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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Thomas Caltagirone |
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Caltagirone attends first meeting of statewide veterans' task force
HARRISBURG, Feb. 3 – State Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, D-Berks, today attended the first meeting of a statewide task force on Veterans and the Criminal Justice System.
Caltagirone was formally asked to join the task force by its co-chairman, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, to offer his expertise in developing programs to assist veterans with post traumatic stress disorder, depression and traumatic brain injury, which often leads to substance abuse.
"Our military veterans often return from duty with wounds that are psychological, physical or both and it is the duty of their government to take care of their needs," Caltagirone said. "When hundreds of thousands of veterans have such problems, it stands to reason that some of those individuals may find themselves caught in the justice system, and we need to do something about it.
"The first task force meeting today shed some light on this very important issue, and I vow to do all I can to address their problems through my role as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee," he said.
It is estimated that 18 to 20 percent of the 1 million veterans living in Pennsylvania suffer from PTSD and/or TBI. In mid-2007, the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that 81 percent of all justice system-involved veterans had a substance abuse problem prior to their incarceration. Some 35 percent were dependent on alcohol, and 23 percent were homeless at some point in the year prior to that report.
Caltagirone said over the course of the next several months, the task force will research these and other critical issues that impact the state's veteran population.
The House Judiciary Committee has formal legislative oversight for the following executive branch functions: the Board of Pardons; Board of Probation and Parole; Department of Corrections; Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission; Office of General Counsel; Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency; Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing; Attorney General's Office (except Consumer Protection Bureau); Pennsylvania State Police; and State Ethics Commission.