The recent rooftop protest by a man despairing of being homeless on release has now been reduced by the bureaucratic machine to the phrase "an incident at height".
Factually correct, but utterly failing to capture either the drama or the despair.
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Sad story on Prisoners Families Voices about an ex serviceman finding himself in the same situation. He ended up "hungry and homeless".
ReplyDeleteSo much for re-settlement...
There is quite a high proportion of ex servicemen in prisons, not sure of the figure, but I think it is around 20% of the prison population. Ben or anyone else, correct me if I am wrong about that.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a high proportion of ex servicemen homeless on the streets and in hostels.
This reality rarely gets mentioned, especially at recruitment fairs, its all: get a 'career', get a 'skill', get a 'profession', hmmmm ...
Yes it is shocking about the number of ex-service people who are homeless etc. The trouble is, they often go into the services very young and when they leave, just like some prisoners who have never learned to live independently, have to fend for themselves in a way they didn't need to before. Many struggle and turn to drugs and alcohol; it is a disgrace when they have served their country and support is not forthcoming in return.
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