El Paso County Reaches Out to Veterans and Military Familes

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the 50th Anniversary of the The Retired Enlisted Association (TREA) dinner with my husband, Welling Clark. In addition to being presented with a challenge coin and a certificate of appreciation, I was able to share with those in attendance, the work we are doing in El Paso County and the Pikes Peak region to assist and support our military famlies and veterans. Here are just some of the efforts being made to offer the needed resources to our men and women in uniform who are serving and have served our country so admirably.

El Paso County is proud to be home to five military installations and we have many partnerships and programs in place to ensure that both our veterans and active duty members of the military (more than 75,000) are proud to call El Paso County home. Approximately 1/3 of our area's 640,000+ population is related to the military in some way.

The El Paso County Veteran's Services Office is the busiest and most productive County Veterans Services office in Colorado with more than 8,500 office visits in 2012.  It is a recognized leader in assisting residents of the State of Colorado who served honorably in any branch of the U.S. military as well as their families.  While the County Veteran's Services offices were established by Colorado State law, the Board of El Paso County Commissioners has a proven record of providing sufficient local funding (over $250,000/year) and staff support to keep this office among the top performing offices in the nation in terms of securing for local veterans and their families the benefits they have earned through military service.  In 2011 more than $350 million dollars was received by the veterans and dependents for disability and death payments.

The El Paso County Department of Human Services has a Child Support Program for members of the military. Through a federal grant child support staff works directly with Schriever and Peterson Air Force Bases, the Air Force Academy, and Fort Carson staff and service members to provide enhanced child support services to active duty service members and their families.  The El Paso County Department of Human Services (DHS) also created the Child Welfare Military Unit which is specifically focused on collaborating with our local military installations to protect children in military families by providing appropriate services for military families.  About 7-10% of the referrals DHS receives involve an active duty member of the military. Through the forged relationships and consistency in caseworkers, DHS is better able to serve these military families, our national heroes, with the focus of protecting children and keeping the families intact. The military has also been an extremely active and critical partner in the "Not One More Child Coalition and Initiative" which I started and co-chair with 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May, in coordination with the Department of Human Services. Our primary goal is a proactive approach to child abuse prevention with the goal of not seeing one more child in El Paso County die due to abuse or neglect. We have developed a multifaceted program and educational video through this initiative.  

The 4th Judicial District which covers both El Paso and Teller counties, created a Veterans Court, which provides an alternative to incarceration for U.S. military veterans with trauma spectrum disorders who have been charged with a lower level felony.  With the permission of the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office, eligible veterans are moved from the traditional courtroom environment into the Veterans Court. Program participants agree to actively engage in treatment and counseling, make regular court appearances, and are carefully supervised. Program staff assists participating veterans in accessing mental health and or substance abuse treatment, and connect them to educational, housing, and employment resources.

The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments (PPACG) which encompasses El Paso, Teller and Park counties, continues to work with the region's military leadership and local jurisdictions to address the effects of such rapid growth on the surrounding community, including the development of the Fort Carson Regional Growth Plan, a comprehensive analysis of the broad range of impacts of ongoing growth and deployments and ensure quality of life in the region as Fort Carson’s population doubled over the last 7 years. Through PPACG, the region has the Network of Care for Service Members, Veterans and their Families.  This web site provides the military and veteran community with a one-stop source of information and referrals on a wide range of issues including housing, education, employment, and mental and physical health; traffic on this website has quadrupled since its launch in May 2011.  Following an assessment report that drilled down on the behavioral health, social services, employment and reintegration needs of active duty military, veterans and their families, PPACG, in partnership with the National Homeland Defense Foundation and many other entities in the region, established the Peak Military Care Network (PMCN) to provide an integrated system of care for military members, veterans, and their families. This coordinating effort ensures that all former and current members of the military and their families receive the highest standard of care for their behavioral health, social services and community integration needs.


  Partnerships between the El Paso County Commissioners, Sheriff and Fort Carson leadership were were thrilled to create the Cheyenne Mountain Shooting Complex which opened just last month. The Cheyenne Mountain Shooting Complex is a joint project between the U.S. Army, El Paso County, the El Paso County Sheriff and the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.  The 400 acre site sits on Army land near Interstate 25 just off mile marker 132 and will be used as a training facility for our local law enforcement as well as a range for the public and military to enjoy.
  
The Pikes Peak Work Force Center administered through El Paso and Teller counties has six veteran employment specialists, all veterans themselves, on staff who assist veterans and transitioning service members in their job search. The Pikes Peak Work Force Center has trained more than 100 veterans over the last 12 months in high demand occupations through the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs, administered by the PPWFC.   The Pikes Peak Work Force Center delivers a federal job search workshop designed to educate veterans on special federal hiring authorities designed to make the hiring of veterans more attractive to federal agencies. Last year more than 6,000 veterans visited the PPWFC, and more than 5,000 were matched and referred to a job vacancy.   The Pikes Peak Work Force Center sponsors an annual “Hire Vets First” job fair every November around the Veterans Day holiday. The Pikes Peak Work Force Center collaborates with the military base transition offices at our local military bases, assisting our service members in their transition to the civilian workforce. The Pikes Peak Work Force Center regularly visits the Crawford House Homeless Veterans Shelter and provides employment assistance to our community’s homeless veterans.The Pikes Peak Work Force Center connects veterans with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, often through the El Paso County Veteran Service Office, so veterans can apply for health, education and disability benefits they may not be aware of but are entitled to receive.  

