One of only a few in the country – Southern District of California Veterans Treatment Court
By RanDee McLain, LCSW
In 2008, the first Veteran’s Treatment Court was started in Buffalo, New York, by the Honorable Judge Robert Russell. Since that first court started, there are now over 350 courts of this type in the United States.
Veterans Treatment Courts (VTC) are a unique type of diversion court that offers treatment in lieu of incarceration. The “veteran’s only” docket is designed to serve veterans whose involvement with the justice system stemmed from a mental health disorder or substance use disorder and many times they have both.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates 1 in 15 veterans had a substance use disorder in 2014. The RAND center estimates that about 1 in 5 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars experiences Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other significant mental health needs.
According to the San Diego Regional Veterans Administration office, there are over 230,000 veterans who call San Diego home. There are more separating from Active Duty each day. With such a large population of veterans and the increased need for support, it made sense for San Diego to have a VTC. There are only a handful of Federal VTCs in the country and San Diego is unique to have one of the few.
In 2015, the Honorable Judge William Gallo and his team saw the need for this type of court in San Diego. The San Diego Superior Court has operated a Veteran Treatment Court since 2011. It became apparent there was a need for this type of court on the federal side.
It seemed only natural that Judge Gallo would be chosen to start and lead this new diversion court. While in law school, Judge Gallo earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant and served in the United States Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve from 1978 to 2005 retiring at the rank of Colonel.
Judge Gallo’s experience as a Marine gave him a unique perspective and understanding of the struggles the veterans in his court face.
“Many of our veterans in the VTC program have given more of themselves in defense of this nation than any one citizen has a right to expect or demand. But they did so unselfishly and with no expectation of anything in return. They have made mistakes which they individually have acknowledged. The VTC program is our opportunity to show our veterans that this country still believes in them and that with some help, they can right the ship and have a very bright future.”
– Judge William Gallo.
After many months of research and lengthy planning meetings the Southern District of California Veterans Treatment Court saw its first participant in August of 2016.
This is not a get out of jail free card. Treatment is hard and intensive. Participants are forced to deal with issues they have been suppressing for many years. Many of the participants of VTC have experienced multiple deployments and a variety of trauma.
A large part of what makes VTCs successful is the mentor component. Each veteran participant is matched with a veteran mentor to be a battle buddy throughout their time in the program. Mentors meet with their mentees weekly and are a peer support to them as they face the challenges of treatment. This is a relationship that is vital to the success of the participants and many times the bond last long past their time in the program.
Veterans in the program receive structure, supervision, mentoring and treatment surrounded by other veterans and connected to much need resources and benefits they have earned.
Another key component to the success of the VTC is the community partnerships. When the Southern District of California Veteran Treatment Court was started Judge Gallo’s team sought out two established community partners with experience in VTCs. The first was our local Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialist with the Veterans Health Administration.
Joy Villavicencio, LCSW, has been a VJO in San Diego for the last 7 years and supported the San Diego County Superior Court Veteran Treatment Court since 2011. The VJO does all clinical assessments on each participant to deem their appropriateness for the court as well as devise a treatment plan specific to each veteran.
The second community partner was RanDee McLain, LCSW. RanDee has been a part of the Justice for Vets faculty for 5 years and trains VTCs throughout the country.
RanDee is a part of Mental Health Systems, Courage to Call, which is a veteran serving veterans program in San Diego. Courage to Call specifically, handles all the case management for the participants in the VTC and connects them to much needed resources such as food, shelter, utilities, GI Bill inquiries and much more.
In the short time that the Southern District of California Veterans Treatment Court has been active they have connected 90% of the participants to their VA benefits,
70% received housing support and all received mental
health and substance use treatment.
Veterans Treatment Courts save lives and reduce recidivism by addressing the underlying issues that led to justice involvement.
To learn more about Veteran’s Treatment Courts and to help support their expansion,
please visit: www.justiceforvets.org
