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National Institute of Corrections Event on Veteran’s Courts on May 17. New Publication Available

Sentencing alternatives for veterans? There are dozens of specialized courts across the country that employ therapeutic programs to help keep veterans out of jail. “Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way” is a new publication that tells the story of these veterans and the judges, veterans advocates, and treatment professionals who are fighting to ensure a second chance for vets who find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system.

The publication was produced in partnership by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), a division of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Veterans Health Council of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). The report is based on a series of interviews and personal observations of the judges, veterans, and veterans advocates who have been intimately involved in the founding and operation of veterans treatment courts. In this book, they relay how veterans treatment courts are “the right thing to do” for justice-involved veterans who commit certain crimes associated with the lingering legacy of their wartime experiences.

Court staff and graduates of veterans treatment court programs  describe, in often exquisite detail, what their roles are and how they have come to embrace the concept that these courts, which use a carrot-and-stick approach to rehabilitate rather than overtly punish veteran defendants, represent what one veteran in Buffalo, New York, a key player in the creation of the first of these courts in the nation, has called “the most profound change in the attitude of our criminal justice system towards veterans in the history of this country.”

Objectives

Introduce NIC’s new publication “Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way”

Describe the inception of veteran’s treatment courts and their focus;

Highlight successes and challenges of veteran’s treatment courts; and

Hear a veteran’s personal story of the impact of veteran’s treatment court on their life

This publication was authored by Bernard Edelman, Deputy Director for Policy and Government Affairs, VVA; and consultant Dr. Tom Berger, Executive Director of VVA’s Veterans Health Council.

Radio Show

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Current Radio Program:

We interviewed Bernie Edelman, Deputy Director for Policy and Government Affairs for Vietnam Veterans of America and Stephen Amos, Chief of the Jails Division at the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) along with Greg Crawford, Correctional Program Specialist at NIC about Veteran Treatment Courts. Please see the link at the beginning of this announcement for information about how to register for the May 17, 2016 live event for the release of “Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way.”

In this podcast, the guests discussed the value of these courts; saving worthy lives, restoring families, and saving taxpayer dollars.  A Second Chance illuminates an evolving facet of the criminal justice system and highlights innovative practices in these diversionary programs across the country.  Using “A Second Chance” as a platform for all NIC veteran-specific initiatives, our guests also discussed the critical importance of continuity of care in jails and intent to expand veterans initiatives across this continuum.

To learn more about veterans initiatives at NIC, please visit the veterans web page of the National Institute of Corrections: .

Special Announcements:

A top priority for the Department of Justice is to invest in scientific research to ensure that the Department is both tough and smart on crime. The Office of Justice Programs’ CrimeSolutions.gov website shapes rigorous research into a central, reliable, and credible resource to inform practitioners and policy makers about what works in criminal justice.

A new website lists and evaluates prisoner re-entry programs nationwide. Launched by the Urban Institute, the Council of State Governments, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prisoner Reentry Institute, the “What Works Clearinghouse” can be seen at http://nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/what_works.

The National Reentry Resource Center is a project of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice. Please see the Center’s website at http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/. Please see “Federal Interagency Reentry Council Launches Website, Releases Myth-Buster Series” on the front page of the site (see announcements). CSOSA is a member of the Council. Several requesters have asked for national research on reentry.

The Office of Justice Program’s National Institute of Justice reentry research portfolio supports the evaluation of innovative reentry programs. To access these studies and NIJ’s entire reentry research portfolio visit www.nij.gov/nij/topics/corrections/reentry/welcome.htm .

The Office of Violence Against Women offers stalking response tips for corrections, prosecutors, judges, law enforcement, victims and victim advocates. They are posted on OVW’s website at www.ovw.usdoj.gov .

The National Institute of Corrections Information Center is one of the largest repositories for corrections research and information in the country. See  www.nicic.gov/Library.

Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency:

We welcome your comments or suggestions at leonard.sipes@csosa.gov.

The website for the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency is http://www.csosa.gov/.

The program is hosted by Leonard Sipes. The producer is Timothy Barns.

Comments offered on “DC Public Safety” television and radio programs are the opinions of participants and do not necessarily represent the policies of CSOSA or other government agencies.