Protecting the Home-Front: An Educational Curriculum for Service Providers in Support of Stable Housing for Female Veterans

Abstract

Female veterans have increased risks for housing instability and homelessness linked to predictors such as housing affordability challenges, abuse and trauma experiences, education and employment barriers, mental health and substance use conditions, and social support deficiencies. Social service providers specializing in services to veterans benefit from specialized training in these areas to support female veterans seeking their services. This project evaluates the effectiveness of the Protecting the Home-Front curriculum designed to inform social service providers serving veterans about these risk factors, service strategies, and resources available to support stable housing for female veterans. Through analysis of pre- to post-program knowledge of material, results suggest that service providers displayed significant increases in knowledge of presented material, service strategies, and available resources to support female veterans. These findings provide a model for a synthesized training curriculum for service providers to become equipped in providing supportive services to unstably housed and homeless female veterans within their communities.