https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-hou...g-veterans

The not so surprising part of this:

"...They mapped out how many different steps a veteran would have to take to get into permanent housing and found that the process required over 150 different steps, from securing a photo ID and birth certificate to filling out nearly identical paperwork for the housing authority and the VA—the sort of bureaucratic obstacles that can be daunting for anyone, even the most organized professionals.

"We got it down to 50-60 steps," says Eva Thibaudeau-Graczyk, vice president of programs for the Houston Coalition for the Homeless. The process of streamlining these steps included changing the documents required by the local housing authority to include alternate forms of ID, and having the VA and housing authority share paperwork.

"We started to learn the power of navigation, and take [homeless veterans] one-on-one through each step of the process," Thibaudeau-Graczyk says. "We'd drive them, wait with them, visit properties with them too....""



"...In 2011, Houston had 8,538 people experiencing homelessness on a single night; by 2015, 3,652 of those people—the homeless veterans—had found homes. Once the city had established such high success metrics in solving homelessness among veterans—a press release declared an "effective end" to veterans' homelessness in Houston—the coalition turned its focus to chronic homelessness.

But in the years that followed, even with improvements, the same accountability and streamlining efforts haven't worked as well with the non-veteran population.

For one thing, homeless veterans benefit from more federal funding and increased public support...."