At least 2,250 Canadian veterans are homeless: analysis

At least 2,250 Canadian veterans are homeless: analysis

Postby Oscar » Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:17 am

At least 2,250 Canadian veterans are homeless: analysis

[ http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/at-least-2 ... -1.2724606 ]

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, January 5, 2016 2:30PM EST

OTTAWA - The federal government has -- for perhaps the first time -- taken a stab at estimating how many of the country's veterans are homeless, but the report by Employment and Social Development Canada cautions the data is far from complete.

The study, dated March 2015 and released to The Canadian Press under access to information legislation, estimates that 2,250 former soldiers use shelters on regular basis, which represents about 2.7 per cent of the total homeless population that uses temporary lodging.

The figures come from a database which tracks 60 emergency shelters across the country.

Researchers found that veterans who end up homeless tend to be older than non-veterans in the same circumstances and that ex-soldiers are more prone to so-called episodic homelessness -- meaning they are individuals with disabling conditions who've been on and off the street three or more times in one year.

The average age of homeless veterans is 52, compared with 37 in the general population and many ex-soldiers cite alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health issues as reasons for their circumstances.

The country's top military commander, Gen. Jonathan Vance, says it's shocking there would be homelessness among former military and says there will be a determined effort to identify those who need help before they fall through the cracks.
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Re: At least 2,250 Canadian veterans are homeless: analysis

Postby Oscar » Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:20 am

Advocate Pitches Three Ways to Help Homeless Vets

[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/01/07/Help- ... ign=070116 = ]

Tom Beaver reflects on new findings that 2,250 fellow veterans regularly use shelters.

By Jeremy J. Nuttall, TheTyee.ca January 7, 2016

If Canada wants to decrease its number of homeless veterans, a good start would be to stop handing lump-sum payments to young men fresh out of the army, says a veterans' advocate.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Press revealed the results of an internal March 2015 study from Employment and Social Development Canada that found 2,250 veterans use homeless shelters on a regular basis. The news agency obtained the information through the access to information process.

The study found that Canada's former soldiers are prone to "episodic homelessness," and that the average age of homeless veterans is 52, compared with 37 in the general population.

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Rethink disability pensions

Beaver also believes that veterans' disability pensions should be shielded from divorce settlements.

When a veteran splits with their spouse, it's understandable that other pensions, such as CPP, or other income is shared, he said.

But Beaver believes an exception should be made for disability pensions, because it's much harder for a veteran with a disability to make ends meet.

He said he's seen many cases where veterans are forced to share the pensions intended to help them with disabilities with former partners.

In some cases, he's heard of vets having to part with as much as 80 per cent of their disability pensions.

"To this day, I don't see how a military veteran loses his military disability pension to a spouse on a divorce," Beaver said. "That's happened in a number of cases… disability pensions are there for a reason."
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