Sm Med Lg

Camden County Vets Get Help With Legal Problems

Dear Neighbor,
 
Camden County has always valued its veterans and the tremendous patriotism and service their lives represent. We honor them and, as importantly, we work to take care of their needs. Norm Sooy, Director of Veterans Affairs for Camden County, has worked tirelessly on their behalf. Now a new state program is adding to efforts Camden County started a decade ago with veterans: working with the courts and the County Prosecutor’s Office to mentor and get help for veterans arrested or charged with crimes. They are mentored and referred to outside social service providers, as needed. See today’s story, below, from the Courier-Post on this new veterans program
 
A this time of year, with celebrations of VE Day, Memorial Day, D-Day and V-J Day  from May to August, we all have the opportunity to honor our vets and we should do so.
 
On Memorial Day, Camden County places 20,000 flags on veterans’ graves and wreaths on all the monuments on Veterans Island at Cooper River Park. The Memorial Day Ceremony is scheduled for Friday, May 28 at 11 a.m. The Freeholder Board will be there and we look forward to seeing you there, too.  Anyone who has questions about the event or other veterans issues can call the Camden County Office of Veterans Affairs at 856-374-5801.

Louis Cappelli, Jr.
Freeholder Director


By GEORGE MAST • Courier-Post Staff • May 10, 2010
 
CAMDEN — State officials want to give added assistance to Camden County veterans who run afoul of the law. Through the multi-agency Veterans Assistance Project, veterans who enter the court system are given mentoring and referred to outside social service providers.

The project for veterans -- a combined effort of the state court system, the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and the New Jersey Department of Human Services' Division of Mental Health Services -- is present in 10 counties, including Burlington. State officials hope to spread the effort across the state.

"It's just another benefit that we're providing to veterans to help them when they are going through a rough patch," said Kryn Westhoven, a representative for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Westhoven said veterans services are becoming increasingly important as thousands of New Jersey military members have served overseas recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Through the program, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will determine which veterans are assigned mentors. The mentors, all of whom are active and retired veterans, will work with defendants while their criminal cases are pending, and after. The volunteers will see that veterans receive assistance and avoid further trouble with the law.

"Expanding this vital program to Camden County marks a major success because it simply means we will be able to reach veterans in a key region of South Jersey," said Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth in a news release.

Rieth is the adjutant general of New Jersey who oversees the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and serves as commander of the New Jersey National Guard.

Norm Sooy, director of Camden County's Department of Veterans Affairs, said the state program will add to services started in Superior Court in Camden about a decade ago.

Sooy said many veterans have been assisted through the court's drug court program. Assistance was provided in helping veterans find jobs and rehabilitation.

Sooy said any resources added through the Veterans Assistance Project are welcome.


"I think (veterans) need somebody just to guide them along," he added.
 
The Veterans Assistance Project was piloted in Atlantic County in the municipal courts and in the criminal division of Superior Court in December 2008. It also is in operation in Cape May, Bergen, Burlington, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Union counties.

More than 230 referrals have been made in those counties since the program began.
In Gloucester County, Prosecutor Sean Dalton has started a similar effort to assist veterans in the court system.

Aside from referring veterans to outside services, prosecutors there now screen cases to see if service-related conditions -- such as post-traumatic stress disorder -- are a factor. Based on their findings, prosecutors then may alter how they proceed with a criminal case.