Veteran Intercepts in the Criminal Justice System: Minimizing Collateral Consequences for Veterans in the Criminal Justice System with Deflection, Diversion, and Intervention

This white paper is a collaboration between the National Institute of Corrections, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute of Corrections-sponsored Justice-Involved Veterans Network. This effort reflects the original Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) that was developed in the early 2000s by Mark Munetz, MD, and Patricia A. Griffin, PhD, along with Henry J. Steadman, PhD, of Policy Research Associates, Inc. The original intent of the Sequential Intercept Model was to “envision a series of ‘points of intercep-tion’ or opportunities for an intervention to prevent individuals with mental illness  from entering or penetrating deeper into the criminal justice system” (Munetz & Griffin, 2006). The current project builds on prior efforts to adapt (as V-SIM) the original SIM to the justice-involved veterans population challenged by various forms and degrees of mental illness, as well as by substance abuse, and by the trauma from physical injuries (with psychological trauma-overlapping Traumatic Brain Injury of particular note). Each  decision point in the criminal justice system represents an opportunity to intercede at  the lowest level possible and to minimize the collateral consequences of a veteran get- ting more deeply involved in the justice system.