There are more than 4,000 types of the treatment court programs in the nation. (Photo by DenisProduction.com/Adobe Stock)
The Sussex County Veterans Treatment Court will celebrate a milestone Thursday as its 100th participant graduates.
Veterans Treatment Court is generally available to veterans who are charged with nonviolent felonies and misdemeanors.
Participants must attend regular court status conferences, participate in the development of their treatment plans, engage in community groups as required and cooperate with veteran mentors.
Many in the program credit the mentor component as one of the keys to its success.
Qualified veterans on probation may be eligible for an early discharge upon graduating from the program, if appropriate.
Delaware has several “problem-solving” courts, like the Veterans Treatment Court, the Mental Health Court, and the Reentry Court.
All have had positive outcomes on public safety and recidivism – and are cost effective, according to program leaders.
With over 4,000 in existence throughout the country, the goal of a Veterans Treatment Court is to divert veterans who are charged with nonviolent felonies and misdemeanor crimes away from jail and into rehabilitative programs.
The Sussex County Veterans Treatment Court includes a judge, court staff, prosecutors and defense attorneys, Delaware and Veterans Affairs treatment managers and probation officers, about two dozen volunteer mentors and community and Veteran Support Organizations.
Graduates complete tailored treatment plans, become stably housed and employed, acquire skills to manage life’s logistical and emotional challenges and are helped to receive any benefits still due from the State of Delaware and U.S. Veterans Affairs.
After completion of their court treatment program and graduation, typically a period of nine to 16 months, if the veteran was not yet convicted, charges will be dismissed.
If the veteran was already convicted, probation may be terminated, and the collection of most fines and other court costs may also be waived.
The first Veterans Treatment Court in Delaware was established in Kent County in 2011 and the presiding judge who established it is still in contact with his first graduate.
The first Sussex County Veterans Treatment Court session was in October 2014.
Sussex treatment breakdown
As of Thursday, its graduates will include 92 men and eight women who have been able to return with dignity to being productive community members.
Program officials are happy that in just 10 years, so many veterans have been helped and have gotten back on track with their lives, said Judge Craig A. Karsnitz, Sussex County Resident Judge. He heads the program in Georgetown.
“These men and women, who served our country, faced unique challenges on their return to civilian life,” he said, “and this program helps both them and our community at large by addressing underlying issues with these individuals that led to their involvement with the justice system.”
About two dozen veterans, all men, have failed to graduate and were reincarcerated or returned to extended probation for violating Veterans Treatment Court requirements.
Eleven graduates, all men, of the 100 graduates have faced new charges and have been re-enrolled or reincarcerated, a recidivism rate of only 11%, compared to national average rates of about 70% for all offenders.
Everyone involved in the program enthusiastically pointed out the low recidivism rate of those involved compared to the national average.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Mike Lewis, a graduate of court. “The fact that they’re able to get 100 people through the program right speaks volumes in itself, but to me, it shows the public that obviously we need to look into more of this and continue doing these programs.”
An Army combat veteran who was stationed in Texas, Lewis is now two years sober.
He said the program helped him come to a place of health.
His involvement with the Veterans Treatment Court stemmed from an in-and-out pattern of jail time due to opioid addiction and use.
He’s raising a six-month-old daughter with his fiancé, who also has overcome drug addiction.
“We both have seen all sides of addiction, and it helps us hold each other accountable,” he said.
Although he graduated from the court a year ago, he still keeps in touch with some of the officers and is thankful they kept him accountable.
He now works for his father’s construction company A+ Construction, something he thought would never be possible during his addiction.
“The program actually helped me to rebuild bridges that I had burned with my family,” he said. “I never thought that I would be like this. I’m driving a big Dodge, I finally got a truck, I just went and got my first house and we moved in a month ago. I was about to pay rent for the second time and was actually excited to pay the bills.”
Impact on Veterans
John Gossart, a Vietnam War Army veteran and a mentor in the program, said Mentor Coordinator Bill Gay tries to pair mentees to mentors who have had similar experiences and served in the same branch of the military.
Graduation day is exciting because it usually means the judge executes an order to terminate someone’s probation, Gossart said.
John Gossart
Most of the participants are in the same program, but there is a second section called the diversion program for those that do not plead guilty to their charges.
The majority of those in the program are not violent offenders, he added.
An exception he had to both of those points – a violent offender who was in the diversion program – was one of his mentees who faced 20 plus years in jail for domestic abuse and carjacking charges against his wife who was divorcing him.
This man was successful, graduated from the program about a year ago, and now, as Gossart puts it, “has a new opportunity, a life, a future life now, because all of these charges are behind him, and he can get on with his life.”
While there’s no excuse for some of the behaviors and actions of the veterans in the program, there are definitely explanations.
“Most of the offenders have issues with drugs and alcohol, and a lot of that is associated and tied to military experience and Post-traumatic stress disorder,” Gossart said. “A lot of these veterans have gone through difficult journeys while in the military, deployed away from family, deployed to combat zones, to Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam.”
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