Veterans Moving Forward Even Behind Bars

Some of my friends are better than I am because they have prison ministries, healing souls behind bars but you never hear about the wonderful work they do. If it doesn't make sense to you that veterans are different from the rest of us, then you must not know too many of them. If you think they should be forgotten about since they are locked up, you must have forgotten what Christ said.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Matthew 25

Most of these veterans came home with PTSD and self-medicated to numb the pain they felt. The fact is most veterans do not seek help from the government even after all these years. Some commit crimes and were unlucky enough to commit them in states without Veterans Courts offering them help instead of jail. Do we forget about them? Do we just leave them alone so they can do their time and not even try to help them?

Veterans Courts are not a "get out of jail free" way out. They are given the connections they need to begin treatment they should have had all along and they are helped to do what the judge says. If they do not do it, they have to serve their time behind bars. Keep in mind that veterans are only 7% of the population.

VA medical centers recognize the value of partnerships with local justice-system and community treatment partners

Many VA medical centers are engaged with partners in their local criminal justice systems. In response to a June 2008 review, more than one third of medical centers (58 of 153) indicated that they either currently engage with local justice system partners to coordinate services for Veterans, or intend to request resources to support such engagement. Currently, the VA participates in 8 Veterans Court programs located in Santa Ana, CA, Buffalo, NY, Anchorage, AK, San Bernardino, CA, Santa Clara, CA, Chicago, IL, Rochester, NY, and Tulsa, OK. Elsewhere, VA medical centers have established relationships with a range of justice system and community partners, including police and sheriffs’ departments, local jail administrators, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, probation officers, and community mental health providers.

If we did for them when they came home, most wouldn't have ended up behind bars. They commit crimes are were given jail time but that doesn't mean they do not deserve our time and efforts to do the right thing for them.

Vets unite behind bars at Vista jail
Authorities hope they can better rehabilitate service members by housing them together in unit at Vista Jail
UT San Diego
By Pauline Repard
NOV. 16, 2013

A patriotic artwork is displayed on the wall near the telephones in the Vista Jail housing module for military veterans.

Vista — Early this month, 32 veterans in blue jail uniforms filed into a freshly painted, red, white and blue Vista Jail dormitory with walls brightened by patriotic murals.

They dropped their bags of belongings in double-bunk cells, then were officially welcomed to the Veterans Moving Forward program initiated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

By housing the veterans together, authorities hope to encourage camaraderie while helping them kick drug habits, gain job skills, find housing and undergo treatment for mental illness — all factors that could keep them from returning to jail.

“The ultimate goal is transitioning them back to the community,” Sheriff Bill Gore said in an interview.

“Veterans have given so much to this nation.”
read more here