The National Center on Family Homelessness, in conjunction with the Women's Bureau in the U.S. Department of Labor, developed this guide to help service providers handle the specific needs of homeless women veterans.

Research suggests that 81-93% of female veterans have been exposed to some type of trauma, significantly higher rates than the civilian population. Traumatic experiences include childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, military sexual trauma, and combat-related stress. These experiences have a significant impact on mental and physical health, family relationships, and housing and job stability.

The guide provides information on the experiences and needs of female veterans, what it means to provide trauma-informed care to this population, and resources for staff training and education, including the Organizational Self-Assessment for Providers Serving Female Veterans. The self-assessment consists of concrete trauma-informed practices that can be integrated into daily programming within organizations serving female veterans who are homeless.

Also included are resources on female veterans, general trauma information, homelessness and trauma, cultural competence, trauma-informed services, consumer involvement, and self-care for service providers.