One of the difficulties I face in my work with veterans is that of program eligibility. Veterans receive one of five discharges (Honorable, General, Other than Honorable, Bad Conduct, Dishonorable) when they leave the military. Veterans who receive anything other than an honorable discharge face the potential loss of benefits.
In the last few weeks, I have encountered several homeless veterans with "other than honorable" discharges and this presents a challenge when attempting to find housing resources. Because of those discharges they are not eligible for veteran housing resources. I find this particularly troubling because veterans who leave the service with bad paper discharges are the most in need of services often. Some changes have occurred with the HUD-VASH program where they are making a limited amount of vouchers available to veterans with OTH's. I think this is a great start and I hope the VA continues this trend. They will have to if they are truly committed to ending veteran homelessness.
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