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NJNG to mentor troubled vets
Photo and story by Wayne Woolley, NJDMAVA/PA
In most cases, the veteran will be assigned a mentor from the Army Guard or Air Guard. The mentors will work with the veteran to ensure they are able to get access to mental health providers, drug and alcohol counselors and benefits specialists to tackle the underlying problems that may have contributed to the legal trouble in the first place. “This is not a free ticket,” said Col. James Grant, Director of the Joint Staff. “But this tells a veteran, ‘You just did a service for your nation. We realize this may have caused changes in your life.'” The mentors will be able to offer empathy to a troubled vet because they wear the uniform themselves. The program has already launched in Atlantic County and should expand to Union County early in 2009 and the rest of the state after that. Recently, about a dozen senior officers and enlisted members of the Army and Air Guard underwent a day of training at the Atlantic City Armory. They got a crash course on New Jersey’s criminal justice system from Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury, Jr. and Municipal Court Judge Louis Belasco. They also got a rundown on the services available to veterans. Master Sgt. Richard Roswell, the primary trainer, led the volunteers through a number of practice scenarios. Topics included ways to motivate reluctant veterans to get the help they need to technigues for handling a phone call from a suicidal veteran. Roswell said the program will ultimately also assist National Guard Soldiers and Airmen who may not have yet had contact with the criminal justice system but are at risk.
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(c) 2008 NJ Department of Military and Veterans Affairs http://www.nj.gov/military |