Homelessness within ex-Armed Forces Personnel - Riverside

Support needs of homeless ex-Armed Forces Personnel
Research has identified that homeless
ex-UK Armed Forces Personnel are at risk
of both psychological and physical illness
(Hotopf et al., 2006).
These ex-Service Personnel also have distinct
support needs from those of the general
homeless population (Johnsen, Jones, & Rugg,
2008). Despite suggestions to the contrary no
link has been found between serving in the
Armed Forces and triggers to becoming
homeless, there are however clear links
between Service in the Armed Forces and how
homelessness is experienced by an individual
(Mares, 2004; Johnsen, Jones, & Rugg, 2008).
Ex-Service Personnel have been found to have
a higher likelihood of alcoholism and a lower
likelihood of substance abuse in comparison to
the civilian homeless population (Johnsen,
Jones, & Rugg, 2008). A survey of Riverside
ECHG ex-Armed Forces clients found that
45.5% of respondents had psychiatric or
emotional problems, with around a quarter of
those having drug or alcohol dependency
issues, highlighting the prevalence of these
issues within this group. Dual diagnoses
schemes are vital as this group of individuals
are particularly vulnerable and require
specialist care that many supported housing
schemes are unable to provide, meaning that
these individuals maybe at even greater risk of
high levels of social exclusion (Drake, Osher, &
Wallach, 1991). Riverside ECHG is one of the
few supported housing providers which runs
successful specialist dual diagnoses schemes.
Data submitted to St Andrews University
Centre for Housing Studies shows that within
one of these schemes 85% of clients who have
moved on from the scheme since 2007 have
managed to work in collaboration with their
Support Workers to make plans and achieve
successful service departures. The wealth of
knowledge gained from operating such a
scheme is invaluable and is readily passed on
within the organisation, meaning that
successful support plans can be adapted easily
to fit the specific needs of the ex-Services
Personnel within the MoD schemes.
The societal and financial costs of
homelessness without these kinds of support
services for dual diagnosis patients are high.
With no support these individuals would be
more likely to have the following undesirable
outcomes – high incidence of accident and
emergency submissions due to alcohol
consumption, increased criminal proceedings
due to alcohol related offences and increased
health and social care costs (SITRA, 2010).
When comparing the cost of providing
supported housing services to no additional
support there is a potential saving of around
52% to the local authority and statutory
partners (SITRA, 2010).
Active Service within the military may also
define the support needs required by an
individual. Those who have seen active Service
during conflict are also exposed to risk factors
known to trigger mental health problems, for
example Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI), which
have been found to be highly correlated with
anger management issues (Fear, et al., 2009;
Elbogen, Wagner, Fuller, Calhoun, Kineer, &
Beckham, 2010).
Anger has been suggested to be one of the
largest factors to affect ability to complete
everyday activities and the levels of social
support received, so again this highlights the
requirement for specialist knowledge of the
support needs of ex-Armed Forces Personnel in
order to reduce the possibility of these
individuals becoming socially excluded
(Marshall, Martin, & Warfield, 2010).
As Riverside ECHG has its own specialist
supported housing department dedicated to
the provision of housing and support to
ex-Armed Forces Personnel they are able to
adapt and modify already successful support
plans to aid this unique client group, for
example including anger management training
as a part of each tenant’s licence agreement.
The staff who work within this specialist
branch are particularly well placed to display
empathy and understanding for client needs
as these services have been developed and
driven by staff who, in a number of cases have
themselves served in the Armed Forces,
allowing them an insight into the specific
issues and experiences. The advantages of
peer support are widely known due to the
effect of positive role modelling (Dixon, Kraus,
& Lehman, 1994) and, in the case of homeless
veterans, they have been shown to be related
to greater success in the transition into
independent accommodation (Weissman,
Covell, Kushner, Irwin, & Essock, 2005).
Further distinctions from the general homeless
population are that ex-Armed Service
Personnel are more likely to sleep rough and
for longer periods whilst homeless (Johnsen,
Jones, & Rugg, 2008). A report by CHAIN
suggests that around 6% of the rough sleepers
in London had served in the Armed Forces,
with around half of those serving in the UK
Armed Forces (CHAIN, 2011). This high
incidence of rough sleeping has been attributed
to their survival skills training (Higate, 2000).
The suggestion is that the training received
ensures ex-Service Personnel have the skills
and resilience to cope with sleeping rough and
therefore be able to draw on these skills when
accommodation is not available.
A reluctance to ask for help with mental health
or substance abuse issues is common amongst
ex-Service homeless, which may be due to the
masculine stereotype of military personnel;
they may feel that asking for help or admitting
to having a problem displays weakness of
character and may also increase personal
feelings of failure. This lack of help seeking
behaviour may also be linked to a higher
proportion of rough sleeping amongst
ex-Services Personnel, making this a very
challenging demographic to gain access to
in order to provide them with appropriate
support and advice (Iversen, et al., 2005).
The issues above highlight the importance
of supported accommodation projects to
enable rough sleepers to have access to
shelter should they need it, particularly in
the towns and cities situated close to Armed
Forces bases. Riverside ECHG’s schemes at
the Catterick and Aldershot bases are an
excellent example of how well used these
schemes would be and therefore how essential
they are to ensure the continued wellbeing of
Personnel leaving the Armed Forces.
The average demographics of homeless
ex-Service Personnel have also been found to
differ from the general population, with
significantly higher mean ages and the
population being made up predominantly from
white males (Johnsen, Jones, & Rugg, 2008).
These figures are reflective of the general
demographics within the UK Armed Forces.
The higher mean age may be attributed to the
lack of help seeking behaviour leading to a
prolonged time period spent homeless.
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