Veterans Treatment Court is a success

Associated Press

WARWICK, R.I.

William Delaney, a former Marine, already had served four years of probation for an alcohol-related offense in Florida and was back in court, this time in Rhode Island, for driving under the influence. His newest brush with the law, combined with his alcoholism and depression, he feared, could close the door on the rest of his life.

That was almost 21/2 years ago. Delaney now mentors other veterans in that same court, and he’s working toward earning his master’s degree in social work to continue helping veterans.

The Veterans Treatment Court opened five years ago in Warwick, R.I., as the first specialty court in New England to help veterans avoid jail and turn their lives around. Like Delaney, most of the 220 veterans who have completed the program haven’t committed another offense. The rate of recidivism stands at 6 percent, according to the court.

“We judge ourselves really harshly in addition to how the court judges us because of how far we’ve fallen,” Delaney said. “It’s just devastating. Even such a small thing as having a judge smile and say she understands, and having a treatment team that truly cares, it’s a spark. It makes you believe you can do it differently this time.”

The first veterans treatment court started in 2008 in Buffalo, N.Y. Similar courts sprang up nationwide as a way to help reform the criminal justice system, lower costs by reducing the prison population and recidivism rates, and connect veterans with treatment programs.

Today, there are more than 250 and hundreds more are planned, according to Justice For Vets, which advocates for the establishment of the courts.