House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Holds Roundtable on Veterans’ Treatment Courts

Discussion Focuses on Successful Courts Aiming to Leave No Veteran Behind

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, September 16, 2009, Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) led a roundtable discussion on judicial courts that only hear cases involving veterans and provide judges greater latitude in sentencing for non-violent crimes.  Modeled after drug and mental health treatment courts, judges are able to order counseling, substance abuse treatment, mentoring, job training, housing assistance, and job placement services as alternatives to incarceration.  With both Democratic and Republican Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee in attendance, participants discussed their efforts to help veterans avoid jail by connecting them to necessary treatment and support.  

“Today’s roundtable is intended to open up the broader thought process of how to help veterans fully integrate into society after service in the military,” said Chairman Filner.  “I believe that we have a social responsibility to help those who have served our nation.  We failed our veterans after their service in Vietnam and we cannot fail again.  Veterans’ treatment courts provide an opportunity for a more humane response to those that bring the war home with them.  We sent these kids to war – and war has affected their mental and psychological condition.  Providing support for returning veterans is an obligation we owe to those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”

Currently, Veterans’ Treatment Courts operate in New York, Alaska, California, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, with other states working to establish similar programs.  Highlights of the different courts include partnering veterans with mentors who are veterans, appointing public defenders who encourage active veteran participation in the court room, ensuring that veterans get the appointments they need for VA services, and addressing underlying problems like substance use, unemployment and homelessness.  Judges relayed that their goal is to run a demanding program that requires personal responsibility and renewed discipline.  Defendants are veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, Desert Storm, Vietnam, and even the Korean War.  Participants noted that the costs of veterans’ courts are significantly lower than the costs of incarceration.   

“These courts save money, but more importantly, they save lives,” said Chairman Filner.  “Nearly two million veterans have returned from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Often, veterans struggle to adjust to the sudden loss of military camaraderie.  Some return with anxiety, post-traumatic stress, or other psychological wounds of war and may self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.  Others return with physical injuries that require prescription drugs that can lead to addiction.  When veterans suffer from substance dependency disease, jobs are lost, marriages tested, and families suffer.  Understandably, illegal actions can result in less than honorable discharges from the military – but then these veterans are prevented from accessing the VA services they so obviously need.  I applaud the hard work and healing spirit of the experts here today.   As veterans graduate from these programs, our grateful nation stands behind them and celebrates their bravery once again.”   

Participants

·       Honorable Robert T. Russell, Jr., Judge, Buffalo City Court, Buffalo, New York
·       Patrick William Welch, Ph.D., Director, Erie County Veterans Service Agency, Buffalo, New York
·       Jack O’Connor, Mentor Coordinator, Veterans Court Mentoring Program, Buffalo, New York
·       Jennifer P. Stergion, Esq., Chair, Committee on Veterans and Service-Members Legal Issues, Buffalo, New York
·       C. “West” Huddleston, III, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Drug Court Professionals
·       Honorable Michael E. McCarthy, Judge, Civil Division, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
·       Honorable Charles V. Romani, Jr., Circuit Judge, Madison County Circuit Court, Edwardsville, Illinois
·       William F. Feeley, MSW, FACHE, Director, VA Medical Center, Buffalo, New York
·       George P. Basher, Health System Specialist for the VA Healthcare Network (VISN2), Albany, New York

Prepared testimony and a link to a recording of the hearing are available on the internet at this link:  http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx?newsid=464.