title: Latent homeless risk profiles of a national sample of homeless veterans and their relation to program referral and admission patterns.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We identified risk and need profiles of homeless veterans and examined the relation between profiles and referrals and admissions to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) homeless service programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined data from the VA's new Homeless Operations Management and Evaluation System on 120,852 veterans from 142 sites nationally in 2011 and 2012 using latent class analyses based on 9 homeless risk factors. The final 4-class solution compared both referral and admission to VA homeless services.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 4 latent classes: relatively few problems, dual diagnosis, poverty-substance abuse-incarceration, and disabling medical problems. Homeless veterans in the first group were more likely to be admitted to the VA's permanent supportive housing program, whereas those in the second group were more likely to be admitted to more restrictive VA residential treatment. Homeless veterans in the third group were more likely to be admitted to the VA's prisoner re-entry program, and those in the fourth group were more likely to be directed to VA medical services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The heterogeneous risk and need profiles of homeless veterans supported the diversity of VA homeless services and encouraged the development of specialized services to meet their diverse needs.
authors.affiliation: Jack Tsai and Robert A. Rosenheck are with the Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Wesley J. Kasprow is with the Veterans Affairs Northeast Program Evaluation Center and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Wesley J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kasprow
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006798:Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*