TOPEKA (AP) — Soldiers in Kansas can get free hunting and fishing licenses and extra time to pay their taxes when they’re deployed. The state will even give their families $1,000 to help them through rough financial times.
But after several years of enacting laws to help soldiers, veterans and their families, legislators and other state officials are turning their attention to the long-term mental health of veterans who’ve survived combat and are still struggling with its effects.
“There is a real concern that we’re going to have another generation of homeless veterans on the street corners,” said Chuck Ingoglio of the National Council for Behavioral Healthcare.
But like their counterparts across the nation, Rep. Lee Tafanelli said, Kansas legislators are still trying to figure out just how big the state’s safety nets will have to be. The Ozawkie Republican, a Kansas National Guard colonel, spent a year in Iraq commanding an engineer battalion.
“I think the state has made every effort to try to come up with new ways and new funding for veterans, veterans programs and families,” he said. “New challenges are emerging that just didn’t exist at the front end, and we need to transition into looking more long term.”
While Ingoglio said it’s good states are trying to help military personnel, veterans and their families, their programs so far have been “gap fillers.”
“The primary responsibility for the related health care services does fall to the Veterans Administration,” Ingoglio said.
In Kansas, state officials have started planning a counseling and support center for soldiers and their families and an expansion of mental health services. Their discussions include National Guard and Fort Riley leaders.
“There are going to be significant issues that were probably not dealt with terribly effectively in prior engagements,” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said. “We’re going to have soldiers and Guardsmen who have been deployed two and three times, which present a whole series of issues that haven’t been there in the past.”
Terry Howell, an analyst with Military.com, said state responses thus far range from comprehensive programs to “a Laurel and Hardy handshake” to support veterans dealing with the effects of war.
“It’s hard to put things in general terms because it’s hit and miss. Some have done virtually nothing at all,” Howell said. “In the long run, states are trying to do what’s left over.”
