Returning veterans in a desperate search for jobs

Local Marine vet relies on church shelter in tough times.

The Conklin family — Nicole, 16; Timothy, 14; Cody, 10; mother Cindy; Carrie, 10; father Tim; and Trent, 2 — circle up for a prayer inside the SHALOM shelter at the First Presbyterian Church in Middletown.

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By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer Updated 9:36 PM Saturday, February 4, 2012

MIDDLETOWN — Last summer, Tim Conklin, a Marine who served a six-month tour in Iraq and Kuwait, started battling something many civilians had already been fighting: unemployment.

Now, in the toughest economic times since the Great Depression, Conklin is finding veterans are not immune to the woes of the economy.

Those who serve their country aren’t guaranteed employment, and with more than 40,000 U.S. troops expected to return home this year from Iraq, veteran advocate groups are concerned the veterans will be standing in unemployment lines.

Ohio veterans have a 12 percent unemployment rate, 3.5 percent higher than the state’s average.

The prospect appears even bleaker for Ohio veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who were unemployed at a rate of 14.8 percent, according to 2010 figures from the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.

Of the U.S. troops expected to return home this year, about 150 are from Butler County, said Curtis McPherson, executive director of Butler County Veterans Service Commission.

No matter their skill level, McPherson said those veterans will have trouble finding employment in this “very limited job market.”

No one needs to tell that to Conklin. Last summer, he was working construction in his home state of Florida. He was making a good enough living to support his wife, Cindy, and their five children, Nicole, 16, Timothy, 14, 10-year-old twins, Cody and Carrie, and Trent, 2.

But when the housing market tanked, Conklin lost his job. He found daily work, but not enough to pay the bills, and soon the mortgage was past due.

“Our savings were gone,” said Conklin, 35. “Then everything collapsed.”

Conklin joined the other 150,000 homeless American veterans.

As veterans return, there will be an additional need for employment services, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Ohio veterans can receive job placement training, whether that’s as simple as proof reading a resume to enrolling in a community college to job retraining to make them “more marketable,” Johnson said.

Johnson said as more and more veterans return home seeking employment, the need for unemployment assistance will rise.

Employees who hire veterans are eligible for an $8,000 on-the-job reimbursement, Johnson said. The money is given to the employers to cover the first $8,000 in wages while the new hires are trained, he said. Johnson said the program is popular with his agency because the money supports someone who has been hired, versus someone seeking employment.

While Conklin still is unemployed, he recently was approved for a housing assistance voucher from the Veterans Administration.

The Housing Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing grant program provides Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance for homeless veterans along with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Affairs provides these services for participating veterans at VA medical centers and community-based outreach clinics.

HUD-VASH has provided 750 vouchers to Ohio veterans in the last three years. Ohio received 280 vouchers in 2008, 245 in 2009 and 225 in 2010, according to the most recent statistics.

Under the program, the VA determines veteran eligibility and then refers veterans to a local public housing authority for a HUD voucher. In addition to the housing voucher component, the VA provides supportive case management services to each voucher recipient, including assistance negotiating leases with landlords, help securing counseling, and assistance finding job training and education programs.

Another federal program, Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, provides employment assistance to those veterans who received honorable or general discharges, said director Charlie Blythe.

The veterans, he said, also must “demonstrate a willingness to work.”

In an initial meeting, the veterans’ needs are accessed and their background is checked, he said.

If the veteran qualifies, the HVRP will transport them on their job interview, provide clothes, and if they land a job, supply them with a bus pass until they receive their first check.

Blythe said his agencies assists about 350 veterans a day throughout the Greater Cincinnati area.

Right now, Conklin is looking for suitable employment and permanent housing that accepts the vouchers.

“It’s time to get back to an organized life for a minute,” he said with a laugh.

The last six months have been hectic for him.

When he was unable to find employment in Florida, his sister, who lives in Oxford, convinced him to move in with her for a short time. She said the job market here was more positive and he found a temporary job at Butler County Workforce One.

During a visit to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Cincinnati, Conklin was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was evaluated, prescribed medications for depression and hospitalized for about a month.

Then on Dec. 18, the rest of his family drove their 2001 van to Ohio.

Since his sister’s house wasn’t large enough for seven people, Conklin and his 16-year-old son stayed at Serving the Homeless with Alternate Lodging of Middletown, known as SHALOM, a church-based homeless shelter in Middletown.

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A closer look at homeless veterans

Homeless veterans tend to stay homeless for longer periods than nonveterans.

Veterans reported being homeless an average of 5.7 years, compared with 3.9 years reported by nonveterans.

Among the 12,500 people who said they had been homeless for more than two years, veterans averaged nine years, compared with 7.3 years for nonveterans.

Of those, three out of four veterans reported a substance abuse habit, and nearly two-thirds reported a serious physical health condition.

55 percent of homeless veterans reported health conditions linked to heightened mortality risk, versus 44 percent of nonveterans.

21 percent of veterans surveyed were at least 60 years old, compared with 9 percent for nonveterans.

Homeless veterans were 11 percent more likely than nonveterans to suffer from a life-threatening condition, including liver or kidney disease, or frequent frostbite.

Among veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 27 percent reported traumatic brain injuries, compared with 19 percent of other veterans. The signature insurgent weapon in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been roadside bombs, which typically cause traumatic brain injuries in addition to loss of limbs among service members who survive the explosions.

46% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans surveyed reported receiving mental health treatment, versus 41 percent for other veterans.

A federal report found that veterans under 30 years old were twice as likely to become homeless as nonveterans of the same age.

Source: U.S. Interagency Council on the Homeless

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