Articles and Blogs for Veterans in Transition

Suffering Mental Illness While Homeless

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:21:18 GMT

Better to be homeless in NYC than dead in Phoenix

In 1980, while serving with the Navy Seabees and attached to an amphibious assault ship USS San Bernadino (LST-1189) in the Persian Gulf during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, Marine Pfc. Bradley Johnson received a bad letter from home, obtained an M-16 from the armory sentry, and committed suicide if front of us. While the suicide was bad enough, the helicopter blew Johnson’s brain matter and blood all over the deck and gear providing a stark reminder for the rest of the WESTPAC.

Following years of struggling with PTSD, mental illness, and suicide ideation, a total mental health breakdown after an arrest for DUI and marijuana possession in October 2014 was the turning point but it wasn’t until 2015 that I got into treatment at the Phoenix VA Hospital. In 2016 I filed a claim for VA Disability, and in 2017 was awarded a 70% VA Disability rating for PTSD. After years of DUI’s resulting in years of jailtime and prison, the diagnosis provided me with some answers to what I was suffering and that the struggles I encountered over the past 35 years were real. The diagnosis also provided a path to mental health success and as a result, provided me an avenue of healing and treatment still to this day at the Manhattan VA Hospital.

A part of that path for me was walking away from Phoenix and recreating myself in New York City in July 2022. It wasn’t enough to simply change locations, it was about reinventing myself. Within five days of arriving to NYC, I was placed at the Borden Ave. Veterans’ Residence in Long Island City on Queens with another 250 veterans from all branches of the military, all types of discharges, and all levels of mental illness. As a member of the Military Veterans in Journalism, it was a series of articles I wrote called, ‘Be the Story’ about my experiences during the five months I resided at Borden Ave and the abhorrent living conditions there.

Those articles and my testimony in front of the New York State Assembly on Department of Veterans Affairs precipitated being placed in my own apartment in Chelsea. In addition, I was invited to join the NYC Veterans Task Force which has provided me with an insight into how the lack of access to resources and wellness increases the likelihood of drug/alcohol abuse and other risky behaviors including veteran suicide

For the transitioning veteran new to NYC, consider that the process for obtaining sustainable housing through the NYC HUD/VASH program is one of the longest in the country so plan your mental health accordingly. It is imperative for the veteran to realize the challenges ahead and that mental health most likely be taxed during the process. It’s also okay to acknowledge these breaks for what they are. And while it is cliché to say, ‘that this too shall pass,’ it really will pass. Move through the process deliberately and purposely while understanding that these incidents can happen and to keep your eye on the prize of sustainable housing.

Suffering Mental Illness While Homeless (printable pdf)

The Forgotten Veteran

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 17:07:22 GMT

Who is the forgotten veteran?

Who is The Forgotten Veteran?

The Forgotten Veteran is incarcerated or homeless.

The Forgotten Veteran most likely experienced trauma while serving.

The Forgotten Veteran has unresolved issues with family & friends.

The Forgotten Veteran struggles with lingering drug/alcohol abuse issues and suffers mental illness.

The Forgotten Veteran struggles with suicide ideation.

The Forgotten Veteran is in the shadows but wants to be seen.

Russell Midori

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 17:25:28 GMT

Military Veterans in Journalism

Be the Story-Russell Midori

Timothy Pena was approached in early 2022 by Let's Rethink This founder Jerry Ashton to join his team as part of a Veterans Affairs $20 Million Challenge named Mission Daybreak to reduce Veteran suicide. Tim has joined with Mr. Ashton in composing a model for Veteran Suicide Prevention based on a program that includes a heavy emphasis on outreach to veterans experiencing homelessness as a starting point to identify at-risk veterans and help them avoid possible justice involvement.

At first meeting of Military Veterans in Journalism Founder Russell Midori , it is easy to understand how he is the driving force of such a prolific journalistic organization. MVJ was founded in 2019 by Russell, a Marine veteran and Navy veteran Zack Baddorf, and is a professional association that builds community for vets, supports their career growth, and advocates for diversifying newsrooms through hiring and promoting more vets. While about 7 percent of Americans have served in the armed forces, only 2 percent of media workers are military veterans, according to U.S. Census data.

I had been introduced to Russell by Jerry Ashton of Let's Rethink This over lunch with filmmaker Patrick de Warren who is filming a documentary on at-risk veterans and suicide prevention. During the ensuing weeks I spoke with Russell several times, but it wasn’t until I attended the conference held in Washington DC was it clear that I too might be included in such a prolific journalism group of veterans from all over the country and from all backgrounds with a common goal: to promote and support veterans in journalism.

