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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:24 am
Time: 3:24 am
Results for veterans court (u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Caron, Anne Title: Fourth Judicial District Veterans Court – Two Year Review: July 2010 – June 2012 Summary: • The Fourth Judicial District Veterans Court began in July 2010 as a voluntary problem-solving court for veteran offenders with treatable chemical dependency and/or mental health issues. It is a hybrid of the drug court and mental health court models. • Veterans Court promotes sobriety, recovery, and stability through a coordinated response that involves the cooperation and collaboration of court and probation personnel along with the addition of the VA Medical Center, VA Benefits Administration, and volunteer veteran mentors. • In its first two years of operation, 131 individuals entered Veterans Court. Nearly all (97%) are male, two-thirds are white, the average age at entry is 44 years, and nearly half have gross misdemeanor offenses. The most common offense type is gross misdemeanor DWIs (40%), followed by misdemeanor domestic offenses (20%). Nearly half (47%) have been deployed overseas at least once, most commonly to Iraq (60%). • At the end of two years, there are seventy-three active participants (56%), forty-one graduates (31%), eight individuals terminated by the Court (6%), seven who voluntarily withdrew (5%), and two who are no longer active due to other reasons (death, transfer out of state). • This review of Veterans Court includes a pre-post analysis of participants at this point in the program. A full evaluation, with a matched comparison sample, will ensue once the number of graduates reaches 100 and those graduates have one year of street-time post Veterans Court. • Since this is a program review, all goals should be considered in progress o Goal 1: Reduce criminal recidivism During the first six months after entry into Veterans Court, 83% of participants commit fewer offenses than during the six months just prior to entry. This pattern maintains through both years of data: 72% of participants who have at least 24 months post-entry commit fewer offenses than during the 24 months just prior to entering the Court (Table 6, page 17). The majority of Veterans Court participants have no new offenses while in the program, and those who do commit new offenses generally do so at a non-felony level (Table 8, page 18). o Goal 2: Promote participant sobriety Not all participants are in Veterans Court for drug or alcohol related issues: indeed only two-thirds of graduates and terminated defendants were required to take alcohol and drugs tests while in the program. Graduates test positive at a lower rate than terminated defendants do (Table 9, page 19). o Goal 3: Increase compliance with treatment and other court-ordered conditions Between two-thirds and three-fourths of all participants are ordered to complete chemical dependency treatment and/or domestic abuse programming. No graduate or active participant has failed to complete treatment, while nearly half of the non-completers do not enter treatment before terminating from the Court. More than half (57%) of graduates complete inpatient treatment while 39% of active participants do so (Table 10, page 21). If needed, active participants may be required to complete a more intensive level of treatment prior to their graduation. o Goal 4: Improve access to VA benefits and services Veterans Court works closely with a VA benefits specialist and the Hennepin County Veterans Service Office to assist participants in filing claims as needed to begin receiving benefits or to increase benefits to the level to which they are entitled. Nearly three-fourths (73%) of participants already receive benefits prior to entering the Court, while others connect while in Veterans Court (21%). A few participants (5%) are not eligible for VA benefits - for example, due to income level, dishonorable discharge status, or because they are currently active in the Guard/Reserves. o Goal 5: Improve family relationships and social support connections The Hennepin County Veterans Court has established a mentor program, in which participants are matched with veterans in the community if they so choose in order to help them navigate the court and VA Medical Center system as well as to provide support and friendship in the community. o Goal 6: Improve life stability More than half of graduates maintain or increase their level of employment from entry to graduation (Table 11, page 23). Nearly three-fourths of graduates live on their own in a private residence at both entry and exit from the program, while another 15% increase their housing stability from entry to graduation (Table 12, page 23). • Overall, participants are extremely satisfied with the services they receive through Veterans Court and its partners. On the uSPEQ® survey scores can range from one (strongly disagree) to four (strongly agree), and in both the first and second years of Veterans Court the average score on all five question categories (service responsiveness, informed choice, respect, overall value, and participation) was 3.8 or higher. Although slight, scores on all five measures increased in the second year (Table 13, page 25). Details: Minneapolis: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Fourth Judicial District Research Division, 2013. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 15, 2013 at: http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/4/Public/Research/Veterans_Court_Two_Year_Review.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/4/Public/Research/Veterans_Court_Two_Year_Review.pdf Shelf Number: 128726 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionMentally Ill OffendersProblem-Solving CourtsVeterans Court (U.S.) |