ABSTRACT

The plight of homeless military veterans is a salient, pervasive, and a public health problem. Since the 1980s the visibility and percentages of homeless veterans have reduced but endure as a societal problem and challenge. Much of the reduction in the percentages of homeless veterans is attributed to multi-level collaborative relationships and sharing of resources. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and nonprofit organizations (NPO) provide a valuable service to our military men and women through social work leadership, governance, managerial, programmatic, clinical accountability, and utilization of finite resources to remediate homelessness amongst veterans. This paper explores the critical role that social work plays in practice areas at the VA and NPO. Veteran homelessness is addressed through the lens of resource dependence theory (RDT), partnerships, historical, root causes, programs, services, and case vignettes that underscore the problem, the role of social work, and responsiveness for optimal overall health and housing outcomes.

摘要

无家可归的退伍军人的困境是一个突出的、普遍的和公共卫生问题。自 1980 年代以来，无家可归退伍军人的能见度和百分比有所下降，但仍是一个社会问题和挑战。无家可归退伍军人比例的下降在很大程度上归功于多层次的协作关系和资源共享。美国退伍军人事务部 (VA) 和非营利组织 (NPO) 通过社会工作领导、治理、管理、计划、临床问责和利用有限资源来补救退伍军人的无家可归问题，为我们的军人提供有价值的服务。本文探讨了社会工作在 VA 和 NPO 的实践领域中发挥的关键作用。