I’ve never thought of myself as a journalist; certainly not in the realm as we see correspondents and reporters on our television screens and in our newspapers everyday-but being in such supportive company made me realize that a formal background in journalism isn’t as important as having the real-world experience that veterans bring to the discussion in any newsroom. I was struck by the number of veterans who simply like to write, as I do, about our experiences in the military and how those experiences apply to everyday reporting.

As a new addition to New York City and the Manhattan VA, I have been writing about my experiences with the city shelter services, VA regional and the medical center, and the various agencies and organizations that lead a veteran experiencing homelessness into a safe space they can call their own regardless of whatever city they want to transition from Homeless to Homeness. This process I am experiencing lends information and guidance to the veteran who might be sitting on the fence of suicide and strives to provide HOPE to that veteran that suicide is not the answer to unhappiness and that they can find happiness in a new environment, a new city, or even a new country. In short, do whatever it takes to avoid the rabbit hole of suicide.

As a new member of Military Veterans in Journalism, I now feel empowered. I feel empowered to write about not only my experiences from the military, but also to journal my experiences in such a way to tell a story to the reader that breaks down the barriers I have created to prevent me from opening up about my personal struggles with homelessness, PTSD, and suicide ideation. For me, that means opening the door to the painful sexual molestation I suffered for years and what has resulted in being infected with HIV. It is hoped that any other veterans who might be reading this find the courage to put pen to paper and tell their story. They have a reader with me and hopefully many others as well.

Be the Story_Entertaining Suicide

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 16:58:11 GMT

Refrain from Punching that Ticket

Suicide prevention is having a bed to sleep in and food in your belly. For the veteran, that’s equivalent to the cold, hard ground, and an equally cold cup of coffee. Which is baffling, since the veteran is the most resourceful human being on planet earth. So, why do veterans commit suicide at twice the rate of non-veterans? How is that veterans entertain suicide and then act on it?

And why the hell does suicide need entertaining? Doesn’t it already have a captive audience already? The price of admission is much too steep although I have myself considered the expenditure depending on who was sending out the invites.

Up until July I was living in and dying in Arizona. As my friend says, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” His words are spot on for many veterans stuck in that space between service to the country and service to themselves. It is a thinking all our own. You never hear a dog catcher talk about expanding into catching cats for the better good of the community.

"Veterans have always had a penchant for service to their community.

Even the politicos seem to at least start out that way."

It's only after years of being idolized from adoring non-vets that they realize there is a lot of money in running for office and other veterans are soon taking a backseat to the media and donors who don’t have the same mindset as the run-of-the-mill veteran. This is especially true when it comes to justice-involved veterans who are already criminals in the public’s eye. These are the veterans who will often ‘entertain’ suicide, and some will purchase the ticket for admission.

During my visit to the Suicide Sideshow of Entertainment, I simply woke up and decided that was the day. I know now that while I was seriously intent on committing suicide, I was also seriously hoping someone would come and take my ticket away. I was literally sitting with the one zip-tie around my neck and looking for the other when I could hear Julie’s voice downstairs.

"I wanted to cry I was so fucking happy she was there.

As an attorney, she made a compelling argument: was I ready to commit suicide?

The short answer: no."

I didn’t have any paperwork about last wishes, I hadn’t taken into consideration what to do about Molly. I just wasn’t prepared at all to die, much less for committing suicide. I still had money in my bank accounts. No one had my passwords. I don’t even have all my passwords. How the hell was I going to commit suicide if I wasn’t prepared for suicide?

That was last December and as can happen, the incident drove a wedge between my friend and I and a bond broken beyond repair. It is my only hope that if the circumstances were to arise with another veteran, that Jules will show up for them also. I’m used to it, going through it with one of my friends just a few months prior. That friend is doing well. As for the PTSD moment, my buddies know they can reach out anytime and I will take it all in and just as quickly dispense with any abuse waged at me. That’s what veterans do. Well, at least those who aren’t running for political office.

I can't say what might have happened if Julie hadn't come up those stairs. I can say what did happen. I'm alive to write about it. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't believe that I would have committed suicide that day. But, then there are about 6,000 friends and families who didn't believe the veteran in their life would commit suicide either.

