A proposal by the O'Malley administration to help returning war veterans deal with emotional and psychological problems triggered by their service got a sympathetic hearing yesterday, but key legislators warned that the state might lack the money to meet what all agreed is a critical need.
Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, an Army Reserve officer who did a tour in Iraq in 2005, told members of the Senate Finance Committee that the state needs to help veterans suffering from brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, which are contributing to high rates of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, joblessness, homelessness and family breakups.
"In a perfect world, the federal government would assume full responsibility for the care of our veterans, providing for their health needs, their behavioral and mental health needs," he said. "We don't live in a perfect world, and veterans are falling through the cracks when it comes to behavioral and mental health services."
The administration has proposed spending $3.5 million next year on a pilot program to provide state-financed crisis intervention and assistance in getting federal services.
Brown said suicides among active-duty soldiers are at their highest level since the Army began keeping records in 1980. Many returning veterans suffer from brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental-health conditions or illnesses, he added.
The federal Veterans Affairs health care system was unprepared and has been overwhelmed by the surge in such problems, Brown said.
More than 10,000 Marylanders have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials estimate, and another 5,000 are expected to return home by the end of this year. About 20 percent of the veterans hail from rural areas, far from the VA clinics and hospitals they need access to in dealing with a crisis or chronic problem.
Following Brown were two Marylanders who offered personal testimony about the psychological wounds of war. Connie Walker, a retired Navy captain from Leonardtown, recounted how her son, Michael, now 29, returned from Iraq with illness so severe he cannot live by himself. But the nearest VA hospital, in Baltimore, is a two-hour drive from home.
Edward Robinson, 35, a former Navy medic, told lawmakers that his marriage broke up, he's been unable to keep or find a job and is now living with a friend in Annapolis as he grapples with schizophrenia.
Sen. Thomas "Mac" Middleton, chairman of the panel and a Charles County Democrat, joined other lawmakers in thanking them for their service. But with the state still in a fiscal pinch, he said, legislative leaders are unwilling to pass any costly new programs.
"There's just some things that we will not be able to do," he said.
tim.wheeler@baltsun.com