Compensated Work Therapy Connects Veterans with Life-Changing Opportunities
VA’s Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) Program is a clinical vocational rehabilitation program designed to give Veterans with physical and mental health challenges an opportunity to gain life-changing work experience.
Through CWT’s partnerships with business, industry and government agencies, Veterans can be matched with jobs that allow them to build a resume, establish connections and learn skills to become competitive in the job market.
Program participants are compensated for their time, but more importantly, they are given an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and overcome any barriers they have that might turn away potential employers.
Army Veteran Calvin Watson knows firsthand how transformative the CWT program can be. While serving in the Army in the early 1980’s, Watson began DJing at local clubs in Seattle where he was exposed to drugs like cocaine.
“That environment introduced me to drugs, and I really spiraled,” he said. “I started committing crimes I never imagined I was capable of to support my addiction.”
Eventually, the Army served Watson with an article 15 and separated him from the service. The state of Washington gave him the option to serve time or leave the state. His mom bought him a one-way ticket home to Washington D.C., where he hoped family support would help him get clean. But his addiction followed Watson wherever he went.
“I got a job and was trying to build a life, but I was still struggling with substance abuse,” said Watson. “Two years after returning home, my mother called me to go with her somewhere. I had been out on a binge of using and didn’t want to ride with her, so I said no. It was the last time I heard her voice. She was killed tragically in a car accident that day.”
The guilt Watson felt sent him on another spiral. He was picked up for selling a small amount of drugs to an undercover cop and, because of prior offenses, sentenced to ten years in prison in 1988. He was released in 1992 but, still struggling to overcome his addiction, he was sent back in 1998 for another drug charge.
Watson attended several rehabilitation programs throughout the 80’s and 90’s but it wasn’t until after his release in 2004 that he started to see a better future through the VA’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse Recovery Program at the Washington DC VA Medical Center.
“I had my hiccups here and there, But I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to work, and I needed help in understanding how important work was to my recovery,” he said.
In 2015, Watson heard about the CWT program and decided to apply. His first position was in the kitchen at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. He took pride in the work he did there and built a reputation as a reliable employee who was always willing to take on extra responsibilities.
A prior charge that had been pending sent him back to a federal facility in Washington D.C. for four months, but as soon as he was out, Watson went straight back to CWT to ask for work. He credits his case manager and the CWT team for giving him another chance and always advocating for him.
“Each time I asked CWT for an opportunity, they gave me one. I showed them I was working to better myself by getting charges expunged and annulled. I was taking every opportunity to earn certifications or take classes, and they advocated for me,” he said.
Watson earned his Commercial Driver’s License and took on the role of patient escort. When a new program opened in the sterile processing lab, he was the first choice to join the team. As supervisors at the Medical Center took note of Watson’s work ethic, doors opened for him in specialty clinics around the facility.
“CWT gets you physically and mentally ready to succeed if you’re willing to work for it. They provide a blueprint to success and all the tools needed to achieve your goals,” he said. “I would not be where I am today without the CWT program.”
As Watson’s time in CWT came to an end, he took a class to become a Certified Peer Support Specialist and was approached by the Chief of Veteran Advocacy with an opportunity to become a permanent government employee.
“He said they wanted me for the position, but it didn’t pay much. I told him it wasn’t about the money for me. I just wanted to work for the federal government,” said Watson.
Watson took the job and has continued to advance within the Washington DC VA Medical Center ever since. He was serving as a medical support assistant in the call center where a call came in that would change his trajectory.
“A Veteran was looking for help with substance abuse,” said Watson. I shared my experience and gave him hope as someone who had been there and benefited from the resources I was connecting him to. We cried on the phone together and I realized that day God was using me to do more.”
Today, Watson has found his ultimate calling as a Peer Support Specialist with the Substance Addiction Recovery Program. He’s not ashamed of his past, and uses it to help other Veterans see a path to hope. He also uses his success with CWT to encourage Veterans to give the program a try.
“CWT works. Despite all the barriers to federal employment I had to overcome as an ex-offender and recovering drug addict, now I can sit across from Veterans, as a clinical worker, and help them build a better life,” he said. “I just needed an opportunity to show that I had more to offer than my record and CWT gave me that opportunity.”
Employment is a critical protective factor against suicide, homelessness and substance use. CWT is a vital employment and therapeutic work program assisting Veterans with job barriers faced from mental health or physical disabilities. All VA Medical Centers offer a CWT program. Learn how you can connect with one here: Compensated Work Therapy - Veterans Health Administration (va.gov)