Be the Story_Re-Treating the Veteran

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 02:52:55 GMT

Taxpayers are Burdened with the Cost of Losing VA Treatment

It has been just about 60 days since moving to New York and I am already establishing a routine that I can carry through the rest of the Homeless to Homeness journey. I have a library where I can free copies for my VA claims: one for deferral of an overpayment while I was incarcerated and denied access to the VA while I was being embezzled, and the other for an increase based on MST and partially on the mental health damage done to me by the Phoenix Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) and the prison outreach program which accused me of criminal fraud and extortion.

But this is the crap that happens to veterans when they are arrested into the criminal justice system. And depending on the jurisdiction, that veteran can either get treatment or prison, or both. While some county jails may reach out to the VA for records and more expensive medications, in most cases, the veteran isn’t transferred from the VA healthcare and medical system, the county or state just stops providing access to the VA, which continues throughout the veteran’s prison term.

I had a neighbor on one prison yard in Arizona who tested positive for methamphetamine while he was on probation after he was diagnosed with lymphoid cancer. Rather than treat any drug abuses or addictions at the same time as the cancer treatment at the VA, he was arrested, probation revoked, and sent to prison for 3 years. The veteran spent 16 months; first in county jail and then in prison without any cancer treatment whatsoever and it progressed into his brain. Not only should he have never been pulled from a federally-funded treatment program with the VA, but then the state taxpayer should never have become responsible for prosecuting the veteran, jailing the veteran, providing what little healthcare the veteran received, and then whatever happened to him after I left the prison yard.

Every time a veteran who is receiving care of any kind is booked into county jail, that veteran’s mental health and medical care becomes the responsibility of the custodial agency. It makes sense, except that most states operate under the federal first, state second, and then the city jurisdiction. In other words, the feds should be paying as much as possible whenever possible. By pulling the veteran out of a VA treatment program for minor drug offenses burdens the taxpayer with first the VA care, then starting from scratch with the county/state including the cost of prosecuting, and then the cost to transition the veteran out of the state prison system for them to start all over again in the VA system.

Many veterans like myself, come back in much worse shape than when we went in. Not only was my mental health in shambles, but I’m still trying to get back my medical health as well. Some men and women don’t make it back at all.

Be the Story_The Voucher System

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 18:30:27 GMT

Starting the Apartment Search

As part of my participating in the filming of a documentary on vulnerable veterans with Let’s Rethink This founder Jerry Ashton and acclaimed documentarist and filmmaker Patrick de Warren , I arrived in NYC in late July from Phoenix, AZ. For this documentary to work I ’ve decided to actually ‘ Be the Story ’ and document my personal process of going from , ‘ Homeless to Homeness .’

I arrived in New York on July 26, Flew back to Arizona on August 13, and back to NYC on August 20. I’ve been a temporary resident of the New York Department of Homeless Services (NYDHS) since July 28. Even though I am staying at a shelter, they are kind enough to allow me to use their address to obtain my new New York ID card, register as a New York Democrat (45 yrs as AZ GOP’er ), and even get a library card. I am also newly enrolled in the Manhattan VA and starting to receive the medical and mental health treatment I’ve been denied in Arizona. That included the HUD/VASH voucher program for disabled and low-income veterans.

As a service-connected disabled veteran (70% for PTSD) whose also poz , I am eligible for several ‘ vouchers’ . I already have one voucher from HASA , a S ocial S ervices agency and covers housing anywhere in the five boroughs , CityFHEPS for those not covered by any other vouchers , and the HUD/VASH voucher which I should be getting sometime in early to mid-October.

The first apartment I viewed was a one-bedroom in an area that wouldn’t be conducive to the work I’ll be doing in Mid-Manhattan and Brooklyn with various veteran’s organizations including homeless and judicial agencies. The second apartment I viewed is a sweet studio in East Harlem, a part of the city that is experiencing gentrification with the return of former New Yorkers seeking older neighborhoods to adopt as their own. For those of us that lived in Chicago during the 1990’s, we saw this happen with Wicker Park. This apartment is also a little far from downtown, but the neighborhood is diverse, and I would be able to transfer to a one-bedroom after my first yea r.

Both of these referrals have been provided by Eric Jackson of the Jericho Project , a “nonprofit ending homelessness at its roots by enabling homeless individuals and families to attain quality housing.” Mr. Jackson and Jericho Project have continued to work with me to obtain a HUD/VASH voucher that will be combined with the HASA voucher for supportive housing through an organization called Citileaf which I will go more into in the next installment o f Homeless to Homeness .

