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Pale Rider
01-19-2008, 07:45 PM
Why Does Johnny Come Marching Homeless?



2008-01-19 13:31:34
By ERIN McCLAM AP National Writer

LEEDS, Mass. (AP) — Peter Mohan traces the path from the Iraqi battlefield to this lifeless conference room, where he sits in a kilt and a Camp Kill Yourself T-shirt and calmly describes how he became a sad cliche: a homeless veteran.

There was a happy homecoming, but then an accident — car crash, broken collarbone. And then a move east, close to his wife's new job but away from his best friends.

And then self-destruction: He would gun his motorcycle to 100 mph and try to stand on the seat. He would wait for his wife to leave in the morning, draw the blinds and open up whatever bottle of booze was closest.

He would pull out his gun, a .45-caliber, semiautomatic pistol. He would lovingly clean it, or just look at it and put it away. Sometimes place it in his mouth.

"I don't know what to do anymore," his wife, Anna, told him one day. "You can't be here anymore."

Peter Mohan never did find a steady job after he left Iraq. He lost his wife — a judge granted their divorce this fall — and he lost his friends and he lost his home, and now he is here, in a shelter.

He is 28 years old. "People come back from war different," he offers by way of a summary.

Read the full story here... (http://charter.net/news/news_reader.php?storyid=14330510&feedid=14)

KitchenKitten99
01-19-2008, 09:42 PM
I could never do this. I would force antidepressants down his throat or any way I could before I divorced him. If he needed help that badly, leaving is certainly not going to help any more.

Divorce is not an option in this situation.

Psychoblues
01-19-2008, 10:25 PM
The shallowness and obviousness of your argument is noted.



I could never do this. I would force antidepressants down his throat or any way I could before I divorced him. If he needed help that badly, leaving is certainly not going to help any more.

Divorce is not an option in this situation.

What about Peter Mohan? I know and have known many in his type of frame of mind. Some are helped competently and some are sent to tough it out on their own. The question remains, what about Peter Mohan?

Pale Rider
01-19-2008, 10:58 PM
I could never do this. I would force antidepressants down his throat or any way I could before I divorced him. If he needed help that badly, leaving is certainly not going to help any more.

Divorce is not an option in this situation.

My brother had a really hard time after he came back from two tours in Viet Nam. He finally killed himself nine years later, but he was a total wreck. He had gone through alcohol treatment twice, but couldn't kick it. The demons in his head were tougher than he was. He never went in for mental help. I don't know why. I urged him to many times. Maybe he felt that would have made him feel weak, crazy, and that thought just added to his suffering.

War is hell, both during and after. I've been shot at and hit myself. I can't say as though I was all that scared, I was more pissed that they didn't give Air Force personal weapons unless we were being over run. I was issued a web belt, a chem warfare kit, a gas mask and a helmet. BFD. But I've suffered no ill effects other than two holes in my right lung and a large scar where they cut me open to get the shrapnel out. That's not the case with many vets. They have memories that stew in their head, and haunt them in dreams. It wears them out, and death seems to be a better thing than living with it. The V.A. should provide full help for these guys. There should be a home for them to go to, because it helps to be among others than understand the hell you're going through. Sometimes, I think the way we treat our veterans is a crying shame. We ask our military men and women to DIE for us if need be, but then when they come home we just kick them to the curb. Believe me, I know. Trying to get benefits from the V.A. is like trying to get a constitutional amendment passed, by yourself. It's a goddamn shame.

pegwinn
01-20-2008, 12:00 AM
I'm Lucky. I've heard plenty of loud noises and managed to not get hurt. From time to time I will react a little "extreme" to provocation or the unexpected. But nothing like some of the stories I've about. In fact, if I had a shot at going back into uniform without being benched for knees and back I would.

I feel for this guy. I hope that his plight isn't the result of bad calls on his part or a refusal to seek help. I didn't get the whole article since my computer isn't playing nice with the internet tonight.

Believe it or not, I feel for his wife as well. I really doubt the divorce appeared out of the mist. It's tough enough on family without the rapid change up that war brings about.

There isn't any good answer here.

