“You Don’t See Them on the Streets of Your Town”: Challenges and Strategies for Serving Unstably Housed Veterans in Rural Areas

ABSTRACT

Research on policy and programmatic responses to homelessness has focused largely on urban areas, with comparatively little attention paid to the rural context. We conducted qualitative interviews with a nationwide sample of rural-serving agencies receiving grants through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veteran Families program to better understand the housing needs, available services, needed resources, and challenges in serving homeless and unstably housed veterans in rural areas. Respondents discussed key challenges—identifying unstably housed veterans, providing services within the rural resource context, and leveraging effective collaboration—and strategies to address these challenges. Unmet needs identified included emergency and subsidized long-term housing options, transportation resources, flexible financial resources, and additional funding to support the intensive work required in rural areas. Our findings identify promising programmatic innovations and highlight the need for policy remedies that are responsive to the unique challenges of addressing homelessness and housing instability in rural areas.

KEYWORDS:

• homeless
• rural
• veterans
• rapid rehousing
• homeless prevention

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center on Homelessness among Veterans. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.

Notes on contributors

Thomas Byrne

Thomas Byrne is an investigator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Healthcare Outcomes and Implementation Research and the National Center on Homelessness among Veterans as well as an assistant professor in the Boston University School of Social Work.

Meagan Cusack

Meagan Cusack is a researcher at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion.

Gala True

Gala True is an investigator with the South Central Mental Illness Research and Education Center (MIRECC) at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVCHS) and an associate professor in the Section on Community and Population Medicine at Louisiana State University School of Medicine.

Ann Elizabeth Montgomery

Ann Elizabeth Montgomery is an investigator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center on Homelessness among Veterans and Birmingham VA Medical Center as well as an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health in the Department of Health Behavior.

Megan Smith

Megan Smith is a doctoral student at the Boston University School of Social Work.