Geographic mapping of risk for homelessness among veterans at the county, state, and national Level "S/A"

There is a strong and well-documented link between poverty and homelessness, with one in ten poor households in America experiencing homelessness in any given year. Prior research indicates that the six percent of veterans of the US Armed Forces living in poverty face a similar elevated risk of becoming homeless. Given the connection between poverty and homelessness, systematically identifying low-income veterans has great importance for accurately targeting homeless assistance policies and programming for veterans. This is especially true for interventions and services specifically designed to prevent homelessness among at risk veterans. Therefore, this study aims to create geographic risk profiles assigning levels of risk to jurisdictions based on their respective concentrations of veterans living in poverty. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) we develop a set of risk profiles at the national, state and county level. We then use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to create a set of maps showing veterans living in poverty and we include other important details such as race, gender and age of veterans. The risk profiles that emerge from this study's findings can be used to help allocate resources in a more efficient manner and target programming towards geographies with high levels of need. More concretely, the risk profiles can guide the development and implementation of new and emerging VA homelessness prevention initiatives, which form a key component of the recently adopted VA Five Year Plan to End Homelessness Among Veterans.