Psychoblues
01-20-2008, 12:07 AM
In recognition for the service and sacrifice of your brother, pr, I :salute: you.

actsnoblemartin
01-20-2008, 12:09 AM
I think the numbers need to be verified, but even 1 homeless vet is too many.

god bless em.

Psychoblues
01-20-2008, 02:45 AM
How about 200,000 and that is what the VA admits, martin.



I think the numbers need to be verified, but even 1 homeless vet is too many.

god bless em.

My younger brother was killed late last year. Some of you helped me to come to grips with that. He was a homeless Viet Nam vet and had been so for many years. What happened to him? I can't explain it as he could never explain it to me. I am also a Viet Nam vet but I obviously didn't experience the trauma that he endured. He was a good kid when the Navy recruited him. Just what went wrong? From a societal point of view he was pretty much worthless when he mustered out in San Diego, California 4 years later. Something damn sure happened in those years for which he would never talk about or even attempt to relate in any way to the rest of us.

Pale Rider
01-20-2008, 07:20 AM
In recognition for the service and sacrifice of your brother, pr, I :salute: you.

And I - :salute: - sir.

Psychoblues
01-20-2008, 07:36 AM
Thank you, sir. After 2 brothers have been lost to the Viet Nam experience, however, and both of them suffering for many years and neither of them ever identified or offered any assistance from the VA I think the respect is just a tad too late.


And I - :salute: - sir.

I certainly don't mean to diminish your offer of respect or your salute, pr, but right now I've gotta load in my throat and my heart that I find hard to bare. I know that you did everything your country asked of you. Why is it so godamned hard for this country to recognise what we all did? It just pisses me off in the worst way.

Thanks, pr. You'll always be a hero in my book. I gotta go right now. Maybe I'm being a little too sentimental, maybe I'm being too hard on you and even myself or maybe I'm just drunk and need some rest. Whatever, God Bless Our Troops and all that don't agree can simply go to hell, kiss my ass, or both.

Kathianne
01-20-2008, 08:54 AM
My brother had a really hard time after he came back from two tours in Viet Nam. He finally killed himself nine years later, but he was a total wreck. He had gone through alcohol treatment twice, but couldn't kick it. The demons in his head were tougher than he was. He never went in for mental help. I don't know why. I urged him to many times. Maybe he felt that would have made him feel weak, crazy, and that thought just added to his suffering.

War is hell, both during and after. I've been shot at and hit myself. I can't say as though I was all that scared, I was more pissed that they didn't give Air Force personal weapons unless we were being over run. I was issued a web belt, a chem warfare kit, a gas mask and a helmet. BFD. But I've suffered no ill effects other than two holes in my right lung and a large scar where they cut me open to get the shrapnel out. That's not the case with many vets. They have memories that stew in their head, and haunt them in dreams. It wears them out, and death seems to be a better thing than living with it. The V.A. should provide full help for these guys. There should be a home for them to go to, because it helps to be among others than understand the hell you're going through. Sometimes, I think the way we treat our veterans is a crying shame. We ask our military men and women to DIE for us if need be, but then when they come home we just kick them to the curb. Believe me, I know. Trying to get benefits from the V.A. is like trying to get a constitutional amendment passed, by yourself. It's a goddamn shame.

Pale, my condolences to you and your family. I agree, that whatever help is necessary should be given to the vets that come home and are unable to readjust.

My dad was lucky in that the VA was more than willing to help him with the cancer and other problems he had. Perhaps it's the area we live in? He chose to have them 'consult' so that the meds could come through them, (though that didn't work with the chemo meds, all others it did). His hearing aids, which he needed at 78, not like me, were provided by the VA. He had insurance and felt more comfortable at the hospital of his choice. Of course, that wouldn't have been an option if he'd come back mentally damaged, instead of physically.

gabosaurus
01-20-2008, 12:41 PM
Because the current administration is much more interested in creating new veterans than treating them. Once our soldiers complete their designated tours of duties, or are sent home for other reason, they become gristle for the health care mill.
In our haste to increase war spending and provide bogus "tax cuts," we have severely cut our mental health system. Once you have worked in the mental health system, you realize how underfunded and understaffed it is.
We love to tell stories of the able bodied military hero coming home from Iraq. But it is almost off limits to tell of the wounded soldier, or the ones with several psychological problems. We just put them back out on the streets and tell them that they are on their own.
The scraggly looking guys on the corner begging for money -- how many of them are veterans? How many are homeless vets? Do you care? Sure you do. But not enough to provide help.
The senseless war creates a lot more than corpses. It creates walking wounded and shells of former men and women. Our currently system can help perhaps 1 out of 10.
You probably don't care. I know Bush doesn't. He doesn't care about the dead either. Just collateral damage in his endless war of vengeance.
It's not just the blood that is on Bush's hands. It's the now useless brain matter. Too bad he only a few months left to enjoy it.

