Doing Right By Our Veterans

I would never speak ill of charities that exist to help America's veterans. They do great and necessary work. Of course, what I would speak ill of is their need to exist. One would think that a nation that is quick to support wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else on the globe, would also be quick to want to live up to it's obligation to take care of those who fight the wars. I think that if you asked the public, probably something like eight or nine out of ten people would agree with that statement. Then the people we elect to run our country don't typically quite live up to those ideals.

I don't want to get into a political battle over the care of veterans- we shouldn't. I will credit this President and his White House for increases in investment in the VA system, as well as the First Lady and Mrs. Biden focusing so much of their time helping raise money and awareness for causes that help our military families. I will also criticize this administration for major mismanagement at the Veterans Administration under the former Secretary. I will criticize our current Secretary of the VA for saying that if "Disney Land doesn't measure wait times why should we?" To be fair, no less than the great Bob Dole does sing Secretary McDonald's praises right now, so he must be doing something very right. Even so, I often think that all administrations don't keep their eye on the ball at the VA- it's not as political of a department as most of the cabinet posts. There's less in the ideology of either party to accomplish.

Ten years ago, my grandfather passed on. He was a veteran of the Korean War, and was getting many of his cancer drugs through the VA. He got pretty good service, on the whole. In the decade since though, veterans issues have exploded, mostly due to quantity. With so many young men coming back from our recent wars with issues, and so many Vietnam era vets now reaching the age of needing services, we've seen an explosion of problems. Wait times at VA hospitals, veteran homelessness and joblessness are growing, and issues re-integrating many veterans on campuses, in the work place, and in their family lives are just some of the issues we are facing now as a nation. Even with non-profit help, the nation struggles to meet it's obligations.

Here are but a few solutions to a few problems that veterans face, which I feel we can address with the political will to do it:

1. Veteran Unemployment- One problem which we can solve with tools we have is the difficulty some veterans have finding employment once back in the states. The creation of a program that takes active duty military personnel and trains them at the time of discharge to take jobs working within the VA would provide a pipeline of jobs for skilled workers coming out of the military. Similar programs could be set up with building trades unions, putting military personnel directly into apprenticeship programs as electricians, mechanics, and other skilled trades jobs. Many veterans come out of the service with enough training to go directly into some of these labor jobs, and to excel in them. I'm not saying to do this at the expense of programs that help veterans get into college- that's important too- but rather by offering tax incentives to employers who participate and offer opportunity for these veterans.
2. Suicide Prevention and PTSD- The VA, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention have partnered to create a program called "Partners in Care," which takes National Guard Chaplains in five states helped to train over 400 faith leaders in suicide prevention techniques, and then coordinated services with them to help National Guard members and their families cope with issues they faced. This program could be copied at a national level. While we do not know enough about PTSD yet, we do know the problem is worse than ever coming out of our last decade plus of war. Congress should and must increase funding for studies on this issue to allow many pilot studies and treatment programs to continue and expand in the coming years. While we often hear about mental health program expansion in connection to guns, a nation with such a large current veteran population should also expand these services to help make life easier for those veterans.
3. Veteran Homelessness- Unfortunately, homeless veterans make up 10% of our homeless populations. At the point of discharge, the military should make veterans aware of grants and opportunities available to them to find housing. Congress should also create a special housing assistance program providing vouchers to cover some portion of cost of living for veterans as they move home. Nationally, we should also seek to create more affordable housing in areas near military installations, so that those leaving can quickly find affordable, adequate housing. Of course, one of the major issues that face many of these homeless veterans is mental health issues, so this goes along with expansion of services in #2. 
4. Access to VA Medical Care- In many parts of the country, travel is a real restriction to a veteran getting service from a VA hospital. Allowing all public hospitals to treat veterans under the VA's jurisdiction would increase access to care for millions of veterans living in less densely populated areas.
5. Veterans Courts- When veterans get into legal troubles, they often have issues that are directly tied to their service, such as mental health issues and substance abuse issues. We often times create specialty courts in this country, such as family courts, domestic violence courts, drug addiction courts, and others, courts that are supposed to specialize in adjudicating a fair response, one that is both fair to victims but also helps the accused deal with the issues they face. A court that deals with veterans using an understanding of their issues and how to treat them under their circumstances would provide better outcomes for society. The point of the criminal justice system is supposed to be healing, and a veterans' court could insure that veterans both get justice, and the help they need.

I used to live next to Arlington National Cemetery when I was in the DC area. In the morning I'd walk by/through the cemetery and admire it- it is stunningly beautiful to look at. You can visit some of the famous graves and get caught up in the hype pretty easily. I had to remind myself each day that it's actually not a nice place for most of the people who come there to use the services. It's a place where people go and anguish at the loss of loved ones. It's a beautiful, sacred piece of land to our country. It's not always beautiful and sacred to the people who come there. There are literally thousands of grave markers within it. The thing we often lose track of though is that there are so many more soldiers who live- and we don't often do well enough by them. We should concentrate better on them.