Veterans treatment courts have helped thousands of former service members get much needed help for addiction and mental health problems rather than being incarcerated. Strict eligibility criteria, difficulty identifying veterans in the justice system, and a limited number of courts combine to turn away many veterans who most need their services, according to veterans' advocates, reports Law360. Those advocates are trying to change how the courts operate to ensure that no veteran in need falls through the cracks. "This is not radical. This is about giving a veteran who raised their right hand to serve the United States a hand up, not a handout," said retired U.S. Army Colonel D.J. Reyes, who mentors veteran defendants in Florida. "They made a mistake. Does that mean we just throw them in prison with no rehab or treatment?"
Hundreds of diversionary courts intended for criminal defendants who served in the military have sprung up since the first veterans treatment court, or VTC, was established in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2008. VTCs integrate the criminal justice system, the Veterans Administration, drug treatment programs, community organizations and veteran mentors to offer help and services rather than incarceration to former service members who run into trouble with the law due to substance abuse or mental health issues. A growing number of veterans need that help, according to experts, who blame that increase on post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, addiction, military sexual trauma and difficulty readjusting to civilian life after repeated deployments during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One in three veterans report having been arrested, according to the Council on Criminal Justice's Veterans Justice Commission. Around 181,000 veterans are currently behind bars, says All Rise, a nonprofit that provides training and best practices for specialized treatment court programs. VTCs help 15,000 veterans each year, says Scott Tirocchi of Justice for Vets, All Rise's veterans court division.
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