Dilloduck
01-20-2008, 12:54 PM
Because the current administration is much more interested in creating new veterans than treating them. Once our soldiers complete their designated tours of duties, or are sent home for other reason, they become gristle for the health care mill.
In our haste to increase war spending and provide bogus "tax cuts," we have severely cut our mental health system. Once you have worked in the mental health system, you realize how underfunded and understaffed it is.
We love to tell stories of the able bodied military hero coming home from Iraq. But it is almost off limits to tell of the wounded soldier, or the ones with several psychological problems. We just put them back out on the streets and tell them that they are on their own.
The scraggly looking guys on the corner begging for money -- how many of them are veterans? How many are homeless vets? Do you care? Sure you do. But not enough to provide help.
The senseless war creates a lot more than corpses. It creates walking wounded and shells of former men and women. Our currently system can help perhaps 1 out of 10.
You probably don't care. I know Bush doesn't. He doesn't care about the dead either. Just collateral damage in his endless war of vengeance.
It's not just the blood that is on Bush's hands. It's the now useless brain matter. Too bad he only a few months left to enjoy it.

Our mental health system was decimated decades ago. Those needing mental health treatment come from all walks of life as do our homeless. If you are adamant about debasing our president, find some thing that is actually the result of something he is responsible for.

Mr. P
01-20-2008, 03:44 PM
Because the current administration is in creating new veterans ...

It's disgusting that you always focus on and use veterans and the military in your attacks on the administration.

typomaniac
01-20-2008, 03:53 PM
Our mental health system was decimated decades ago. Those needing mental health treatment come from all walks of life as do our homeless. If you are adamant about debasing our president, find some thing that is actually the result of something he is responsible for.

Thanks mostly to Ronald Reagan, you forgot.

That's still no excuse for not providing good mental health care through the VA. It never ceases to frost me to see people put "support our troops" ribbons on their SUVs and never even consider this issue.

Dilloduck
01-20-2008, 04:51 PM
Thanks mostly to Ronald Reagan, you forgot.

That's still no excuse for not providing good mental health care through the VA. It never ceases to frost me to see people put "support our troops" ribbons on their SUVs and never even consider this issue.


I didn't forget shit and I'm not blaming a poltical party for ignoring mental health. Do you now have the ability to tell what people think about the health of our veterans by what ribbon is on their vehicle ? :lame2:

Kathianne
01-20-2008, 06:41 PM
Thanks mostly to Ronald Reagan, you forgot.

That's still no excuse for not providing good mental health care through the VA. It never ceases to frost me to see people put "support our troops" ribbons on their SUVs and never even consider this issue.

I haven't forgotten. That and what Reagan did with the census are two reasons I don't 'love' him as some do. I think he has a mixed record, but what he did right was very good.

Gaffer
01-20-2008, 07:37 PM
The treatment is there.So is the housing and jobs. They just have to walk in and take advantage of it. Most don't want too. There will always be homeless and alcoholics and people that want live of the system. That's not going to change no matter how affluent the society becomes.

Blaming the president for what goes on in the streets of the cities is silly politics. You might as well blame him for you not making your credit card payment. Makes as much sense.

People come back from war screwed up all the time. There are not as many as the media would like to play up, but they are there. Most of these so called homeless just want to blame someone else for their own failures. They don't want to work, to establish themselves with a job and a place to live and be part of society. They want to live off of the government and blame the government for their own lack of initiative.

Shouldn't congress be passing bills for the homeless and the mentally handicapped. Something they could tack a bunch of pork on.

