LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- In less than two months, a program that helps jailed Kentucky veterans return to the community could run out of federal money.

   The prospect has outraged the nonprofit operator and supporters of the program.

   "It makes no sense at all to kill a program that's been so successful," U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, told The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Yarmuth said he is pressing the U.S.  Department of Labor to consider continuing funding for the Incarcerated Veterans Transitional Program, a three-year pilot project operated in Kentucky by the Volunteers of America in which funding is set to expire June 30.

   Started in 2004, seven pilot projects in five states had the goal of preventing veterans from becoming homeless and returning to prison by providing a range of services, from counseling, to buying their first non prison clothes, to finding a job. Each project was funded with an annual $250,000 grant.

   Vietnam veteran Tommy Atherton, who got help from the program finding housing and medical care after his release from prison in February, said it's "a disgrace" to stop an effort that helps veterans who may have no alternative.

   "The other option is a homeless shelter," said Atherton, 56, who helps manage a residence for homeless men in Louisville. "That would be a slap in the face to people who have served in the armed forces."

   In addition to keeping vets out of prison, the program has saved taxpayers money. VOA spends about $700 to $1,200 per client to set an individual up in housing, find a job and provide other necessary services. It costs Kentucky an average of $18,000 a year to house an adult in prison.

   Kentucky's program has small offices in Louisville and Lexington, staffed by veterans, who identify and work with candidates for the program. It has served 260 veterans and only 7 percent have returned to prison compared with 57 percent of inmates released without such services, said Janie Burks, VOA president in Kentucky.

   Burks said she was shocked to learn recently that the Labor Department doesn't plan to renew the annual grant when problems with services for Iraq war veterans have been highlighted by troubles at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

   The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides some staff assistance for the program, believes it has been "very successful," said spokesman Terry Jemison.

   The possible demise of the program has alarmed Kentucky Corrections Department officials.

   "I am interested in trying to work with the Volunteers of America to locate possible alternatives (for funding), although I don't have any idea what that would be," said Charles E. Williams, who oversees programs for adult offenders. Williams said the state has limited resources for such efforts.

   Cheryl Beversdorf, president of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, said her organization is working with the federal government and lawmakers to persuade them to continue funding.  "It's a good program and it's been successful," she said.

   Beversdorf said veterans coming out of prison should get extra help because of their service to the country and because some may have obstacles to finding employment—such as mental health problems, post-traumatic stress disorder or disabilities related to military service.  "It's really important that we do something to help them," she said.

   Yarmuth said he has written to Rep. David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, seeking his support to continue funding. "Certainly, the experience in our community has been incredibly positive, and from what I understand, it's been positive everywhere it's been done," Yarmuth said.

   The homeless veterans' coalition, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., reports that there are more than 200,000 veterans who are homeless on any given night—more than 2,000 of them in Kentucky. State corrections officials said they don't track how many Kentucky inmates are veterans.

   David Thompson, an Army veteran and former social worker who works for Kentucky's program, said he has about 100 inmates scheduled to enter the program this summer—if it continues.

   "It just seems like commonsense that you don't dump a guy out of prison," he said.

   ------

   Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com

   (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)