These little articles are sent to veterans on prison yards and posted on the websites as a reminder to other veterans that may be struggling; they can start over somewhere else. Whether it’s New York, Seattle, even Phoenix, as veterans, we are not required to be constantly apologizing for service-connected issues and disabilities. Suicide prevention is changing a toxic environment and getting out can save a veteran’s life. The resources are there. It is hoped that these might be also shared with LO’s who may also be incarcerated.

Tim Pena

Letters from Prison

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 11:54:55 GMT

AZ Dept of Corrections and AZ Corrections Industry

The United States of America has 5% of the world population, yet 25% of the worlds prison population. 1 out of every 38 Americans have been thru the criminal justice system. For example, 1 in 30 Arizonans, and 1 of 10 Texans. Presently, 1 out of every 154 Arizonans are currently in ADOC, and that number does not include those on probation, parole, or in county jails. It is conservatively estimated that at least 10% are wrongfully convicted. Nearly 100% will be bullied, shamed, or abused in one form or another by a system that provides nearly zero due process for those without large economic resources and, nearly every inmate is incarcerated for a drug related nonviolent crime, and will be released back into society soon.

In Arizona, every Maricopa County Judge, Prosecutor, County Sheriff employee, and public defender holds private prison (Geo Group, Inc, and Core Civic, Inc) securities (stocks and bonds) in their pension fund. The State of Arizona pays these private prisons over $100 per day per incarcerated person held in their facilities, and remarkably, pays nearly $75 per day for each available bed that is not filled. Thus, every judge, prosecutor, public defender, and county employee directly profits each time any person is sentenced to prison.

Core Civic and Geo Group heavily lobby our governor and legislature to increase incarceration rates, and even write proposed criminal justice legislation. And, Congress has made it possible for these companies to be organized as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). As a REIT, these pseudo prison operators are able to evade paying corporate tax rates. How sweet is that!

The Arizona Department of Corrections quietly operates a subsidiary called Arizona Correctional Industries (ACI) that offers private for-profit corporations inmate labor contracts at about $12 per person per hour wage. The corporations utilizing ACI inmate labor pay no workman compensation, no FICA, no insurance, or any other labor associated costs, and the inmate pays NO state or federal income taxes or FICA. However, every dime of inmate labor costs will be written off by the private corporation as expenses against any State and Federal taxes they may owe. And that is not all.

Although Arizona statutes strictly regulate telemarketing, for example, ACI companies do not have to abide by these laws intended to protect the public. For example, a telemarketing company operating on the streets must register every employee who has a criminal record and prohibits employment to those whose crimes involve fraud and/or dishonesty. Furthermore, for good reason, Arizona law requires telemarketers to be honest and prohibits the use of fictitious names. Yet, at ACI, every telemarketer is a felon, and each is required to give a fake name. That is correct. The first thing they do is lie to the potential customer about their name so that the fact that they are in prison selling advertising or mortgages cannot be discovered by the potential purchaser.

It is estimated that for each ACI inmate worker, a community family loses a $25 an hour wage job, and the community also loses the economic multiplying affect of this lost wage because the inmate does not spend it in the community.

As we cry about the latest school shooting, and wonder where it all has gone wrong, we need look no further than the men and women WE vote for.

Prosecutors use Mental Health as a Means for Convictions

Sun, 27 Dec 2020 00:19:52 GMT

MCAO paints people with psychiatric disabilities as liars and obstacles to winning a conviction

By: Guest Opinion November 12, 2019
By: Jared Keenan

In training materials recently obtained by the ACLU of Arizona, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) refers to the people it prosecutes using the slur “crazy” and paints people with psychiatric disabilities as liars and obstacles to winning a conviction – not as human beings worthy of respect.

One training presentation explains Rule 11, a court-ordered process to determine if an accused person is competent to understand court proceedings and the charges against them. It begins with a slide reading “Rule 11 OR Exactly how crazy do I need to act to get out of here?”

Another training on mental health in homicide cases is titled: “Mental Health: Look at me, I’m CRAZY!”

These documents are telling: in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office it is apparently acceptable to train prosecutors to dehumanize some of the most vulnerable people they prosecute.

When new prosecutors are told to immediately assume the people they’re prosecuting are lying or exaggerating, it surely becomes much easier to throw them in prison, or to not care that they’re sitting in jail without access to the mental health treatment they need.

It’s particularly concerning given the statistics regarding people who are incarcerated in jails and prisons. The presenters are dehumanizing a large proportion of the people they prosecute.

According to statistics from the Arizona Department of Corrections, about 29 percent of people currently in prison require ongoing mental health services. Nationally, about 56 percent of people in state prisons currently have a mental health disability.

