|
click above for details
Military
Medical Malpractice
Legal
Network
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
Be sure to get all four
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
Download your
free copy of the
2009 VA benefits
handbook here...
|
Printer-Friendly Version
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEMOCRATIC PRESS
RELEASE
September 17, 2009
-------------------------
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Holds Roundtable on Veterans’ Treatment
Courts
Discussion Focuses on Successful Courts Aiming to Leave No Veteran Behind
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Chairman Bob Filner
(D-CA) led a roundtable discussion on judicial courts that
 only
hear cases involving veterans and provide judges greater latitude in
sentencing for non-violent crimes. Modeled after drug and mental health
treatment courts, judges are able to order counseling, substance abuse
treatment, mentoring, job training, housing assistance, and job placement
services as alternatives to incarceration. With both Democratic and
Republican Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in attendance,
participants discussed their efforts to help veterans avoid jail by
connecting them to necessary treatment and support.
“Today’s roundtable is intended to open up the broader thought process of
how to help veterans fully integrate into society after service in the
military,” said Chairman Filner. “I believe that we have a social
responsibility to help those who have served our nation. We failed our
veterans after their service in Vietnam and we cannot fail again.
Veterans’ treatment courts provide an opportunity for a more humane
response to those that bring the war home with them. We sent these kids to
war – and war has affected their mental and psychological condition.
Providing support for returning veterans is an obligation we owe to those
who have sacrificed so much for our country.”
Currently, Veterans’ Treatment Courts operate in New York, Alaska,
California, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, with other states
working to establish similar programs. Highlights of the different courts
include partnering veterans with mentors who are veterans, appointing
public defenders who encourage active veteran participation in the court
room, ensuring that veterans get the appointments they need for VA
services, and addressing underlying problems like substance use,
unemployment and homelessness. Judges relayed that their goal is to run a
demanding program that requires personal responsibility and renewed
discipline. Defendants are veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm,
Vietnam, and even the Korean War. Participants noted that the costs of
veterans’ courts are significantly lower than the costs of incarceration.
“These courts save money, but more importantly, they save lives,” said
Chairman Filner. “Nearly two million veterans have returned from combat
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Often, veterans struggle to adjust to
the sudden loss of military camaraderie. Some return with anxiety,
post-traumatic stress, or other psychological wounds of war and may
self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Others return with physical injuries
that require prescription drugs that can lead to addiction. When veterans
suffer from substance dependency disease, jobs are lost, marriages tested,
and families suffer. Understandably, illegal actions can result in less
than honorable discharges from the military – but then these veterans are
prevented from accessing the VA services they so obviously need. I applaud
the hard work and healing spirit of the experts here today. As veterans
graduate from these programs, our grateful nation stands behind them and
celebrates their bravery once again.”
Participants
* Honorable Robert T. Russell, Jr., Judge, Buffalo City Court, Buffalo,
New York
* Patrick William Welch, Ph.D., Director, Erie County Veterans Service
Agency, Buffalo, New York
* Jack O’Connor, Mentor Coordinator, Veterans Court Mentoring Program,
Buffalo, New York
* Jennifer P. Stergion, Esq., Chair, Committee on Veterans and
Service-Members Legal Issues, Buffalo, New York
* C. “West” Huddleston, III, Chief Executive Officer, National Association
of Drug Court Professionals
* Honorable Michael E. McCarthy, Judge, Civil Division, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
* Honorable Charles V. Romani, Jr., Circuit Judge, Madison County Circuit
Court, Edwardsville, Illinois
* William F. Feeley, MSW, FACHE, Director, VA Medical Center, Buffalo, New
York
George P. Basher, Health System Specialist for the VA Healthcare Network
(VISN2), Albany, New York
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
-------------------------
Post your comment on this story using
Intense Debate .....
-------------------------
Don't forget to read all of today's VA
News Flashes (click here)
Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage
email Larry
(go back
to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page) |
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
|
