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Youngstown veterans court attracts attention, grant
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown Municipal Court’s Veterans Treatment Court, one of the first in Ohio, has had enough success in its first year to attract a $35,000 state grant.
The court has been awarded an Ohio Office of Criminal Justice grant to help continue its work in 2012.
Since it opened, there have been inquiries from veterans who might qualify for the program and visits from representatives of communities that are considering starting a veterans court and want to study Youngstown’s effort.
“We’ve had a number of visitors to look at what we are doing,” said Judge Robert P. Milich, under whose auspices the Veterans Treatment Court operates. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, said Judge Milich, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.
Judge Milich also presented a session on the Youngstown Veterans Treatment Program at a recent major conference on specialized dockets and has been asked to be co-chairman of a Veterans Subcommittee on the Ohio Task Force on the Justice System and Mental Illness created by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
“We have to wrap our arms around these kids coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan and the older veterans from other wars,” said Justice Stratton at the first session of the Youngstown Veterans Treatment Court in January 2011. She was instrumental in getting the Veterans Treatment Court and the Mental Health Court started in Mahoning County.
Veterans eligible to participate in the Veterans Treatment Court are those charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor offense and who also have a clinical diagnosis of substance dependence, mental health disease, traumatic brain injury or a co-occurring disorder. Violent offenders also will be considered under special circumstances. Veterans need not have served in combat to be eligible.
If they complete the treatment program, they can avoid going to jail.
Three veterans applied to participate in the program at the inaugural session, and the number of applicants grew through the year to about 12.
“Every court and defendant is different,” Judge Milich said.
Two participants have been elevated to a third and final phase, which means less supervision and possible graduation. Their attitudes have changed, they have had no positive drug tests, and reports from their mentors indicate they have made a change in their lifestyle, Judge Milich said.
When there are problems, there are sanctions. Some are sent to jail or treatment centers.
Milich said the court requires a lot of time and effort, and he praised the 10 lawyers who volunteered to help in civil cases. In criminal cases, Judge Milich can appoint legal counsel.
No one has dropped out, but there are a couple on their “last chance.” If they drop out or are kicked out, they go on the regular court docket and face whatever crime of which they’re accused, the judge said.
Judge Milich said officials are still fine-tuning the process of running such a specialized docket.
A major task is communications with service agencies to get help for the veterans.
“We have to do a lot of education with the agencies, and there are areas in which the court needs to get education, such as blood- and drug-testing. I think we’re getting better every session,” Judge Milich said.
An addition to the staff of the Veterans Treatment Program is Betty Patterson, who retired in 2010 as a municipal court probation officer. She volunteered the first 10 months of the year as a part-time case monitor and to do intake and initial assessments.
She will be paid the last two months of 2011 with court costs revenue. In 2012 her salary will be picked up from the grant, Judge Milich said.
“This is our first year of the grant, and we hope to show enough progress to win another grant next year. We need a probation officer to go to participants’ homes and keep in touch with them between court appearances,” he said.