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VERMONT PROGRAM FOR COMBAT VETERANS COULD BE

MODEL FOR NATION -- Program sends outreach workers

to visit with each member of the Vermont National Guard

and all active duty veterans the workers can find after

they have returned from overseas.

 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

 

Story here... http://news.bostonherald.
com/national/northeast/vie
w.bg?articleid=1011631

Story below:

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Sanders touts program for combat vets as model for the nation

By Associated Press

BURLINGTON, Vt. - U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is touting a Vermont program that helps veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as a model for the nation.

The program, begun a year ago with the help of a $1 million federal appropriation, sends outreach workers to visit with each member of the Vermont National Guard and all active duty veterans the workers can find after they have returned from overseas.

In many cases it’s easier for the veterans to open up about difficulties they are facing in their lives while meeting in their homes or in other non-clinical settings, Sanders, an independent, said Monday during a Burlington news conference.

The programs to treat post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury are needed because of the difficult natures of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan where a significant threat comes from buried bombs and not direct attacks. The bomb attacks also cause more head injuries, even for individuals who didn’t appear to be hurt after apparently walking away from an explosion, officials said.

"During every war people come home with problems. In the past we have not done a good job" of caring for them, Sanders said.

"We have an absolute moral authority to see they get all of the care they need," he said.

People who have been through combat can have problems with their marriages and other relationships, drug and alcohol abuse, depression and other problems, officials said.

Sanders is going to introduce legislation that would provide $30 million to help expand the Vermont program across the country.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder is a very difficult illness. You never know when it is going to surface," said Sanders, who was joined at the Burlington news conference by Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie, the head of the Vermont National Guard, officials with the White River Junction Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and other officials.

Dubie said about 2,000 members of the Vermont National Guard have served overseas since Sept. 11, 2001. And several hundred of them have been overseas more than once.

Most of the veterans are readjusting to life after military service overseas without difficulty. "Some of our people need assistance," Dubie said.

"The idea of the outreach program is to get people out knocking on doors. The biggest question is ’How are you doing?’"

Dr. Andrew Pomerantz, chief of mental health at the VA hospital in White River Junction, said his office had dealt with about 300 people with significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, although some of those were active duty service members rather than just Vermont National Guardsmen.

But Dubie said his office didn’t track the numbers of guard members who have sought help because he wants to ensure the guardsmen and woman don’t feel stigmatized by receiving help.

And the program does more than just work with the veteran. It can also involve family members.

"Our job is simply to contact everybody who has been deployed," said James MacIntyre, a retired National Guard chaplain and the outreach specialist for the program.

And MacIntyre said he was looking for help in contacting other veterans.

Of the six people reaching out to veterans, five are combat veterans, MacIntyre said.

"Just the contact alone is something that didn’t happen in the past," MacIntyre said.

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Larry Scott  --