Program seeks mentors for vets

Goal is to keep offenders out of jail

FAYETTEVILLE — Veterans Treatment Courts in Northwest Arkansas are looking for a few good men, or women, to serve as mentors to those going through the 18-month program.

Veterans Treatment Court is a specialized court diversion program providing qualified veterans treatment and support in lieu of jail or a criminal record. The goal is to treat the underlying conditions leading a veteran into trouble with the law. A criminal conviction and incarceration can also result in the loss or reduction of military benefits for veterans.

“I’m looking for someone who is committed to helping a veteran who is down. I’m looking for someone who is motivated by just being able to help a fellow veteran out and someone who is willing to stay with that veteran until they graduate,” said Aaron DeCelle, mentor coordinator for Washington and Benton County Veterans Treatment courts. “What matters is they’re willing to help out another veteran, someone who is willing to make a phone call when they don’t hear from the veteran. I’m also looking for someone who

is not a drill sergeant, I’m looking for someone who is more or less an encourager.”

He said it doesn’t matter if the veterans were in a war or not.

The program provides every participant who qualifies an individualized treatment program. Substance use disorder treatment, medical, dental and health treatment, housing and subsistence aid and job assistance are all available. The first veteran’s court started in 2008 in Buffalo, N.Y. Washington County’s version started in 2011 and Benton County’s two years later.

DeCelle, a volunteer, said there are about 20 veterans in the program in Washington County and another 14 in Benton County.

“The goal is one-to-one for each Veteran’s Court participant and right now I’ve got four [mentors],” DeCelle said.

Volunteers need to be a veteran, he said. “That has to do with the peer support aspect, and they need to be able to give about 10 hours a month. They can speak the same language and have a common base to start from.”

Bill Wildman, one of the mentors, said he didn’t have to think twice about joining when DeCelle asked.

“I like to help people. I was unsure of what the program was, but I was willing to give it an opportunity. If you can help someone in any way that helps them and it helps you too. It makes you a better person,” Wildman said. “I can relate to them and they can relate to me, too, because I’ve been through somewhat of the same thing they have gone through as far as the service is concerned.”

Mentors receive free training in areas such as setting proper boundaries, how to be a good encourager, how to connect veterans with local resources and suicide prevention, DeCelle said.

DeCelle said veteran’s treatment court is made up of three components: legal, treatment and mentor help. A mentor is paired with a veteran to help and encourage and empower that participant.

“It’s one veteran to another veteran, kind of a nonjudgmental friend, if you want to call it that, a peer,” DeCelle said. “It is shown that having that mentor can actually be part of a positive outcome of a veteran graduating successfully from Veteran’s Treatment Court.”

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice show nationwide in 2015 veterans accounted for 8 percent, an estimated 181,500, of all inmates in state and federal prisons and local jails. Compared with civilian offenders, veterans were incarcerated for more violent offenses and were more likely to report having been told they have a mental disorder.

A majority of offenders in the program in Washington and Benton counties have drug charges, some have domestic-abuse or terroristic-threatening charges on their criminal records.

“I was in the Army for 22 years and we had an ethos and the ethos says leave no soldier behind,” DeCelle said. “For me, it’s just about trying to help other veterans because I’m in a position where I can.”