Among the most staggering numbers highlighted during the program was “of all the families without shelter in America, one third are in Florida.”

The state’s foreclosure crisis, coupled with high unemployment and austere budget cuts, has resulted in countless homeless families in Florida living out of their cars — if they have them, 60 Minutes explains. Many families with small children are left hoping for a job or charity before food runs out. Caught in the crosshairs of this epidemic, the program showed, have been young schoolchildren.

According to this year’s KIDS COUNT data, Florida was “the state with the 2nd highest percent of children impacted by foreclosure since 2007.”

The account of a handful of young children had a persistent theme: Most homeless families in the state had run out of options. Many saw their unemployment benefits dry up, and public services were too scarce and maxed-out to provide any help.

Most of the families interviewed by 60 Minutes said they were relying solely on the generosity of donations from their community.

What was not mentioned, however, was the state’s missed opportunities to help.

One example was a line in the the state’s 2011/2012 budget that allocated $12 million dollars from the state’s general revenue fund to the National Veterans’ Homeless Support Group for “homeless housing assistance grants.” While this appropriation made it through the budget process, the item was one of the many vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott spoke about the funds this weekend, the Naples Daily News reports:

“I care completely about all these programs,” said Scott, whose budget cuts earlier this year slashed funding to some veteran and farm surplus programs that helped the homeless.

“All the programs are very important, but nobody wants their taxes to go up,” Scott explained, noting that businesses also can help spur the economy. “They’ve got to grow. We’ve got to make this a place people can do well.”

The state also reduced unemployment benefits, even though the state has yet to get a handle on its unemployment rate. A bill signed by Scott this year reduced the maximum number of weeks someone can receive state unemployment benefits. The limit went from 26 weeks to 23 — and if the state’s unemployment rate continues to fall, benefits could be limited to as little as 12 weeks.

There are currently no assurances that legislators in the state are looking to beef up public assistance programs either. Already, there are warnings of deeper budget cuts as the state prepares for a $2 billion shortfall.

You can watch the 60 Minutes segment here:

A coalition of more than 70 regional organizations joined forces Friday to care for homeless and nearly homeless veterans and other community members. From haircuts to medical screens to winter clothing, the coalition, organized by the Linn County Department of Veteran Affairs in cooperation with other groups combating homelessness, served more than 150 people during its sixth annual “Stand Down” event.

Over the years the scope of the event has grown, but the mission has remained mostly the same, said Don Tyne, Linn County VA director. “We want to connect people who are homeless or near-homeless with the groups and services that can give them a hand up, get them back on their feet.”

Volunteer Sarah Castelein scrubs down a table as part of the prep work for a free lunch served to veterans and other at-need residents. (Photo: Lynda Waddington/The Iowa Independent)

Although initially created as a service just for veterans and their families — and hosted from the back of a truck — the event, Five Seasons Stand Down, is now open to all who are challenged and this year took up the entire concourse at the ballpark as well as a portion of the parking lot.

“Stand Down” is a term historically used in times of war in which exhausted combat units come off the battlefield to rest and recover in a place of safety. Today the same term refers to this type of community-based program that provides food, shelter, clothing, basic medical exams, general legal services, and other assistance and referrals to the homeless or near-homeless.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, the very first such event was held in San Diego, Calif. in 1998. Since that time, Stand Downs have been used an effective took in reaching out to homeless veterans, extending services to more than 200,000 veterans and their family members throughout the nation.

The events have worked well, Tyne said, because military veterans are, in general, people of pride and the Stand Down events don’t carry the same stigma that a veteran may experience by walking into a traditional substance abuse or behavioral health service.

“Just like the name implied historically, this is a safe place,” he said.

A wide range of services and referrals were offered to those who attended the Five Seasons Stand Down event. (Photo: Lynda Waddington/The Iowa Independent)

Earlier this year two federal agencies joined forces to offer Congress and the nation a first-ever report of its kind on homeless veterans. According to that report, each state in the nation has some level of homeless veterans — nearly always a disproportionate number when compared to veterans in the overall population. In the Midwest, for instance, veterans comprise 7.7 percent of the total population. Veterans, however, represent 9.5 percent of all of those seeking homelessness services. In the nation’s western states, the figures have even more contrast with veterans making up only 7.2 percent of the population, but 13.2 percent of those homeless.

