San Antonio serving veterans: county commissioner gets updates on support programs

SAN ANTONIO - Commissioner's Court received an update on veterans' services from helping them transition into the civilian workforce.

The Department of Military and Veterans Services says this year it's helped more than 337 service members from all branches of the military.

It has helped them get a *living-wage *paying job - and a salary averaging about 65 thousand a year.

The top three industries include government, automotive, I.T, and cyber security.

Commissioners also received an update on a 'specialty court' helping veterans

In one year, the court was able to serve 179 veterans with 118 graduating from the program, although 3 were unsuccessful.

Judge Erica Dominguez showed the court that throughout the time of the court's existence, there's been an upward trend of services needed.

To help accommodate the growing need, they loosened the eligibility requirements.

There's also been an increase in crimes committed by veterans, most of those crimes being D.W.I.

"These are veterans at their lowest point. These are veterans we are hearing in the news that are either doing suicide by cop, or they're getting shot by police, because they're suffering a mental health episode at that moment. P.T.S.D., they're manic, these are veterans that need that immediate intervention"

In Texas, Bexar County is one of 31 counties to offer a veteran treatment court, 37 additional counties are been served through these courts.

County Commissioner Tommy Calvert pledged to offer private foundation funding to support the program.