Table 1.
Characteristics of Focus Group Participants (n=29)1
Age, mean (range), years [n=25] | 48 (32-68) |
Age at discharge from military, mean (range), years [n=25] | 26 (17-45) |
Age at first homelessness, mean (range), years [n=17] | 36 (17-62) |
Race/ethnicity (%) [n=24] | |
African American | 46 |
White | 33 |
Mixed | 13 |
Hispanic | 4 |
American Indian Alaskan Native | 4 |
Marital status (%) [n=17] | |
Single | 41 |
Divorced/Separated | 47 |
Married | 0 |
Widowed | 12 |
Education level (%) [n=17] | |
High school/GED | 18 |
Vocational School | 12 |
Associate's Degree | 59 |
Bachelor's Degree | 12 |
Work status (%) [n=17] | |
Employed | 0 |
Unemployed | 29 |
Disabled | 65 |
Retired | 6 |
% on probation or parole [n=17] | 47 |
Service connection (%) [n=24] | |
Non-service connected | 58 |
Branch of military (%) [n=29] | |
Army | 69 |
Navy | 14 |
Air Force | 10 |
Marines | 3 |
Coast Guard | 3 |
Period of military service (%) [n=29] | |
Vietnam Era | 24 |
Post-Vietnam Era | 45 |
Period around Persian Gulf War | 21 |
Between Persian Gulf War and 9/11 | 10 |
Use of drugs more than 5 times in lifetime (%) [n=17] | |
Cocaine/crack/free base | 71 |
Marijuana/hashish | 53 |
Self-administered sedatives | 35 |
Self-administered pain-killers | 24 |
LSD or other hallucinogens | 24 |
Frequency of alcohol consumption in past year (%) [n=17] | |
Never | 35 |
Monthly or less | 35 |
2-4 times per month | 0 |
2+ times per week | 24 |
Use of homeless assistance services in past 30 days (%) [n=17] | |
Medical services | 76 |
Mental health care program | 59 |
A shelter, mission, or transitional housing program | 47 |
Alcohol or drug treatment program | 47 |
Daytime drop-in center | 24 |
Job or employment services | 24 |
Vocational rehabilitation services | 12 |
Data was incomplete for some demographic items, so the sample size for each item is provided.