Giving extra help to imprisoned vets

In front of the D-1 Dorm at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, colorful flowers line the walk that leads to a flagpole flying the Stars and Stripes, along with a black POW/MIA flag.

The tableau reflects the unique strengths and trials of the men inside - incarcerated veterans, a group some experts call one of the most shunned groups in the country. They account for about 12 percent of the nation's prison population. Put another way, about 1 in 8 people behind bars today served their country before serving time.

"I've been in this work almost 30 years, and probably the biggest surprise is the lack of sympathy by the American people for the incarcerated veteran," says Charlie Sullivan, the head of Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE), a national prison-reform organization in Washington.

But that is beginning to change. Prison-reform and veterans groups across the country are banding together to try to bring extra help to imprisoned veterans they believe were wounded in action - if not physically, then emotionally. Imprisoned veterans themselves have organized a national network, dedicated to helping one another much the same way they did in the service. Together, they're advocating federal legislation that would create special services and funding for veterans behind bars.

"These guys served their country, and they deserve better than we're giving them," says Ron Humphrey, of Prison Fellowship, a prison-reform group based in Virginia. "[For violent crimes] these guys get sentences that are on average 50 months longer than nonveterans for the same offense."

The statistic Mr. Humphrey quotes comes from a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report that was released last year. He believes veterans' prison sentences are longer because there's still a strong cultural bias, particularly against Vietnam veterans. "They're seen as more dangerous, still crazy," he says.

Christopher Mumola, the BJS policy analyst who wrote the report, says that bias may exist. But another reason veterans' sentences tend to be longer is that more often, veterans' victims tend to be family members, females, or minors.

"Those are all things that would probably make a jury less sympathetic to a male defendant, as opposed to male-on-male violence," he says.

Whatever the reason, Humphrey and the other advocates believe veterans in trouble deserve extra help. And they say that state and federal governments have the ability to cost-effectively provide it.

For proof, they point to the D-1 Dorm at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island, which houses the Veterans Residential Therapeutic Program. It's one of only seven such units in New York, which is believed to have this country's only state-sanctioned correctional programs for veterans.

"I've been in and out of prison since [Vietnam], with no help from anyone," says William Santiago, who went to war when he was 19 and came back a heroin addict. "This place is different, without a doubt. People care here."

The veterans live together in a dorm and are committed to a course of educational and therapeutic training that deals with everything from post-traumatic stress to substance abuse to understanding criminal thinking.

"We work with them on their veteran-related issues while they're here, but also to develop a release program that can connect them to the veterans' resources - like housing, healthcare, and job training - once they're ready to leave," says Don Little, of the New York Department of Corrections, who helped create the program back in 1987.

For Vietnam veteran Arnie Kane, who is serving 15 years to life for homicide, it's provided a much-needed way to survive in jail, and also to come to terms with his own experience.

"I'm with fellows who understand what the government didn't do for us," says Mr. Kane, a short, intense man. "They didn't deprogram us, teach us how not to kill, or get us help with our addictions. We were in Vietnam one day, New York City the next." Three fellow inmates nod in agreement in the dorm's community room. Against the wall is a bookcase filled with donated books. Above it is a bulletin board with pictures of inmates and the group's successful graduates.

The program has also proved to be successful from the prison's perspective, according to superintendent Dennis Breslin. He says the veterans' unit is the most disciplined and productive, and other inmates respect them.

Indeed, after the veterans planted flowers in front of their dorm, others followed suit.

The program has been so successful that prison officials in Kansas, Florida, Indiana, and California have recently called asking for information. But what is just as important to Mr. Breslin is the impact the program has on veterans after they're released.

"If you take a veteran and put him with other veterans, he'll do far better once he's paroled," he says. "Their return rate to prison is less than 9 percent."

That compares with a national rate of between 50 and 70 percent.

The veterans also tend to be leaders in the prison, teaching courses on aggression and substance abuse.

"There's a great deal of pride in that unit," says deputy superintendent Valerie Sullivan. "They believe in God and country and giving back. They understand that to keep something, you have to give something away."