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FEDERAL FUNDS SET TO EXPIRE FOR PROGRAM TO HELP
JAILED VETERANS -- In less than two months, a
program
that helps jailed Kentucky veterans return to
the
community could run out of federal money.
Story here...
http://www.kentucky.com/
471/story/63032.html
Story below:
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Federal funds set to expire for program to help
jailed veterans
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- In less than two months, a program that helps jailed
Kentucky veterans return to the community could run out of federal
money.
The prospect has outraged the nonprofit operator and supporters of the
program.
"It makes no sense at all to kill a program that's been so successful,"
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, told The (Louisville)
Courier-Journal. Yarmuth said he is pressing the U.S. Department of
Labor to consider continuing funding for the Incarcerated Veterans
Transitional Program, a three-year pilot project operated in Kentucky by
the Volunteers of America in which funding is set to expire June 30.
Started in 2004, seven pilot projects in five states had the goal of
preventing veterans from becoming homeless and returning to prison by
providing a range of services, from counseling, to buying their first
non prison clothes, to finding a job. Each project was funded with an
annual $250,000 grant.
Vietnam veteran Tommy Atherton, who got help from the program finding
housing and medical care after his release from prison in February, said
it's "a disgrace" to stop an effort that helps veterans who may have no
alternative.
"The other option is a homeless shelter," said Atherton, 56, who helps
manage a residence for homeless men in Louisville. "That would be a slap
in the face to people who have served in the armed forces."
In addition to keeping vets out of prison, the program has saved
taxpayers money. VOA spends about $700 to $1,200 per client to set an
individual up in housing, find a job and provide other necessary
services. It costs Kentucky an average of $18,000 a year to house an
adult in prison.
Kentucky's program has small offices in Louisville and Lexington,
staffed by veterans, who identify and work with candidates for the
program. It has served 260 veterans and only 7 percent have returned to
prison compared with 57 percent of inmates released without such
services, said Janie Burks, VOA president in Kentucky.
Burks said she was shocked to learn recently that the Labor Department
doesn't plan to renew the annual grant when problems with services for
Iraq war veterans have been highlighted by troubles at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides some staff assistance
for the program, believes it has been "very successful," said spokesman
Terry Jemison.
The possible demise of the program has alarmed Kentucky Corrections
Department officials.
"I am interested in trying to work with the Volunteers of America to
locate possible alternatives (for funding), although I don't have any
idea what that would be," said Charles E. Williams, who oversees
programs for adult offenders. Williams said the state has limited
resources for such efforts.
Cheryl Beversdorf, president of the National Coalition for Homeless
Veterans, said her organization is working with the federal government
and lawmakers to persuade them to continue funding.
"It's a good program and it's been successful," she said.
Beversdorf said veterans coming out of prison should get extra help
because of their service to the country and because some may have
obstacles to finding employment - such as mental health problems,
post-traumatic stress disorder or disabilities related to military
service.
"It's really important that we do something to help them," she said.
Yarmuth said he has written to Rep. David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat and
chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, seeking his support to
continue funding. "Certainly, the experience in our community has been
incredibly positive, and from what I understand, it's been positive
everywhere it's been done," Yarmuth said.
The homeless veterans' coalition, a nonprofit organization based in
Washington, D.C., reports that there are more than 200,000 veterans who
are homeless on any given night - more than 2,000 of them in Kentucky.
State corrections officials said they don't track how many Kentucky
inmates are veterans.
David Thompson, an Army veteran and former social worker who works for
Kentucky's program, said he has about 100 inmates scheduled to enter the
program this summer - if it continues.
"It just seems like commonsense that you don't dump a guy out of
prison," he said.
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Larry Scott --
