Vietnam Veterans of America, National Institute of Corrections Release New Publication on Veterans Treatment Courts

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Vietnam Veterans of America, National Institute of Corrections
Release New Publication on Veterans Treatment Courts

(Washington, D.C.) – “When troops return home from a combat zone, they are forever changed, even if they have never suffered a physical injury or wound,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). “Far too many of these newly minted veterans get caught up in the criminal justice system, with their past service dismissed, and their future options sadly diminished.”

“Today, however,” Rowan noted, “Veterans Treatment Courts offer hope to these men and women that had been unavailable to veterans of previous wars and conflicts.” First established by Judge Robert Russell in 2008, these courts now number over 300. Vietnam veteran Patrick Welch, of VVA Chapter 77 in Erie County, New York, continues to play an integral role in the Buffalo Veterans Court. Along with Judge Russell, he has overseen the evolution of this court into what is now a national model. Said Welch, “the Veterans Treatment Court model represents the most profound change in the attitude of our criminal justice system towards veterans in the history of this country.”

Today, the National Institute of Corrections will release Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way, a publication based on a series of interviews that explore the topic of these diversionary courts. Conceived by Greg Crawford, corrections program specialist for the National Institute of Corrections, a division of the federal Bureau of Prisons, this publication is written and edited by Bernard Edelman, deputy director for policy and government affairs for VVA, with the assistance of Dr. Tom Berger, executive director of VVA’s Veterans Health Council.

Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way tells the story of those who have been intimately involved in the founding and the operation of these courts, the veterans, judges, veterans advocates, and treatment professionals who are engaged in the fight to ensure a second chance for vets who find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system. To learn more about veterans’ initiatives at the NIC, visit the National Institute of Corrections at www.nicic.gov/veterans.