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Veteran outreach program included in state budget

The Journal Times, Racine - 7/19/2019

Jul. 18--RACINE -- Wisconsin veterans will have a better chance of receiving the services they need -- and perhaps reduce their suicide rate -- because of a provision in the two-year state budget signed by Gov. Tony Evers on July 3.

That premise is one of the highlights of a telephone discussion that Mary Kolar, secretary designee for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Revenue Secretary-Designee Peter Barca had with The Journal Times this week.

Kolar said the budget continues a program called the Veterans Outreach and Recovery Program. Kolar identified that funding as her No. 1 priority in the new budget for her agency.

In that program, 11 coordinators serve all 72 counties, Kolar explained. It started about three years ago as a federally focused pilot program in just 49 counties, doing outreach to veterans in rural areas.

"We were on pins and needles hoping that this program would be funded, that the budget would be passed to ensure the continuation of this program that's making a difference in Wisconsin," Kolar said.

The program coordinators work with county veterans service officers and other agencies and nonprofits, she said, "to help veterans who are literally, with the coordinators finding them on the street. The coordinators go out, find veterans where they are, particularly those with mental health, substance abuse and other challenges that are preventing them from having and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle."

Some veterans decline their assistance, said Kolar, a retired military officer, and it can take three months or more to be able to connect them with the help they need.

On average, about 22 military veterans commit suicide each day, Kolar said, and about 14 of them are not taking advantage of available services.

"We literally have documentation that suicides have been prevented," Kolar said, and the program helped more than 1,200 veterans statewide make "community connections" last year, she added.

On a related note, Kolar said without a new state budget, her agency would have lost millions of dollars in federal money that is used to maintain and improve Wisconsin's three veterans cemeteries including the one in Dover.

Provides continuity

Barca said one big benefit of having Evers sign the budget when he did is to provide continuity in government. He called it "vitally important not just for the Department of Veterans Affairs but very important for educational institutions.

"They're putting together their budgets; kids are going to be starting school in about six weeks, and they need to know how much money they're going to have in order to prepare appropriately. They have to make hiring decisions for teachers and other personnel."

Evers, being the former superintendent of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, was very aware of those needs and the importance of having continuity in government, Barca said.

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