Photo: State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr., (r.) last week gave thumbs up to the newly enacted budget for funding several veterans programs. Photo Courtesy of Sen. Addabbo’s Office.
While acknowledging that the final $142 billion budget “left a lot to be desired in some areas,” state Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) this week praised the package for funding several veterans programs, including initiatives to expand counseling and legal advocacy services; advance research into post traumatic stress disorder; retrofit housing for disabled former members of the military; and help to ensure indigent veterans are laid to rest in dignity.
“It’s a good budget overall,” Addabbo said on Tuesday at the general meeting of Community Board 9. “It’s a great budget for veterans.”
According to Addabbo, a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security, a total of $3.2 million was provided through the Office of Mental Health for the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer to Peer Pilot Program, which operates counseling programs at 12 sites in upstate New York, Long Island, and other areas outside the city. In addition to the $2.2 million allocated for the existing sites, $1 million was set aside to expand the program to other areas, yet to be determined.
“I intend to continue working on steering this funding to New York City and enable some of our local veterans to receive beneficial counseling services from fellow former servicemen and women,” Addabbo said. “I intend to advocate for this support in the Senate throughout the remainder of the legislative session.”
Other supportive programs for veterans included in the budget: an $800,000 appropriation for the Research and Recognition Project, which seeks to provide treatment for veterans with PTSD and also works to further scientific research into the disorder; a $500,000 appropriation for the New York State Defenders Association “Veterans Defense Program” to provide legal assistance and advocacy for veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and other illnesses when they become involved with the family court and criminal justice system; $19.6 million, to be provided out of J.P. Morgan financial settlement funds received by the state, to support the Access to Home for Heroes Program. The initiative, Addabbo said, will make grants to groups to retrofit housing for disabled veterans; and a $250,000 appropriation for the American Legion Department of New York Indigent Burial Expenses program to help ensure that destitute veterans are laid to rest with dignity.
Addabbo added that more than $1 billion, administered by several state agencies, has been targeted to address homelessness, which is a serious problem among veterans in the state and across the country.
“Hopefully, we will be able to make continuing progress in reaching out to veterans who, for any number of reasons, no longer have a roof over their head and need a safe, decent place to call home,” Addabbo said.
