Criminal justice researchers to conduct nationwide evaluation of Veterans Treatment Courts

(Dec. 3, 2015) -- Richard Hartley, an associate professor and chair with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Criminal Justice is to receive $186,157 from a $761K grant awarded to Missouri State University, under the direction of co-investigator Julie Baldwin. The grant is awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct the first multi-site evaluation of Veterans Treatment Courts.
Each year, thousands of veterans wind up in the criminal justice system for a variety of reasons. But Veterans Treatment Courts, or VTCs, are designed to help divert eligible military veteran offenders who may grapple with mental health issues, substance abuse or homelessness from the traditional criminal justice system into appropriate treatment services. These services can include counseling and therapy, rehabilitation, and housing.
“Generally, Veterans Treatment Courts are meant to address the underlying causes of veterans’ offenses, rather than simply punish the offenders,” Hartley said. “In a way, they can be a point of access to treatment and rehabilitation services for veteran offenders who may be suffering from or dealing with any number of issues.”
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 27 percent of all veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also deal with substance abuse issues. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, it is estimated that there are more than 700,000 veterans under some form of criminal justice supervision, and since 2004, roughly 80 percent of veterans who are arrested have issues with substance abuse.
The first VTC was established in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2008 by the Buffalo Drug and Mental Health Courts to help stem the rising tide of justice involved veterans, and in less than 10 years, the concept has been adopted by hundreds of court systems across the country. Nearly all-50 states now have a VTC program in place to serve their veteran population, but, according to Hartley, the relative newness of these courts means that there’s a lack of research on their long-term impacts.
Over the next three years, Hartley and Baldwin will evaluate outcomes from the VTC programs. These outcomes include the effects of VTCs on substance abuse and addiction, mental health and PTSD and whether, overall, there has been a reduction of criminal activity among the VTCs’ veteran population.
The researchers will use multiple methods and evaluation tools in order to most accurately reflect the reality of the VTCs’ effects. At the end of the evaluation period, the researchers will submit research and policy recommendations to the NIJ.
“Since this will be the first evaluation of Veterans Treatment Courts’ effects across several states, we hope our research will serve to inform future policy, programs and further research on these and other specialized courts,” Hartley said.
Hartley is a criminal justice researcher specializing in disparities in sentencing practices, and decision-making in the administration of justice.
-------------------------------
This project was supported by NIJ Award No. 15203, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
Connect online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and UTSA Today.
Events
Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main Campus