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CommunityMaryland seeking to expand services to its war veterans
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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Veteran James Dean was shot dead by the Maryland State Police, ending a Christmas night standoff in Hollywood in 2006. Dean had served in the Army in Afghanistan and was traumatized over the idea of returning to service in Iraq, his father said then.
Connie Walker, parent of a veteran and a retired Navy captain, is a new appointee to the Maryland Veterans Commission. She told the St. Mary’s County commissioners Tuesday that 57 percent of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are under 29, and most come back with mental health issues.
The meeting also included James Adkins, secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs. There are about 10,000 veterans in St. Mary’s, he said, and 9,000 in Calvert and 13,000 in Charles.
A native of Dorchester County, Adkins said he wanted his office to increase access and awareness of benefits from the U.S. Veterans Administration to veterans in Maryland’s rural counties, where services are sporadic. ‘‘We hope to reach out to veterans down here,” he said. ‘‘We just want to let you know we are here to do whatever we can in a partnership.”
He said, ‘‘44 percent of Maryland veterans ask someone for help” in the long and bureaucratic VA process. ‘‘We have one of the lowest rates of compensation for these vets.” On average, Maryland vets get $7,500 a year in benefits. In Arizona, the average is $12,500 a year.
A bill in the Maryland General Assembly this session called Maryland Veterans Behavioral Health that would add $3.5 million to the state’s budget to coordinate state and federal agencies to provide mental health service to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘‘The proposal that’s out there is going to be a great opportunity for rural Maryland,” said Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D). It’s difficult for rural veterans to make the drive to Baltimore or Washington, D.C., five times a week to get services, he said. He cited the Dean shooting as an example of the need to provide services to veterans.
jbabcock@somdnews.com