MtnBiker
01-20-2008, 07:42 PM
A reminder

*originally posted by DMP*



http://www1.va.gov/homeless/

VA offers a wide array of special programs and initiatives specifically designed to help homeless veterans live as self-sufficiently and independently as possible. In fact,VA is the only Federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to homeless persons. Although limited to veterans and their dependents, VA's major homeless-specific programs constitute the largest integrated network of homeless treatment and assistance services in the country.

VA's specialized homeless veterans treatment programs have grown and developed since they were first authorized in 1987. The programs strive to offer a continuum of services that include:

* aggressive outreach to those veterans living on streets and in shelters who otherwise would not seek assistance;
* clinical assessment and referral to needed medical treatment for physical and psychiatric disorders, including substance abuse;
* long-term sheltered transitional assistance, case management, and rehabilitation;
* employment assistance and linkage with available income supports; and
* supported permanent housing.

More:



Homeless Programs & Initiatives

VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program

The Grant and Per Diem program is offered annually (as funding permits) by the VA to fund community-based agencies providing transitional housing or service centers for homeless veterans. Under the Capital Grant Component VA may fund up to 65% of the project for the construction, acquisition, or renovation of facilities or to purchase van(s) to provide outreach and services to homeless veterans. Per Diem is available to grantees to help off-set operational expenses. Non-Grant programs may apply for Per Diem under a separate announcement, when published in the Federal Register, announcing the funding for “Per Diem Only.”

Loan Guarantee Program for Multifamily Transitional Housing

This new initiative authorizes VA to guarantee no more than 15 loans with an aggregate value of $100 million within 5 years for construction, renovation of existing property, and refinancing of existing loans, facility furnishing or working capital. No more than 5 loans may be guaranteed under this program prior to November 11, 2001. The amount financed is a maximum of 90% of project costs. Legislation allows the Secretary to issue a loan guarantee for large-scale self-sustaining multifamily loans. Eligible transitional project are those that: 1) Provide supportive services including job counseling; 2) Require veteran to seek and maintain employment; 3) Require veteran to pay reasonable rent; 4) Require sobriety as a condition of occupancy; and, 5) Serves other veterans in need of housing on a space available basis.

VA Assistance to Stand Downs
VA programs and staff have actively participated in each of the Stand Downs for Homeless Veterans run by local coalitions in various cities each year. In wartime Stand Downs, front line troops are removed to a place of relative safety for rest and needed assistance before returning to combat. Similarly, peacetime Stand Downs give homeless veterans 1-3 days of safety and security where they can obtain food, shelter, clothing, and a range of other types of assistance, including VA provided health care, benefits certification, and linkages with other programs.

Veterans Industries

In VA's Compensated Work Therapy/Transitional Residence (CWT/TR) Program, disadvantaged, at-risk, and homeless veterans live in CWT/TR community-based supervised group homes while working for pay in VA's Compensated Work Therapy Program (also known as Veterans Industries). Veterans in the CWT/TR program work about 33 hours per week, with approximate earnings of $732 per month, and pay an average of $186 per month toward maintenance and up-keep of the residence. The average length of stay is about 174 days. VA contracts with private industry and the public sector for work done by these veterans, who learn new job skills, relearn successful work habits, and regain a sense of self-esteem and self-worth.

CHALENG
The Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education, and Networking Groups (CHALENG) for veterans is a nationwide initiative in which VA medical center and regional office directors work with other federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofit organizations to assess the needs of homeless veterans, develop action plans to meet identified needs, and develop directories that contain local community resources to be used by homeless veterans.

More than 10,000 representatives from non-VA organizations have participated in Project CHALENG initiatives, which include holding conferences at VA medical centers to raise awareness of the needs of homeless veterans, creating new partnerships in the fight against homelessness, and developing new strategies for future action.

DCHV

The Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans (DCHV) Program provides biopsychosocial treatment and rehabilitation to homeless veterans. The program provides residential treatment to approximately 5,000 homeless veterans with health problems each year and the average length of stay in the program is 4 months. The domiciliaries conduct outreach and referral; vocational counseling and rehabilitation; and post-discharge community support.

