This investigatory report aims to address the following questions:

 

• Why do veterans become homeless? What are the causes and leading events that lead to this outcome?

• What is being done to combat homelessness? Including how charities are at the forefront of this.

• Who, if any, is at fault for the result of homelessness amongst numbers of veterans over the years? Investigating how the Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence (MoD), homeless charities and other service providers have helped meet the needs of these veterans.

• Personal stories of those who have been homeless, and successfully turned their life around.

 

Background

As part of a preliminary research analysis, TVI conducted an online survey to get a good understanding of peoples experiences and views prior to broadcasting it on this website. The survey was on a small scale, and consisted of 30 respondents. Here are the findings:

Life prior to joining the Armed Forces
70% of the participants that took part in this investigation show that disruptive family backgrounds were the leading cause of them joining the Armed Forces. 15 respondents reported having family conflicts prior to service, with some entering in and out of foster care, and others having a broken home with either no parents or divorced parents, and financial struggles. Some of the interviewees had members of their family already in or out of service, therefore enrolled through comfort and pride. Those who spent time in care described how they never felt settled or secured in their life, thus used a career such as the Armed Forces as a way to build a family through friendships, and experience life in a way they never thought they could. (number) respondents reported having been in trouble with the law, however this shows an underlying connection between younger respondents having been in trouble with the law prior to service, and older respondents having been in trouble to the law post-service, partly due to post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD).

The recurring theme that showed throughout each of the individual interviewees, was that every respondent joined the Armed Forces, despite other reasons, due to the included opportunities the Forces offer, such as travelling the world, the challenges that come with the job, gaining qualifications, building a career and earning better money, a feature which many mentioned due to their life prior to service, and a family history of involvement in the armed forces. 

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Life in the Armed Forces
The question regarding life in the armed forces was asked, detailing what parts they enjoyed, whether the job meets their expectations, how they felt during service, and the bad parts they may have experienced. Many of the respondents who were asked about the things they enjoyed throughout their time, mentioned how the people who once were strangers to them, are now family. Camaraderie and friendship was one of the most important parts of the job. However, despite the security amongst friendships, many of those interviewed detailed how ego and pride would surge when the “band of brothers” were together, and many felt as though this left them unprepared for civilian life. 

Despite the physical hardships and discipline of life in the armed forces, many of the respondents mentioned how, though they did not enjoy all parts, they accepted that it was part of the job. As part of an extension of one of the interview questions, the question: “was you subjected to any bullying during your time in service?” was issued to those who mentioned the feeling of pride and ego throughout the job, this was asked partly due to camaraderie and friendship can sometimes be mistaken as a need to please and act up to their officials and authorities. The respondents did not disclose experiences of bullying during their time in service, however one of the respondents did disclose the thin line between discipline and subject to personal discipline, i.e., underlying bullying. 

A few mentioned the pointless tasks given were parts of the job they did not enjoy, including the some of the exercises they were deployed to were sometimes ‘pointless’ and ‘non-educational’.

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Leaving the Armed Forces
There were many contributing factors as to why many of the respondents left the armed forces, such as disciplinary issues, personal and family reasons, and reaching the end of their contract. Some who left voluntarily state their reasons were because they simply could not do their job anymore due to the physicality, discipline and lack of mental strength. Others mentioned the treatment they were receiving was affecting their mental ability to focus and carry on with their service. A multitude of respondents were medically discharged due to injuries sustained during deployment. Those that said they could no longer mentally continue with the job, also stated that they felt as though they had no other choice but to leave, due to the other option, which is to go AWOL.

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Mental health
The respondents were asked about their mental health during service. This is because any mental health problems the respondent had prior to service hindered their application and selection process. Therefore, the appropriate timing of this question is used to discuss their mental well being during the time in the armed forces. 

Mental health problems were a key feature of the interviews. Often associated with the older respondents due to having served for a longer period of time, this seemed to be a theme in which pushed the respondents to homelessness. This investigation has led the report to separate the respondents into two categories of mental well being. Those being: Older people who have seen much more active combat and experienced more from their service with regards to being exposed to longer periods of trauma as well as physical and mental strain thus suffering with a deeper level of PTSD and attributing mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety; and young leavers who may have joined the forces with their own ‘baggage’ and mental health disorders that potentially came to light during their service. Many mental health issues can go undiagnosed for years before presenting physical symptoms, contributing to the decline in mental health when exposed to certain traumatic situations one is exposed to during basic training and during times of battle and conflict. 

Some respondents suffered with a variety of mental health issues other than post-traumatic-stress-disorder, such as depression, anxiety and OCD. One respondent had severe post-traumatic-stress-disorder which led them to becoming homeless after being medically discharged. Another respondent suffered with relationship problems, which can present themselves after a long period of absence, a key feature in military life. Grief and bereavement is a common occurrence amongst the respondents interviewed. Many stated how the loss of their friends in combat had severely impacted their mental well being, but many admit to suppressing this and moving forward with their career despite the internal suffering they may have been dealing with, which eventually presented itself when introduced back to a civilian lifestyle.

