VETERANS COURT REACHES 10-YEAR MARK, SUBBING TREATMENT FOR JAIL TIME

Program in county has helped rehabilitate 141 offenders since 2011

San Diego County’s Veterans Court is celebrating 10 years of aiming to rehabilitate veterans through treatment instead of jail time.

The local program, also known as the Veterans Treatment Court, has helped 141 veterans get treatment instead of time in jail since 2011, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which released a video last week celebrating the program’s anniversary.

“The Veterans Treatment Court is one of those fair and responsible criminal justice reforms that holds offenders accountable while looking at the underlying causes that led them to crime — the mental health issues, the substance abuse,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in the video.

To be eligible for the program, veterans must show they have a mental health issue stemming from their military service. There also must be a connection between the crime and the mental health issue. Veterans are not eligible if their cases involve arson, prison time or sex crimes that require them to register as sex offenders.

The first veterans court opened in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2008.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Angela Bartosik said on the video that veterans are unique because often the source of their trauma is known: their time in uniform.

“I think it’s very important that they know that the community is willing to give back to them and help them with their problems rather than processing through the system,” she said.

Deputy District Attorney Harrison Kennedy said the San Diego area is home to the largest cluster of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans in the U.S. He added that the region benefits from an abundance of resources for veterans, including

treatment and therapy.

Proponents say veterans courts reduce recidivism.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Birkmeyer said the collaborative work between treatment service providers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers and mentors results in “much greater success in treating veterans and restoring them.”

For Francisco Chavez, the Veterans Court gave him a second chance at life after he

faced multiple felony charges, which stemmed from posttraumatic stress disorder he developed after his time in Iraq, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

“The Veterans Treatment Court gave me a lease on life,” he said on the video. “I had lost everything — my family, my home, a vehicle. I’ve gotten the majority of those things back. I’ve now purchased a home, bought a vehicle. ... I’ve gotten my wife and kid back first and foremost.”

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