HUD-VASH

This joint Supported Housing Program with the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides permanent housing and ongoing treatment services to the harder-to-serve homeless mentally ill veterans and those suffering from substance abuse disorders. HUD's Section 8 Voucher Program has designated 1,780 vouchers worth $44.5 million for homeless chronically mentally ill veterans. VA staff at 35 sites provide outreach, clinical care and ongoing case management services. Rigorous evaluation of this program indicates that this approach significantly reduces days of homelessness for veterans plagued by serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders.

Supported Housing

Like the HUD-VASH program identified above, staff in VA's Supported Housing Program provides ongoing case management services to homeless veterans. Emphasis is placed on helping veterans find permanent housing and providing clinical support needed to keep veterans in permanent housing. Staff in these programs operate without benefit of the specially dedicated Section 8 housing vouchers available in the HUD-VASH program but are often successful in locating transitional or permanent housing through local means, especially by collaborating with Veterans Service Organizations.

Drop-In Centers

These programs provide a daytime sanctuary where homeless veterans can clean up, wash their clothes, and participate in a variety of therapeutic and rehabilitative activities. Linkages with longer-term assistance are also available.

Comprehensive Homeless Centers

VA's Comprehensive Homeless Centers (CHCs) place the full range of VA homeless efforts in a single medical center's catchment area and coordinate administration within a centralized framework. With extensive collaboration among non-VA service providers, VA's CHCs in Anchorage, AK; Brooklyn, NY; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Little Rock, AR; Pittsburgh, PA; San Francisco, CA; and West Los Angles, CA, provide a comprehensive continuum of care that reaches out to homeless veterans and helps them escape homelessness.

VBA-VHA Special Outreach and Benefits Assistance

VHA has provided specialized funding to support twelve Veterans Benefits Counselors as members of HCMI and Homeless Domiciliary Programs as authorized by Public Law 102-590. These specially funded staff provide dedicated outreach, benefits counseling, referral, and additional assistance to eligible veterans applying for VA benefits. This specially funded initiative complements VBA's ongoing efforts to target homeless veterans for special attention. To reach more homeless veterans, designated homeless veterans coordinators at VBA's 58 regional offices annually make over 4,700 visits to homeless facilities and over 9,000 contacts with non-VA agencies working with the homeless and provide over 24,000 homeless veterans with benefits counseling and referrals to other VA programs. These special outreach efforts are assumed as part of ongoing duties and responsibilities. VBA has also instituted new procedures to reduce the processing times for homeless veterans' benefits claims.

VBA's Acquired Property Sales for Homeless Providers

This program makes all the properties VA obtains through foreclosures on VA-insured mortgages available for sale to homeless provider organizations at a discount of 20 to 50 percent, depending on time of the market.

VA Excess Property for Homeless Veterans Initiative

This initiative provides for the distribution of federal excess personal property, such as hats, parkas, footwear, socks, sleeping bags, and other items to homeless veterans and homeless veteran programs. A Compensated Work Therapy Program employing formerly homeless veterans has been established at the Medical Center in Lyons, NJ to receive, warehouse, and ship these goods to VA homeless programs across the country.

Program Monitoring and Evaluation

VA has built program monitoring and evaluation into all of its homeless veterans' treatment initiatives and it serves as an integral component of each program. Designed, implemented, and maintained by the Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) at VAMC West Haven, CT, these evaluation efforts provide important information about the veterans served and the therapeutic value and cost effectiveness of the specialized programs. Information from these evaluations also helps program managers determine new directions to pursue in order to expand and improve services to homeless veterans.

gabosaurus
01-20-2008, 11:30 PM
Of course the services are there. There are simply not enough of them. What MB listed does not address the number of beds available, the number of qualified care givers, the shortage of supplies and the overall shoddy facilities.
The programs are severely understaffed and underfunded. The victim of severe budget cuts.

Mr. P
01-21-2008, 12:03 AM
Of course the services are there. There are simply not enough of them. What MB listed does not address the number of beds available, the number of qualified care givers, the shortage of supplies and the overall shoddy facilities.
The programs are severely understaffed and underfunded. The victim of severe budget cuts.

Nothing new here...I can testify that these problems date back as far as 1970.
I'm sure before that too.

What do you expect? It is government run health care. It ain't BUSH.