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Life after the Armed Forces: Homelessness, alcohol and drug problems
Those of the respondents that ended up homeless all stated that the only way they survived on the streets was because of their military experience which differentiated themselves from other homeless people. A few of the respondents mentioned how with the effect of their mental health, they found it increasingly difficult to find and hold down a civilian job, this was seen more in those that came from a dysfunctional family background. Over half of the respondents said they heavily relied on alcohol as a coping mechanism when adjusting to a civilian lifestyle and being homeless, this lasted for years until this drove them to finally seek help. The recurring theme that many of the respondents mentioned, was that the hardship of suffering through mental health issues such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety and those physically suffering from loss of limbs and traumas to the body, found it most difficult to adapt and thus let homelessness take control of them until they eventually spoke out and reached for help from professionals.  

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From homelessness to accommodated living 
After extensive research, the main consensus surrounding the service provision is lack of information. Veterans who left the armed forces according to the respondents is that there was not easily available information to help them once they had left the forces, whether that is from the armed forces themselves, the Ministry of Defence or supporting charities that work closely the armed forces and service men and women. 

Some of the respondents blamed the armed forces for their lack of information and resulting to their homelessness, not including any other issues that were present. They criticised the support they were offered and were sceptical to go ahead and seek help from surrounding charities; including other authorities dealing with benefits, by finding them to be inefficient and supportive. 
One respondent who attempted to seek help very early on after leaving the forces mentioned that when visiting their local GP surgery, they were referred to a mental health specialist who, as the respondent quoted: “they failed to be sensitive and recognise the needs of ex-servicemen, especially regarding combat related post-traumatic-stress-disorder.

However, the majority of respondents when reaching for help, praised the supporting charities and organisations who provide services.
One of the respondents, after being homeless for a few years, managed after gaining help for their mental health, to get back in contact with their family who helped with their accommodation. Another respondent praised their local council with helping them get back on their feet alongside the help of organisations who funded their housing until the respondent settled back into civilian life.
Other interviewees talked about how they were not quite ready to settle back down into a civilian lifestyle, as they were still adjusting to having their own space. Some were contemplating re-entering the armed forces once they have had the required treatment.

 

Findings from this study
Joining the armed forces is not the leading cause to homelessness. Though, what comes with the pressures of the job and the individual’s resilience to such distressing exposure including a multitude of other contributing factors is what, through extensive research, leads ex-service men and women to become homeless and dependent on, for example, alcohol in order to get through the hardship of adjusting to civilian life. Lack of easily-accessible information post-service doesn’t cause but amplifies the homeless situation due to the individual not being aware of what help is available to them once they leave the forces.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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A research report titled: “Military History: The experiences of people who become homeless after military service”, by Lemos, G and Durkacz, wrote: 

“Sir David Ramsbotham was Adjutant General (the head of Army personnel) at the time of Options for Change when the size of the Army reduced by one third, or, put another way, by 50,000 people. Sir David, commenting on the problem of homelessness amongst ex-army personnel, succinctly and elegantly summarised the problem that this report describes in correspondence with the authors: I felt that we were able to do a certain amount to help families but were not very good about the single men. Many of these had joined to get away from a chaotic and dysfunctional background, finding some stability in the Forces. But when the career came to a premature end, which it inevitably did for some, many of them had nowhere to go back to. The Forces charities were not well-equipped with hostels and so began the spectre of too many ex-servicemen in doorways and in prisons, about which no one should feel comfortable. The common perception that homelessness amongst ex-service personnel derives solely from inadequate support by the armed forces to those at the point of leaving is greatly over-simplistic. For some greater risk of homelessness may emanate from experiences before they joined the armed forces, for example family breakdown or growing up in care. Experiences during service in the armed forces may nevertheless also contribute to increasing the greater risk of future homelessness. The orderly structure of forces life, with clear ranks of status and authority and well-defined routines, at least outside combat situations, may not be the best preparation for the greater self-reliance, autonomous decision-making and complex and sometimes confusing social relationships required in civilian life. More negative experiences while serving in the armed forces may also influence future ability to cope. The close contact with violence and conflict may for example, even with the best training and preparation, have not proved easy to deal with emotionally and psychologically. Introduction The psychological wounds may not become apparent as quickly as the physical ones and help may not be at hand when they do. Some of those interviewed in this report, as shall be seen presently, feel that on occasion psychological damage was entirely denied. Sometimes they denied the nature and extent of the problem to themselves. Finally experiences on leaving the armed forces may not have proved straightforward. The civilian world can seem a confusing, frustrating place, without the clarity and order of the armed forces and where decisions need to be made, which would either have been made for you or not been necessary at all, such as where to socialise and who to socialise with. In the civilian world the bureaucracies of the housing and benefits system can prove exacting to anyone, but to the ill prepared and inexperienced they can be maddening.”

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The research conducted by Lemos, G and Durkacz will play a strong role in helping this Investigative Report explore the issues surrounding homelessness amongst veterans in the Armed Forces.