The 10 Key Components of Veteran’s Treatment Court

Presented by: The Honorable Robert Russell

•Veterans Treatment Courts have adopted with slight modifications the essential tenements of the Ten Key Components as described in the U.S. Department of Justice Publication entitled “Defining Drug Courts: The Ten Key Components”, (Jan. 1997).

Key Component # 1

Integrates alcohol, drug treatment, mental

health treatment, medical services with

justice system case processing

•Veterans Treatment Court promotes sobriety, recovery and stability through a

coordinated response to veteran’s dependency on alcohol, drugs, and/or management of their mental illness.

Key Component # 2

Using a non-adversarial approach,

prosecution and defense promote public

safety while protecting participants' due

process rights

To facilitate the veterans’ progress in treatment, the prosecutor and defense counsel shed their traditional adversarial courtroom relationship and work together as a team.

Key Component # 3

Eligible participants are identified early

and promptly placed

•Early identification of veterans entering the criminal justice system is an integral part of the process for placement in the Veterans Treatment Court program.

•The trauma of arrest can be an opportunity for the veteran to address denial issues.

Key Component # 4

Access to a continuum of alcohol, drug,

mental health and rehabilitation services

•Participants in Veterans Treatment Court may have different levels of need in a wide variety of service domains.

•Issues such as PTSD, TBI, Domestic Violence and homelessness may need to be assessed and addressed.

•Mentors

Key Component # 5

Abstinence is monitored by frequent alcohol

and drug testing

•Court ordered drug testing

•Frequent

•Random

•Use of results

Drug Testing

Key Component # 6

Coordinated strategy governs Court’s

responses to participants' compliance

Incentives and Sanctions

•Coordinated strategy establishes protocols for rewarding progress as well as sanctioning non-compliance.

Key Component # 7

Ongoing judicial interaction with each

Veteran is essential

•Judge as leader of the team.

•Continuity of relationship between judge and veteran

•Relationship from acceptance in program throughout treatment and commencement and aftercare

•The message is “Someone in authority cares”

Key Component # 8

Monitoring and evaluation measure the

achievement of program goals and gauge

effectiveness

Program Monitoring

•Measures progress against goals

•Results are used to monitor progress

•Results are used to improve operations

Key Component # 9

Continuing interdisciplinary education

promotes effective Court planning,

implementation, and operations

•All Veterans Treatment Court staff should be involved in interdisciplinary education and training.

•Shared interdisciplinary training creates common knowledge and understanding.

Key Component # 10

Forging partnerships among the Veterans

Administration, public agencies, and

community-based organizations generates

local support and enhances Court

effectiveness

Partnerships for VTC

•Due to the potential breadth of needs of VTC clients, a wide variety of resources are required to meet those needs;

•Community resources

•Governmental resources

•Collaborative approach

This project was supported by Grant No. 2009-DC-BX-K005 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.