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 02:18 AM
Because the current administration is much more interested in creating new veterans than treating them. Once our soldiers complete their designated tours of duties, or are sent home for other reason, they become gristle for the health care mill.
In our haste to increase war spending and provide bogus "tax cuts," we have severely cut our mental health system. Once you have worked in the mental health system, you realize how underfunded and understaffed it is.
We love to tell stories of the able bodied military hero coming home from Iraq. But it is almost off limits to tell of the wounded soldier, or the ones with several psychological problems. We just put them back out on the streets and tell them that they are on their own.
The scraggly looking guys on the corner begging for money -- how many of them are veterans? How many are homeless vets? Do you care? Sure you do. But not enough to provide help.
The senseless war creates a lot more than corpses. It creates walking wounded and shells of former men and women. Our currently system can help perhaps 1 out of 10.
You probably don't care. I know Bush doesn't. He doesn't care about the dead either. Just collateral damage in his endless war of vengeance.
It's not just the blood that is on Bush's hands. It's the now useless brain matter. Too bad he only a few months left to enjoy it.

You are talking out your ass. Federal spending on mental health for vets has increased for 2005 and 2006.

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 02:32 AM
The shallowness and obviousness of your argument is noted.




What about Peter Mohan? I know and have known many in his type of frame of mind. Some are helped competently and some are sent to tough it out on their own. The question remains, what about Peter Mohan?

Yea, what about Peter Mohan? You cant force a person into a job and a home. You cant even force them to get mental health treatment if they are suffering from mental health problems, thanks to the ACLU, since the 80"s, they have aggressively fought all govt attempts to "force" mentally ill people to get help or take meds.

One would expect vets of a war to have a higher mental health, thus homeless percentage than the rest of our society. This doesnt mean that they are being ignored. You cant force them to get help. The VA and many other govt and private entities provide help to get shelter and jobs and back into society. A large percentage of vets wont accept it. Plain and simple.

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 02:47 AM
Because the current administration is much more interested in creating new veterans than treating them. Once our soldiers complete their designated tours of duties, or are sent home for other reason, they become gristle for the health care mill.
In our haste to increase war spending and provide bogus "tax cuts," we have severely cut our mental health system. Once you have worked in the mental health system, you realize how underfunded and understaffed it is.
We love to tell stories of the able bodied military hero coming home from Iraq. But it is almost off limits to tell of the wounded soldier, or the ones with several psychological problems. We just put them back out on the streets and tell them that they are on their own.
The scraggly looking guys on the corner begging for money -- how many of them are veterans? How many are homeless vets? Do you care? Sure you do. But not enough to provide help.
The senseless war creates a lot more than corpses. It creates walking wounded and shells of former men and women. Our currently system can help perhaps 1 out of 10.
You probably don't care. I know Bush doesn't. He doesn't care about the dead either. Just collateral damage in his endless war of vengeance.
It's not just the blood that is on Bush's hands. It's the now useless brain matter. Too bad he only a few months left to enjoy it.

You really should get informed before delivering such lies and trash.

From USA Today: "Serving the nation's veterans

"We have increased funding for our veterans more in four years than the previous administration did in eight years."— President Bush, Aug. 16, 2004

Spending on veterans has increased faster under President Bush than at any time since the Vietnam War. Like homeland security, it is strongly supported by Democrats as well as Republicans.

Among the reasons for the increase: The veterans health care system is adding hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who came from the National Guard and Reserves are eligible for two years of health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. That system was opened up several years ago to veterans with higher incomes whose illnesses or injuries did not stem from their military service. Greater numbers of veterans from prior conflicts have signed up for disability and pension benefits."

THIS IS FROM PBS, HARDLY A SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT BUSH, REPUBLICANS OR CONSERVATIVES: "What legislation exists that addresses homelessness?

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was the first —and remains the only—major federal legislative response to homelessness. President Ronald Reagan signed the act into law in 1987."

AND THIS FROM THE GAO: "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides mental health services
to veterans with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and substance abuse disorders. To address gaps in services
needed by veterans, VA approved a mental health strategic plan in 2004.
VA planned to increase its fiscal year 2005 allocations for plan
initiatives by $100 million above fiscal year 2004 levels and its
fiscal year 2006 allocations for plan initiatives by $200 million above
fiscal year 2004 levels.

