By Rick Rogers
For The North County Times

Female veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan number more than 230,000 and their ranks grow daily, yet their health issues have rarely received much attention - until now.

According to report entitled "Combat to Community" issued last year by the veteran advocate group "Swords to Plows," while women experience the same mental trauma as their male comrades, the Department of Veterans Affairs has only recently begun accessing their needs.

Through late 2009, women veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder nationwide had reached 11,713, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

More recently, graduate students from the University of Southern California of Social Workers based in San Diego have found anecdotal evidence suggesting San Diego County female veterans are falling into homelessness in increasing numbers.

Though accurate figures are hard to gather, an estimated 4 to 10 percent of female veterans are homeless. With roughly 25,000 female veterans living in San Diego County that would mean 1,000 to 2,500 are living on the streets or under tenuous circumstances.

Jon Nachison is co-founder of Stand Down, a yearly event for homeless veterans. He's noticed an increase in homeless women veterans.

"For years the number of homeless veterans (attending Stand Down) hovered in the 500 or 600 range. Now 900 or more show up at San Diego High School," said Nichison, a psychologist.

"We are seeing more female veterans then we used to. But we are also seeing more Gulf War veterans then Vietnam Vets, and we are seeing increasing numbers of younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan."

Darcy Pavich, Stand Down coordinator, said 25 homeless female veterans attended the event in 2008. The number jumped to 51 last year.

"The VA is increasingly not able to provide homeless services for women with children," added Charisma Delos Reyes, a student at USC's new San Diego Academic Center and home of the Military School of Social Work. She and other students are analyzing policies and programs affecting female veterans here in San Diego County.

Jose Coll

"Female veterans are four times more likely to become homeless than their civilian counterparts," added Jose Coll, director of USC's San Diego Academic Center.

"Many have children and that's where were have a problem. Most federal shelters are not equipped to take female veterans and their children," Coll said.

Based in Rancho Bernardo, USC's Military School of Social Work program is the only program of its kind in the country. Started last fall and funded in part by $6.5 million federal grant, the initiative is geared toward producing social workers who understand post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma and other related military issues.

Reyes and other USC social work students are working with Congressman Bob Filner, D-Chula Vista, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to design a blueprint for providing services for homeless female veterans.

Last week the House passed the Filner-backed bill S. 1963 that would create a caregiver support program, improve VA services for women veterans and expand the mental health services provided by the VA.

Filner described the legislation as giving "access for people who don't normally have access. Like women. It's time to think about child-care, privacy curtains, to think about respect, basically."

The number of women in the military has doubled in the last 30 years and now stands at 14 percent of the active-duty force; 17.5 percent of the reserves and 20 percent of new recruits, according to an August 2009 report by the California Research Bureau.
Those numbers are expected to double in the next decade, according to VA estimates.