Executive Summary: Recommendations for Criminal Justice and Community Agencies in Contact with Criminal Justice-Involved Veterans

Abstract

Official statistics indicate that approximately 10% of incarcerated offenders are veterans. Increased attention has been paid to a distinct constellation of issues and needs in relation to military service and/or training (e.g., mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, reintegration, substance abuse), which may increase the likelihood of contact with the criminal justice system. Individuals facing these challenges require specific services, but barriers to their access exist, including insurance coverage and stigmatization. With the increased awareness of the “invisible wounds of war,” practitioners have called for initiatives to: 1) improve public safety, including the safety of first responders and the veterans they are responding to 2) provide treatment focused responses 3) reduce recidivism (later contact with the criminal justice system).

This summary reports the results from the first annual Justice Involved Veterans Stakeholder Summit that took place from November 9th through 11th of 2015 in Huntsville, Texas. The summit was organized by the Texas Veterans Commission, the Department of State Health Services, the Bell/Lampasas County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in partnership with the Law Enforcement Management Institute and Correctional Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University. Participants included of subject matter experts on veterans, mental health, and criminal justice issues and practitioner participants from all stages of the criminal justice system. All participants are listed at the end of this report.

The Summit’s goal was to produce recommendations for strategies targeting veterans in contact with the criminal justice system specifically using the GAINS Center Sequential Intercept Model. This model focuses on partnerships between mental health and criminal justice entities and includes the five following intercepts:

1) 911/Law Enforcement

2) Initial Detention/Initial Court Hearings

3) Jails/Specialty Courts

4) Jail Reentry/Prison Reentry

5) Community Supervision

The practitioner participants were divided into five groups, one for each intercept, based on their roles in their institutions and agencies. The subject matter experts moved between groups and were called upon by groups to advise as needed.

This report presents the problems, needs, barriers, and corresponding solutions collectively identified by the groups and subject matter experts. While the focus was on the State of Texas, these recommendations can be implemented by a wide variety of communities.

Keywords: veterans, military service, criminal justice system