This first-ever report of its kind indicates that homeless veterans are present to some extent in each state, and provides in-depth demographic information on homeless veterans and how those individuals compare to others in the population who are homeless. The bottom line, according the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Veterans Affairs, is that nearly 76,000 veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009 while roughly 136,000 veterans spent at least one night in a shelter during that year.

Last June, President Barack Obama announced the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, including a focus on homeless veterans.  The report, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, hopes to put the country on a path to end veterans’ and chronic homelessness by 2015; and to ending homelessness among children, family and youth by 2020.

“Providing assistance in mental health, substance abuse treatment, education and employment goes hand-in-hand with preventive steps and permanent supportive housing.  We continue to work towards our goal of finding every Veteran safe housing and access to needed services,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

Although veterans are disproportionately represented in all age groups of those homeless, they are the overwhelming majority of homeless individuals age 62 and above. And almost a quarter of poor Hispanic veterans living alone — a key risk factor for all veterans, according to the report — used shelter services as some during 2009. Similarly, about 24 percent of African American veterans with incomes below the poverty line were homeless at some point in 2009, as were 35 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native veterans.

But even outside of ethnic boundaries, there is significant risk for veterans, even those in young age groups, to become homeless. The report found that veterans between the age of 18 and 30 are almost twice as likely to be homeless than non-veterans — and the risk increases if the veteran is poor. But it also important to note that young veterans not in poverty remain three times more likely to be homeless than young non-veterans living in poverty.

Although every state in the union has homeless veterans, the report found that more than half of all homeless veterans in America are concentrated in four states: California (26 percent), Florida (9 percent), New York (8 percent) and Texas (7 percent). These four states have a similar combined share of all sheltered homeless people (45 percent), but only 28 percent of the total veteran population nationwide.

The report estimates that Iowa has less than one percent (.4 percent) of the total number of homeless veterans in the nation. But, of the people in Iowa who are homeless, 8 percent are veterans, which is only slightly lower than the average for all Midwestern states. The report places Iowa on a list of 14 states with an under-representation of veterans in their homeless population when compared to the state’s overall population share.

Perhaps most interesting for Iowa and other predominantly rural states is the fact that 32 percent of homeless veterans were accessing services outside of urban centers. Those veterans who seek services in rural or suburban areas have characteristics that are markedly different from veterans seeking urban services. For instance, a considerable majority of the rural/suburban aide seekers were white, carried a higher incidence of disability and migrated into the rural area.

Other key findings in the report released today are:

• More than 3,000 cities and counties reported 75,609 homeless veterans on a single night in January of 2009; 57 percent were staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program while the remaining 43 percent were without shelter.  Veterans represent approximately 12 percent of all homeless persons counted nationwide during the 2009 ‘point-in-time snapshot.’
• During a 12-month period in 2009, an estimated 136,000 veterans—or about 1 in every 168 veterans— spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.  The vast majority of sheltered homeless veterans (96 percent) experienced homelessness alone while a much smaller share (4 percent) was part of a family.  Sheltered homeless veterans are most often individual white men between the ages of 31 and 50 and living with a disability.
• Veterans are 50 percent more likely to become homeless compared to all Americans and the risk is even greater among veterans living in poverty and poor minority veterans.  HUD and VA examined the likelihood of becoming homeless among American veterans with particular demographic characteristics and found that during 2009, twice as many poor Hispanic veterans used a shelter compared with poor non-Hispanic veterans.  African American veterans in poverty had similar rates of homelessness.
• Most veterans who used emergency shelter stayed for only brief periods.  One-third stayed in shelter for less than one week; 61 percent used a shelter for less than one month; and 84percent stayed for less than three months. The report also concluded that veterans remained in shelters longer than did non-veterans.  In 2009, the median length of stay for veterans who were alone was 21 days in an emergency shelter and 117 days in transitional housing.  By contrast, non-veteran individuals stayed in an emergency shelter for 17 days and 106 days in transitional housing.
• Nearly half of homeless veterans were located in California, Texas, New York and Florida while only 28 percent of all veterans were located in those same four States.
• Sheltered homeless veterans are far more likely to be alone rather than part of a family household; 96 percent of veterans are individuals compared to 66 percent in the overall homeless population.

HUD and VA are currently working together to administer a joint program specifically targeted to homeless veterans.  Through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, HUD provides rental assistance for homeless veterans while VA offers case management and clinical services.  Since 2008, a total investment of $225 million is working to provide housing and supportive service for approximately 30,000 veterans who would otherwise be homeless.

