A Veterans Treatment Court has opened in the Fourth Judicial Circuit to provide assistance to combat veterans returning to civilian life who find themselves in the court system.
The local court opened in March. The courts have been created to avoid unnecessary incarceration of veterans who have developed mental health problems.
Part of the program includes a veterans’ justice outreach coordinator who helps veterans find the benefits available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Before the July 23 announcement, one coordinator was responsible for 51 counties. The VA now plans to dedicate one coordinator, Charlotte Matthews, to the Northeast Florida jurisdiction.
The Veterans Treatment Court program also uses veterans for mentorship.
“It’s a different kind of veteran that is returning home now. Prior to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most soldiers experienced one tour and they would come home, but now we have soldiers coming home that are in their early 20s that have experienced three and four tours. They don’t know life away from the battlefield,” said one of those mentors, Bob Hull.
“A lot more women are coming back from the battlefield as well at a level we haven’t ever seen before. We better be ready to deal with these issues and (Veterans Court) may be a good way to deal with them,” he said.
Public Defender Matt Shirk and Magistrate John Sampson have spearheaded the effort to develop the program in the Fourth Circuit, and Shirk said the need for the program is illustrated by the 1,300 veterans arrested so far this year in Jacksonville.
“Combat veterans who suffer life-altering scars from their time of service too often come home to face criminal charges. VTC recognizes that both post-traumatic stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries can be an impetus for self-medicating, which translates to substance abuses,” Shirk said.
“The simple, ‘smart justice’ solution is to make certain qualifying individuals are put into the care of the VA, which has available services designed to treat people with such sickness,” he said.
In evaluating the T. Patt Maney Veterans’ Treatment Intervention Act, which allows for the creation of Veterans Treatment Courts, the Florida Senate staff found:
“Veterans, particularly those returning from operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, are exhibiting significant numbers of cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, substance use or abuse, or co-occurrence of these conditions. Behaviors that were an asset in a combat theater can lead to undesirable involvement with the criminal justice system in a veteran’s post-service civilian life.”
Duval County Judge Gary Flower said the program brings insight to the bench.
“It brings the empathy and knowledge of the veteran experience to both the accused and judges. All the stakeholders are assembled in one unit to allow veterans to avail themselves to the services that are available to them,” said Flower.
Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Donald Moran said the public needs to understand the program’s goal.
“It’s not trying to not punish people. It’s trying to get the people that have gotten in trouble back on the right path to be constructive citizens and that makes a whole lot more sense than just saying we are going to put them in jail for 30 days, 90 days, a year and forget about them,” said Moran.
“That doesn’t accomplish a single thing. There are resources that are available and it is time we reach out and take advantage of those resources,” said Moran.
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