Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 06/25/2007

Dear Sgt Shaft

If you or your readers know of any wounded soldier who could benefit by having a trained dog to assist them, trained by prisoners at the California Institution for Women in southern California as well as other prison dog programs around the country, working with professional service dog schools, with the money being raised for the dog by a group of dedicated dog people who care, please let me know.

There are “prison dog programs” in all parts of the country. After the start of the first school and others after, the idea caught on and many people started them. The dogs are given to the wounded vet free of charge. They will be taught how to handle the dog, care for him or her and find new independence partnered with his canine friend who can go in all public places.

One of the programs is known as Dog Bless America. This program is expanding the vision to include America’s current Veteran Hero’s. By combining their efforts with Pathways to Hope, the Prison Dog Program and many of the Veterans Affairs organizations across the Country they have created a win/win/win situation. Together with Sister Pauline Quinn and Pathways to Hope, Dog Bless America is helping to provide needed Service Dogs for our injured Veterans returning from war.

In 1981, Sister Pauline Quinn started the Prison Dog Program in Washington State, rescuing shelter dogs and bringing them into the prison where inmates trained them to assist the handicapped. The inmates learned responsibility through the care and training of these special dogs. Today, Prison Dog Programs are in many states and some think it is one of the most successful rehabilitation programs in the American prison system. Sister Pauline has started Pathways to Hope, a non profit organization that helps other prisons and service dog groups start prison dog programs.

Pathways to Hope will identify the programs and dogs to be matched with the Veterans. Pathways will receive the funding from Dog Bless America which will then be given to the particular Prison Program that can match and place a service dog to help a wounded soldier.

I am asking you and your readers to help us communicate this program to the people in need of these services. We will attempt to match them with a special service dog. Not every person is appropriate for a dog and the dogs are limited and located throughout the Country. Sister Pauline and Pathways will handle the initial contact and each Prison Program has their own screening process. The points of contact are: http://www.picturetrail.com/srpauline
http://pathwaystohope.blogspot.com
http://srpaulina.blogspot.com

Chris Gaba

Dear Chris

I am happy to help get the word out on this wonderful program.
 

Shaft Notes
The Sarge joins House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) in applauding his colleagues in the House of Representatives for passage of H.R. 2642, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. As the Chairman proudly stated,

"I applaud my colleagues for passing the largest increase for VA health care in 77 years. H.R. 2642 sends a clear message to America's service members that this Congress recognizes that taking care of veterans is an ongoing cost of war, and an ongoing cost of our national defense. It represents an unprecedented increase that comes at a time when we are faced with unprecedented needs.

"This bill provides the resources necessary to improve health care services, to meet the needs of our service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, especially in the areas of mental health and PTSD services and traumatic brain injury (TBI) care. This bill invests in the hiring and training of new claims processors to begin to reduce the VA claims backlog, and provides much needed resources for medical facilities, maintenance, and VA research.

"I want to thank Chairman Edwards for crafting this bipartisan legislation and Chairman Obey for his leadership, as well as their Republican counterparts. We have all worked together to make great strides in meeting the needs of our veterans, and we shall continue to work tirelessly and boldly in the months ahead to care for our veterans. There is no higher responsibility of our government than to keep the promises made to the men and women who defended our nation."

VA has announced creation of a new multi-campus Nursing Academy to help meet a shortage of nurses across the nation and maintain the high quality of care veterans receive in the VA health care system. A five-year, $40 million pilot program will establish partnerships with 12 nursing schools across the country during the next three years, beginning with four in the 2007-2008 academic year. The VA Nursing Academy is a virtual organization with central administration in Washington and teaching at competitively selected nursing schools across the country who partner with VA. VA currently provides clinical education to nearly 100,000 health professional trainees annually, including students from more than 600 schools of nursing. Despite a nationwide shortage of nurses, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has reported that more than 42,000 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools in 2006 because of insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space and clinical mentors. VA has one of the largest nursing staffs of any health care system in the world, with about 61,000 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, vocational nurses and nursing assistants at the Department’s 153 medical centers and nearly 900 clinics. For more information about the pilot program, check the VA Office of Academic Affiliations Web site at www.va.gov/oaa and click on “VA Nursing Academy

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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