WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, did not like what Veterans’ Affairs had to say to Sandra Strickland, a homeless U.S. Army veteran, when she contacted them for help.
“You got a list of shelters. ‘Here it is. See you later?’” he asked Strickland of her experience last year, during a hearing Wednesday on veteran homelessness.
She nodded, yes.
VA officials, homeless veterans, and community program representatives testified before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about inadequate information, particularly on the safety of transitional housing, as a barrier to achieving the Obama administration’s goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015.
Linda Halliday, representing the VA’s office of the inspector general, presented the findings of a recent audit of the largest of several VA homeless programs, the Grant and Per Diem program. She said the investigation revealed that the VA directs veterans to programs that are not adequately safe or secure, does not fully review organizations before granting money, and inconsistently monitors community programs for how effective they are.
She highlighted the plight of female women homeless veterans. She cited a statistic that 31 percent of the 26 providers audited housed female and male residents on the same floor without access restrictions, and did not have working locks on bedroom and bathroom doors.
Overall, the hearing suggested that the VA is not yet on track to end homelessness among veterans in the next three years.
