Orange County creates special jail inmate housing module for military veterans
A special housing unit for select jail inmates who previously served in the military will open this week at the Theo Lacy Facility, Orange County sheriff’s officials announced Monday.
The 32-bed housing module is adorned with patriotic-themed murals, large televisions and flags representing each branch of the military. The goal is offer incarcerated veterans resources like financial planning classes and employment workshops to help decrease the likelihood of the inmates returning to custody once released.
It’s also a way to help those who have served the country, officials said.
It will officially open Thursday when inmates start living in the newly adorned housing unit.
“It’s a concept that has been done across the country,” Sheriff Don Barnes told reporters at a media event at the Orange jail on Monday. The cinder block walls have been painted by Deputy Joe Devela with scenes such as the iconic Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.
Before creating the unit in Orange County, deputies visited jails in Arizona and San Diego where they saw low recidivism rates, sheriff’s officials said.
“We hope to emulate that as well,” Barnes said.
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One of the features in the new housing unit is that the deputies working there are veterans themselves.
One of them, Zachery Stauffer, has been with the sheriff’s department for about one year. Before that he was an active-duty Marine for six years.
“All of the deputies here, we can kind of relate to (veteran inmates),” Stauffer said while standing in the housing module. “We’re all brothers and sisters.”
Those who want to be housed in the Housing Unit for Military Veterans, or HUMV, have to meet special criteria — such as not being violent — and have to agree to participate in the programs, many run by groups such as Working Wardrobes, the Department of Veteran Affairs and Rancho Santiago Community College.
Apart from programs, there are some day to day perks like larger televisions, game-room style tables instead of permanent stainless steel ones and more time out of the cells and in the common area.
Female inmates can also participate in the educational and services programs though a housing unit has not been created for women. Barnes says it’s a possibility if there’s enough of a population for it.
One of the module’s soon-to-be resident inmates, Garret F., served in Afghanistan and Iraq, took shrapnel to the body and earned three Purple Hearts.
“I got out of the military and I just was lost,” the 39-year-old said. “I needed something to fill that void, that adrenaline rush and I found it in drugs.”
Those choices landed him in jail but he calls the veterans housing unit and resources a second chance.
“Because of (Garret’s) service, because of how he served his country we’re going to serve him and we’re going to give back to him,” Barnes said.
The veteran is hoping the substance abuse resources will help him get his life together as he works to finish the remaining 21 months of his drug-related sentence.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said, adding that he looks forward to talking with others with similar experiences.
Sheriff’s authorities say they hope once veterans leave jail they carry on the relationships they’ve built in their specialized housing unit and use it like a support system.
“It’s a blessing in disguise.”