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Recidivism, or committing additional crimes in the future, has been reduced greatly for participants in these courts. A study conducted in 2011 of veterans who completed the programs from eleven of the fourteen veterans treatment courts at the time showed a recidivism rate of less than 2%, while the recidivism rate for state prisoners was almost 70%. Another benefit is that these courts lower crime rates as they help veterans become law-abiding, productive citizens. Finally, veterans treatment courts help to save tax payer’s money as the cost of the program is less than 10% the cost of imprisoning someone. The cost of the program is covered by federal money, so states do not have to incur any additional financial burden (Frederick,

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

With the end of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, many veterans are returning home suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). For various reasons, instead of seeking help, many self-medicate through drugs and alcohol, and lash out at loved ones. When this happens, a large percentage find themselves caught up in the already flooded legal system, further perpetuating their issues and overwhelming the system. Veteran's Treatment courts offer an alternative to traditional court procedures, closely resembling the already proven model of the Drug Courts, taking the individuals out of the legal system, and getting them the help they need to treat their problems and reintegrating back into the civilian world, instead of just pushing them through the system time and again.

In Three Day Road, Xavier voiced this by saying, “We all fight on two fronts, the one facing the enemy, the other facing what we do to the enemy” (Boyden, p.301). This quote poetically summarizes the emotional pain that soldiers are subject to. Service members become desensitized to the brutality of war. So even after a soldier leaves a battle without physical injury, he cannot escape the guilt and remorse of the violence he has committed.. Depression and anxiety disorders can lead to changes in personality and can make it very difficult for someone to complete basic tasks and take care of themselves.

Another key issue from personnel at war besides physical injuries would be the mental damage they suffer. Statistics from the MOD show that between April and June 2013 there was 1367 new cases of personnel suffering with a mental disorder in the Armed Forces, putting them at the highest amount of mental disorder sufferers than any of the other services. That’s just within a three month period, and with Afghanistan tours running every six or ninth months it just seems that number will rapidly heighten.

This research project studies the effects veterans court has on the incarceration rate, and addresses the history, issues and concerns associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. In this paper, you will find data collected from the Department of Corrections, Bureau of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, The Society for Military Psychology, The Community Mental Health Journal and Justice for Vets.Org. Veterans make up a large proportion of the incarcerated population, and it is important to address and find solutions to the incarceration rate increase, by separating the unique needs of veterans from the criminal justice system. The studies and research done show a correlation between a veteran’s military service related mental health and criminal behavior that leads to the entry of the criminal justice system. This project is done in dedication to Ethan Jacob Edelman, soldier and friend to many, died on Veteran 's Day, November 11, 2015, at his home in Denver, Colorado. He was born on September 30, 1991 and was enrolled as a first-year student at Metropolitan State University. Ethan was a classmate of mine, who had just recently ended his service contract and had PTSD among other ailments. He had been struggling with his transition and ended up in Jefferson County holding. He had been under medical supervision for a few

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

service members who have been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan have returned with an range of signs and symptoms that we are now calling post-deployment syndrome (PDS). Traumatic brain injury, combat stress, blast injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, or post-concussive syndrome each fit into the variety of symptoms called PDS. Four hundred thousand previously healthy service men and women now live with PDS that, at times, causes them to be entirely disabled or to suffer so much that they even may take their own lives. This number may seem shocking, however PDS doesn’t just affect these service members, reservists, and veterans, but also their friends, family members, employers, communities, and even the very health care workers who are desperately trying to help them. Surprisingly, despite how common this condition is, it still remains puzzling to fully define and

Department of Veteran Affairs, 2017). It covers things to help reduce stigma around experiences that veterans may have had and stigma surrounding their diagnoses. Another resource is the Veterans Treatment Court (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). The Veterans Treatment Court was developed in 2008 during a collaborative meeting including: The Center for Mental Health Services, law enforcement members, the court and justice systems, community advocacy groups, federal agencies, and specific groups dedicated to veterans’ health and advocacy (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). The idea is to provide applicable mental health and behavioral health services to veterans in need rather than leaving them in the justice system (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). Depending on what the person is arrested for determines their treatment path and which community partner they are paired with (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). Some of the community partners include: various local Veterans’ Associations, Veterans’ organizations, substance use treatment facilities, and/or Veterans’ health and advocacy groups (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs,

The causes of these elevated levels of suffering in military veterans and their families’ lives are multifactorial and cannot be just the direct result of combat exposure. The factors contributing to this very large number and significant scale of problems are not all fully understood, but are alarming. Most of these problems can be attributed as direct or indirect effect of a decade of

Many soldiers can relate to developing post traumatic disorder because of war. The article “For Soldiers With PTSD, A Profound Daily Struggle” discusses the story of Dexter Pitt who was deployed to Iraq in the year 2004. Pitt was diagnosed with PTSD after a bomb injured him while in Iraq, which left him with many serious injuries that affected his physical health. Pitt shares the story of when his cousin was consistently very energetic, jumping around and bothering him after returning from war and had hit his injured arm. According to page 1 of the article, Pitt says, “I just lost it. I blacked out… picked him up and punched him in his chest as hard as I could.” He was over reacting and made the situation worse than what it should be, and

Research states there are between 500,000 and 1.5 million Vietnam veterans who suffer from PTSD living in the United States. Male veterans have a 30.9 % lifetime prevalence of PTSD and female veterans have a 26.9% lifetime prevalence (Hafemeister, & Stockey, 2010). These veterans experience significant stress reactions. The veterans retained violent and aggressive behavior from military training and combat courses. This behavior is not always justified in the civilian realm and may result in the veteran being involved with the criminal justice system. If the offense is serious enough, the action can lead to incarceration. Some of the criminal behavior can be linked to PTSD symptoms as possible contributors, however the Vietnam veteran is not alone in facing the challenges of PTSD (Hafemeister, & Stockey, 2010). Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also find PTSD to be a problem.

Military Pathway (2013) concluded “Military life, especially the stress of deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult”. Hence, it is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war environment often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This paper provides a historical perspective of PTSD affecting soldiers, and how this illness has often been ignored. In addition, the this paper examines the cause and diagnosis of the illness, the changes of functional strengths and limitations, the overall effects this disease may have on soldiers and their families, with a conclusion of

T. Stecker, J. Fortney, F. Hamilton, and I. Ajzen, 2007, address that mental health symptoms have the likelihood to increase within post deployment for military veterans, especially for the ones who have seen combat. An estimated quarter of recent war veterans who are currently receiving care in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Health Care System have reported mental health problems. Soldiers who have served in Iraq come home suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Statistics of Iraq soldiers meeting the criteria for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater than the soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The mental health symptom rates for soldiers who served in Iraq were as high as 20% for PTSD, 18% for anxiety, and 15% for depression.

According to a Tanielian and Jaycox (2008) study, as of September 2014 there were approximately 2.7 million American veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars”. Of the 2.7 million at least 20% of the veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan wars obtained PTSD and/or depression. However, it was noted that when interviewed, the military counselors stated that they believe that the percentage rate of veterans with PTSD was much higher. The number is said to continue to increase when combined with traumatic brain injury (TBI).