An American Lion

I applaud this effort, but it really has to be based on combating alcoholism and drug abuse. Treatment for those addictions will cure much more than homelessness, and I hope that it is a focus of the efforts put forth by the Veteran’s Administration today:

Veterans AffairsSecretary Eric Shinseki on Tuesday unveiled a plan to end veterans’ homelessness in five years, saying that without action the improvements of recent years could be lost because of the bad economy.

Shinseki said the VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to reduce homelessness among veterans and is working to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies and service organizations. He said he recognizes that a goal of zero homeless veterans is ambitious but that he wants a high target so that everyone puts in their best efforts.

“My name is Shinseki and I’m here to end veteran homelessness,” he said at the beginning of a speech to 1,200 service providers at a VA summit.

In the past, the VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets, but Shinseki said he wants to prevent them from ever going homeless. One area for potential improvement, he said, is finding jobs and homes for the estimated 56,000 veterans who leave prisons each year.

About one-third of all adult homeless men and nearly one-fifth of all homeless adults served in the military.

About 3 percent of the overall homeless population served in Iraq or Afghanistan. About 3,700 from the recent wars have been seen in VA homeless outreach programs and more than 550 have been treated in a VA-connected residential program.

This is a something we should cheer for, and if it comes to pass that Shinseki makes it happen, kudos to him and kudos to the Obama Administration for putting out a bold effort at bringing us some good government. The way to blunt criticism from your opponents is to go out and do good things for the American people.