Vets Court Gets Boost

A joint effort between the commonwealth and the U-S Department of Veterans Affairs to provide vets with access to a court system and health services when they get into legal trouble is set to expanding statewide.

Like the mental health and drug courts, the Pennsylvania Veterans Justice Program will find veterans in trouble with the law and provide them with social services. Tony Coppola is a Vietnam War vet from Pittsburgh who has benefited from the program in Allegheny County. When he was arrested for drunk driving, he was put on probation and treated for drinking problem. He says without the program he may not be alive now. “They teach you things and being with all veterans, it helped me out quite a bit,” says Coppola.

State Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery was instrumental in bringing the alternative to jail time to Pennsylvania. He says it's also a cost saving measure for local governments because it takes veterans off their court dockets. “They take these people, they're diverted out of the court, given over to the VA. Whatever their needs may be, the Veterans Administration comes in with federal dollars and takes care of that individual to allow him to get back into society,” says McCaffery.

More than 650 vets have gone through the program since its inception in 2009. It's currently up and running in Allegheny, Lackawanna and Philadelphia counties. The Pennsylvania Justice Program is a joint effort between the state and the federal government.

Listen to a story produced by WDUQ as the Veterans Court was launching in Allegheny County.

VA Office Accused of Mishandling Claims

There have been some accusations about the Veterans Affairs Office claiming there have been workers taking inappropriate advantage of performance incentives. Now some local politicians are taking the situation into their own hands. U.S. Congressmen Jason Altmire, Tim Murphy and Mike Doyle, along with Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey have sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office to look into the matter. Altmire says workers would delay entering a name from the time they initially heard about the case, and instead entered it right before they started working on the case, making it seem that their work was more efficient. He says the Pittsburgh Veterans Office has the fifth longest backlog in the country, and this situation only makes matters more frustrating. In fact, Congress made an investment to aid in clearing the backlog by purchasing a computer organizing program for the group.

County Considers Veterans' Court

A court created solely for dealing with military veterans who break the law could be in the works for Allegheny County. Common Pleas Judge and veteran Michael McCarthy is spearheading the initiative and says that the court could provide a "bridge" for troubled vets that would allow them to avoid jail time by entering treatment programs. The alternative court would have a similar model to the the mental health court established in 2001 that pairs non-violent mentally ill offenders with social services. The VA Pittsburgh Health System could help provide care and experienced veterans would act as mentors to struggling veterans. A hand full of similar courts already exist in New York, Alaska, California and Oklahoma. The next step is to create a task force to determine how to identify defendants who are veterans. Officials hope to have the court set up by June.

Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act passes house

The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act has passed the house as a part of the Defense Authorization bill. The act was sponsored by U.S. congressman Jason Altmire after he learned that Servicemen and woman who had been wounded in combat and were unable to fulfill their military duty had been ordered to repay their enlistment bonus checks. The Bonus Act passed the house Unanimously and awaits Senate approval before going to the Presidents desk where it will be signed into law. When becoming law the Act will only affect those soldiers wounded in combat on after its approval.