain permanent housing with the help of Housing Choice Vouchers, a federal program that assists lowincome families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. HUD has awarded 10,000 vouchers to help homeless veterans and families obtain permanent housing each year since its inception (with the exception of 2011, when it awarded 7,000 vouchers). thereafter, Batista worked at the inpatient psychiatric ward at the medical center, supporting dual diagnosis veterans with mental health and substance abuse interventions. In 2011, Batista took on the role of residential contract coordinator at the nY Harbor VA-Harlem Community Resource Center. she currently works in the temporary housing program, which gives veterans an opportunity to live in transitional shelters for a maximum of 180 days. In order to provide this temporary housing to more than 20,000 veterans and their families, the VA partners with upwards of 600 community organizations. While the VA refers to them as shelters, Batista is quick to point out that this residential contract housing program is an “apartment style set-up, where veterans live either by themselves or with one other roommate.” shelters offer three meals a day, but residents are encouraged to cook for themselves, should they so choose. each shelter includes access to an on-site housing coordinator and an on-site case manager. these resources are mandated by the VA in the contract in hopes of avoiding repeat homelessness among veterans. the ability to live independently is one of the primary eligibility requirements for veterans seeking transitional housing through the VA. Given that
many of the country’s homeless veterans are also substance abusers or addicts and that many also struggle with concurrent mental illness, it is important to establish self-care capabilities, which is something Batista assesses as a residential contract coordinator. Batista has prior experience working with substance abusers and recognizes the crossover in her work with the homeless veteran population. she identifies substance abuse as the number one obstacle her clients face, with chronic mental illness in close second. these are often the Ruth E. Batista (SSW ’04) primary causes of recidivism rates in homelessness. Being able to identify barriers to successful independent living in transitional housing is one of Batista’s primary goals when conducting client assessments. she aspires to see her clients succeed, but in order to do so, she needs to be confident that these individuals are deemed capable of independent living. According to Batista’s best estimates, 60 percent of the veterans selected to participate in the transitional housing program truly utilize the services of the program. While those numbers are encouraging, there is still a long way to go to ensure that the other 40 percent are able to emerge from the cycle of homelessness successfully. With the everincreasing numbers of oeF/oIF veterans returning, there is an even greater need to provide these men and women with as much support and as many services as possible.
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Being able
to identify barriers to
successful independent living in transitional housing is one of Batista’s
primary goals.
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