By Charles A. Reid III, Esq.
The goals of the Veterans Treatment Court are: 1) Reduce recidivism; 2) Stabilize mental health and increase compliance with treatment; 3) Facilitate participant sobriety; 4) Improve access to VA benefits and services; 5) Achieve stable housing; 6) Improve family relationships and social support connections; 7) Improve employment and/or educational status (Norfolk 1).
To see if the Veterans Treatment Courts have been effective in meeting the goals of the Court, I interviewed three veterans who had been charged with different crimes and ended up in Veterans Treatment Court in California. The focus of the interview was whether the Court had achieved its goals in the eyes of the veterans. The three veterans who were willing to participate in the interviews were perfect examples to study. I have changed their names to protect their privacy to Norm, John and Jimmy. Norm chose not to go through the program (Norm). John had a good, but not perfect experience going through the program (John). And Jimmy, the most important interviewee, had a bad opinion of his experience with the Court, at least until the interview ended (Jimmy). Before I even began the actual questioning in the interview, I made sure that I built some trust with the veterans.
I am a three-tour veteran of Iraq. I was wounded in Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury where I took shrapnel to both my legs and back. After returning home, I faced many of the same challenges as the three veterans whom I interviewed. I have PTSD and have had problems with alcohol abuse. My issues with PTSD led to my being in Court on charges. The only difference was that there wasn’t a Veterans Treatment Court in Massachusetts at the time. At the onset of the interview, I discussed my experiences with the veteran. It was convenient that all three of the veterans that I interviewed were in the same battalion in the Marines as myself. We were just there at separate times. This had a wonderful affect by opening the veteran up to being able to speak honestly with me. As I have stated before, veterans respond better with other veterans (Russell 131). I went further to make sure that I expressed my appreciation for giving me their time. They all responded in like manner, “No problem. You’re one of my 3/1 brothers. I got your back (Norm, John, Jimmy).”
I started by asking general background questions. My first focus was each of the veteran’s family life. I wanted to know about the support system that the veteran had before his service and after, along with the support the veteran might have received going through the Veterans Treatment Court.
Following the family questions, I focused on the veteran’s education. I wanted to understand how much of the process the veteran could understand and if that affected the outcome or feelings the veteran had towards the Court after the process. This included inquiring about whether the veteran had a lawyer or felt the he needed and should have had a lawyer. I wanted to know if the Veterans Treatment Court was equipped to fairly give an uneducated veteran due process and to allow him to make intelligent and rational decisions, as well as aid in his own defense throughout the process. Did the veteran think the outcome would have been different because of any of these factors?
My next set of questions were about the veteran’s employment history. I wanted to know if they were in an unfavorable economic situation. Did economic stress play a factor in the incidents that occurred leading to the veterans being in the Court? Were family members of the veterans having financial problems leading to family stress? I also inquired as to how well the veterans thought the U.S. Marine Corps prepared them to leave the military. This turned out to be a major factor in the problems of John and Jimmy as I will discuss in a later part of this series.
At that point, I brought up what I believe are the major factors in each of the veterans’ cases. I asked what was going on in the period about a month before the incidents that brought the veterans to Court. It is important to know each of the veterans’ mental state leading to the incident and any other factors that may have played a role in the incident including relationship issues, economic issues, health issues both physical and mental, other contributing factors and whether the veteran had help and support from services or family and friends. To understand the need for a Veterans Treatment Court, it is imperative to understand what is going on with the veteran. Only then can the Court provide a solution or sets of solutions.
I was inevitably led to have each veteran describe the incidents in question. What happened? How were you feeling? What was everyone else involved doing? How did it affect them? How did it affect you? Was it your fault? Whose fault was it? Do you regret it? Are you glad it happened?
I established what charges the veteran was facing. Were these charges proper for a problem solving or treatment court? I believe they were, but there must be a line drawn before we get a reduced sentence for an extremely violent offender. I would find out from further research what the actual criteria to screen those cases is. I will discuss it later when going over how the Norfolk Veterans Treatment Court program works. Before conducting these interviews, I knew almost nothing about the Veterans Treatment Courts. I only knew they even existed because Norm has been a long-time friend of mine going back to 2004 in the Marine Corps and he had discussed the incident when it occurred. I relied a lot on what the veterans knew to guide me with unanticipated questions that would need answering.
So, I asked, “How did you get to Veterans Treatment Court?” From there, we discussed how the program was explained to the veteran and whether they understood what was really going on. I had them explain why they chose to go or not to go through the program.
John and Jimmy then described the experiences they had while going through the program. For Norm, the interview jumped over describing the experience because Norm chose not to go through the program (Norm). Norm and John started by describing the program in general. Once I had a good understanding of what the program was like, I had them walk me through the experiences of each phase of the program. I had them describe the treatment programs. They told me about whether they got into trouble in the programs and the consequences of discipline. Every time the veteran described another experience within the whole experience, I asked about how it was making him feel and if it was having any other effects on him. Did the veterans have support from family and friends while going through the program? What were the effects of the requirements of the program? How did having to meet those requirements affect outside life?
To close the interviews, I focused on whether the veteran was satisfied with the outcome. Did the veteran get the help he needed? Did he regret going to the Veterans Treatment Court? Would he do it again if he faced more charges? Would the veteran recommend the program to other veterans?
Each interview ended in the same manner. I thanked him for allowing me to interview him. Then I said, “Besides all of this, if you ever need to talk to someone, you call me day or night.”
They each replied, “And the same for you.”
Continued…
(In Part C: The Interviews: Norm, I will discuss Norm’s interview as he chose not to enter the program. However, his story allows for us to look at the initial stages of the Veterans Treatment Court and the decisions that must be made by the veteran at those early stages.)
Jimmy. “Jimmy Interview.” Telephone interview. 9 Oct. 2015.
John. “John Interview.” Telephone interview. 5 Oct. 2015.
Norfolk County Veterans Treatment Court Information Packet. Norfolk: Mass.Gov. 1-4. Print.
Norm. “Norm Interview.” Telephone interview. 2 Oct. 2015.
Russell, Robert. “Veterans Treatment Courts Developing Throughout the Nation.” Improving Outcomes and Services in a Tight Economy: 130-32. Resources for Court Professionals. Justice for Vets. Web.
