The Douglas County Department of Corrections will open a veterans housing unit this weekend.
It’s a partnership with the VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa, and Lutheran Family Services’ At Ease program. The unit will provide a different structure for some incarcerated veterans. It’ll be a place where they can get services such as mental health counseling and employment help, before transitioning back in to society.
Linda Twomey of the VA of Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System says they want to avoid the criminalization of mental illness.
“There are many veterans that enter the jail system that have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, that have serious mental illness. And through these partnerships, we can link them with the needed treatment that they have versus incarcerating them.”
Douglas County Department of Corrections officials estimate that about 40 veterans are incarcerated at the jail on a daily basis. The new housing unit will initially serve 20 inmates, then expand to 30.
Not all veterans in the Douglas County Jail are eligible to be part of the unit. Inmates who have aggression issues can’t live in the unit. The veterans who will be there have to meet certain behavioral expectations. The corrections officers who supervise the unit are also veterans.
Douglas County Corrections officials say only a few such housing units exist in jails nationwide.