In addition, last month HUD awarded $1.4 billion to keep nearly 7,000 local homeless assistance programs operating in the coming year.  The Department also allocated $1.5 billion through its new Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program. Made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, HPRP is intended to prevent persons from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them if they do.  To date, more than 850,000 persons, including more than 15,000 veterans, have been assisted through HPRP.

Veteran Homelessness: A Supplemental Report to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress –

A Somali refugee family resettles in Sioux Falls, S.D. (Flickr, UNHCR)

Stan Delp, a 67-year-old retired teacher living in Lansdale, Penn., was sitting in church in June, 2008, when he noticed four unfamiliar black-haired men by him. He found they were new to the United States, having spent 11 years in refugee camp in Thailand. Delp’s church is not big — about 200 people regularly attend — but nevertheless it has helped 47 such refugees assimilate to life in the United States over the past two years. When Delp met the men, he decided to do his part. He helped them buy clothes at Kohl’s and taught them how to use a refrigerator. He searched for jobs for them, and ended up waking at 5 a.m. to drive one man to work for several months, then allowed him to move into his home. Now that he lives in a retirement home, the refugees, now friends, visit a few nights a week.

“It’s like being a dad to them, really,” Delp says. “It takes 14 years to get assimilated into American culture. That’s a long time.”

[Immigration1] In the United States, the refugee resettlement system has always worked largely thanks to the generosity of people like Delp, as a public-private partnership with volunteer services and government backing. But the recession is threatening the stability of the program and the availability of resources to refugees. The government has stepped up its contributions to help new refugee migrants adjust to American life, but provides just eight months of resources. With jobs scarce, the churches and community centers that help after then are stretched to the point of breaking.

The government is aware of the problem, but thus far has taken only small steps to ameliorate it. The State Department doubled the amount of money it gives private resettlement agencies to help refugees when they first come to the United States, from $900 to $1,800. That amount helps the groups provide services for refugees and fund-raise for additional aid money for up to 90 days after the refugee enters the country. But the State Department knows $1,800 is not enough to support a refugee for three months, particularly with the difficulty of finding work, a State Department official told TWI.

“Part of the philosophy of our program is for people to reach self-reliance as quickly as possible,” says the official. “It used to be that very often refugees would have found work by the time our period of responsibility is up, and that’s much less true now.”

The Obama administration authorized in September 2009 the admission of up to 80,000 refugees in the 2010 fiscal year, up from 75,000 admitted in the 2009 fiscal year. In the authorization, the administration acknowledged that the “recent economic downturn has presented new challenges for this and other humanitarian programs.” To address these problems, the National Security Council was tasked with determining what needs to be done to improve refugee resettlement in the U.S.

“The basic set-up of the program hasn’t been altered in many years,” National Security Council spokesman Ben Chang told the Los Angeles Times in June. “It was time to take a fresh look.”

A few policy improvements have been recommended so far. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation in March that would allow refugees to apply for green cards immediately upon entering the U.S. and adjust refugee resettlement grants annually based on inflation and the cost of living.

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, commissioned a report on refugee resettlement and found the process often places an unfair burdens local communities. Called “Abandoned Upon Arrival,” Lugar argues in the opening of the July 21 report that the government should modify its funding and admittance numbers — either increasing funding of refugee resettlement programs or decreasing the number of refugees it admits — so high costs are not passed on to local communities.

“We must acknowledge the costs associated with this activity,” Lugar wrote in a July 20 letter formally requesting a Government Accountability Office investigation on the refugee resettlement process.

The idea of cutting down on refugee admissions is not appetizing, particularly at a time when the need is so high. Of 42 million people forced by conflict or persecution to move from their homes, 16 million need asylum or refugee status, according to a 2009 report from the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Forcing refugees to wait in camps, which often cannot provide the same health and education services they could find in the U.S., can have a detrimental affect on them, says Susan Krehbiel, a vice president at the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

“It does become kind of a Catch-22,” Krehbiel says. “Some of the refugees have been in camps for 15 to 20 years. There are some human costs to delaying peoples’ resettlement.”

Still, Krehbiel says the current system struggles to serve the refugees it does admit, and relies too heavily on volunteer donations of time and money. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, established in 1980 as part of the Department of Health and Human Services, provides funding for up to eight months of cash and medical assistance, and refugee families may be eligible for additional money through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, and Medicaid.

