VietNow National Magazine

Veterans Incarcerated

Looking Back. Moving Forward.
Much has been done. Much more work still lies ahead.

By Matt Davison – VietNow National Veterans Incarcerated Chair

Matt Davison

It was about four years ago that I first breezed into the VietNow web site and discovered VietNow. There was an appeal about this organization. It was veteran friendly. It wasn’t overloaded with restrictions. It didn’t claim to be God’s gift to vets. VietNow was (and still is) real, down to Earth, and living its motto – Veterans Helping Veterans.
I decided that this was the veteran service organization for me, and signed up as a member.

Helping veterans incarcerated make the transition after release

At that same time, I was in the early days of helping veterans incarcerated transition successfully out of prison and back into society as productive citizens. It didn’t take long for Rich Sanders, National President of VietNow, to get in touch regarding an opening as Chair for the Veterans Incarcerated Committee. I was honored to accept.

In those days, the program I was involved in, called the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program (IVTP), funded by the Department of Labor, was going into three federal correctional institutions, in three California counties, twice a month. Since that time, we have added a fourth institution. We were one of four non-profit agencies selected for this pilot program nationwide. While the other three served local community institutions, we were asked to serve federal institutions. The differences between the two are many. Veterans released locally stay local with transitional housing, employment, health care, substance abuse recovery, and vocational rehabilitation. Our veterans are released nationwide, so employment and support services need to be put in place from Alaska to Florida.

Working from a curriculum created by the National Veterans Training Institute, in collaboration with the University of Colorado, we prepare veterans incarcerated for the successful pursuit of employment. It has been proved
that this is the best way to reduce the number of men and women being re-incarcerated. We also realize that these vets cannot be released into a void. There must be transitional housing made available to them, substance abuse recovery, Vet Centers, VA health care, voc rehab, and educational resources. In time, we expanded our program to include PTSD-coping education, relapse prevention, and anger management.

The word gets out and more veterans incarcerated want to be involved

Before long, letters began arriving from veterans incarcerated at state institutions around the country. Somehow, they had heard of what we were doing in California, and asked if we could offer them assistance through the mail. One institution, located in San Luis Obispo, California, wanted to start up their own chapter of VietNow. They are now in the process of holding elections and finalizing the paperwork. Once completed, this will be VietNow’s first West Coast chapter for Veterans Incarcerated.

Many of those whom we have served over the past three years have been combat vets. Some are decorated. There are those who suffer complications from Agent Orange, Hepatitis C, and PTSD. One vet is a USMC World War II vet who took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. He will be released in June at the age of 83.

We stay in touch with these vets after their release. Those who were apprehensive about returning to “the world” after long sentences, have discovered that our training prepared them well, and that there was no need for concern. I have a folder filled with letters of appreciation from released vets who now have good jobs, a roof over their heads, health care, and even a few who have married and begun a family.

One veterans chapter in an institution located in Alabama presented
us with their Golden Eagle Award for 2006. Of all the awards this program received, we are most proud of this one that comes from those whom we serve. Does the program work? You bet it does.

We’ve made a good start, but…

So where do we go from here? We will continue to increase our training correspondence with vets at state institutions around the country. We will partner with organizations like American Combat Veterans out of the La Jolla VA in San Diego, who are involved in the transition of returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. And we will continue in our attempts to put a human face on these forgotten vets who have earned a second chance in life.

It seems only a short while ago that I breezed onto the VietNow web site and made a commitment to become involved with the Veterans Incarcerated Committee. We’ve grown a lot since then, but there is so much more to
be done.

Matt Davison, Veterans Advocate with Joint Efforts, Inc., began working with veterans incarcerated two years ago through the creation of the Veterans Support Group at the Federal Corrections Institution at Terminal Island, San Pedro, CA. He has also counseled pre-release veterans at the Los Angeles County facility in Lynwood, CA., and worked to get a veterans incarcerated support group set up at San Quentin. He received the “Beacon of Light” award from FCI Terminal Island for developing the fastest-growing program at the institution.

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