What is equally troubling is how difficult it was for the ACLU of Arizona to obtain these training materials.

In May, we sued former Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery after he ignored our public records request for over seven months.

We asked for basic information about how the office functions: policies, procedures, staff rosters, budget figures, and data on how the office resolves criminal cases.

Once the lawsuit was filed, MCAO slowly started releasing some of these public records. But MCAO, was still withholding some critical information, including these training materials.

It wasn’t until after Gov. Doug Ducey elevated Bill Montgomery to the Arizona Supreme Court that the Office released the insensitive training materials.

It shouldn’t take a lawsuit for the public to find out how they will be treated by their elected county attorney and the prosecutors who answer to them. But across the country, prosecutor’s offices are notorious for hiding public information, and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is no different.

Allister Adel was recently appointed to replace Montgomery as the head of MCAO.. In one of her first statements to the press , Adel said she is a “big believer in transparency.” Yet her office continues to withhold many general office policies that guide how prosecutors do their job, thwarting the right of Arizonans to monitor the performance of the government officials in her office. Rather than continuing Montgomery’s policy of hiding what MCAO does, Adel should stand by her own advice: “If we are doing our job right, we have nothing to hide.”

In 2020, Adel will run for election along with several other candidates in what is already turning out to be a contentious race. We look forward to sitting down with Adel, and all county attorney candidates, to find out whether they will condemn the use of offensive language in training materials and forcefully reject the mindset such language reveals.

We also want to know if the county attorney candidates will commit to making the office more transparent by promptly responding to public records requests, posting policies, procedures, and sentencing data online in an easily accessible database, and implementing a plan to meaningfully communicate with the public, and more specifically, with those communities most impacted by incarceration, like those with mental health disabilities. Ultimately, it will be up to the voters in 2020 to hold their elected county attorneys accountable.

Jared Keenan is the criminal justice staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. He can be reached at jkeenan@acluaz.org or on twitter at @realJaredKeenan.

Mental Health in Jails and Prisons

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 13:50:20 GMT

Effective Diversion Programs Can Improve Long-Term Community Safety and Reduce Recidivism

According to The Center for Health and Justice at TASC (CHJ) , across the United States, criminal justice systems are managing record numbers of people with rates of substance use and mental health disorders that are exponentially higher than those of the general public. Now more than ever, and often with strong public support, legislators, prosecutors, judges, court administrators, corrections and probation officials, and the jurisdictions they serve are responding with community-based diversion alternatives, often incorporating substance use and mental health service or program components.

The collective scope and variety of existing diversion programs across the country reflect a policy and political context that is increasingly receptive to the benefits of safely diverting individuals – who in many cases are drug-involved or have mental health problems or both – out of costly jail or prison incarceration, and away from conviction and its lifelong collateral consequences, into programs that more effectively and efficiently address the behavioral health conditions underlying their criminal behaviors.

In many ways, modern justice policy is beginning to adopt public health strategies, focusing on broad-based, systemic intervention, and the application of the minimum but appropriate amount of supervision, sanctions, accountability, services, and resources to achieve the intended result. The advent of federal health care reform under the Affordable Care Act , which includes requirements and resources for the provision of addiction treatment and mental health services at parity with medical services, offers the prospect of applying a public health approach at scale to the longstanding challenges that occur at the intersection of crime, substance use disorders, and mental illness.

The advent of federal health care reform under the Affordable Care Act , which includes requirements and resources for the provision of addiction treatment and mental health services at parity with medical services, furthers the evolution of justice policy, offering real promise toward building the community capacity necessary for successful diversion interventions. It offers the prospect of applying a public health approach at scale to the longstanding challenges that occur at the intersection of crime, substance use disorders, and mental illness.

As the continuum of alternatives has increased, so too has the importance of understanding what works, and of applying promising and evidence-based practices. Rather than begin from scratch each time a program is developed, policymakers, stakeholders, and practitioners look to other jurisdictions for programs and ideas that can be adapted to respond to the nuances and needs of their own justice and community environment. Over the last several years, a number of government agencies, policy and research organizations, and associations have begun to identify and catalog these programs for various purposes based on various criteria.

Veterans Justice Project was founded by Timothy Pena, a service-connected disabled veteran with PTSD. A condition that resulted in a two-year prison term for a first-time marijuana possession. VJP now assists other justice-involved and incarcerated veterans with resources, forms and information while also advocating for the expansion of felony Veterans Treatment Courts.