The government also provides up to five years of employment services, supplemented by private programs. But with the sluggish economy, employment programs through the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service have seem a marked difference in the speed of job searches among refugees, Krehbiel says. While in previous years 80 percent of refugees were employed within four months, the recession dropped that number to about 60 percent. It usually takes about a year to get 80 percent of refugees in the program hired, she says.

Janet Panning, a program director at two Pennsylvania Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service programs, says she has seen a significant decrease in employment opportunities for refugees. Recent anti-immigrant fervor hasn’t helped the situation, as some employers are hesitant to employ refugees because they think they could be illegal immigrants.

“People are very afraid of hiring people they think might be illegal or not have proper work documentation,” Panning says. “Sometimes employers that aren’t up on the law might be reluctant to hire a refugee because they might not have a green card.”

If they are not able to find employment, single people are in an especially bad situation after government cash assistance ends. Some refugees have struggled to support themselves and pay rent. Panning says she knows of several refugees who have become homeless over the years, but typically secondary issues beyond unemployment contribute to the problem.

Panning says she worked with one refugee who nearly became homeless after her family dispersed around the country. The woman had a war-related disability that was difficult to show to employers and kept her from working steadily, and eventually was placed in subsidized housing.

“She never went on the street, but it was through the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers that kept her in housing,” Panning says

The government has attempted to stave off homelessness among refugees. The State Department provided $5 million in emergency housing funding last year. For next year, the Department of Health and Human Services requested an additional $25 million from Congress for case management and emergency housing.

But local communities often take on that task as well. Delp charges a refugee $200 per month — “not even enough to cover utilities,” he laughs — to stay in his house while he stays in a local retirement home. He also helps a seven-person family pay the rent on a five-bedroom house nearby. (They were living in a two-bedroom apartment until he helped them move out a few weeks ago, Delp says.)

He says he and the other members of his church see helping the refugees as something they must do. “Those of us who have been given resources, it’s up to us to reach out to these people,” Delp says. “I can afford to reach out, so I want to help as much as I can.”

“As a nation, we appear to be doing a better job sheltering those who might otherwise be living on our streets but clearly homelessness is impacting a greater share of families with children,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a release. The report noted 78 percent of people in shelters are adults, 62 percent are members of a minority group and 61 percent are male.

Between 2008 and 2009, the number of individuals in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs declined 5 percent. But the number of homeless households increased 7 percent, to more than 170,000, and has soared 30 percent since 2007. The report notes:

The continued rise in family homelessness across the three years, from 131,000 families in 2007 to 170,000 families in 2009, is almost certainly related to the recession. However, the increase was more pronounced between 2007 and 2008, even through unemployment rates remained high during [2009]. It may be that many families already at risk of becoming homeless lacked sufficient support networks and became homeless almost immediately after the economy turned down. A much larger group turned to family and friends and may be doubled up and still at great risk of becoming homeless. The percentage of adults in families who reported that they had been staying with families before entering shelter increased steadily over the three-year period, from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 29.4 percent in 2009, as did the total percentage reporting that they had been in some sort of “housed” situation before becoming homeless, reaching 62.5 percent in 2009.

All of the increase in family homelessness in 2009 compared with 2008 was in the use of emergency shelter by family members, rather than transitional housing. Families stayed longer in shelters in 2009 than in 2008, with the median number of nights rising from 30 to 36. Not only did family homelessness continue to increase between 2008 and 2009, it also seems to have become more severe in the sense that it took the typical family longer to leave shelter.

And the report notes that the high rate of unemployment, peaking foreclosure crisis and the sustained incidence of families “doubling up” in houses in response might drive the number of homeless families up in 2010.

A recent study found a nearly five-fold increase in the rate of housing overcrowding, suggesting that many families are doubling up in response to the economic downturn. If some of these family support networks already are struggling to make ends meet, some of the doubled-up families may find their way into the homeless residential service system during 2010.

Although the Macomb GOP is now claiming it has no such plan (even though its chairman told our sister site, the Michigan Messenger, otherwise), the Obama campaign has filed a lawsuit in Michigan regarding the matter.

Rightly so, say nonprofits working on homelessness issues. Legally, you don’t need a permanent address to vote, either in Michigan or in any other state in the country.

Just ask the National Coalition for the Homeless. For years, the nonpartisan nonprofit has worked to get out the homeless vote through its You Don’t Need a Home to Vote Campaign. State-by-state voting laws concerning the homeless are listed here (pdf)– in case the GOP or any other group plans to use this strategy on the 2 million Americans who face foreclosure this year.