Jails Offer Special Cell Blocks, Programs For Veterans

ALBANY, NY — Veterans often come home from their military service with a host of problems that get in the way of easing back into civilian life. Some veterans end up in jails and prisons — they make up about 8 percent of all inmates nationwide, according to federal government statistics — and in at least 86 facilities nationwide, they are housed separately from the general population.

“We send all these young men and women overseas and when they come back, a lot of them with PTSD, domestic violence, drug issues,” Albany County, New York, Sheriff Craig Apple, who started the veterans pod more than three years ago, told The Associated Press. “And I just felt we could have treated them better or done something for them.”

The program at the Albany County Jail, run by the nonprofit group Soldier On, focuses on one-to-one counselling and daily group sessions.

Apple faced resistance from the jail superintendent, who didn’t think any inmates should get special treatment, when he proposed the program, but he says the proof that it works is in the recidivism rate. Only6 percent of the 331 participants so far have returned to jail, compared with a more typical 40 percent at other jails.

Inmate Gary Merritt said he struggles with a heroin addiction and has been in and out of prison since his release from the military in 1973. The last time he was arrested, it was in Albany County. He’s grateful that it happened there because he can take advantage of the programs offered by Soldier On.

Navy veteran James Gibson, 31, who is serving a 60-day criminal contempt sentence, appreciates the camaraderie of other veterans.

“Everybody who’s been in here has been in the service,” Gibson said. “So we can all relate to at least that.”

The growing number of housing programs for veterans responds to some of the invisible wounds of war — post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, high rates of anxiety and depression — that may cause them to self-medicate with alcohol and hard drugs that land them in jail. Most veterans were typically not criminals before their military service, the Department of Justice says.

The programs, many of them started in the last five years, vary. Some include routines familiar to veterans, like daily flag raisings and monthly formations. At the San Diego County Jail, veteran inmates take part in yoga and meditation. In Denver, Colorado, veteran inmates housed in a special pod get access to Veterans Administration classes, including those focusing on anger management, successful re-entry and conflict resolution.

“A lot of guys, including myself suffer from mental health issues such as PTSD, and it is ruining our lives,” John Smith, 55, a veteran discharged from the Army in 1996, told The Denver Post.He has been in and out of trouble since.

“I’m hoping this will turn my life around,” he said.

Though the programs function differently, their shared goal is to prepare veteran inmates for success after their release.

Tommy Hartmann, who served a 90-day sentence for petty larceny at the Albany County Jail, entered a Soldier On transitional housing program after his release and now works for the nonprofit. That gave him “an opportunity to move forward with my life rather than just get out and not have anywhere to go,” he told The AP.

Image and video via The Associated Press