Plan To Get Help To Veterans Behind Bars
VA Looking For Vets Who Need Medical Treatment
POSTED: 5:30 am MDT August 5, 2009
DENVER -- The Department of Veterans Affairs launches a nationwide effort to find veterans in jails for minor brushes with the law and offer them medical treatment in hopes of preventing repeat crimes.The Veterans Justice Outreach Program was started this year before an Army study released July 15 found a possible link between intense combat and 11 slayings allegedly committed by a handful of Fort Carson soldiers returning from deployment.In El Paso County, next to Fort Carson, the sheriff's department is working on adding military service to information collected during booking.
VA officials said some veterans may be suffering from untreated post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury and may be self-medicating when they get charged with minor crimes.
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