Initial assessment data from a 43-site program for homeless chronic mentally ill veterans.

In May 1987 the Veterans Administration established the Homeless Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans Program at 43 sites to provide outreach, health care, and residential rehabilitation services. Intake assessment data on 10,529 homeless veterans screened as potential candidates for clinical services during the program's first 11 months are presented. With a median age of 40, the homeless veterans were considerably younger than veterans in the general U.S. population. More had served in the Vietnam era than in other military eras. Almost three-fifths were white, and a third were black; more than 40 percent were receiving some form of public support. Almost half manifested one or more severe psychiatric symptoms at screening, and almost two-thirds had previously been hospitalized for either a psychiatric or a substance abuse problem.