What GAO Found:

In fiscal year 2005, VA headquarters allocated about $88 million of the
$100 million above fiscal year 2004 levels that VA officials intended
for mental health strategic plan initiatives.
VA did not allocate the approximately $12
million remaining of the $100 million for fiscal year 2005 because,
according to VA officials, there was not enough time during the fiscal
year to do so.
For example, two medical centers increased the number of
mental health providers at community-based outpatient clinics. However,
some medical center officials reported they did not use all funds
allocated by the end of the fiscal year, due in part to the time it
took to hire staff.

In fiscal year 2006, VA headquarters allocated about $158 million of
the $200 million above fiscal year 2004 levels intended for mental
health strategic plan initiatives directly to medical centers and
certain offices.
Officials at some medical centers reported they did
not anticipate problems using all of the funds allocated within the
fiscal year; however, officials at other medical centers were less
certain they would be able to do so.

NOW, TAKE both your hands, grasp firmly on both cheeks of your ass, and pull your head out.

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 02:48 AM
Of course the services are there. There are simply not enough of them. What MB listed does not address the number of beds available, the number of qualified care givers, the shortage of supplies and the overall shoddy facilities.
The programs are severely understaffed and underfunded. The victim of severe budget cuts.

Yet another one of your fucking lies, LIAR.

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 02:55 AM
Our mental health system was decimated decades ago. Those needing mental health treatment come from all walks of life as do our homeless. If you are adamant about debasing our president, find some thing that is actually the result of something he is responsible for.

Actually, we spend more, on a percentage basis, in sheer numbers or a per capita basis, than any other country.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. The U.S. spends more on health care, both as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) and on a per-capita basis, than any other nation in the world. Current estimates put U.S. health care spending at approximately 15% of GDP, the world's highest.[1] The health share of GDP is expected to continue its historical upward trend, reaching 19.6 percent of GDP by 2016.[2]

The debate about U.S. health care concerns questions of access, efficiency, and quality purchased by the high sums spent. The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000 ranked the U.S. health care system first in both responsiveness and expenditure,..."

LuvRPgrl
01-21-2008, 03:01 AM
Thanks mostly to Ronald Reagan, you forgot.

That's still no excuse for not providing good mental health care through the VA. It never ceases to frost me to see people put "support our troops" ribbons on their SUVs and never even consider this issue.

You got your head so far up your ass, its no wonder why you are full of shit.

The ACLU is responsable for the mentally ill patients to be released from the hospitals and wind up on the streets, and they still continue to fight for this "right" of the mentally ill up to today, and as we speak.

And how the fuck do you know what someone driving their SUV has considered? Have you pulled them over and interviewed them? I thought not, so shut the fuck up with your half truths, out and out lies and propaganda.

oh, and as for your pascal quote:“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”
—Blaise Pascal

Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, their evil was NOT from religous conviction.
Count the bodies of dead they are responsable for , probably over 100 million.

nevadamedic
01-21-2008, 03:14 AM
Because the current administration is much more interested in creating new veterans than treating them. Once our soldiers complete their designated tours of duties, or are sent home for other reason, they become gristle for the health care mill.
In our haste to increase war spending and provide bogus "tax cuts," we have severely cut our mental health system. Once you have worked in the mental health system, you realize how underfunded and understaffed it is.
We love to tell stories of the able bodied military hero coming home from Iraq. But it is almost off limits to tell of the wounded soldier, or the ones with several psychological problems. We just put them back out on the streets and tell them that they are on their own.
The scraggly looking guys on the corner begging for money -- how many of them are veterans? How many are homeless vets? Do you care? Sure you do. But not enough to provide help.
The senseless war creates a lot more than corpses. It creates walking wounded and shells of former men and women. Our currently system can help perhaps 1 out of 10.
You probably don't care. I know Bush doesn't. He doesn't care about the dead either. Just collateral damage in his endless war of vengeance.
It's not just the blood that is on Bush's hands. It's the now useless brain matter. Too bad he only a few months left to enjoy it.

Wow, it took you a couple of hours to drag President Bush into this, that's a record for you. Why don't you try passing th eblame on to those evil Muslims who are actually causing the damage.