These are just some of the efforts we, as a region, do to reach out to our military, veterans and service member families. We will continue to serve those who protect our freedoms each and everyday.

*Commissioner Clark also serves on the National Association of Counties (NACo) Veterans and Military Services Committee and is a military wife of Navy veteran, Welling Clark.

Commissioner Sallie Clark participates in NACo Smart Justice Symposium

This week, I had the chance to build on my participation with National Association of Counties (NACo) and explored justice and public safety priorities such as juvenile justice reform, workforce development, jail population management and related jail heathcare issues at the 2013 Smart Justice Symposium, held Jan 31-Feb. 1.
Hosted by Los Angeles County, our NACo Justice and Public Safety (JPS) Committee discussed these critical priorities with justice and public safety experts from across the country and considered how county officials can best shape federal policies and funding levels to ensure that services for communities are efficient and effective.

Seven sessions were held over the two days addressing:

• Latest innovations and successes on juvenile justice reform
• Pretrial justice programs and how they can improved public safety and help counties better manage jail populations
• Workforce development plan and strategies to curb recidivism
• New national health care law and how it relates to county jail populations strategies to curb child sex trafficking
• Relationships between counties and their state in the management of jail populations

The Smart Justice Symposium is part of NACo President Chris Rodgers' presidential Smart Justice initiative which aims to build knowledge and capacity for successful justice policies and practices among the nation's counties. It also provides a closer examination of the need for intergovernmental collaboration and public partnerships in an effort to create safer communities and spend taxpayer money more effectively.

The NACo Smart Justice Symposium builds on the focus of NACo's Justice and Public Safety platform and legislative agenda. The opportunity to hear directly from experts on many of the critical justice and public safety issues affecting counties across the country and the critical matters explored at the meeting will improve and enhance public safety in states and local communities.

In my role as NACo's JPS Court Subcommittee Chair, I participated in panel discussions and facilitated a workshop and conversation on pretrial services, offering alternative sentencing options that can help to reduce jail populations. In addition, along with our chair of the JPS Committee Nancy Schouweiler, Commissioner from Dakota County, MN, I was able to tour a portion of the Los Angeles County jail facility whose Sheriff's Department and County Supervisors are responsible for housing approximately 18,000 inmates at various locations with a budget of nearly $3 billion per year. LA Supervisor Don Knabe and Sheriff Lee Baca both presented at the Symposium.  To see a full agenda of the Smart Justice Symposium, visit www.naco.org

*Commissioner Clark serves on the NACo Justice and Public Safety Committee as the Court Subcommittee Chair.

LOCAL AND STATE COLLABORATION WORKS TO SECURE FUNDING FOR COLORADO' S POST-FIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS




Highway 24 West after the July 30th storm event post Waldo Canyon Fire

A collaborative effort which includes the Board of the El Paso County Commissioners has sent a letter to all members of the Colorado Congressional delegation urging them to support $19.8 million in requested funding for Colorado Emergency Watershed Protection. The Supplemental Appropriation for Disaster Assistance legislation under consideration in the House of Representatives supports recovery for Super Storm Sandy but does not include funding for mitigation efforts in the disastrous Waldo Canyon and High Park wildfires in Colorado.

We have been working collectively behind the scenes to secure additional funding for fire mitigation. To date, El Paso County and Colorado Springs have received approximately 1.2 million in Emergency Watershed Protection dollars to fund necessary project and protect precious lives and properties in eminent danger of flooding post fire. But that amount is far short of the amount approved for our state and necessary for both Waldo Canyon and High Park restoration efforts to prevent and reduce future flooding due to the burn scar areas. Be assured that there is a collaborative effort in communicating our local concerns to both our State and Congressional delegation.

The letter highlights urgent needs in areas affected by the Waldo Canyon burn scar including:

*El Paso County is working with private landowners, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), School District 14 and others to protect the City of Manitou Springs and Highway 24 West from significant erosion and flooding issues which also threaten lives and property in the Ute Pass areas of Chipita Park and Cascade.

*The City of Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities need additional funding to reduce flooding, sedimentation and debris flow impacts on facilities critical to collecting, storing and conveying raw drinking water to approximately 70% of city residents.

*Additionally, the Navigators and Flying W Ranch need additional funds to protect public and private facilities, including significant historic structures such as Glen Eyrie Castle.
If EWP funding for the Colorado wildfire recovery not included by amendment to Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance the process will become much more difficult and the outcome more uncertain.

In addition to the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners, the Colorado Springs Mayor’s Office, Colorado Springs City Council, Regional Business Alliance, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Larimer County Commissioners, City of Greeley, Town of Green Mountain Falls, City of Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Counties Inc., and the Colorado Municipal League are all signatories on the letter.