BOP Rolls Out Veterans-Only Housing at Federal Prison in Texas
In an article published by the Vanguard at Berkeley on October 15, 2023, a new program was reported at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, Texas: A dorm exclusively for prisoners who are veterans of the U.S. military.
Federal prisoner Randall Morris, 57, said the program was announced in April 2023. He described it as “an honor unit” with heightened conduct standards and expectations. Prisoners housed there also get “special veterans programming” as well as “community re-entry emphasis/assistance” and “veterans only benefits and amenities.”
“Most of these benefits and amenities are token but, in a prison environment, they are substantial,” added Morris, a veteran himself.
The new program is a prototype not yet available in other lockups operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). However, prisoner/veterans there do not have the opportunity to participate in one of 22 dog-training programs BOP operates at other prisons, Morris noted. That means those programs’ therapeutic benefits are also not available to veterans, though they face a higher suicide risk than other prisoners.
The state Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) opened its first Veterans Re-entry Dorm at Travis State Jail in July 2014. Harris County opened a similar unit at its jail in Houston in February 2019.
Sources: Houston Chronicle, Vanguard at Berkeley
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