When I joined Right on Crime as the organization’s Florida State Director, the first thing I mentioned to my team was my passion to explore meaningful ways to improve the lives of incarcerated veterans. As a veteran and a long-time advocate for veterans’ issues in various capacities, I have consistently focused my efforts on ensuring that those who have served our country should not be forgotten, even behind bars.
Florida boasts one of the largest veteran populations in the nation with around 1.4M veterans. Each year, thousands of veterans will transition from service and go into our communities. For some, this transition is easy, but for others it presents a more difficult challenge. These challenges are often exasperated by their time in service from Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, chronic pain, and strained relationships from multiple deployments which can lead to a criminal record and incarceration.
There has been tremendous work to connect our veterans who have had law enforcement encounters through Veteran Treatment Courts created by the T. Patt Maney Veterans’ Treatment Act. In fact, Florida currently has 33 Veteran Treatment Courts statewide with the latest court opening on September 11th, 2024, in Santa Rosa County. These problem-solving courts are dedicated to connecting veterans with the services they need through United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and community partners to provide them with a path forward.
There are approximately 4000 veterans incarcerated in Florida prisons according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Many of these incarcerated veterans have been sentenced for violent or sexual crimes. While incarcerated at the Florida Department of Corrections, veterans are eligible for the Veterans Dorm. I visited one of the Veterans’ Dorms at Wakulla Correctional Institute. As we walked through the door of the dormitory, the room was instantly called to attention. Each veteran stood at attention and ready for inspection much as they had done when they wore the uniform during their service. The dorm had murals lining the walls denoting every branch of service and depicting wars ranging from Vietnam to the Global War on Terrorism. The entire dorm represented every branch (except for the Space Force).
Camaraderie and the unity of purpose help to restore these incarcerated veterans. There are currently several veterans’ dorms across the Florida Department of Corrections footprint including: Century CI, Santa Rosa CI, Columbia CI, Union CI, Madison CI, Tomoka CI, Sumter CI, Martin CI, Charlotte CI, and Jefferson CI. In several of the prisons, Vietnam Veterans of America provide chapters for incarcerated veterans. Florida is not an outlier as several states across the country have some form of veterans’ dorms in their state prisons.
While incarcerated, many may not realize that veterans do not have access to Veterans Health Administration treatment for their service-connected disabilities while incarcerated. The Council on Criminal Justice released a report in July 2024 highlighting the history of incarcerated veterans and their lack of access to healthcare by administrative rule. The rule states that if a veteran is an inmate or patient of another government institution, and if that agency has a “duty to give the care or services”, then the veteran is not eligible for veterans’ health benefits. As a result, the responsibility for healthcare in treating a veteran’s service-connected disabilities falls onto individual states, and ultimately, the state taxpayers.
A veteran can access healthcare once they are released from the correctional institutions and are eligible when they are in a residential re-entry center or halfway home. Currently, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs works with individuals to reestablish their care within the VA Healthcare System one-year prior to release from a correctional institution under the Health Care for Re-entry Veterans (HCRV) Program to ensure a successful transition upon release. There is no doubt that there is a responsibility for the states to provide healthcare needs to those it incarcerates. However, in the case of veterans with service-connected disabilities, state taxpayers should not be responsible for healthcare costs attributed to federal service.
As a former veteran, I appreciate the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and their efforts to connect a veteran to their earned benefits through Veteran Treatment Court and to help in the reentry transition from prison back into the community. However, during the veteran’s incarceration, individual states cannot be left on the hook for the costs and the duty of repairing veterans and their unique needs. Our veterans served their country, called on time and time again. States have stepped up in various ways to help our veterans through connecting veterans with their earned benefits. However, states should not be required to pay for healthcare for incarcerated veterans who have served our nation.
The Veterans Administration not only has resources to care for our veterans who have unique needs, but it also must fulfill its responsibility. One option that could be provided to states is funding opportunities to the states to reimburse their care would help to offset costs. In the Council on Criminal Justice report, the increase of telehealth operation by the VA following COVID-19 provides another avenue which could be explored in connected incarcerated veterans with the VA healthcare system while incarcerated. The VA’s motto: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle,’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.” An incarcerated veteran is still a veteran, and these benefits are earned by their service to our nation.