Also being a janitor at a mental hospital doesn't make you a mental health professional Gabby so try again.

typomaniac
01-21-2008, 06:46 PM
You got your head so far up your ass, its no wonder why you are full of shit.

The ACLU is responsable for the mentally ill patients to be released from the hospitals and wind up on the streets, and they still continue to fight for this "right" of the mentally ill up to today, and as we speak.

And how the fuck do you know what someone driving their SUV has considered? Have you pulled them over and interviewed them? I thought not, so shut the fuck up with your half truths, out and out lies and propaganda.

oh, and as for your pascal quote:“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”
—Blaise Pascal

Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, their evil was NOT from religous conviction.
Count the bodies of dead they are responsable for , probably over 100 million.
You're quite the foul-mouthed little bitch, aren't you? Be warned: good Republican men don't like that kind of thing. :no:

If you had any historical clue, you'd know that Reagan was responsible for closing at least half the country's mental hospitals in his first term. The ACLU, as often as they go too far over the top, still keeps people like you from locking others up in mental hospitals just for disagreeing with them.

LuvRPgrl
01-22-2008, 03:10 AM
You're quite the foul-mouthed little bitch, aren't you? Be warned: good Republican men don't like that kind of thing. :no:

If you had any historical clue, you'd know that Reagan was responsible for closing at least half the country's mental hospitals in his first term. The ACLU, as often as they go too far over the top, still keeps people like you from locking others up in mental hospitals just for disagreeing with them.

You are quite the fucking moron. The reagan administration only let them out because the ACLU won a court decision saying they cant be held against their will. Reagan had no choice.

The ACLU and anyone who supports them are traitors.

Bitch eh?? hahhahah, get a clue, what makes you think Im a female, republican or not married? Typical liberal ASSumptions that are usually wrong.

Psychoblues
01-22-2008, 03:26 AM
I wonder, like you, just why that is? There has to be a reason behind it, don't you think?



Yea, what about Peter Mohan? You cant force a person into a job and a home. You cant even force them to get mental health treatment if they are suffering from mental health problems, thanks to the ACLU, since the 80"s, they have aggressively fought all govt attempts to "force" mentally ill people to get help or take meds.

One would expect vets of a war to have a higher mental health, thus homeless percentage than the rest of our society. This doesnt mean that they are being ignored. You cant force them to get help. The VA and many other govt and private entities provide help to get shelter and jobs and back into society. A large percentage of vets wont accept it. Plain and simple.

Or, are you just spouting off at the mouth and being the general bitch that you enjoy as a reputation as has been alluded earlier in this thread? Maybe you're just a fake in general and should always be simply ignored? I noticed that you never asked a serious question about Peter or all the others that fall into that homeless category other than to say the percentage is higher amongst veterans than in any other segment of society. I ask "why" and you say "fuck them"?

SpidermanTUba
01-23-2008, 06:08 PM
Why Does Johnny Come Marching Homeless?



2008-01-19 13:31:34
By ERIN McCLAM AP National Writer

LEEDS, Mass. (AP) — Peter Mohan traces the path from the Iraqi battlefield to this lifeless conference room, where he sits in a kilt and a Camp Kill Yourself T-shirt and calmly describes how he became a sad cliche: a homeless veteran.

There was a happy homecoming, but then an accident — car crash, broken collarbone. And then a move east, close to his wife's new job but away from his best friends.

And then self-destruction: He would gun his motorcycle to 100 mph and try to stand on the seat. He would wait for his wife to leave in the morning, draw the blinds and open up whatever bottle of booze was closest.

He would pull out his gun, a .45-caliber, semiautomatic pistol. He would lovingly clean it, or just look at it and put it away. Sometimes place it in his mouth.

"I don't know what to do anymore," his wife, Anna, told him one day. "You can't be here anymore."

Peter Mohan never did find a steady job after he left Iraq. He lost his wife — a judge granted their divorce this fall — and he lost his friends and he lost his home, and now he is here, in a shelter.

He is 28 years old. "People come back from war different," he offers by way of a summary.

Read the full story here... (http://charter.net/news/news_reader.php?storyid=14330510&feedid=14)

The true cost of the Iraq war will go into the trillions.