Greg Crawford

Develop a better understanding of the Veteran Sequential Intercept Model (V-SIM) and the intervention strategies and resources available at each intercept in part one of NIC’s four-part series highlighting reentry, diversion, and desistance alternatives for justice-involved veterans as they progress through the criminal justice system. Veterans transitioning from the military to civilian life may have unique underlying conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other veteran-specific mental health concerns. The SIM delineates interventions at distinct stages of the criminal justice system that have been recognized to assist in addressing the underlying needs of veterans with service-related mental health issues. If veterans with these conditions get involved with the criminal justice system, it can result in complex and challenging situations.

This paper is the fourth in the National Institute of Corrections justice-involved veteran compendium project. It illuminates programs in prisons across the country whose goal is to prevent recidivism by justice-involved veterans, and by so doing improve the safety of law enforcement officers, correctional officers, inmates, and the public. It illustrates the design/development, implementation, and sustainment of initiatives taken by corrections officials who have set up specialized housing-in pods, dorms, units, wings, or floors-and programming for military veterans.

"This white paper is based on a series of interviews, buttressed by personal observations, of key players in half a dozen jurisdictions where Veterans Treatment Courts have been operating with marked success. Neither graphs nor charts nor a plethora of statistics are employed to illustrate the protocols and practices of these therapeutic courts. Instead, proponents and practitioners intimately involved in the founding and operation of these courts relate how they are “the right thing to do” for combat veterans who commit certain crimes that are associated with the lingering legacy of their wartime experiences.

This program on justice-involved veterans, highlights the lifesaving role being played by veterans treatment courts (VTCs) across the country.

From WWII through the continuing global war on terror, there are approximately 21.5 million veterans in the U.S. today. So many of these men, and increasingly women, return home damaged mentally and physically from their time in service. These wounds often contribute to their involvement in the criminal justice system. As a result, veterans are overrepresented in our jails and prisons.

For these justice-involved vets, Veterans Treatment Courts are providing a pathway to recovery so that they can be restored to functioning and contributing members of society.