Converting Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital to center for homeless veterans a good idea
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Converting Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital to center for homeless veterans a good idea
Published: Monday, February 27, 2012, 7:13 AM
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Homeless veterans, by definition, are difficult to find and harder to count. On any given night, it is estimated that anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 New Jersey vets find shelter in alleys and doorways, shipping containers and makeshift campsites.
As thousands more veterans arrive home from Iraq and Afghanistan during the next few years, experts say 15 percent to 20 percent may find themselves homeless — as the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder and the realities of the weak economy take their toll.
That’s one of the reasons Gov. Chris Christie’s budget proposal to convert Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital to a transitional housing center for homeless veterans is the right idea at the right time.
Christie took heat for closing the 150-bed psychiatric hospital in Hunterdon County last year over the objections of his own task force. Critics said those beds were needed; Christie said there was ample room for those patients elsewhere.
And now we see why: The $5.6 million saved by closing Hagedorn would create the 100-bed veterans housing program, to be called Veterans Haven North because it mirrors the Veterans Haven program founded in Camden County.
Advocates for veterans in New Jersey are ecstatic, though they say the expansion amounts to playing catch-up with homeless veterans, rather than getting ahead of the game.
Nevertheless, the transitional housing — which gives homeless soldiers a place to stay for up to two years while giving them access to mental health care and social services — fills a gigantic need that will only grow as the United States winds down from two decade-long wars on foreign soil.
Veterans advocates say men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from high rates of PTSD and traumatic brain injury — a result of the desert-style guerrilla tactics waged in both countries. Those same vets might return to New Jersey to find their jobs or homes — or both — lost to the Great Recession.
We’ve asked a lot of our servicemen and servicewomen during 10 years of war. Christie’s budget proposal acknowledges that, for many, the return to the homefront is not guaranteed to be a smooth one.
Across the United States, an estimated 130,000 veterans are homeless. That’s a national embarrassment.
The Legislature should approve Christie’s proposal for Hagedorn to help keep New Jersey’s veterans off the streets.
Link to original article: blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/02/c...dorn_psychiatri.html
Published: Monday, February 27, 2012, 7:13 AM
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Homeless veterans, by definition, are difficult to find and harder to count. On any given night, it is estimated that anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 New Jersey vets find shelter in alleys and doorways, shipping containers and makeshift campsites.
As thousands more veterans arrive home from Iraq and Afghanistan during the next few years, experts say 15 percent to 20 percent may find themselves homeless — as the ravages of post-traumatic stress disorder and the realities of the weak economy take their toll.
That’s one of the reasons Gov. Chris Christie’s budget proposal to convert Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital to a transitional housing center for homeless veterans is the right idea at the right time.
Christie took heat for closing the 150-bed psychiatric hospital in Hunterdon County last year over the objections of his own task force. Critics said those beds were needed; Christie said there was ample room for those patients elsewhere.
And now we see why: The $5.6 million saved by closing Hagedorn would create the 100-bed veterans housing program, to be called Veterans Haven North because it mirrors the Veterans Haven program founded in Camden County.
Advocates for veterans in New Jersey are ecstatic, though they say the expansion amounts to playing catch-up with homeless veterans, rather than getting ahead of the game.
Nevertheless, the transitional housing — which gives homeless soldiers a place to stay for up to two years while giving them access to mental health care and social services — fills a gigantic need that will only grow as the United States winds down from two decade-long wars on foreign soil.
Veterans advocates say men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from high rates of PTSD and traumatic brain injury — a result of the desert-style guerrilla tactics waged in both countries. Those same vets might return to New Jersey to find their jobs or homes — or both — lost to the Great Recession.
We’ve asked a lot of our servicemen and servicewomen during 10 years of war. Christie’s budget proposal acknowledges that, for many, the return to the homefront is not guaranteed to be a smooth one.
Across the United States, an estimated 130,000 veterans are homeless. That’s a national embarrassment.
The Legislature should approve Christie’s proposal for Hagedorn to help keep New Jersey’s veterans off the streets.
Link to original article: blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2012/02/c...dorn_psychiatri.html
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